The year had passed quickly, but the friends were eager to meet again.
Tom and Alexandra understood perfectly well that setting up a trading post was a very troublesome affair and decided to postpone the long-awaited meeting until the main opening day, which was tomorrow.
From the forest's edge, Tom led Alexandra to see what was happening on the fairgrounds from the highest point in their area—an abandoned windmill.
Children were, of course, forbidden from going there, but the mischievous village children, with whom Tom was very friendly, were always trying to climb up to watch the sunrise or sunset when the last ray of light drowned in the sea of forest to the northwest.
And now, on the eve of the fair, there was, of course, no room to swing a cat—everyone wanted to look down from above at the bustle reigning amidst the halted caravan.
Slightly disappointed, the girl and the boy walked a little further, to the hill from which the foreigners usually launched their curious sky-lanterns—fireworks—in honor of the fair's opening.
From the hill's slope, they could see tents being raised and light stalls being hammered together among the countless number of wagons.
The sound of pounding hammers announced the imminent construction of a large stage for performances by traveling actors. Several barons had provided a group of laborers to help, and like an anthill on a huge clearing, large-scale construction was unfolding at a rapid pace.
Colorful flags, ribbons, and foreign paper lanterns were hung along the already-built improvised streets and ready light structures.
Having had their fill of the wonderful views of the bustling crowd, Alexandra urged Tom to hurry to his fencing lesson at the estate and herself, in high spirits, planned to finish all her household chores as soon as possible so that nothing could distract her from the anticipation of the festive event.
Humming a song aloud*, Alexandra danced slightly as she hung the wet laundry outside after washing, completely absorbed in thoughts of how much Li Min had changed over the year and how much she herself had changed.
Servants scurried past every now and then; shouts from the heirs of the estate and their fencing instructor carried from the training grounds. Sometimes encouraging, sometimes instructive, they mingled with the mocking cries of the trainees.
The human sounds were mixed with melodies from the piano and violin coming from the main building of their estate, to the rhythm of which one could hear the crowing of a rooster from the henhouse located near the crop field.
It seemed to the rejoicing Alexandra that nothing could darken her mood, but as she reached for another clothespin, a soul-chilling shiver suddenly gripped her. Her trembling hand dropped the clothespin she had just grabbed.
All sounds vanished into oblivion for her; only a ringing silence splashed in her ears.
The girl didn't understand the reason for such an internal change. Her eyes widened in surprise and indescribable fear. A constricting feeling tightened her body like a taut rope. Staring almost unblinkingly at a small, hand-embroidered flower on the collar of a wet dress, it seemed to her that some monster was standing behind her, and if she so much as glanced at it out of the corner of her eye, she would die immediately.
At that moment, she was even afraid to breathe, lest she attract this unknown creature with a sudden awkward movement.
"Meow!" sounded at her feet, making Alexandra jump in surprise and take a step sideways, causing her to trip over a wooden bucket of clean laundry and fall painfully on her backside.
At the same instant, all the sounds returned to the girl, and the terrifying feeling released her.
In a state of shock, she looked after the cat running past.
It, in turn, seemed to feel her gaze and turned its face toward Alexandra, measuring her in return with an intent, displeased look, as if saying, "What are you doing in my way?" and "Nothing but trouble with people."
There were many cats on the estate with whom Alexandra had played since early childhood and often fed, but she had definitely never seen this one before—its fur, black as night, shimmered in the sun, and the pattern of its iris, bright green, swirled strangely like a vortex around the pupil, making it seem like it was looking not at you, but into your soul.
Suddenly, the cat's attention was drawn to something near the stables, and it rushed there with all its feline agility as if nothing had happened.
Putting a hand to her chest, Alexandra sat on the ground for a while longer, breathing heavily and staring into space. Her thoughts were tangled and refused to settle into a stable state.
She was finally brought to her senses by a call from one of the maids asking if everything was alright.
Answering affirmatively, the girl pushed all the unpleasantly grating thoughts into the farthest corner of her mind and, with a feeling that it had all been a fleeting delusion, hurried to finish hanging the laundry so she could start her evening reading as soon as possible.
Alexandra loved to read—it always calmed her. But unfortunately, the governess in charge of the library strictly monitored what literature reached her charges.
For example, adventure and romance novels were strictly forbidden for young girls. Instead, from an early age, all female children read tedious philosophical treatises full of moral reflections, history books, and, of course, poetry collections, most often focusing on historical events, pastoral life, and nature.
Generally, since the invited tutors for the Daley family children had special instructions only regarding the blood children, her progress in mastering the material was of interest only to the governess, who assessed her academic performance with all her teacher's strictness.
