Melissa's hand stroked Christopher's pale skin, which held a weary smile on her lips dried up by the cold. The boy closed his eyes and covered her hand with his, enjoying the warmth she generated with all the patience in the world. He felt at peace, protected. I had a feeling that there, in her arms, there were no difficulties that he could not face. With care, Chris took the girl's fingers to his own lips and said goodbye in silence, receiving a nod and a satisfied smile in return.
After a few seconds, Melissa sneaked silently through the door and headed in the opposite direction to Chris, on her way to her late mother's grave. The olive tree he had planted years ago with his father continued to grow and the sunflowers stretched out to escape his shadow, surrounding Elli's tomb. Melissa stretched out on the grass next door and watched the clear, starry sky.
"Hi mom" - she whispered – "I made your cookie recipe today, Mathilda loves them. But I know if Samantha catches her off the diet, I'm going to be the one to blame." - spoke, breathing deep, tears blurring her vision – "I miss you. I should be getting ready with you for the dance, talking about suitors and all these pointless futilities."
With her face filled with tears, she got up and began walking towards the forest, trying to clear her thoughts before returning to her dull routine in the mansion. Immersed in it for longer than she could remember, Melissa felt her feet begin to hurt when she stopped to look around her, looking for her way back, but to no avail. She looked up at the sky, trying to locate yourself through the stars, but had not paid enough attention when Chris had taught her a few years ago. She was confused about so many things; the girl barely knew what to direct her attention to. Lost, she sat on the floor and leaned on her hands, throwing her head back, frustrated.
The silence of the forest began to bother Melissa, where were all the noisy insects and owls she heard from her attic? The girl concentrated to try to listen to them, but the only sound that caught up with her was that of footsteps in the distance, accompanied by the calm trot of a horse. Frightened, Melissa tried to sneak a little further into the forest, hoping that her mysterious companion had not seen or heard her. She let a few minutes pass until she could walk around, being careful with where he was. Desoded, she closed her eyes and asked very quietly, all the deities who could hear her, so that "for god sake, send me back to Samantha." Her body was tired, her legs adore from tension and effort. Melissa rubbed her eyes and snored impatiently, looking back around, until her eyes caught an object in the distance. The girl wasn't sure what she was seeing, so she took a few steps toward the object. Finally, she concluded that it was a well and thought, "Curious place for a well, there is no other property nearby." He got closer, curious. The well was made with material unlike any other Melissa had seen. The stone not only varied between shades of gray, but also had black and pink parts, as if they had been perfectly cut and embedded for that specific place. Not only did her coloring get Melissa's attention, but also the symbols and writings that covered much of the well. In some pictures she can identify a man, a woman, the Elemental Conquest, and a war. Lightly, her fingers turned the drawings, forcing her mind to think, but nothing in her history books had ever mentioned a war, or a woman and man who were specifically great at that time (Melissa devoured the modest library of her home early, having to read and reread several titles to occupy her spare time, even if it was just a little).
The Elemental Conquest was a subject that was very interesting Melissa, after all, she had never left Iliona, but dreamed of visiting the allied kingdoms that surrounded us, exploring their cultures and getting to know their inhabitants. One day, she had heard a soldier from Warrior's Stone at Nevi Market* babbling about his house to the cup mates, sharing his knowledge about the food, the powers of his people and women. Especially women. The meniê in his lap, for a second, seemed troubled by his talk, while Melissa, fascinated, thought about the earthly powers of the boy's people, imagining and feeling the ground under her feet tremble.
The memory caused her to smile automatically, even though her body was exhausted. Sitting and leaning against the well, Melissa fell asleep, desiring a sign of which way to go.
"She was at the end of the empty well, alone. When she was looking for the stars, silhouettes laughed at her, women, men and children. She fastened her vision to the walls moist and full of fungi, extending to the top, too smooth to climb. Her feet seemed to sink into mud, thick and sticky, grabbing her legs, wrapping her like a blanket on a hot night, squeezing her, choking her. When the mass was entering through her mouth and blocking her breathing at last, she already desired death, but something within her ascended and the air seemed to finally fill her lungs, freeing her from those living moorings."
