Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Demetri was sitting at the window ledge of the attic, staring out into the plaza where many people, more than usual, were crowded all together.

The streets were calm as people politely made their way through the roads, but he observed with great pleasure that they were all headed toward a square near the back of the town, where the gypsies had set up some attractions with their wagons were pulled out and their cloths, jewels, and goods were displayed nearly as to attract the townspeople to come and purchase them.

He had slept in that day for he had arrived home late with a good scare from Raziael and Vladmir, but pushing that to the back of his mind, his heart still swelled at the thought of Madalina and her sweet kiss.

It had certainly been a good night, after all.

He hopped of the ledge and wriggled himself into suitable, dry clothes to go out in and hopped down the stairs and looked around the empty, dim house. The entire house seemed to be completely abandoned, but clean for no trails of dirt or crumbs remained anywhere.

“…hello?” Demetri slowly approached Alina who was busy mopping the floors by the fireplace.

She looked up to wipe a bead of sweat that formed over her gray brow and she let out a weary smile and a yawn. “Up so late?”

“It was a long night… I was wondering if perhaps Traian’s around. I was looking outside and I see that there’s a festival –”

“Yes, a gypsy’s festival, he’s well aware of that. He’s busy right now with his private lessons upstairs but the tutor should be finishing up soon. I’ll send him out and tell him you’re looking for him.”

“…what about Caterina or Alexandru?” he asked, suddenly feeling preposterously desperate and lonely.

“They’re reviewing their lessons as well. As for the other boys like Razvan, Petre, and Marius, they’re in the public schoolhouse and I’m sure their lessons are ending right about now.”

“…thank you.”

Alina fumbled through the pantry to find Demetri a quick but filling meal and he took it gratefully, wolfing it down.

“Are you planning to go to the festival?” she asked, wringing the wet rag into the dirty water.

“I hope I will,” he said, “I really don’t want to go alone though.”

“You wont! I’ll go with you! We have a lot to discuss about your night anyway.”

Demetri smiled and Caterina plopped down beside him on the sofa, taking a piece of food from his plate, popped it into her mouth and sighed tiredly.

“The gypsies’ festival is always the best.”

“You won’t be going,” Alina said without looking up from her work and Caterina perked, frazzled.

“I’m not?” She seemed upset, trying to remain poised as Alina replied, “Your father ordered that you help today.”

“But I always –” she stopped in mid-sentence and leaned back into the couch again, unwilling to protest.

“Where’s Traian and Alexandru?” Alina asked, hoping to divert Caterina’s disappointment.

“He and Alexandru have to stay a few more minutes. They got in trouble for bickering during the middle of the lesson.”

“Who—”

“Traian started it.”

Looking back down at the wet floor, Alina grumbled, “No matter how unsurprising that may be, your father will not be pleased.”

This seemed to not settle well with the girl as she said, “He’s not going to get in trouble, is he?”

“Who knows…that brother of yours could get away with murder. You on the other hand…”

Demetri flinched as a broom was carefully tossed in her direction, almost hitting his head.

“Outside, the patios need sweeping. If you finish early, I suppose you can go to the festival.”

“But that’ll be the entire day’s work.”

But the maid only shrugged slightly, “I’m sorry, but it’s your father’s orders that you do not put yourself into any potentially problematic situation.”

Another reproachful glance set Caterina flouncing out of the room in huffy obedience with Demetri trailing close behind.

“This happens a lot, I’m assuming?” he asked, watching her furiously sweeping the patio in the front, sending a small whirl of dust to dance around their ankles.

“You’re damn right!”

She was so irate and sweeping so vigorously that droplets of heavy sweat formed on her forehead within a few minutes and she paused to take a deep breath to calm herself down and with great annoyance, wiped the sweat off with the collar of her shirt.

“My father must hate me,” she said at last and her tone gave off the voice of weak, defeated acceptance. “I have not been able to go out of this damn house for several months just to have fun. I’m only allowed to go out if I’m running errand and I have to have Alina’s supervision.”

“Maybe he’s trying to protect you.”

“What about Traian? He lets him do whatever he wants and he gets away with everything.”

Demetri shrugged, taking the broom for her hand and helped her sit down on one of the front steps and he resumed the work for her, sweeping the loose, light brown dirt from between the cracks of the bricks, watching interestedly with a slight cringe as Caterina peeled hardened blisters off of her palms. Once he had a neat, small dirt pile in front of himself, he set the broom aside and sat beside Caterina, taking her hands into his own.

“I used to have hands like these.”

