“Who could it be right now? Do these people ever eat?” I continued setting the table, and Ritta answered the door.
“No one is sick. Just your fiancé came uninvited.”
“Don’t call him that. And what does he want?”
“What should I call him then? I don’t know what he wants. Ask him yourself.”
“Hello,” Jonathan said.
“What are you doing here? Is everything all right? I don’t suppose you have eaten already?” I asked.
“Everything is all right, and no, I haven’t eaten.”
Then what did he want? He knew we ate now. “Then what?” I asked him a little harshly.
“I wanted to ask you if you wanted to eat lunch with me?”
I was trying to be patient. “And you couldn’t come in the morning?” To that, he didn’t have an answer.
Ritta said, “Come on, he can eat with us. Don’t tease him.”
“I don’t tease him. I am angry at him.”
“For what? I think it’s sweet.”
“Only you.”
We set another place for Jonathan, served the food, and began to eat. The atmosphere was cold at least on my part. I didn’t care if you are a king, a prince, or a peasant. You didn’t just show up and ask people to do something at the last moment. It was rude.
Jonathan sensed my distress and didn’t talk to me. He asked Ritta how her day was and if the market had anything new. He knew if he uttered a word to me, I might explode.
“Will you stop being like that and talk to him already? The poor boy thinks you are going to kill him.”
“I am.”
“Eva... Your standards are a little too high for a peasant. Besides, he only forgot because he only wanted to see you. He hasn’t seen you since yesterday, but I am sure it feels like a century. Don’t you miss him?”
“I do, but I would never do something like that.”
“That’s because you are a girl and because you are Eva.”
“That’s not an excuse. He can be a little Eva too. You know, responsible. How am I going to handle all this?”
“With patience? I am sure he does what he does because he loves you and love makes you forgetful. Yes?”
“I guess.”
I sighed and started a conversation. “I went to see Jasmine today, Jonathan.”
“Oh, good. How is she doing? Did you see Alec as well?” He sounded a little too happy when he answered, but maybe Ritta was right and he didn’t like it when I was angry with him or didn’t talk to him.
“Good and happy. I went to see her about some preparations. Alec is good, always working hard to make this place better than perfection.”
Ritta said, “Maybe he has a goal of making it perfect, although I don’t see how this place can be more perfect than it already is.”
“Alec has plans, and he wants to make them come true. He just wants to make this place comfortable for its people. I don’t think he cares much about what the other kingdoms say,” Jonathan said. “What preparations did you see Jasmine about?”
Alec doesn’t care about what the other kingdoms say? Unbelievable. “He really doesn’t care?”
“No, he cares about people. Poor and helpless and nice ones, but for other royals, not so much. They are not nice anyway, so why would anyone care about them? That’s what he says if you ask him.”
“I wanted to ask Jasmine about something for the wedding.”
“What?” Ritta looked at me and then at Jonathan.
“Something.”
“I know it’s something, but what?” Jonathan grinned.
“You will see when the time comes.”
He shot me an exasperated look. “Come on, Eva. That’s months away.” He tended to make things worse than they already were. It was truly remarkable. Our wedding day was only about two months away.
“Have you heard the word patience?”
“I know what patience means, but I want to know what you discussed.”
Ritta answered because I was going to kill him this time. “It was about the dress, but she can’t tell you because it’s bad luck for you to see it or have it described to you. You will see, I am sure it’s great.” Good old Ritta always trying to find a solution for everyone. In some ways, she reminded me of Alec sometimes.
“Oh. Why you didn’t say so?” Jonathan said.
“See? No need for fighting.” Ritta said.
Maybe, but I was sure that Jonathan would drive me crazy sometimes. I would have to learn how to handle it.
Then we talked about general matters: Midnight, the weather, our jobs, and flowers. I didn’t tell him about the moon flower, but I guessed Alec would tell him the first chance he had. He made jokes and Ritta laughed and I just smiled. It was nice. “Did you tell Alicia and her family?” Jonathan asked.
“I have sent a letter, but I haven’t received a response yet. I told her to invite Stefen and his children as well.”
“That would be great. If they came that is...” Stefen was Bologna’s leader now, so it was difficult to just leave.
After we ate, he stayed a while to talk. Before leaving, he apologized. “I am sorry I showed up like this. Really. I thought you wouldn’t mind. I am sorry.” Ritta was right; he did it because he wanted to see me.
“I know, but next time, please do remember to tell me a while before doing it? I don’t like surprises. Especially not bad surprises.”
He nodded. He understood. War made you different in ways you could never imagine, and for me, it was not liking surprises. “I am sorry. I will try not to do this again,” he said and smiled. “Sometimes you have a little too...”
I completed his sentence. “High standards? Yes, a lot of people tell me that.”
“Yes. Not even the most regal king has standards that high.”
No, they have higher. “If I had higher standards, they would pass me for a princess.”
He laughed. “I meant that you have higher standards than any king.”
“I thought they were more demanding than that.”
He shook his head. “No. If anything, some have worse manners than peasants.”