Melissa woke up startled, her heart racing and her breathing panting. She had felt the air disappear from his body and return exactly as in the dream, and in a jump, he got up and looked around. I still had no idea where to go, but if she didn't get there before Samantha woke up, the consequences would be worse than the nightmare she had just had. He closed his eyes and spun his heels. When he stopped, he opened them and went in that direction, without blinking. He had never been lost as that night in a place that seemed so familiar to him, but the only thing he regretted was that he did not know the way to visit the well again.
When Melissa arrived at the mansion, the back door was open and the sky was already clear, the girl quickly came in and closed the door behind her, imagining that it was her fault to be open until that moment, but had not noticed that Samantha was on the stove, rummaging through some strange and foul-smelling ingredients in a small pot.
The women looked down to top, both wondering why the other person's situation, but without wanting to reveal her own secret, however, Melissa did not have many choices in this scenario.
"Where are you coming from?" Samantha said, the rigid and cold tone.
"I just went for a hike." – Melissa explained, omitting much of the night's events.
"Walk yesterday and come back at this hour? You really want me to believe that? You didn't even take your bath after work." - Said Samantha, an observer.
"Are you following me?" – Melissa said, annoyed by the accuracy of Samantha's comment.
"You live under my roof, knowing where everyone is my task."
"This is not your roof!" - The girl said, the blood boiling and her eyes watering - "You invaded this place! I wouldn't be surprised if I suddenly found out that you disappeared with my father."
In an instant, Samantha's hand hit Melissa hard, emitting a loud noise, which echoed through the kitchen, staining the girl's white skin in a fiery, pulsating red. Melissa looked surprised at Samantha, who until then had never touched her.
"You're a whore, just like your mother. You think your escapades run away from my ears? A palace aide, Melissa? Really?" - Samantha laughed - "Wouldn't it surprise me if he paid you to get into you! Have you finally decided your profession?"
"He never..." – Melissa began to speak, but was interrupted by her stepmother.
"Never got into you? I doubt it. But anyway, I never thought you were going to generate a win-win marriage."
Pounding her heels over the marble, Samantha left with the stinky pot to her room, leaving Melissa in the kitchen, her eyes tearing with hate.
All those homework just annoyed the girl more, who had run from one side of the mansion to the other without ceasing all morning.
After finishing lunch, Melissa headed to the front yard, hoping to get ahead and have a few minutes free, but a luxurious carriage went through the worn gate of the property, raising dust through the entrance, which would yield Melissa another hour of cleaning afterwards.
When the carriage stopped right in front of Melissa, one of King Azavel's employees jumped out, dressed as an official messenger. The little roll of paper in his hands could only mean that the Prince's Ball, previously mentioned by Chris, was coming. The girl shook her dress to get rid of the dirt that had clung to here earlier, when the clerk, in all his corpulence, approached:
"I brought here an invitation from Your Majesty to the Mizzu* Phoenix's Birthday Ball." – said, loudly as if speaking to a crowd, offering the role to Melissa, who smiled and thanked him, excited.
"Have a nice day!" - She said, watching him get into the carriage and go away.
Before she could let go of the leaps of joy by the invitation, Samantha emerged, like a hawk, watching Melissa from the front door impatient.
"Melissa? What's this all about?" - She spoke, her arms crossed and her pose stiff.
"It's an invitation, stepmother, to the prince's birthday ball. " – The girl spoke, opening the paper in her hand to check the details.
On Samantha's face, a hunter smile arose, anxious for her prey. The woman approached and without warning, took the invitation from Melissa's hands, reading it and then keeping it to herself. Melissa watched her stepmother, waiting for the hard instructions that would come for her to run after stylists and shoemakers. A thread of happiness roamed her body, eager to see the castle, but even more anxious to see Phoenix. With a silly smile, Melissa noted Samantha's instructions, imagining herself in the prince's arms, too innocent to pay attention to her stepmother, who paid attention to her features.
"Why are you smiling, Melissa?" - She asked her.
"It's exciting, to be invited to a ball at the castle." - The girl said, expressing her speech without thinking.