He held out his palms to show her the splotches of darkened flesh where the long-healed blistered used to be.

“I helped my family with the farm – I worked a lot, I had no father. You’re lucky you still have one that cares even if you think he’s overbearing.”

Carefully, he stripped the pieces of loose dead skin from her hands as painlessly as he could, feeling her flinch every once in a while. As he tended to her, he said, “Is there absolutely anything you’re allowed to do that doesn’t involve working?”

Flipping her dark mane out of her eyes, Caterina shrugged and replied, “One event, but it only comes every special once in a while, not even once a year!”

“What is it?”

“It’s not really anything special. It’s just the second full moon of the month, it’s not really anything spectacular but there’s always a festival for it. It’s such a romantic night.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“It’s not necessary or anything, it’s just that if you don’t have a partner for the evening, you’re most likely all alone the entire night. I want to go but Traian is my brother — I don’t want to spend a night that’s supposed to be romantic with him and even though I’d much rather not take any of his friends, they wouldn’t want to go anyway.”

Demetri looked down with a slight shrug, as he suggested, “I could always escort you.”

Her eyes fell on his questioningly, silent for a moment before managing to rhetorically ask, “What?”

“It was only a suggestion though,” Demetri saved himself quickly, “I will take you if that will make your night any better. Unless you were planning to have Alexandru take you —”

“No. I –” She hesitated. “That would be really nice of you.”

Clearing her throat as she propped her elbows on her thighs and resting her chin on her hands, she said calmly to Demetri, trying to change the subject, “How did last night end up with Madalina?”

He beamed, and lifted his eyes to look at her and replied, “We had a nice evening.”

He told her about the evening, about the path, the lake, and the events that had taken place, Caterina grinning and nodding as though he were telling her a fairytale story. “Life is good,” he concluded and Caterina sighed happily. “…for me at least. All I’ve ever seen you do is work.”

“Things are different and difficult now that we live here.”

Peeling off the last bits of coarse calluses from her hands, Demetri said, “Everything becomes rougher, but you have to get through it eventually. That’s life, isn’t it?”

He put her hands back in her lap and watched as she balled them into a fist, making her eyes water a bit from the sharp sting of new skin. Caterina’s hands were tender, raw, and red from the peeling and constant picking, but she ignored it, lacing her fingers together and tucking them between her knees.

“Will you actually have dinner at the house tonight? Last night was boring without you there.”

“You’d actually like me to stay this time?”

“Between Traian’s laziness, Alina’s nagging, Fane’s complaining, and Alexandru and his violin, you could almost say I missed you.”

Demetri reddened, let the corner of his mouth lift, and replied, “In that case, I guess I’ll be having dinner with your family tonight.”

Demetri willingly helped Caterina clean the patios, enjoying the many conversations they were having, ranging from families, to friends, to sharing their annoyance with Alexandru. Together, he found them both to be much more articulate, witty, and outgoing around each other than he had first thought. They had managed to finish much of the front patio and soon enough, Traian burst through the front door, with a sour look on his face as he rubbed what seemed to be a sore rear.

“Fifteen lashes…all for trying to do some healthy debating with Alexandru,” he grumbled, giving bitter glances back towards the house.

“It’s not debate when you yell in his ear, insult him, and then spit at his feet.”

Traian retorted to his sister, “You wouldn’t know. But fifteen lashes? It’s a bit much and I have to entertain this dolt again!” He gestured subtly over his shoulder to Alexandru who was fumbling to put on his shoes.

“If you do my chores for the day, I’ll entertain him.”

“Are you mad?”

“As long as the work gets done and Alexandru gets entertained and out of the house, I don’t think we’ll get in trouble!”

Traian was quiet, mulling over his choices and Alexandru called out, “I wrote a new song last night!” and hearing that, Traian snatched the broom from Caterina’s hands and said cheerfully, turning around to the older boy, “Listen, change of plans. I’ll be working today. Caterina and Demetri will take you to the festival. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course I don’t mind being escorted by your darling sister.”

“And me,” Demetri said, irritated.

“Yeah, but you’ll probably be off with Madalina. How did that end up anyway?”

“Extremely well, thanks.”

Alexandru looked at him strangely and when Demetri smirked, understanding dawned upon the older boy as he bitterly furrowed his eyebrows and turned his back to him.

“How great for you,” he sniffed, not looking at Demetri. “I suppose you can just skedaddle off with her now.”

