“You‘ve decided to stay another week?” As if you had a choice, I finished in my mind.
“I know, I know. I know what you’re thinking:Winter break is over. But big deal if I blow a couple of classes. I’ll make up for them later.”
I shrugged. “Have you talked with my father lately?”
John’s face brightened. “What a great suggestion! I’ll talk with him immediately. You’re totally right. My Spanish is not good enough to ask her out. So I’ll do it the old-fashioned way. I’ll ask your father’s permission.”
“You can’t do that, John. Aren’t you listening? Rosa is engaged.”
But John was already on his feet. “Thanks so much. It was great catching up with you.” And rushing back to the path, he disappeared down the steep slope of the mountain.
That night, as Ama Bernarda was getting me ready for bed, Mother came into my room. In answer to an unspoken signal, Ama stopped yanking at my tangled hair and, bent into a deep curtsy, moved back.
Eyes carefully averted, I curtsied, too. My legs, I noticed then, were shaking. Mother was not supposed to come to me, but to summon me to her presence. In fact, for as long as I could remember, only once before had she come into my chamber. And even that once I was not sure it had not been a dream. My only memory was of her face looking down at me as I lay in bed delirious during my one serious illness as a child. What was so important that she had decided to come tonight? Had something happened to John?
My head shot up. “Mother, has Father passed sentence on John?” Mother did not answer. Whether because the ominous thump of the door closing had covered my words or because she chose not to, I did not know. Instead, she stared at me with her pale blue eyes, so cold and distant that I shivered. Still in silence, she glided toward the bed and, arranging her skirts gracefully over the cover, took a seat.
“Princess Andrea,” she said as she motioned me to sit by her side, “your sister, Princess Rosa, has informed us of your conversation regarding Don Julián. Don Andrés and I have been discussing the matter thoroughly. Don Andrés insists that Don Julián lied to your sister and to us, with the only intention of becoming heir to our kingdom. I am not convinced. That is why I am here. I want you to tell me the truth about Don Julián’s real intention when he proposed to your sister.”
“His intentions? How am I to know of Don Julián’s intentions, Mother? I have never spoken to him.”
“Do not play games with me, Princess,” she said, her deep blue eyes probing mine. “I need to know.”
Although I tried, I could not evade her questions, and soon I was telling her how the night of my failed first ball, I had climbed to my hideout in the oak tree. Ashamed at what now seemed to me childish behavior, I recounted to her my conversation with Don Alfonso and his claim that he had made a deal with his brother to teach him how to talk to a lady to gain access to the ballroom. I was careful to emphasize my opinion that Don Alfonso was just making everything up in order to impress me. But Mother didn’t believe that part.
“Then it is true. Don Julián had a secret agenda all along.”
“No, Mother. Don Julián just needed some help because he is shy.”
“Princess Andrea, you are too young and inexperienced to understand. I will be the one to draw the conclusions.”
Mother got up, and I, bound to obedience by years of training, followed suit, saying nothing.
Already at the door, Mother stopped and, facing me again, smiled. “Actually, Princess, you may have just saved your friend’s life. Don Juan has asked Don Andrés’s permission to court Princess Rosa. Don Andrés has agreed to his proposition, annulling Rosa’s previous engagement to Don Julián. His reasons you have just validated. Now, I suppose, Don Juan will decide to stay. So in the end, Princess, everything has turned out to be for the best.”
“Not everything,” I said. But Mother had already left.
Feeling empty and cold, as if winter had suddenly settled in my heart, I threw myself onto my bed. Why had I lied to Rosa? From what dark place inside my hate had those crazy words come? Now, thanks to my stupid blunder, I had lost John forever. Sobbing desperately, I buried my head in the pillows.
For days I remained in my bed feeling sorry for myself and, rejecting Ama’s insistent calls to reason, refused to see anyone—until one morning, Tío Ramiro came into my room unannounced. “Come on, Andrea,” he said. “Stop this nonsensical brooding at once and get dressed. You must help me stop the war.”
“Stop the war? I didn’t know we were at war.”
“You don’t know your kingdom is at war? On what planet do you live, Andrea?”
“Xaren-Ra. Of course I know that,Tío. How stupid do you think I am?”
Tío was not listening. “Haven’t you heard that Don Julián has declared war against your father? And the truth is, the way things work in your world, I don’t blame him. Breaking an engagement is a big insult. To clear his honor by destroying your kingdom seems, indeed, the only honorable solution.”
Tío Ramiro’s logical mind was missing the point this time. What did he know of broken hearts? Don Julián, in pain for having lost his lover, was trying to win her back. I would have done the same myself if only I had an army behind me. But a princess does not have the same resources as a king.
“Listen,Andrea, I thought you understood when I took you to see the missions the danger your world would face if discovered by mine. Obviously, I was mistaken. But at the time, I believed you when you said your coming to California had been an accident. That is why I helped you to stay there. But to bring John into yours, that I cannot excuse.”
“But Tío, coming back was also an accident. We entered the cave to get away from the storm. How was I to know that under the clouded sky the full moon was rising?”
“Don’t try to fool me, Andrea. It will not work. Have you forgotten I was the one to give you the watch? And anyway, that’s irrelevant now. The point is you both left. And do you have any idea how difficult it was to convince your cousin that you had just gone to visit your parents? Yes, I am sure you appreciate my help very much, but why don’t you prove it by helping me out of this terrible mess you have started?
“Of course, this time you are not the only one to blame,” Tío continued, without waiting for my answer. “Look at your father. I knew he was an old-fashioned fool, wasting his time waiting for a male heir instead of attending to the education of the daughters he already had. But now, for sure, he has lost his mind. What did he think he was doing, breaking the engagement between Rosa and Don Julián and accepting John into this world? As far as I know, with Sabela—the smartest one in the family—confined to her rooms and out of the line of succession, and Rosa being such an airhead, the kingdom will someday be in the hands of John. And John doesn’t belong here. He was not raised in this world and will not survive in it. He must go back. Do you understand?”
“Yes,Tío. I—”
“Good. Then what are you waiting for? Get up this minute and go talk to John. You have to convince him he must forget this nonsense about marrying Rosa and return to California.”
“But,Tío, Father will not let him go. He doesn’t want anyone in your world to know about ours.”
“I see. Well, leave that to me. I will deal with Don Andrés presently.”
“And while you talk with him, would you please ask him if I may go back, too?”
Tío rolled his eyes. “What a great idea.” And shooting an angry stare at me that contradicted his words, he walked away.
My mind in turmoil, I paced the room. Tío Ramiro had certainly been most unsympathetic to my predicament. But still he was the only person who could help me go back to California. Hurt feelings or not, I had no choice but to follow his orders.
And so, for the first time in what seemed to me ages, I left my room. It was not until I found myself in the corridor that I realized I hadn’t the foggiest idea of what to say to John to convince him to return to his world. I did have the suspicion, though, that asking him nicely wouldn’t accomplish anything. But lacking a better plan, I yanked my skirts up and started toward the stairs in search of John.