The Cursed Girl, #1

by Maria Vermisoglou

I knew that soon I would plan my own wedding and not someone else’s. Ritta was excited and Jasmine wanted to participate too. She had even offered to let us get married in the palace, but I declined. I didn’t want to marry like a royal or even a hero. I wanted to marry like myself.

  “Jasmine told me that you refused to have the wedding at the palace,” Jonathan said.

  “Yes.”

  His expression was thoughtful. “So where do you want to get married?”

  I thought he was going to ask me why and convince me otherwise, but as always, he surprised me. Maybe he knew there was no point in trying to convince me otherwise. “Somewhere nice.”

  “Hmm... somewhere nice... you really narrowed the options that way.”

  “Somewhere near the sea, with a sunset.”

  “I think I can think of a few spots.” He smiled. “And when do you want to get married?”

  Now was the dangerous part; he was asking me for an official date. It was odd. Anyone else would think we were discussing something ordinary, but truly we were discussing our future. “I don’t know.”

  He stared at me. “You don’t know?”

  “I never said I knew everything.” I shrugged.

  He grinned. “How about tomorrow?” I looked at him disapprovingly. “You said you didn’t know, Eva.”

  “How about March?”

  He looked at me incredulously. “You can’t be serious. Eva, come on. That’s a long wait.”

  It was but I wanted to marry on an important date. “March twenty-fifth?”

  He stared at me. “Are you even listening to what am I saying to you?”

  I nodded. “I’m listening.”

  He ran his hand through his hair and threw his hands in the air. He always gestured when he was upset. “Then why do you want March? And why especially on the twenty-fifth?” He crossed his arms.

  “Because I want to marry on a day that means something.”

  “You want it on a holiday?”

  “No, but I want it to mean something.”

  He seemed to understand. He knew I had the tendency to relate special days and times with names and events. “What’s on the twenty-fifth?”

  He didn’t know? Or maybe he hadn’t noticed. “March twenty-fifth is the equinox.” I continued explaining what the equinox was. It was also the day when there were fewer demons on Earth since demons were afraid of the sun, and in some cases, it burned them.

  “Oh. Then I guess March twenty-fifth it is.”

  “Really?” What? No fight? No argument? Nothing?

  “Really.” I smiled and hugged him. “Thank you.”

  He hugged me back. “I waited a long time to make you like me. I guess a little more time won’t hurt.” That was true, I didn’t know how his faith hadn’t decreased all this time. “So nothing can be done until mid-February, I guess,” he said.

  “We can make the guest list,” I said.

  “What? We can send them invitations now?”

  “Yes, but the problem will be to agree on a number first.” Especially if there are witches, and I don’t know how I will explain that I know them.

  “Don’t worry, I don’t have many to invite, only the people from the village.”

  Not many? He could have fooled me. “How about some friends from the royals?”

  He shrugged. “I will invite Jasmine and Alec and Lila with John, of course.”

  “That doesn’t count. They are my friends too. I meant other royals.”

  He shook his head. He didn’t even hesitate. “No one. Last time I saw them, I told them I was going to quit, and they were not happy at all. I can’t invite someone who doesn’t respect my decisions. Maybe I will ask Alec, but most definitely we won’t find anyone.”

  “That’s sad. If you will excuse me then, I will invite more than some friends.”

  He smiled. “From your trips? And business?”

  What a great idea. Without him knowing it, he had given me the perfect excuse. “Some of them. Others are my mother’s friends too, so I can’t leave them out. We were visiting them when I was little.”

  He nodded. “Don’t worry about the number of guests. It will be outside anyway, and well, just don’t worry.”

  Yes, our wedding would be outside, but we would be providing the food. I would only invite the ones who I knew would be happy for me. Ritta wasn’t the only witch I knew. She was my closest friend, but I knew others too. The part about my mother’s friends was true, but the other stuff, unfortunately, was all lies. I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t tell him the truth.