Alexandra was a diligent student but no star, and periodically, for a poorly learned lesson, she would grit her teeth and receive raps on the knuckles with the teacher's pointer and assignments to copy parts of classical works twenty, thirty, or even fifty times.
Of course, in the child's eyes, the governess seemed like a true fury incarnate. Though she was still young, the wind of old age in the form of the first gray hairs and a slight network of wrinkles under her eyes had already touched her appearance.
Once, the governess had whipped Alexandra's hands so hard that she couldn't hold a pen properly for several days.
This incident prompted the girl to steal a forbidden book from the library.
No one noticed the missing book, so Alexandra was able to read it from cover to cover several times by candlelight in her room with pleasure. And when she realized that no one was really monitoring the library itself, she began sneaking in during the day when no one saw.
Since, of all the activities that filled daily life, Alexandra most enjoyed reading adventure novels, she began to often sneak into the library.
The main thing was to seize the moment when the governess went to the kitchen to drink tea. And this time, grabbing a volume she had long had her eye on, she quickly rearranged the books so the gap would be hard to spot and hurried to a secluded spot in the attic so no soul would disturb her and she could completely give herself over to the flight of the author's thought.
Alexandra had found the key to the attic by accident when she and Tom were playing hide-and-seek in the corner of a large wardrobe.
Hurriedly closing the door behind her, she rushed to the hatch leading to the roof to let light into this gloomy room as soon as possible.
Sitting right in a square of light, the girl began to read the book on her knees with relish.
"What?!" After two hours of reading, she felt like throwing this nasty book into a far corner. "Why would he do that?! Did he really have to go there alone? Is the main character suicidal? Why not take that archer girl who shoots like a goddess? With her, he definitely wouldn't have died so tragically. Seems he's also one of those pompous, self-satisfied men who underestimate women. Pff, I didn't think this book would disappoint me so much."
After happily ranting about the disliked book, she set it aside with disdain, thinking that such an uninteresting adventure novel belonged buried in the attic, not in the main library.
Stretching sweetly, Alexandra hurriedly gathered herself for the family dinner to then go straight to bed, thereby bringing the new day closer.
***
The girl rose with the first roosters, as soon as the rays of the dawn sun touched the roof of the servants' house.
After a quick wash and dress, she carefully braided her long hair and, jumping over the threshold of the dwelling, happily waved at a yawning stable hand who was leading the first horse out of the stable for a morning run.
"Good morning, Alexandra!" he shouted in response to her greeting. "So early, and you're already all aglow."
"Good morning, Sam! Today is the fair's opening day, how can I not be happy?" Smiling at him, she fluttered off hurriedly to the main kitchen, where she had arranged to meet Thomas as early as possible.
"Hmm, the fair?.. That's right..." stablehand Sam mumbled after her, not stopping his yawn.
Bursting into the kitchen, which was already open at such an early hour by the head cook, she greeted the people who were bustling about, preparing breakfast.
Entering the adjacent room where the servants usually ate, she broke into a smile seeing the boy at the open buffet.
Lately, he had gained an admirer in the form of one of the cooks, who had arranged with the chef that Tom could "officially" take treats in unlimited quantities once a week as part of a charity he organized. (Which, truth be told, didn't stop Tom from taking something on other days when no one was looking).
"Good morning, young Heir of the 'Three Hills' Estate, Master Thomas Daley," Alexandra said jokingly.
Tom turned to Alexandra businesslike and, making a bow full of courtesy and feigned importance, laughed loudly. The ringing laughter immediately spread to Alexandra.
"So, are you ready?"
"Long ago! I don't think I slept properly at all tonight. I wonder if Li Min will bring that amazing bird figurine she told us about this time? What was it called..."
"You mean the phoenix bird?"
"Yes, that's it, the phoenix!"
"Oh, and I want to see those shoes some women in their country wear, the ones they break their feet for. It's so unusual... Li Min promised to bring a pair for me to see. Anyway, let's go quickly."
As the two were about to leave the way the girl had come, a voice stopped them.
"Thomas, Alexandra, stop. Where are you off to?" The authoritative voice of the older brother, Irving, nailed them to the floor. "Mother asked everyone to gather for breakfast today, including you, Alexandra. It seems Father wants to announce something important."
Thomas's face was filled with indignation, but the words of the older brother were absolutely respected by all.
Perfectly trained, he was fully prepared to take over the reins of the estate in case of unforeseen circumstances that might force their father to step down. The only thing left was to officially receive the title, which was only granted after completing military service.
"As you say, older brother," Alexandra said, turning around with a curtsy, subtly stepping on Tom's foot so he wouldn't do anything stupid that would get him punished later. "We will come to the main hall shortly."
Measuring the pair with a glance and finding no opposition, Irving nodded and left the room.
Only then did Alexandra exhale—she was afraid of him, sometimes more than Darrell.
