I needed more food than ever, and I was buying food for three persons, not one. Once a week I would meet Alec or Jasmine when they went to the village with little John who was growing up very fast. We would play or gather flowers or walk around, but usually, after one hour, I was tired. “You know I can call up a carriage if you want,” Alec said, one day which was insulting.
“I am fine. Try carrying a baby inside you, and I will tell you.”
“No, thank you. I saw how Jasmine was during her pregnancy, and no, no, thank you.”
No one told the baby that it should be born in four months, and my baby or rather my babies were born in two months. Yes, it wasn’t just one baby. I had twins, and I guessed they didn’t want to wait to see the word. My twins were beautiful. The boy was a spitting image of Jonathan. Everything was him except the eyes, which were mine—green like the grass. The girl looked like me, but with his eyes, blue like pools. I named them Jonathan and Lily—his mother’s name as I had promised.
“So now we know why you felt so many kicks,” Ritta teased, and I hit her in the arm. Midnight was very interested in the babies. She was always near them like a guard and watching them. Smart cat as always. Alec, Jasmine, and little John came to see them, and Alec was thrilled. In my message, I hadn’t told him there were two babies.
Jasmine thought it was funny the children were our own images but with different eye colors. “At least they won’t confuse you when she grows up and you have the same height.” Little John had a little trouble understanding what was happening; he hadn’t seen babies before. Alicia was thrilled with the news, and she couldn’t wait for Christmas to come so she could see them. I had sent them drawings of them, but it wasn’t the same as seeing them for yourself.
Soon it was the Christmas season, and we made preparations for decorations, food, and clothes. Ritta wanted to throw a big Christmas party, but I told her not to. I was still grieving, so I wanted to keep everything to a minimum. “But it’s their first Christmas,” she said.
“And they will have it, just not a crazy one.” In the end, she agreed.
Everyone was laughing and eating and dancing. I was glad they were having fun, but fun for me now was something strange. He should be here with me, with us making stupid jokes and being with his children. It was not fair. I made my way to my bedroom where the children were sleeping. I had cast an insulating spell or they would never have slept with the music. Midnight was there with them as always. She passed every minute with them and I was glad. I don’t think I could afford losing them too at the same time as Jonathan or any day. I felt peaceful when I was with them. It was like a piece of him was here when I was with them. A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts.
“Can I come in?” Alec asked.
“Sure.”
He stood near the babies’ cradle. “Sorry I came so suddenly I just... wanted to see them.”
“Of course.” He had the same rights as me with them—Jonathan was his brother after all.
“You didn’t stay much downstairs,” he noticed.
“It’s Christmas and he... isn’t here, but I couldn’t just not do it. It’s their first Christmas.”
He nodded. “Maybe they won’t remember much.”
I smiled sadly. “They will. Children always remember. John will remember you were sad a few months ago even if he doesn’t understand it now.”
We stayed silent for a while. “You know, we were supposed to go to Austria for Christmas to see his brothers and sister.”
He took my hand. “It’s not your fault.”
“Why? Why? They know me as far as Russia, and yet I couldn’t save him.”
He was silent, and his shoulders were hunched. “Maybe you weren’t supposed to. You have given him a lot of second chances. Maybe there is a time where you can’t.” What was that? Karma? Only witches talked nonsense like that, or maybe the universe was trying to tell me something, but I didn’t understand it.
The next day I woke up, fed the babies, and enjoyed a cup of tea and a good book.
Ritta woke up around lunch. “What time is it?” she asked.
“Lunchtime. You shouldn’t have partied all night.”
She scowled. “It’s Christmas.”
“That is not an excuse for a witch. You have to be ready at all times. What if there is a demon attack?”
She sat at the table and started eating some bread with tomatoes. “Demons... can wait.”
Yes, Ritta. Demons will wait for you to wake up.
The Ending
In my world, the first thing you learned was that things never stopped moving. You could have a period of calmness, but afterward, it was guaranteed that something would happen, and it was usually bad. I should have known better.
Life was calm and we were enjoying each and every peaceful day. Jonathan and Lily were now five, and I had taken them to the palace to play with John. I had given them the “talk of the witches” like my mother used to call it: “No magic allowed in front of humans.” Midnight was there watching them, so even if none of us were there, my cat would take care of any mischief. They were very fond of her, so they were careful not to displease her.
Lily had the gift of flying and Jonathan was a materialist. He could make things appear out of thin air—a very useful thing if you asked me. I was doing my normal walk around the village with Alec. We had arranged it so that he could talk to someone who was not a royal, ask for advice, or just share news. Sometimes I walked with Jasmine, but usually, Alec had the problems. “So he said why would I want to have dinner when I can make it myself?” Alec was telling me about little John. He was so proud of him.
“Smart boy. You should always know how to provide for yourself. You never know.”
He laughed. “I knew you would take his side.” I smiled a little. Our conversation was interrupted by yelling.