  The epic battle with the list of invitations began. My mother said who she wanted absolutely to include—her witch friends—and Ritta and I thought about who we would invite from the witch world. In the end, we invited Heather the librarian and a few others we knew who loved weddings and parties.

  The invitations were sent, and we included that the wedding would be in the human world and I was marrying a human, which meant they had to pay attention to their words and their behavior. The replies came back quickly, and they all accepted and said I had nothing to worry about.

  No, I didn’t invite the princess, and I wasn’t going to. She was cruel, selfish and a lot of other things that I would not say. I didn’t care if she learned she had not been invited. If she dared to complain, I would tell her just what I thought about her.

  A few days later, Alec came to visit. “Hello, Eva.”

  “Hello, Alec. Came to ask for some medicine?” The weather was still cold and people were getting sick, so I thought maybe he wasn’t feeling well.

  “No, I came to congratulate you.”

  “You could have waited. I would not kill you because you didn’t congratulate me first. No one knows it yet, anyway.”

  “I know, but I wanted to be the first. Besides your mother and Ritta, of course.”

  Yes, you are the first human who came to congratulate me. “Thank you.”

  “Do you have a date yet?” I lifted an eyebrow. “Jonathan didn’t tell me.” Was it so humiliating that he couldn’t tell him? Alec continued, “He was happy and he was going around the room and talking. Always talking about you, and I could tell he was very happy. If he could fly, I am sure he would.” I didn’t have doubts about that. If I who could fly was still on earth, then I guess he could stay on earth too.

  “He was very happy?”

  “Oh, yes. The happiest I have ever seen. So who do you think of inviting?” he asked.

  “Jonathan wanted to invite the village, and I will invite Alicia and her family, maybe Stefen too. Some people from Portugal too and some friends from around.”

  “That’s nice. Jasmine will help you with the whole reception and everything.”

  “You two are invited as well as Lila and the wood boy. Even if you don’t want to be invited.”

  He laughed. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. If you need any help, just ask.”

  “Thank you. Have you boys decided if any royals will come?”

  “No. They don’t like him anymore now that he is just a peasant, or they are angry at him. I thought you didn’t like them anyway.”

  How could they be so cruel? I shouldn’t be surprised. “I don’t but if someone is a friend, or at least respected by him, he should come. It’s not only my wedding, it’s his too. I will have to remind them that a peasant saved the world.”

  “I guess someone understood her own importance.”

  “After so many times of telling me? I think so.”

  Jonathan came by shortly after Alec left. “Did you two coordinate or it just happened that you came here when Alec left?”

  He smiled hugging me. “It just happened.”

  “So you stopped dancing?”

  He scowled a little. “I wasn’t dancing.” Midnight came to greet him. Meow. He petted her. She understood something big was happening, but she didn’t know what.

  “Don’t be ashamed. Ritta was dancing when she learned that I was engaged.”

>   “But I wasn’t dancing.”

  “Why didn’t you tell him that the wedding will be in March? Were you embarrassed?”

  “No, but he can’t be the one who knows everything.”

  I laughed. “The king knows everything,” I whispered and we giggled. We sat and talked about the invitations. Instead of sending an invitation to each person in the village, we decided to make a big invitation and put it on the events board. Together we decided what to draw. We used a golden-orange paper with silver calligraphic letters and decorated it with flowers and birds here and there. The invitation said:

  Greetings, everyone. We are happy to announce our wedding. You are all invited to the wedding that will take place on the 25th of March in the meadow near the sea. We hope that you will all come and share this day with us.

  Eva and Jonathan

  Yes, you would be right. The invitation wasn’t very formal or proper, but the peasants were friends since we helped each other on multiple occasions. We addressed each other like we would with a friend. On the other hand, with royals we were formal. Royals and peasants were as close as the stars and the grass; we mostly hated them since they treated us like insects, but there were extreme cases like Alec and royals like him who were loved and treated almost as friends or at least with respect. Unfortunately, these cases were rare.

