by Belle Malory
Thirty-Three
I woke the next morning sticky with sweat. The days here were warm with summer fast approaching. The weather wasn’t the only thing bothering me in my sleep though. I’d dreamed of the little girl again. She still haunted me. I still didn’t know why.
This time I saw her crying. She was lying on the ground next to a dollhouse, wearing the same blood stained white gown she wore in my bedroom.
I shivered, pushing her image to the far corners of my mind.
I intended to distance myself from whoever she was. Considering the way I cringed upon seeing her face, I doubted I even wanted to know.
Later that morning, I accompanied Salazar to the castle. He submitted his request with King Gabor for a hearing and brought me with him in case anything went wrong. I knew better though. Nothing would go wrong. As long he followed my instructions perfectly, his hearing would be granted.
King Gabor’s meeting with Salazar was held in private within Castelul de Prieteni, leaving me time to explore.
“May I look around?” I asked one of the guards. I batted my lashes and smiled sweetly. I wasn’t exactly an expertise on flirting, but I managed to get a wink out of the guard, followed by instructions to keep to the main hall.
I was surprised to discover it was almost like walking through the outdoors within the walls of the castle. Plants and shrubbery decorated the stone halls. The ceilings and windows were tall, allowing a flood of natural light to seep inside. There was no furniture anywhere. The only seating available were heaps of overstuffed pillows scattered along beautiful Persian rugs.
Curiously, I explored the castle, happy to find there weren’t many doors to bar my way. I entirely disregarded the guard’s orders to stay within the main hall, but so far no one had reprimanded me for trespassing. Everyone I passed barely spared me a glance.
I was about to turn the corner into what looked to be a dining hall, when I heard a gaggle of female voices chatting from inside. I would’ve kept walking, except I heard the name Constantin and I froze in my tracks. I wasn’t one to eavesdrop, usually preferring to respect the privacy of others. Except in this instance, I couldn’t get my feet to move. My heart sped up, hanging onto every word they said.
“Oh, that’s so romantic.” One of the girls sighed dreamily. “Are you going to see him?”
I slowly peeked around the corner, seeing three girls lounging on large pillows. All of them were young, pretty, and elegantly dressed. A low table was set in front of them, with an assortment of fruits and pastries sitting on top of it.
A blonde who had her back to me said, “Do you think I should?”
A curvy brunette with rosy cheeks smiled at the blonde. “You definitely should. This is, like, fate, or something.”
The other friend, a willowy black-haired girl, giggled loudly. “Anya, you’re so dramatic,” she teased.
“What?” Anya asked innocently. “You don’t think it’s hopelessly romantic? Lettie’s long lost love has come back into the picture. Little did she know, he was searching for her all this time.”
I swallowed painfully, hoping they weren’t talking about who I thought they were talking about. The blonde shifted in her seat. She spooned some honey in her tea, slowly stirring the liquid. “I knew he was looking for me.” She’d said it so quietly, I had to strain to hear her.
“But, honey, then why didn’t you say anything? Didn’t you want to see him?”
The blonde cleared her throat, and said, “It’s complicated. Stefan was a Royal. He abandoned the courts in his next life and I had,” she paused, “other responsibilities.”
I held my breath, realizing I was staring at exactly who I thought it was. The blonde woman they called Lettie had to be Tatiana.
I watched as the Anya placed a hand on her friend’s arm. Tentatively, she asked, “Honey, does this have something to do with the Order of Dracul?”
Lettie looked up, strangely startled. “Anya, you must never say that name aloud.”
“Pardon me, but it’s not a huge secret.”
“The society itself isn’t,” she hissed. “However, my connections to it are.”
A lingering, uncomfortable silence settled between the two girls. Finally the third friend broke it, by smiling and saying, “Why don’t we talk more about Stefan? You never answered our earlier question. Are you going to see him or not?”
Lettie seemed to relax. She turned slightly and I noticed traces of a smile in her profile. “His name is Rex,” she said fondly. “He is even more handsome in this life, if it’s possible.”
Anya, arched a brow. “I feel like there is a but in there somewhere,” she mentioned.
Lettie nodded. “But,” she emphasized. “He is still an abandoner.”
“So what? Times are different now.”
“I’m still a Royal,” Lettie pointed out. “It wouldn’t be acceptable. Especially to the people. The Constantins were the most beloved of the Royal families. People mark their abandonment as a betrayal. Some still consider them murderers.”
“Forget those people,” Anya told her friend. “Or better yet, convince Stefan to regain his throne. If the people loved him as much as you say, I’d bet they’d be willing to take him back with open arms.”
Lettie sighed. “I don’t know, Anya.”
Her voice drifted off. I leaned in closer, but was pulled back by a large hand tugging at my arm. “Excuse me, Miss, this part of the castle is off limits.”
All three of the girls turned at the sound of the guard’s voice. Anya looked at me pointedly. “Were you eavesdropping?” she asked, horrified.
They all stared at me with incredulous expressions, waiting to hear what I had to say.
“I’m s-sorry,” I stuttered. “I got lost.” It was the first lie I could think of.
Reddened in shame, I quickly ran out of the room before they could say anything else.