Becoming huffy and rather offended at Alexandru’s weak attempts to be rid of him, Demetri replied, “It all depends on whether we see her or not, but until then, keep your dirty hands off Caterina.”

Alexandru’s hands had been modestly places in his pockets nearly the entire time, only taking them out when he needed to adjust the bag on his shoulder, causing a momentary flash of confusion for him as he stared at Demetri with his dark green eyes glowing.

“I know perfectly well the appropriate time when and where my hands ought to be, but I do not think you are aware of the time and place it is appropriate to open your mouth.” He walked away, towards the town, ahead of Caterina and Demetri, slowing his pace to show he was still fully expecting them to follow.

“You’re getting to be more and more like my brother,” Caterina said at last, giving Demetri a reproachful look before she began to follow after Alexandru with Demetri trailing close behind.

As time passed, even with Alexandru, Demetri found himself having a splendid afternoon with Caterina as they stopped by gypsy stands to see what they had to offer and though they mostly refused to buy many items, it was much more fun to look.

“I think this is nice,” Demetri said, holding up a long necklace with an elaborate golden jewel at the end, but Caterina wrinkled her nose and replied, “Demetri, I’m glad you’re not a girl. You’d have terrible taste.”

“What? Why not? If I had the money, I’d buy it for you.”

“Too bad I wouldn’t wear it.”

Demetri grinned, putting it back down and said, “And yet you insist on wearing that thing around your neck?”

Her hand flew to the pendant around her neck and she tugged at it and gave out a fake gasp. “You think this is uglier than that?”

“It looks nearly the same to me…”

“Well, it’s not. It’s –”

“It’s a family thing,” Alexandru replied, pushing himself into the conversation. He reached into the front of his shirt and pulled out the same pendant. “We’re matching!” he said brightly, jiggling the trinket in front of Demetri in a way that a greedy child would gobble down candy in front of a starving other.

“This is ridiculous,” Demetri grumbled, walking away from Caterina and Alexandru and towards an area where a crowd had gathered vaguely aware of Caterina and Alexandru still close behind him.

The crowd was standing in a large but tight semicircle, blocking much of the oncoming traffic of the uninterested spectators. The people standing in front of the crowed were dark skinned, gypsies, and the most of the throng, like him, were fair.

“I love watching the dancing,” Alexandru exclaimed, squeezing in beside Demetri to make room for himself and for Caterina. “Have you ever watched dancing like this before?”

“No,” he lied.

“It’s a lot of fun, you won’t be disappointed. Didn’t your mother teach you to dance, Caterina?”

Murder flashed in her dark eyes when he said this and she gave him a meaningful glare, warning him.

Alexandru scoffed. “Don’t be shy. Go join your friends!”

“Be quiet.”

“I’d love to see you dance,” said Demetri.

He was not lying either. It was a mix between amusement and curiosity.

Caterina stopped scowling.

“You’d love it?”

“I would. Perhaps you can even teach me if I see that you’re any good.”

She was smiling now and neither could the gypsy girls had been watching the whole time.

Their grins widened as Caterina went to join them in time as a band standing by the side with a violin, dulcimer, and an accordion commenced the music. One of the men began to sing and the young gypsy woman danced to the splendorous tale; their movements like words as their bare feet braved the cold ground and the sharp splinters and rough stones.

Caterina was dancing along with them, no better, no worse than the rest. She was failing her arms gracefully and turning round and round, unmoved by the people surrounding her and the other girls on the open floor. While the others had their eyes on the coins the townspeople tossed to them, thinking of how they would gladly accept them once they were done, Caterina kept her focus on Demetri. She could not think of money at the moment and until then, her and the others smiled at the crowd with radiance, making them laugh and cheer with approval. Turning and spinning, dancing sensually to the music till sweat glistened on their tanned skin and even then, their smiles failed to falter, their devastatingly dark eyes staring into the crowd.

The girls began to pull young men into their dance and although there was pseudo reluctance as the young men laughed and shook their head, they made sure not to be too harsh with their refusals for they truly were thrilled to have been one of the few to be chosen.

“Um…”

Demetri looked back to see Caterina in front of him, shyly, nearly guiltily not quite looking into his eyes as she waited for him to take her hand.

Alexandru’s gaze became tense as he opened his mouth and stepped forward and seeing that from the corner of her eye, she snatched Demetri’s wrist and whisked him away to the middle of the ground.