  After the invitation was hung, there was nothing else that could be done until a month before the wedding. The dress could be done two or three weeks before, and there were not going to be decorations except an arch and a gazebo that we would decorate with ribbons and flowers. I wanted as few decorations as possible. The last two weddings had taught me something: I never wanted to marry as a royal.

  My wedding dress, I decided, would be my ball dress as well. How I would do that I had no idea. Ritta wrote down her ideas for a wedding dress, and I let her since it made her happy. She loved weddings and everything about them. I hated the fuss that was made over them, and I didn’t care about the extras, so I let her do the necessary things and decorations.

  The wedding dress though would be difficult. My mother and Ritta suggested we go in the White Land to order it, but I knew Jasmine wanted to be there when I chose the dress, so I didn’t know what to do. I went to see her and ask her. She was kind and could tell her opinion without offending anyone. I arrived at the palace, and strangely, Jasmine greeted me. “What happened to the servants?”

  “When I first came here, I made an agreement with some of them, and they accepted.” I raised my eyebrows. “After some years of service, they could leave, resign, and have a life. Visit family, see the world, marry, you know, normal things, and other people will come take their place the next day. The same goes for the maids, but it’s not their time yet.”

  “That is interesting and kind.”

  “What did you come to tell me?” Jasmine asked.

  “Actually, I came to ask for your opinion.” She nodded and I followed her into the Warm Room, which was now decorated with my paintings. I had done them some days after their return from London, and Jasmine always talked about how great it was now that it had some drawings in it. We sat in some armchairs, and I said, “It’s about the wedding dress.” That drew her attention. “Well, my mother and Ritta want me to go to that shop where I had bought all my other dresses.

  “Where is that shop?”

  Near the moon. “It’s far away, but I don’t want you to be left out of this, and I don’t know what wedding dress I want.”

  She smiled. “That was easy for me. I knew exactly what I wanted in general.”

  “But I don’t.”

  She thought for a moment. “I think the dress is the problem and not where you will get it.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Let’s start with what you want,” and then she asked several questions about the dress: did I want it long? White? With flowers? With designs? Did I want a veil with designs? What kind of shoes? She asked so many questions I lost count, but I responded to each question with the truth, and she wrote them on a piece of paper.

  After all the questions, we had a general picture of what I wanted: a simple white dress, no designs, silk as a fabric, ankle-length so I wouldn’t trip and high-laced boots. It might be odd, but I loved these boots. For the jewelry, I would wear the set Jonathan had made me.

  “He made you jewelry?” she asked curiously, and I showed her the bracelet I always wore and now the ring. “It’s nice. How about earrings?”

  “How about ravens?” I wore them from time to time.

  “They are pretty, but not suitable for a wedding,” Jasmine said gently.

  “I don’t have anything else.” It was true. I wasn’t fond of jewelry. I wore only something that symbolized something or meant something to me.

  “Then you can order some. How about doves or moons?”

  I had an idea, and I took a paper and sketched.

  “These are perfect,” Jasmine exclaimed. I had drawn silver crescent moons which ended in little suns and were connected with a little chain. “Now can you draw some dresses? We can at least have a sketch to consider.” I drew some dresses according to the specifications we had said earlier. I made five different sketches, and we discarded two because they were not good for me.

  There was a knock at the door. “Who is it?” Jasmine asked.

  “It’s me,” Alec said. Jasmine opened the door, and they exchanged words, but I couldn’t hear what they said.

  Alec entered the room and greeted me warmly. “What are you doing here?”

  I smiled. “Seeking advice.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “You have so many good ideas. I don’t know why would you not use them or why you would need to ask someone else,” he said perplexed.

  “Alec, sometimes someone can be confused. Even someone as good as her,” Jasmine said. Especially on wedding matters which I knew nothing about.

