“I can make you a list with possible boy names and girl names, but won’t you name it after one of your family members?”
She shook her head. “No, I want a new name. Something with a meaning.”
“Something like hope or more like your name?”
“Something like my name but not a flower, please.”
“If it’s a boy, it will be difficult to name him after a flower anyway,” we laughed.
Jonathan and Alec joined us. “I can’t believe you. You are impossible,” Jonathan said.
I laughed. “If you are making bad choices, then it’s not my fault.”
Alec smiled and Jasmine looked at Jonathan and asked, “What’s going on? Why are you mad at her?”
“Because... because—”
I grinned. “I won two bets in one night.” I told them about the two bets and the couple laughed. In addition to predicting Jasmine’s sister would marry soon, I had predicted that Alec and Jasmine would have children soon, while Jonathan thought it would be at least a year.
“And what did you win?” the queen asked.
“We didn’t set a prize.”
The queen said, “But you should set a prize for each bet or set one big prize. Do you have any ideas?”
“I have one, but then I would be mean. Washing Midnight might teach you something.”
Jonathan shook his head and gestured. “No, not that please.”
Two days after the ball, Jonathan invited me to have dinner with him. “Dinner?” I looked at him suspiciously. When he made proposals like that, there was always the danger of something else “cooking.”
He smiled. “Don’t worry. It will be fine.”
That’s exactly what I am afraid of. “And from where will you get the food?” Jonathan could cook the basics but a dinner?
“I will make it.”
“You will. Ha. I will come earlier to help you before you ruin everything.”
He seemed hurt. “I would never ruin anything.”
I was still going to give him a hand. I didn’t think he could prepare something for me without help.
“Will you go to the palace for Christmas?” Jonathan asked. We had been invited to the palace to celebrate Christmas and Jonathan had told me everything about the celebrations for Christmas since I knew nothing about feasts.
“Yes, I will come with Ritta and Midnight. Jasmine loves cats, and she and Whitie will play nice.” Whitie was Jasmine’s cat and was a male. Midnight seemed to like him.
“Good, what will you bring?”
I gave him a questioning look. “What do you mean?”
“As a present.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” I said angrily.
He ducked his head. “Sorry.”
Christmas was in a week, so I didn’t have much time. “How does this work?”
Jonathan explained to me that in families they gave a present to each member, but when it was a big party, you brought a present that would be suitable for either a girl or a boy. “It’s like an exchange. We blend the presents and each one of us takes one, but we don’t take ours or one that is from someone in our family.”
“And how many presents do we bring?” The sun was beginning to set. We watched the sunset almost every day since I liked it so much. And the rise of the moon, sometimes. I took my drawing tools sometimes to draw the landscapes.
“Just one. You will bring one, and I will bring one. Don’t worry. It’s not like anyone will be without a present.” That would be sad. We got up and I picked up the blanket we had been sitting on so we wouldn’t get cold.
On the way home, I thought about what kind of present I could bring. I went to my mother’s house to eat with Ritta, and I told them about the present exchange.
“That’s great. I like presents. And celebrations.” Ritta liked everything related to joy and fun. Maybe she should have been the witch of celebrations. No, there was no such thing. I was just joking.
“That’s interesting,” my mother said. She was invited too because Alec knew I wouldn’t leave her alone on Christmas and he had told me it was a time to celebrate family and show our love. I found it nice and honorable, but I honored my mother every day. I didn’t need a special day to remind me.
I put on a green dress and went to the dinner with Jonathan. I was early or so I thought. I knocked and he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek. The house was utterly transformed. There was a tree near the fireplace with decorations and garlands and mistletoe were on the walls. I knew the story behind the mistletoe: if a boy and a girl stood under one, they must kiss. That was the only thing I knew from Christmas because even if peasants didn’t celebrate Christmas before, they had commented about how the royals had celebrated.
This mistletoe business was funny to them, and at Christmas, I always paid attention not to stand under one of those. The peasants had adopted the tradition shortly after they first heard about it. The village was now richer, so people had decorated their houses with Christmas ornaments and trees. Wherever you walked, you could hear laughter and singing, I liked passing outside the houses and hearing them. It was music to my ears.
“You decorated your house. It looks great.”
He smiled. “We always decorated the palace with my mother, so I guess some habits can’t die.”
I laughed. “It’s not a bad habit. You can keep it.” He hugged me and I followed him in the house but I avoided the mistletoe.
“I can’t believe you,” he said and I raised my eyebrows. “You walked without passing and stopping under any of them. How did you manage it?”
“I can walk from a falling bridge so missing the mistletoe isn’t so hard, and I had practice.”
“You have walked from a falling bridge?”
“No, but it isn’t that difficult.”
He shook his head. “What practice? I don’t suppose you were expecting that I would decorate the house?”
“No, but once the peasants adopted this tradition too, I practiced avoiding mistletoe so I wouldn’t get kissed by strangers.”