“You can’t respect my desires and needs, you filthy monster. You can’t even pay attention when I am talking to you,” a woman shouted.
“I listen, but you are always busy talking about dresses and fabrics, and I don’t care about them,” a man yelled.
“There we go again.” Alec sighed.
This had been happening for at least a month now. Every morning this married couple argued and yelled insults at each other, but in the afternoon, they would reconcile. I didn’t understand why they had married in the first place since they argued so much now. Arranged marriages, I am telling you.
“I know I can’t order you about anything...” I started.
“Actually, you can. You are the hero,” Alec corrected me. He found it funny that I didn’t know my own status, but since I had lived as a peasant all my life, it was difficult to detach myself from it. Once I had asked him jokingly if a royal highness was above me, but he said no one was above me except God, but in a human status, a hero was above all.
“Right... well, I don’t want to tell you what to do, but maybe finding a way to solve this problem would be good. The faster, the better because that thing? It’s dangerous.” He raised his eyebrows. “Love is dangerous and so is hate.”
He shrugged. “If they don’t love each other, maybe hate will solve the problem. I know it’s a bad thing to say...”
“Find a way, or remember my words, someone will get killed.”
“I know they might disturb silence, but that’s a little too far, don’t you think?”
I looked him seriously. “If they are ready to let people hear them yelling without caring, what makes you think that they would care if someone gets killed trying to stop them or because he is in the wrong place at the wrong time?”
“I will think of a way to stop them.”
“Maybe you should consider putting them in different cells. If they are away from each other, they will realize how much they miss each other and stop fighting. If they love each other.”
He stared at me. “You mean in jail? They are not criminals,” he said incredulously.
“Disturbing pub
lic silence is a crime, and jail is not always for criminals. It can be used for lunatics or for certain people who need to be taught to abide by the rules.”
“I hope jail will be my last resort to the problem.” We went to the palace, and I retrieved my children, and we rode toward our home. They liked riding.
I kept my eyes on the road. I didn’t like the thought that the “yelling couple” was somewhere near. Alec might not be worried, but I was, because love crimes were too many to count. If the one you loved betrayed you, then you wanted him or her to suffer. Love was the strongest and most inexplicable force in any world. I should know. The loss of love almost destroyed me, and the love for my children healed me.
Three days had passed from my conversation with Alec, and he was still thinking about what to do, or he would have put those two in jail like I had suggested.
That day I thought I would go first for our regular walk and then to the market. The little decisions we made could change the course of a life as much as the big ones. The children were at the palace, Ritta was probably roaming around somewhere, and my mother was doing stuff at her house. I left the children at the palace because they liked playing with little John, and Midnight was keeping them in check, so I didn’t worry too much.
“So you sold it in the end,” Alec said. We were talking about the house I had with Jonathan. Ritta had persuaded me to sell it because she thought I would never move on if I didn’t. I only did it because I knew I would never live inside that house anymore; it was too painful.
“Yes, I know it was maybe a mistake, but I won’t live there again, and maybe someone else will have good and happy moments there. I had happy moments there until I hadn’t.”
He nodded. “He would want you to be happy,” Alec said. I knew he would. If I was someone else, I would have remarried by now, but I couldn’t think of remarrying and certainly not so soon. Maybe it wasn’t soon, but to me, it was.
We were passing the edges of the woods now, and the trees had orange-brown leaves. I loved the fall with so many different colors. I drew sometimes now. I could draw again, but I didn’t think I would ever draw for the public again. We didn’t enter the forest, which had stayed intact after the Spanish War, which was the name they had given to the war. Only I entered the forest for herbs, but the people were afraid of it. They said something evil lurked in there. In all my years entering deep inside and being near it, I had never seen anything dark lurking. Alec never went into the forest except if he was with me, and he never wanted to go too deep. He said I kept the evils away. Go figure.
We turned around a corner and yelling greeted us. “Let’s not go this way,” Alec said and changed course going toward the sea.
“If you don’t want to change course, you can do something.”
He nodded. I knew it worried him that he couldn’t do anything, although he didn’t want to put them in jail. I hoped he would find something soon because eventually, they would kill somebody. Alec didn’t see it, but I did. It was like waiting for the storm to blow. You knew it would happen, but you didn’t know when. My mother said that I could take the children and go to another town if things turned for the worse, but I didn’t even consider it. Alec would be devastated and probably do something drastic about the fighting couple’s situation that he would regret later. I wanted him to do something, but not because he was forced. Alec made good decisions because he thought them through. Rushing things never helped anyone.
“I know, I just don’t know what. Jail is a solution, but they are not criminals,” he said apologetically.
“And what you will do if other situations like that arise?” I asked.
“Actually, I wanted to ask your opinion on something...” That sounds promising. “I was thinking of doing something like a... school. Well, I don’t know how to call it, but we will put people with problems, mental problems, where they would be treated properly.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I think it’s a great idea. A hospital for the mind, but I will warn you: you can’t help everyone.” I had learned it the hard way.