  “Can I help?” Alec was always helpful.

  “I thought you said you knew nothing about fabrics.”

  A horrifying expression crossed Alec’s face. “Oh, dear God. No. Anything but that.” He sat in an armchair, and I laughed. “So, you are getting ideas about the wedding dress, Eva?”

  “Kind of.”

  “I see.”

  I scowled at him. “Don’t even think about it.”

  Startled, he looked at me. “What? I didn’t do anything.” Yet! “What, you think I am going to tell anybody?” Not anybody, just one person. “I am not.”

  “I am not trusting you.” It’s your best friend after all.

  “I promise, I won’t.”

  “Then we are good.”

  Alec relaxed. He didn’t like it when I was angry at him or at least suspicious of him. “So, can I ask you a question?” he asked, and I nodded. “Does the flower he gave you count or does he have to give you another?” Did Jonathan make him ask me this?

  “That flower,” Jasmine said, pointing at her moon flower which was on the windowsill.

  The moon flower was pretty, glowing, and giving happiness in this home. “Something like that, but actually I don’t know. I asked my mother about it, and she said that when he sent it to me, the flower was only a flower, and now the flower became a promise, so there is no need for another.”

  Alec smiled. “That is fortunate. I don’t want to plunge again into the woods. Not that I mind...”

  “The woods are not a safe place to hang around,” I said.

  Jasmine returned to the sketches, and she started comparing them with my help, of course; she couldn’t decide without the opinion of the bride, right? We discarded another sketch and only two remained. “You like this one best?” Jasmine asked.

  “Yes, and after a few changes, I will like it even more.”

  “What sort of changes?”

  I smiled cryptically. “You will see,” I said, thinking I would make this wedding dress suitable for the ball as well. “Thank you for your help.” I got up and the couple escorted me to the door.
>
  “Anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask,” said Jasmine and smiled.

  “Don’t worry, I will. Now I understand why you named this room The Warm Room.”

  Alec laughed. “Surely you thought it was a stupid name.” I blushed. “Don’t worry. It’s what everybody thinks until they have sat here for a couple of hours.” The Warm Room was warm and the fireplace was not even lit. So strange.

  “About the shop... you can go without me,” Jasmine said. “Since I participated in the sketches and helped you, I don’t mind. This is the most exciting part for me.” Maybe that was true, but at this stage in her pregnancy, any kind of trip was to be avoided.

  On my way home, people stopped me to congratulate me and tell me they were very excited about the wedding. Everyone had something good to say, and everyone offered me something. The man who helped me build my house offered to make the gazebo along with another woodworker—not Lila’s husband John—and I accepted. Some children offered to pick the flowers, and some girls offered to help me with the wedding dress, jewelry, and styling my hair on my wedding day. “Why not? Ritta will be glad to have some help,” I said, and they cheered.

  A little girl approached me and asked me if she could dress Midnight. How strange. Everyone had something to offer me, but no one had thought of my cat. Except this girl. “Well, Midnight doesn’t like to be dressed, but you can brush her and put a ribbon on her if you like. Don’t worry, you won’t have to bathe her.”

  She clapped her hands excitedly. “Thank you. Why not bathe her?”

  Because all hell would break loose. “She really, really doesn’t like baths. I also have to ask you not to mention the words bath or wash in front of her. She will flee and we will have to search for her for hours. And even if we found her, she wouldn’t be on her best behavior.” I thought the girl should know some basic rules.

  “I promise,” she said.

  “All right then. You can come two or three days before the wedding so we can talk things out?”

  “My name is Ella and you are Eva. We have similar names.” We waved goodbye, and I went to my house at last.

  “Where have you been?” Ritta asked. Meow. Midnight came to greet me. Where’s my fish now? she seemed to be saying. It was time to eat, so I helped Ritta set the table, and I gave Midnight her fish. A knock interrupted our meal preparations.