“You are out of luck,” he said and looked up. There was a mistletoe on the ceiling, but unfortunately for him, it was not placed well.
“You are out of luck, and you would be a terrible decorator.”
“Is that so?” He had a smile on his face as he had not realized the mistake he had made.
“You put the mistletoe above the center of the table.”
“Yes, and you can’t evade this.”
I smiled. “That’s the easiest to evade since it’s in the center of the table and no one ever sits at the center of the table but the food.”
He looked like I had slapped him, and he sighed. “You are right. I would be a terrible decorator.”
“Now to take care of the food.” I went to the kitchen.
“There is no need,” he said, and I turned. “I have already prepared everything.” He showed me what he had done. There were vegetables and some meat—for him—and some cake.
“Did you do that by yourself?”
“Yes.” I shook my head, but he nodded smiling. “And you are out of luck too.”
“How so?”
He pointed up and there was mistletoe hanging above my head. Now I had to kiss him. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to kiss him, but I thought this tradition was stupid and impolite. What if the boy and the girl were both strangers? I kissed him and it was like fire and ice as always. They said your first kiss was special and the others were just normal, but I found that every kiss was special.
He smiled and we sat at the table to eat. He talked and joked as usual, but I found it hard to believe he had done it all by himself and for what? A dinner with me that was not very important. “What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I find it hard to believe you did everything by yourself.”
He gave me a look. “Such unfaithfulness. How can I stand it?” I smiled because he always said sarcastic things that ended up as a joke. “I can do everything
for my Eva, and it was not that difficult. I followed the recipes.”
“So I see.”
We continued with our meal and he asked me a riddle. “What flies but has no wings?” Easy answer: a witch. “The flying fish.” He nodded and we laughed. We enjoyed testing each other with riddles.
When it was time to leave, I kissed him again because I hadn’t noticed that he had hanged mistletoe on the doorframe. Maybe he put them where he had because he knew I would avoid them?
When Christmas Eve arrived, we dressed nicely, and we took our presents and Midnight and headed toward the palace. I was dressed in midnight blue with my faithful boots on as always. I was wearing them every day, and apart from being stylish, they were warm too. Ritta wore a deep-green dress that reminded me of the forest, and my mother was wearing an emerald dress that matched her eyes.
The queen greeted us and directed us to leave our presents on the table. There was a pile of presents on a table, but there weren’t too many, so I guessed the other guests had not arrived yet. She wore a red dress, but the fact she was pregnant was beginning to show. “Would you mind checking on Alec?” the queen asked. “He seems a little distant lately.”
I nodded. “I will go now.” I went to Alec’s room and knocked on the door.
He opened the door. “Eva.” Even if the queen didn’t tell me, I could see he didn’t look happy and he was anxious. His aura was faint. Alec wasn’t dressed and everything in his former room, which was now his office since he and Jasmine had a bigger room now, was in disarray.
“What’s wrong?”
He ran a hand through his hair as he paced. “I am so busy right now, and I don’t know how the days passed. I have so many things to do and organize.”
He had not been this anxious at the ball. Either he had covered it well or was happy with the news about the baby. “You remember that I was sick not very much after the war?” He nodded. “The cause was exhaustion. I did everything together and it all piled up. In the end, the illness was the only way for my body to show that it was all too much. If you don’t rest, you will be sick too.”
He shrugged. “Can’t you give me something?”
“I can but it won’t make you feel better or less tired. You must rest. It’s Christmas and a celebration. If you are sick, you won’t help anyone, and Jasmine needs you right now. You must think of your family that will soon be bigger. You have done so many things for the people. You made a hospital, a school, shops, and a better market, and we have entertainment now. What else can we ask for?” He smiled shyly. “Take a vacation. You could stay here if you like, but don’t touch any paper—except for invitations—until January.”
He nodded. “I can do that, but I have nothing to wear. I didn’t remember I had invited you all.”
I looked in his closet. “How about this?” I took out a silver outfit with matching pants.
He made a face. “It was a gift from an eccentric man, but I have never worn it.”
“Today is a great time. You will match Jasmine’s dress.”
He smiled. “Why? What does she wear?”
I put my finger on my lips. He went to the bathroom to change, and I tidied up his room. I arranged his paperwork like I had done last time, but this time, I wrote a note: “Work after January 15.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” he said when he saw his papers and the note.
“You might forget,” I said, and he laughed. I checked over his outfit and nodded. “Good, it brings out your eyes. Come. You have to greet the guests.”
Jasmine saw us, nodded approvingly to me, and laughed. “What’s that?” she asked and pointed at Alec’s outfit.
“A gift from an eccentric man,” Alec said.
“You are a matching set. Red and silver are a good combination. An alive color combination.”
We all laughed and Jasmine asked, “Decided to come out of your office?”
“Eva made me take a vacation until the fifteenth of January.”
Jasmine took my arm. “Well played. I must admit I couldn’t do anything like this.”
I shrugged. “It was either sickness or vacation, so the choice was easy.”