At the sight of him, the cry he had uttered at their first meeting sometimes surfaced from the halls of memory. And their relationship had never been close, rather neutral.
Generally, of the entire Daley family, she had only found common ground with Tom.
Tom stamped his foot in fury.
"This isn't fair!"
"But we can't disobey Irving, and especially not Mother."
"But we wanted to..."
Alexandra ruffled the hair on Tom's head.
"Don't worry, we managed to wait for this day somehow, right? I think a couple of hours won't make much difference. We'll just be in time for afternoon tea. Come on, Tom, chin up!"
"Y-yeah, you're right," the boy wiped away the tears of resentment that had welled up.
Waiting for Tom to calm down completely, they followed the servants who had gone to set the tables.
In the main dining hall were already Esmond with a book in his hands and the governess with Anna and Jeannette. The girls, dressed in identical crimson dresses, were vying to discuss what they wanted to buy at the fair opening today, to which Esmond occasionally shook his head disapprovingly—he was never interested in this fair and disliked going to its opening, but unfortunately, it was one of the duties referred to as "going out in society," for besides ordinary villagers, high society also gathered at this fair.
Entering the room, Alexandra and Tom hurried to greet everyone and take their seats.
At that moment, Irving entered the room with the matriarch of the large family, the Elder Daley, and closing the procession was a particularly sullen Darrell. It even seemed to Alexandra that he was unwell—he was very pale with large dark circles under his eyes.
What was also surprising was that he didn't even look in her direction once, though he usually drilled holes into her with his eyes—she often thought he would someday bore a hole right through her skull with his gaze.
When the exchange of greetings was over, the servants hurried to bring hot dishes.
"Father, we are all going to the fair together right after breakfast, right?" Jeannette chattered, uncertainly poking at the fried eggs on her plate.
"Right, right?" Anna echoed.
The Elder Daley sighed and said:
"Only you with the governess. Your mother and I have to attend to an important matter," he said, looking around at all present and stopping his gaze on Alexandra, making her involuntarily shiver. "Last evening we received a letter from Baron Einhorn. He is ready to set a wedding date, but some matters need to be settled, especially those concerning the dowry."
"But..." escaped the girl involuntarily, causing everyone except Darrell to look at her. "But I'm not even sixteen yet..."
"Don't worry about that. The king has approved your marriage, so there are literally only a few days left until you officially receive the title of Baroness and become the mistress of an estate."
Unblinking, Alexandra stared into her plate, forcing herself to nod, not forgetting to lightly kick Tom, who sat opposite her and was about to say something seeing the shock Alexandra was in.
Though he was young and didn't yet understand why the girl didn't want to become the mistress of an estate larger than their own, he could read the emotions overwhelming her well from her expression.
In the end, only a quiet "Ouch" escaped him instead of a phrase.
Understanding that the conversation on this topic would not continue, the girls resumed their leisurely conversation about the fair.
Alexandra barely held back her tears, which welled up in her eyes again and again.
So, this was the last fair she would experience in freedom.
She harbored no illusions about marriage to the Baron—nothing good awaited her there.
And if the rumors were to be believed, the Baron lived so long by feeding on the life energy of his wives, who subsequently died under mysterious circumstances.
Finally pulling herself together, the girl nodded almost imperceptibly, resolving to enjoy her remaining days of freedom as if they were her last days in this life.
When breakfast was over, all the Daley family children gathered in the main hall, waiting for the carriage that would take them directly to the fair. Tom and the younger girls could no longer hide their excitement. Irving was quietly discussing something with Esmond. Darrell clearly avoided everyone, standing at a distance.
Assessing the situation, Alexandra went outside, deciding to sit with the coachman when the carriage arrived—such antics were not forbidden to her.
Right now, she wanted to be as far away from her foster family as ever.
The carriage's arrival happened a little later than agreed—though one could easily walk to the fair, all the landowning families arrived by carriage on the opening day to show their status, which sharply increased demand, and the coachmen simply couldn't get to everyone on time.
Without asking permission, Alexandra climbed up to the coachman's box. He, in turn, was surprised by such company but, looking at the sweet girl, merely smiled warmly at the prospect of spending the journey to the fair in her company.
The other waiting family members also hurriedly loaded into the carriage, and to the chatter of the younger Daley children, the coachman urged the harnessed horses on.
From a distance, the place attracting a large number of people, wagons, and carriages was already visible.
People came from all nearby and not-so-nearby places for such an event to have a good time.
There were plenty of entertainments: from trading various wares to delicious food and performances, from a colorful kite festival to a stunning evening fireworks display. And absolutely everyone tried to make it for the start of the event—the first day marking the fair's opening.