Disgusting. But I wouldn’t expect anything else from them. “I know I might have high standards, but that’s my way of retaining a certain level. I know it’s maybe too high, but...” I shrugged.
“Maybe you can retain your high standards, but why not try to be a little more lenient? Everyone is not like you or you, fortunately.”
“Fortunately?” I lifted an eyebrow.
He blushed. “There can only be one of you in the world. If someone acted the same way as you, I wouldn’t trust them. There can only be one Eva.”
I blushed too. That was sweet. “I will try to be lenient, but don’t expect much.”
“I won’t.” He kissed me goodbye and waved. “See you tomorrow.” He sighed. Midnight went with him to the door and she raised her paw. Meow. Standing at the door, Jonathan asked, “What is she trying to do?”
“She doesn’t try. She already did it. It’s a waving gesture.”
His eyes widened. “Really? How did you teach her that?”
I smiled proudly. “But she only does it for close and special people.”
He beamed. “Am I special?”
Always. “You are now. She uses it for permanent people.” He raises his eyebrows in question. “That are staying in the house. That are family.”
“How can she tell?”
“She’s a cat. She can always tell.” We smiled at each other and he waved goodbye.
“You know, if I knew you would take so long at the door, I would have invited him for tea too,” Ritta said.
“Midnight was saying goodbye.”
She snorted. “Don’t make up excuses.”
She obviously didn’t understand. “I mean with the paw, and that raised questions.”
“Really? Wow. Good girl. She knows everything.”
The days passed slowly without any surprises I didn’t kn
ow about. Ritta said that something you knew about in advance wasn’t a surprise. I knew that, but I couldn’t like a surprise when I was a witch. I knew people found it pleasant, and they were happy about it, but I couldn’t be like that. I was a witch and danger was my constant companion in this life; as long as there were demons and other evil creatures, I couldn’t be happy with a surprise.
I showed Ritta the final sketch of the wedding dress. “Some other people are going to help with the wedding stuff,” I said.
“That’s great. We have to decide how to dress Midnight and how the setting will be and where...” She kept talking about decisions and things which would need to be arranged and drawn and sewed and ordered. She turned to me with a smile. “That’s just amazing.”
Mhm, yes. “You do realize that nothing can be done without Jonathan’s consent?”
She waved her hand. “Oh, we can make the dress and flower arrangements.”
“Yes, but the wedding is two months away, and isn’t that a little early for flowers?”
“I meant that we can choose them on our own. We don’t need anybody’s consent.”
“Some children will pick flowers, and a girl wants to help with Midnight—brush her and put a ribbon on her probably.”
She nodded. “We can—she made a gesture with her hands that meant wash—Midnight ‘up’ and buy a ribbon with a bell, and the girl can do the rest.”
“What is she? A cow? We are not putting a bell on her.”
She held out her hands. “Fine. When are we going to order the dress? Tomorrow?”
“Are you crazy?”
“What?”
I sighed. “What part exactly of ‘two months away’ did you not understand?”
She smiled. “Yes, but we can order it now and pick it up a week before the wedding.”
“But not tomorrow. We can go in five days when January will officially be over.”
“All right. From where will you get your earrings?”
“From—” I stopped as I realized the problem. Oh.
“You can’t order them from your fiancé because he isn’t supposed to know.”
I gritted my teeth. “Stop using that word.”
“What? Fiancé? And what I am supposed to call him? Betrothed?”
“Even worse. Just by his name, and I can’t go to someone else in the village because...” I shrugged. “It’s a village. Everybody knows everything about everyone. Almost. He will kill me if I go to someone else about this.”
“We could go to someone ‘up there.’ I am sure we can find something good.”
An Unforgettable Marriage
The day before we were going to the White Land, I informed Jonathan. “Ritta and I have to get some wedding stuff, and you are not allowed to come.”
He sighed and nodded. “Be careful.”
I smiled. “Always am, and I will have Ritta with me. Go to Alec and arrange your dressing and wedding stuff.”
He laughed. “Alec doesn’t know about things like that nor do I.”
“It seems your education is incomplete. You may know something about war, but in this, you know as much as a chicken knows about writing.” He smiled. “Good for you that Alec has a wife who knows something about clothes.”
He nodded and kissed me.
The next day Ritta and I headed to the White Land. I missed Jonathan even though I had seen him yesterday. I kept reminding myself I would see him again soon. Ritta and I took the road that led outside the village and walked until we saw the forest. We headed into the forest because we needed to make sure nobody followed us and nobody could see what we would do.
If it was night, the dark would have hidden our actions, but it was day. We hid in the woods and then located the portal. We didn’t usually use portals, but during daylight, what choice did we have? Even if we went invisible in plain sunlight, someone would spot that something was not right with the whole picture. The portal’s light might be a problem, but if someone saw a light in the woods, it would probably feed into the superstition of “haunted woods.”
We stepped into the portal, and we reappeared near a lake in the White Land. Portals landed you in places away from the city so we wouldn’t accidentally land on someone’s head.