Jonathan came up to us. “You look beautiful, Eva.” He greeted Jasmine and Alec and then conversed with Alec.
The decoration and the atmosphere were nice. Everything was wonderful. My mother knew everyone and she talked to an elegant woman who looked to be her age. The dinner was a buffet with all sorts of delicious foods and cakes and sweets. There was food for the animals too, so I went to feed Midnight in the pets’ room because there was no way she would get out of there any time soon. There was music also so we danced a little, and when the time came, we went out to watch the fireworks that officially announced Christmas day.
After the fireworks, Alec and Jasmine called everyone for the exchange of gifts. Each one of us went to the pile of gifts and chose one. Mine was in a light-blue wrapping with red flowers. I opened it and inside was a blue vase with painted stars and moons. I was delighted. Ritta got a bracelet, which was lucky, because if a man had opened it, what would have happened? And my mother got a beautiful warm shawl. We stayed a little later than usual, but Ritta was tired, so we left and said “Merry Christmas” to everyone.
The next day we got up rather late, but since we had stayed late at the Christmas party, it was to be expected. We went to the market which was busier than usual since the new year would be here in a few days. The market was closed then, so people stocked up beforehand. We had enough for at least a month, so there was no problem. We started stocking up earlier than others. If you wanted to prevent something, you prepared for it.
I saw Jonathan in the market and told him about the “no market,” and he raised his eyebrows. “I thought you had no vacation at all,” he said.
“We normally have not, but it’s Christmas so everyone tries to be kinder, even rulers. There always has been a pause after the new year.” He nodded and accompanied me to my house. He waved goodbye and I went inside, prepared the food, and gave Midnight her snack.
Ritta stopped by with some fruits. “Why did you buy fruits? I told you we had enough.”
She stared at me. “I thought you said you didn’t have enough.”
“Now we will have fruits for a year, Ritta. If they don’t go bad first.” She helped me cook the lunch, and we set the table for three; my mother would come because it was Christmas and a family feast, and we always ate together on feast days. Work or not.
The next days were so busy I could hardly keep up. People thought I would be taking a break too, but I put a sign on the door so I could stop saying that I wasn’t taking a break and people would relax. “Why work after the new year?” Ritta asked.
“To avoid this. They are coming and going like crazy. It’s not the end of the world.” She nodded. Why did they make such a fuss about this? Maybe they called friends from other places? Maybe. Fortunately, we were only three. I learned that some other royals stayed in the palace after the feast. Naturally. Why make a journey at night when you could stay at the palace? I didn’t think these things were of good behavior—unless your home was in Russia or Switzerland, I didn’t think it was something nice or polite. Everyone but the queen’s family was from Spain.
“What will you do for the New Year’s Day?” Jonathan asked me one day when we were walking in the village.
“What do you think I will do? Eat obviously and drink.”
He laughed. “I meant who are you planning on inviting?” I looked at him oddly. “No one, it’s just me, Ritta, and my mother.” What did he think? That I was someone with an extensive family tree?
“But it’s Christmas. We call family to celebrate New Year’s.
“I know that, but my family consists of three persons only and a cat.”
He gave me a questioning look. “No aunts or grandfathers or anything?” Not that I knew of, so I shook my head.
“That’s sad. I am sorry.”
“Don’t wo
rry, it’s not like we celebrated this day anyway. We eat and wish that this year will be better than the previous one and that we will not get killed. But this year we will have an addition to the table: a cake.”
He nodded. “I can come if you want and bring Alec.”
“Alec is the king. People will notice that he will come into my house and not theirs. They will think it’s an insult.”
“No, they will think it’s just Alec visiting a friend, especially if he is dressed normally.”
“Still, it will be odd.”
“I will persuade him, and Jasmine will come too.”
“I don’t know. We will be a little cramped. I don’t have endless room.”
“It will be all right, and we have slept in caves and tunnels. We know everything about cramped places.” That was true, but the queen had no experience with that. She knew about our adventures, but she hadn’t been in that kind of situation, like us. She was kind so she might understand it, but still... in her state, I didn’t want to put her through much.
In the end, everything was sorted out. We placed the table near the wall and put the food on it so everyone could be served—on their own. We had cushions and rugs for everyone to sit. We left one chair for the queen to help her be more comfortable. The guests arrived at my house on time, and the queen was very happy to finally see the inside because she was thrilled with the outside and had seen my work in the other houses. “I know you can’t do the outside of the palace, but can you draw a wall in a room somewhere?”
“What’s your favorite room?”
She smiled. “The Warm Room.”
Did they name every room? “Then you can choose a drawing and I can paint it for you. Why you call it the Warm Room?”
“It’s so warm and bright. It’s yellow and you can watch the sun from there and the sea.” It sounded like the perfect room to me.
Jasmine thought of some designs, and I took some notes. “I will come tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to show you the sketches, and then I can begin.”
“Thank you. That would be great, but aren’t you on vacation?”
“I am not because I want to avoid all the craziness of the marketplace.”
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