"Yes, a ball, and one of my two beautiful girls will marry the prince and get us out of this disgusting mansion falling at pieces that your father got us into. " - Melissa's forehead writhed in confusion, however, despite the subtle movement, Samantha observed her from top to bottom, feigning surprise. - "Oh, You? Do you really think he'd even look in your direction? What would you have to offer? You look like a bag of bones with straw hair, spare me the humiliation Melissa, you're not going to this dance." - Samantha finished, her hands straightening the dress, the heels going in the direction of the stairs, where, at the top, the twins waited for the mother to hear the novelty.
Shortly before Elli Tressan passed away, she had said to her daughter the following words: "Few things are worthy of struggle, know how to choose." Melissa didn't know what her mother meant at the time, after all, she was only 9 years old, but a few years later, when her father told her about his engagement to Samantha, she finally understood. She should have fought with claws and teeth against the union, even if nothing changed at all.
Today, however, she wouldn't let it go so easily, so with firm steps, after the trio of women finished dining, Melissa sat in front of her stepmother and spoke with the serious countenance:
"I'd like to go to the dance." However, despite the girl's efforts to drop those words before Samantha, the three only laughed at her expense.
"And what am I going to gain from that?" - Samantha said, wiping a tear that flowed from laughter.
Melissa thought for a few seconds, passing her gaze between her own fingers.
"I can go in a simple stepmother dress, nothing costly." - Explained with her head down, because she knew that there was nothing she could offer Samantha, after all, she had nothing.
Samantha watched the girl, the look defiant and full of sarcasm.
"There's something I need, but it's a long trip and I couldn't find anyone who was willing to do it. You want to go to that stupid dance like that so bad?"
"I will do it." - Melissa said, even before her stepmother told her the mysterious task.
"Great. Be ready to leave tomorrow morning." – Said the stepmother withdrawing, followed by her daughters.
Happy, Melissa stills sat for a few moments, fearing that she would go to the ground if she got up, her legs were wobbly and her mind was curious. What did Samantha need so badly that no one would accept to pick it up? Gathering the plates from the table, the girl rose quietly and proceeded to the end of her chores.
She had watched the sky for many nights, but that one in particular seemed to come out of some kind of magical dream. Shades of blue mingled in a dance, while the orange of the sun gradually went off. She wondered what it would be like for Chris when he knocked on the door the next night and she wasn't there to open it, she'd miss his soft, kind words, his touch. By the time Melissa arrived at the attic, she found a note of Samantha on the bed that indicated to her where she should pick up the delivery and some money for the travel expenses. Still curious, Melissa turned the card between her fingers in an attempt to find something that could give her some more clues, however, there was nothing but Samantha's cursive letter.
Preparing for the trip the next morning, the girl gathered some of her belongings in a cloth bag, which she threw beside the bed while lying down.
The girl felt slightly guilty for being so excited to leave Iliona, even under such circumstances. She knew, however, that this was her greatest chance to see the world.
The Mosei Kimanti's Black Market* is in Almajid, the City of Fire and Commerce. It would be ironic if your people couldn't throw fireballs around. She thought of his father and his travels, the months that passed apart, the curiosity in little Melissa's bright eyes when the man arrived with his fascinating stories and magical objects. She was afraid to enjoy being too far away and don't want to return, but she was even more afraid that Samantha would have everything that was from her family, the few pieces of her identity that were left to her. She got up from bed and went to her mother's grave, her hands shaking by the adrenaline rush of the journey that was getting closer and closer. She knelt at his mother's feet and whispered:
"Mom, I'm getting out of here. Temporarily." - She stopped, swallowing dry, thinking well of her own words – "I had never thought of leaving Iliona, after all. I'm afraid to end up like Dad, the body missing in some ditch at Eagle's Tempest, or, let Samantha do what she wants here when I'm not around, or not to go, but to be stuck here forever, with nothing and eventually with no one.
Dipping her face in her hands, she sighed loudly, trying to remove some of the weight she felt in her chest. She let her head fall back and watched the sky, an old companion in her decisions, but always showing her the same stars, trapped in the same place.
- I'm not going to be stuck like a star. I'll be back before the dance, and then I'll decide what to do. – She promised to the night.