As soon as the carriage stopped, the girl, thanking the coachman, quickly got down to the ground and, without looking back, dissolved into the crowd, where Tom barely found her.
Seeing the girl's despondent state, the boy immediately quieted down, making a decision beyond his years not to disturb her.
Splitting from their relatives, they squeezed through the mass of stalls, tents, carts, and people, searching for the tent belonging to Li Min's family.
Seeing the familiar "Spices" sign, the two, a boy and a girl, froze on the threshold, not daring to enter.
At that moment, a graying man emerged from it, speaking briskly in a foreign language to a person walking behind him.
The two outside straightened up as if on strings and greeted him loudly using the foreign bow, folding their hands in a gesture of respect as Li Min had taught them.
Startled for a second, the man smiled and returned the greeting. The young man who had followed the merchant out stared wide-eyed at the two foreigners; he wasn't used to foreigners greeting in their manner.
"Uncle, we've come to see Li Min!" Thomas said, slightly embarrassed. "Can we see her?"
The smile faded slightly from the aging father Li Min's face, and sighing quietly, he said, making small pauses to choose his words correctly:
"I'm afraid to disappoint the young master, but this year my 'son' could not come with me. Urgent matters arose at home, and he had to stay. He sends his heartfelt best wishes to young Master Thomas and Lady Alexandra."
The expression on Thomas's face changed like a kaleidoscope: shock, anxiety, denial, sadness. It was hard for the child to accept. Without a word, he turned around and, bursting into tears, disappeared into the crowd.
"Please forgive my brother. Li Min secretly mentioned to me that this might happen, and my brother... Well, we were really looking forward to this meeting," Alexandra said, bowing her head. She shared Tom's feelings; from such news, it seemed to her that the joy in her life had ended.
"Lady Alexandra, Li Min asked me to give you something personally. Please wait." And the elderly man disappeared into his trade tent.
Left alone with the girl, the young foreigner, whom Alexandra had never seen before, bowed slightly and went about his business.
A few minutes later, the merchant emerged from the shop and handed Alexandra an object tightly wrapped in the finest silk and tied with a thin ribbon.
Thanking him deeply and saying goodbye, the girl walked with measured steps to find a secluded place to open the gift.
Spotting a sparsely populated shady spot between two large wagons and some horses grazing peacefully nearby, she sat on an empty crate she had turned over first. Carefully unwrapping the package, she looked at the contents.
The wrapper turned out to be a beautifully embroidered silk belt. Inside lay the very same small jade pendant on a thin strap with a skillfully engraved mythical creature and a written sheet of paper. Reading it, Alexandra could no longer hold back her tears.
The letter's contents roughly stated that Li Min could not go against her father's and heaven's will, which decreed she was to be married soon. She then thanked them for keeping her secret and being warm friends during her stay in a foreign country. With the enclosed items, she wanted to express her feelings and hoped for understanding.
Immersed entirely in her thoughts, wiping away tears from time to time, the girl ran her hand over the jade pendant.
Tears blurred her vision, and she didn't notice how it flashed and a fog gathered around her from nowhere, only feeling the alluring warmth radiating from the pendant.
The fog disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
"Meow-w-w." Alexandra felt something rub against her leg, but when she looked up, there were no animals nearby except for a couple of horses.
Unconsciously putting the jade pendant around her neck, the girl stood up and with an indifferent face began to wander along the trade rows.
Due to the sellers, buyers, and all sorts of onlookers crowding here and there, people sometimes had to move between them like a narrow stream bypassing impassable rocks. Part of the "rocks," stepping away from the counters, steadily flowed into this stream, making room for those separating from the flow.
Unrestrained merriment and noise reigned in the central square of the fair, where a bright puppet show was taking place, at the end of which a flock of pigeons was released into the sky.
The crowd erupted in applause, and Alexandra, watching their flight, involuntarily shuddered when her gaze fell on several particularly bright kites launched from a nearby hill for everyone's joy.
Out of the whole string of various wind-powered flying constructions, among which were all sorts of brightly colored geometric shapes, butterflies, and fish, the girl's sliding gaze suddenly caught two especially bright and large ones—a bird with a long tail and a large dragon with big wings. The two figures swayed in the wind, illuminated by the midday sun.
At that same instant, she was as if struck by lightning; it passed through her, burning the spot where the pendant touched her skin. It seemed to Alexandra that some wild beast was tearing her body apart. Clutching her heart, she bent double.
No one in the crowd paid any attention, except for a person standing slightly apart from the main crowd. A metallic-cold glance flashed from under his brows.
At that moment, it seemed to her that a fireworks display was exploding in her head, against which someone persistently called her with a strained voice:
"Sister! Hear me! Sister..."
This continued for some time until she could no longer endure such agony and screamed.