“I know, but if we can cure even one, it would be a win.”
“See? You can figure out solutions without my help,” I teased him and he laughed.
“Well, I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“How so?” I raised an eyebrow.
“If you hadn’t said that thing with the jail, I wouldn’t have thought it.”
“But yours is a hospital.” We stopped a little to catch our breath and then I asked, “Where do you think you will build it?” He pointed at a spot near the sea. “What? Every time I want to see the sea or when I swim, I have to listen to them?” I said.
“They will have something nice to look at.” That was true.
We sat quietly for a bit and watched the sea. I reminisced about taking the children to the sea. In the summer, I had taken the children to the sea almost every day. They loved it as much as I did, and Midnight always came with us. While she steered clear of the water, she waited for us on the beach and guarded our things. I wasn’t the only one going for a swim anymore. There were more people here all the time since Alec declared holidays and feasts would be days off for peasants too. It was nice to have some extra days when I didn’t have to work and could be with my children, Ritta, and my mother. I also closed the shop for my birthday too, and my children’ s birthday too. They loved their birthday. We had cake and invited the village’s children, and they had so much fun.
“So do you have any news from Alicia?” Alec asked.
“Yes, their horse did well in the race. And her brother is almost fifteen. Can you believe it?”
He laughed. “We met him when he was just a child. They grow up so fast.” I smiled. I had gone with the children in the summer to Italy to see Alicia and her family. We also saw Stefen and his children. My children had loved Italy.
We had started walking again and found ourselves on the same road we were on before. “You are a fire-breathing cow,” the man yelled.
“At least they have an interesting choice of words,” Alec said and he chuckled. I didn’t laugh. Even if they were just humans, they were dangerous. Fortunately, they were not witches or there would be nothing left.
“I am a fire-breathing cow?” the woman yelled. “You are a pig, and you know what happens to pigs?”
I pushed Alec. “What?” he asked as I felt a sharp pain.
I looked down and I saw a knife in my chest. I heard someone screaming. I had never heard Alec scream like that. I looked at him and then I fell.
He caught me as he screamed my name. “Eva! Eva!” He was frantic, and I had never seen him lose control like this.
“Eva!” Ritta screamed. “What happened, Alec?” They were making something with herbs, but I didn’t know what. I was surprised that a witch and a human were working together to save me. Humans were strange creatures. They could be mean and worse than monsters or kind-hearted with a heart that could reach the treasures of the Earth, but they would never cease to amaze me. They must know it is in vain, but still... they were trying so hard to save me.
“It’s... all right,” I said. I didn’t recognize my own voice. I felt hot and cold at the same time. They tried everything they could, but they were not me. Even if they were as good as me, sometimes you couldn’t do anything. I wanted to make sure they would keep going without me and have hope that things would get better. “It’s all right,” I repeated.
Alec shook his head. “No, it’s not. I lost him and I can’t lose you too.”
I smiled. “You will be all right in the end. You can’t save everyone, Alec, it’s just not possible.” I saw tears running down his cheek. He never cried at Jonathan’s funeral. Maybe he was being strong for me, Jasmine, and John.
“Eva, stay,” Ritta said in a low voice. “Please, please stay, do something, anything!” Ritta never begged. She was familiar with death; witches died all the time, but I guess you never really understood death until it happened t
o someone close to you.
I knew I was dying, yet I was not afraid or panicked. Maybe I was relieved that I would finally rest. I had so many close encounters with death, but I never actually knew what was going to happen to me. I knew I couldn’t survive this. I too had had more chances than I probably deserved. “Don’t worry, I will be with him. Please take care of my children, and tell them I love them very much.”
Ritta pressed her lips together. Tears were spilling down her face. I didn’t like this image. Ritta never cried. She was always so strong. I opened my hand, and Ritta put her hand in mine and squeezed. Alec held my other hand. Midnight came and sat on my chest. She looked at me accusingly as though she were saying Where do you think you are going? Did I tell you to go? Not really, but I didn’t have much of a choice, darling. Meow. I petted her head. My mother was holding onto me now too. I liked it like this, and Ritta even managed a smile. Everyone should die with someone holding them. “Make me proud,” I said and then darkness swallowed me.
The Truth
I opened my eyes.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Acknowledgments
I want to thank my family and my friends who have supported me on this difficult journey with their comments, suggestions, and help.
I would like to thank my editor, Kelly because without her I would still be lost.
My gratitude to my illustrators Jessica and Sofia who made my dreams come true.
A special thanks to my beta readers because without you nothing would have been accomplished.
Finally, I want to thank you, Eva, because you are the one who started everything. I will never be able to thank you enough.
Dear reader, thank you for reading my book and I hope you enjoyed it. Will you please take a moment to leave a review at your favorite retailer?
Thank you, Maria
Glossary
The Cursed Girl, #1 Page 57