I stared dazedly at a display of violets in the royal gardens, trying to forget my embarrassing spy work in the dining hall of Castelul de Prieteni, yet at the same time, I couldn’t stop thinking about what had been said.
After a while, I realized Aurelia was scolding me. “You need to focus, Estelle,” she said. “You didn’t try very hard on the last question. You answered in under a minute.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled, feeling bad for wasting her efforts to help me. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
I’d met Aurelia shortly after Salazar triumphantly scored his hearing with King Gabor. He’d been so thrilled that when I asked him if I could explore the gardens, he merely told me to be careful and to be back at camp by dark.
Salazar was beginning to trust me more and more. His trust in me worked out great for Aurelia and me. We had more time to train, which ultimately made me feel worse about my inability to focus.
We both sat sprawled across a blanket within a secluded area of the gardens. My hand rested in hers as she asked me question after question while timing me with her stopwatch. I was trying to concentrate, however, my mind kept wandering back to the conversation I’d overheard. For whatever reason, I couldn’t get it out of my head.
“Aurelia, have you ever heard of the Order of Dracul?”
Aurelia stiffened. “Where did you hear that name?” she asked.
“I overheard it in the castle,” I answered honestly.
Aurelia released my hand, staring off into the distance. Her typically jovial expression faded into a formidable seriousness. “The Order of Dracul is a secret society,” Aurelia told me. “It’s a group comprised of some of the more powerful gypsies. Their methods have been known to be radical.”
“What do they stand for?” I asked.
I could tell Aurelia didn’t care much for discussing the group. There was a mark of detest glinting from her eyes.
“They’ve been pining for land for a long time now,” she told me, swallowing. “And power.”
Even though I was immensely curious, I said, “If it makes you uncomfortable, we don�
��t have to talk about them.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “You should know about them. Everyone should.”
She took a moment to compose herself, brushing leaves off of her dress while I waited for her to begin.
“The first thing you should know is gypsies were persecuted for simply being the outsiders not so very long ago. They were often the scapegoats for crimes they never committed. The Order of Dracul didn’t start out as an extremist group. At first, they were sort of the secret vigilantes amongst us, passionately advocating for the rights of Roms. They fought to put an end to the prejudices. Most importantly, they sought to obtain a land we could call home. The members of the Royal families supported the Order, wanting to rule more than just the people.”
Aurelia stared at a patch of flowers, her eyes welling as if she were remembering something painful. She cleared her throat and turned back to me. “What the society didn’t understand was that we were never meant to own land. Personally, I believe it is God’s will for our people to roam forever. The Order of Dracul never accomplished anything. They never obtained the land they desired. Instead, all they did was get a lot of our people killed unnecessarily.”
I wanted to ask how so many people were killed, but I hesitated. I didn’t want to push Aurelia to tell me any more. The subject was clearly hard for her to talk about. And besides, I now knew why Tatiana wanted to keep her membership a secret.
We went back to training, and this time I concentrated on fighting the curse, putting all my energy into it. I didn’t improve much since last night though. The longest I held out was a minute and ten seconds.
Aurelia saw my look of disappointment, and stroked my hair endearingly. “Don’t fret, my love. It’s still progress.”
“I really wanted to get to two minutes,” I said, trying not to sulk.
“We’ll get there,” she promised. “I’ll try to think of something new for tomorrow.”
She left me shortly afterwards. I didn’t blame her. I doubted I would’ve done much better today. Even though I’d forced myself to focus on the task at hand, subconsciously I thought it was tearing me apart knowing Rex was here, somewhere in this forest.
After Aurelia left, I stayed behind in the gardens, taking advantage of my newfound freedom. I found a bench near a bed of daffodils and spread out across it, lying beneath the sun’s warmth.
While there, I found myself dreaming, and they were good dreams. They didn’t involve little, demonic children covered in bloodstains. Instead, I dreamed of beautiful things.
I dreamed of Rex.
I looked up into the sunlight and saw his beautiful face hovering over me, smiling at me between the golden rays. I blinked several times before the familiar squareness of his jaw sharpened into view and before I recognized his perfectly sculpted lips. When I knew it was him, I didn’t get angry. I didn’t yell or damn him to hell for hurting me. Instead, I simply smiled lazily, so incredibly happy to see him.
In my dream I think I was Tatiana. Rex’s eyes were like warm honey, caressing me with an intense emotion. It looked like love. I must be Tatiana in my dream because Rex reserved that emotion only for her. He gazed at me like I was the one thing he wanted in this world.
His hand brushed my cheek, fanning back my hair. He lingered there, stroking the dark strands away from my face and staring at me as if I were something precious.
Softly, Rex bent towards my face, close to my ear, and murmured, “I love you.”
I was so surprised, so taken aback by his words. I wanted to say it back. I wanted to tell Rex I loved him too.
But the words were lodged in my throat. I was Tatiana. I didn’t really want him to love me. Not this-fake me.
Rex brushed his lips over my forehead, stroking my hair one last time before he left.
I tried to stop him. There was so much I wanted to say. He couldn’t leave yet! I needed to tell him that it was me, Essie, and I loved him too. With all my heart.