The music and their gazes hit Demetri’s mind like waves crashing to the shore, his mind trying to capture every note, memorize her smiling face through the blur of color fixed into the spellbinding riff. His whole body was numb from the enchanting view of Caterina moving with him, tolerating their contrasting heat, swaying their bodies to the thumping rhythm, his heart and head pounding out of his bones, and it was almost as if there was nothing to worry about. He was captivated by all movement on the grounds surrounding him, becoming engulfed in their world, beginning to understand the language before him.

With another deep stare into her eyes, alive and joyful, the music ended.

“Okay, that’s enough now,” he said sharply, taking a step away from her.

And then, the sniggles coming from the side steered his attention away from Caterina and to his displeasure he saw it was the boys, watching him and to his horror, Traian had appeared as well looking at the both of them with a mix of interest and disgust.

He walked away from Caterina without another word and in the opposing direction of the other boys. He couldn’t face Traian in front of them, not with the way they were looking at him and he walked to Madalina who had been watching the whole thing from the back.

“It was disgusting, wasn’t it?” Madalina grinned at him when they looked at each other but her smile disappeared as she looked around at the town which seemed to have been taken over by the gypsy camp.

“Disgusting?” Demetri asked dubiously.

“Yes…” She seemed to notice Traian and the others watching as well for she lowered her voice, took Demetri by the wrist to pull him away and said, “Come with me, have dinner at my place tonight. You needn’t associate yourself with them, not anymore.”

After festival began to wind down after several hours, Madalina took Demetri back to her house where she had promised him a warm, delicious dinner where they could be alone.

“Well,” she said, tossing her curly brown hair over her shoulder, “my parents are most likely not going to be here.”

“That sounds find to me,” he replied, standing awkwardly beside her and she began to walk away from him, down a hallway towards the kitchen and said, “I’ll be back, I just have to make sure the maids have dinner prepared. Make yourself comfortable.”

As was expected, Madalina’s home was nicely furnished, the drawers, tables, and portraits all conspicuously costly, more than the Dalakis household. However, it was not warm and inviting inside, it was as if a constant draft followed Demetri around the room. He took no discomfort to the coldness and rather, ignored it, taking it as it was. The house was very pretty, after all.

Glad to have the chance to take the lumbering weight off his aching feet, Demetri breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on the couch. He was rudely jolted as he landed on his tush, the couch proving to be much harder than it looked, painfully placing in a nearly bruising position. He quickly straightened himself up in his chair and waited for Madalina to come back.

She returned in several minutes from the kitchen with a smile on her face and her miad traveling close behind her with a tray, carrying the two sets of hot meals.

“Comfortable?” she asked and Demetri nodded, choosing not to tell her about the discomfort of her furniture.

The food was neither fantastic nor foul; he took it as it came — just something edible to fill his stomach with.

“In a week or so, my Father is going to be having a little soirée with boyars across the region,” Madalina said, taking dainty bites of food, “and I’d like you to be there.”

“A soirée with boyars,” he repeated. “Madalina, what on earth am I going to do there?”

“Be with me, that’s all. And it would mean so much if you were to just meet my father, you haven’t had the proper chance to yet and don’t you think it just might be fun?”

“Only because of you,” he sighed at last. “I’ll go, I promise.”

Her smile hadn’t wavered once and as she looked at him through her long lashes she sighed happily.

…

“Goodnight, be safe!” he heard her voice echo as he trudged along the street, on his way back to the Dalakis house.

There was a feeling in the air that sent anxiety and nervousness through his bones.

No, he was not afraid.

He had nothing to fear, not yet. It was silent in the town, nothing like earlier; the only noise he heard were his own feet dragging across the cobblestone, echoing softly, making it sound as though an unearthly presence were stalking him through the grounds. All was still, the winds were hushed but it was not peaceful – it was as though the world itself had stopped breathing, just to see what was coming next.

Demetri recognized the Dalakis house easily, the path leading to the dark, old, brick house with lights coming from behind the stained glass windows and vines growing on the ancient walls.

Breathing a sigh of relief as he slowed to an easy stroll, he stood on the front porch, realizing he had only been paranoid for he was safe now. His blue eyes flickered up towards the heavens to observe the white moon with gray, thin clouds rushing by. Everything seemed quiet but he assumed they had finished their dinner long ago and he felt a pang of guilt for not showing up for supper like he had promised to Caterina but she would understand. He presumed she would for she had shown to be placid; she couldn’t and certainly wouldn’t be angry with him for wanting some time with Madalina. He would make it up to Caterina.

Everything was all right.

He pushed open the door and seeing the Dalakis’ front room, bloody, ravaged, and devastated, it was made clear that he was very wrong.