We walked until we reached the city. We headed toward the shop, but on the way, I saw witches were staring at me or even smiling at me. “What is this, Ritta? Someone said that I am a freak?”
“Hmm... no more than usual, but I think that’s because you ‘collided’ with the princess and you threatened her.”
“I thought whatever happened in the palace stayed in the palace.”
Ritta laughed. “Ever heard of thin walls?”
I had but I thought it applied only to the human world. Apparently, I was wrong. We went to the shop for animals, and I arranged a bath for Midnight some days before the wedding. Then we went to “the shop,” as we had come to call it now, and I gave the woman my sketch.
She smiled. “That is very beautiful. Is that for you?”
“Yes.”
Then she asked, “First wedding?” Confused, I looked at Ritta. Why would she ask that? Why would anyone marry more than once? “Yes,” I said cautiously.
She nodded and then started talking about the veil, the dress, and fabrics. She made me a dress for the wedding and the ball, all in one. The dress was white but had a blue light which made it blue, so I had a dress for two occasions.
Afterward, we went to a jeweler and ordered my earrings. That was the last shop we visited, fortunately. I couldn’t handle any more talking about dresses. We invited some witches to the wedding but kept it quiet. There was no need for it to reach the princess’s ears. Heather was thrilled by the invitation. “I will wear my silver outfit.” I was not even slightly surprised. She had clothes for the library and the libraries of Light and Dark, so why not for a celebratory occasion like this one?
The days passed quickly. When I wanted something to happen, the days passed slowly, but when I didn’t want them to pass, they did with the speed of lightning. Where is the right in that?
The gazebo was built, and the flowers were cut. Some villagers were decorating the gazebo and wedding spot with the flowers and decorations. There were two days until my wedding, and everything was a blur. Midnight was washed and the girl came to brush her and put a blue ribbon on her. Ritta was so excited that she jumped up and down like she was going to grow wings and fly. Everyone in the village was on the run for what? Me. My wedding. I never imagined that I would be that important. But it felt good because I knew they did it because they liked me and because I helped them and not because I ordered them or gave them money.
Alicia and her family had come a few days earlier and were staying at my mother’s house. They were very helpful—especially her mother because she had been married and knew everything about it. My mother had never married, but we always said she had or the people would have treated her worse than an outcast. My bridesmaids would be Alicia, Jonathan’s sister Margaret, and Leticia. When I told Leticia, she looked at me like I was offering her the world. Meanwhile, I tried not to think about the wedding. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Jonathan, but right now I was very nervous.
We were down to only one day. I could make it. I could do regular things without thinking about it. I could cook food. I could do magic. I could draw. I couldn’t sleep. Someone knocked on the door. “Who is it?” I asked.
“It’s me.”
“Jonathan. Are you insane?” I asked without opening the door.
“No, why?”
Stupid as always. Until the last moment. “The boy can’t see the girl before the wedding? Does it ring any bells?”
“I forgot. I just wanted to see you.”
Me too. “Yes, but better wait until tomorrow.
He sighed. “All right. Goodnight. I love you.”
“I love you too.” Now back to not being able to sleep.
I finally fell asleep, and Ritta woke me in the morning. The big
day was here. I was nervous but at least after this was over I could finally relax and think about... the future, which was what exactly? I had no idea.
“Would you stop daydreaming?” Ritta scolded me. “Your wedding is today. You have to get ready.” Trust Ritta to bring you back to reality.
“But it’s in a few hours. We have time.”
She dragged me to the kitchen to try to make me eat a decent breakfast. I was too nervous to eat. I thought I would throw up.
Afterward, she brushed my hair, and my mother, who arrived just now, began doing my makeup. I had never used a single beauty product in my life, but Jasmine had insisted and given me several, which I had no idea how to put on. Thankfully, my mother did. Some girls from the village came and help. Some helped my mother put some colored dust on my face, and some helped Ritta style my hair.
When my hair and makeup were finished, I put on my wedding dress and my boots. I looked in the mirror and I did not know the girl staring back at me. She was from another land, from another planet. I didn’t know her, but she moved when I moved. The things they applied to my face made my eyes seem more noticeable and my cheekbones more prominent.
“You are beautiful,” my mother said. With all these products you put on me, how can I not be?
“Let’s put on your jewelry,” one of the girls said, and I opened the box that contained Jonathan’s gifts for me. When they saw the jewelry, they sighed and said, “They are so beautiful.” I put on the bracelet and the necklace and lastly the ring. The bracelet and necklace were silver with my birthstone, malachite. The ring was silver and gold with our birthstones intertwined like our fates. A human and a witch that could not logically meet in any way, but here we were now about to get married. Fate worked in funny ways.
The carriage was here and I was ready. Ready mentally and physically. Alec had insisted on sending me a carriage. “A bride should never get to her own wedding on foot. Never and never. Especially not you.” A thousand brides had gone on foot before me, I tried to tell him, but he would not budge. He and Jonathan must have gotten the stubbornness from hanging out with me—I couldn’t explain it otherwise.
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