I woke up before I could stop him, dazed and mumbling an incoherent, “Wait, Rex. Don’t go.”
Once I fully awoke, it occurred to me maybe I’d been in the sun too long. It must have gotten to me.
A tear fell across my cheek. I was back in the world where Rex never told me he loved me. I was back in the world where he was with Tatiana and I could only dream of such things.
Thirty-Four
Training with Aurelia changed dramatically the next day. All morning she’d been pacing back and forth between the petunias and the violets, debating over what we should do to increase my time. “I have an idea,” she finally told me. “But you’re going to have to trust me on this one.”
“O…kay,” I said, feeling an impending nervousness spread over me. She walked towards me slowly.
“What do you care about more than anything?”
I was startled by the question. When I thought about the things I cared about, it frustrated me to pieces that Rex’s face came to mind. I pushed his image aside. I would never admit my feelings for him again. Not out loud, anyway.
I thought of other things too, like my puppy and going to college. And despite my resentment towards them, I even thought of my mother and Indie.
I settled on telling Aurelia about Abby. She twisted her diamond necklace absently, considering this information. “Why do you want to know?” I asked curiously.
Instead of responding, Aurelia grabbed my arm and asked me how she could find my puppy-and kill her.
“What?” I gasped.
“Fight against the answer, Estelle. Believe that I’ll put your Abby to death; therefore, you mustn’t tell me.”
A part of me knew Aurelia was only doing this to help me. But another more emotional part of me thought of my sweet, little puppy, and how I was appalled at the thought of someone trying to kill her.
I clung to the ground, pulling at my hair, and groaning with exasperation. They symptoms were relentless. Tears sprung to my eyes as I stared at Aurelia helplessly. She watched her stopwatch, counting down the endless seconds.
Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. I told her Abby was in northern California, and gave her the information for the nearest vet who would put her to sleep.
Drained, my entire body slackened after the answer slipped out. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “I tried.”
Aurelia didn’t chastise me though. Instead, she began jumping up and down sporadically. “Estelle, you did it!” she screamed through bursts of laughter. “Five minutes and thirty-two seconds.”
My eyes widened at the news. “Give me the stopwatch,” I said incredulously. I wanted to see the proof with my own eyes.
Sure enough, it was just as she’s said. Five whole minutes and thirty-two seconds. I was amazed.
My earlier bout of fatigue faded and I jumped with Aurelia, both of us laughing excitedly.
I stopped jumping as an absent thought occurred to me. Aurelia must have wanted what she asked for in order for the answer to come. “Did you really want to kill my dog?” I asked accusingly.
“Yes,” she replied, without the slightest hesitation.
“Why?”
“I pictured your Abby as a ferocious wolf with rabies, blood and drool hanging from its fangs, killing innocent children while they slept at night.”
“Oh,” I said, thinking of my little wide-eyed black Labrador with her girly pink collar, way off base from Aurelia’s description.
“Do you know what this means?” she asked excitedly.
I waited for her to tell me expectantly.
“Estelle, this means you can control the curse.”
A huge smile found its way to my lips. I could control it, I thought to myself, unable to fully wrap my head around what was happening.
“Do you think I’ll ever get to the point where I don’t have to strain against it?”
Aurelia lifted her hands into the air. “Anything is possible,” she said. “We have to keep training. We have to get you to the point where it comes naturally, when it
’s your choice.”
I nodded, ready to pour my heart into the training. Then I hugged Aurelia until she could barely breathe. “Thank you,” I said. “I don’t know where you came from or why you’re helping me. It’s like you’re an angel or something, coming out of thin air, but…just thank you.”
She laughed, trying to catch her breath. “Thank you for trusting me. Now come on, let’s get back to work. Maybe we can get you to ten minutes before the end of the day.”
I was on cloud nine while walking back to my camp. In fact, this was probably the best mood I’d been in since leaving Vancouver. Realizing I could fight this curse gave me hope, in more ways than one.
At the last minute, I decided to detour back to the marketplace instead of camp. I was too energized, too revved up to sit in my tent or to plot with Salazar. I wanted to do something celebratory. Feeling hungry, I headed to the gyros stand Xavier had taken me to.
The day dwindled into evening, the sun setting fast on the horizon. The marketplace was bursting with crowds and entertainment at this time of day. I knew I shouldn’t linger around so many people, so I quickly paid for my gyro and perched myself up on a hill where I could watch a fire breather’s performance from a distance.
I ate slowly, enjoying the show and people watching. Ironically, it occurred to me how much my life had changed over the course of the last few weeks. I’d once been a naïve recluse, hiding within the confines of my mother’s mansion. Now I was here in Romania, in the midst of a magical forest, watching a man blow fire from his mouth. I never would’ve imagined I’d ever end up here. It was surreal, this feeling of roaming. I’d been like a caged bird for so long, it felt like a dream to finally explore and wander.
After the show ended, someone announced a troupe of belly dancers would take the stage next. Since the dance would undoubtedly remind me of Lina, I decided to retreat back to camp. I’d just stood up when I noticed a hush had fallen over the crowd. “It’s Princess Leticia!” someone yelled, catching my attention.