One
Cat is sitting in Charlie’s library on the soft velvety couch. It’s a little overstuffed, but that’s what she likes about it. She shuts the book she was just reading softly, and realizes her cheeks are wet. She sniffs, quickly brushing away the streak of tears, laughing at herself for crying over a book. But, it was so sweet and so sad. The forbidden love, the jealousy, the murder, and the sorrow! The emotions swirling inside of her inspires her, so she picks up a piece of parchment and charcoal.
Cat is an artist. A very good artist at that. The only problem is that she has to be inspired to paint or draw. She can’t paint just anything when asked, everything has to be in perfect order for her to want to paint it. It has to speak to her, so to speak.
Susie, her sister, was her first inspiration to paint. She had her arms up on the window sill, leaning outwards and looking out at the world. Cat was eleven then, and Susie was twelve, the gentle wind blowing her hair back and the setting sun making her skin turn golden. It was the most beautiful thing Cat had ever seen, so she just started painting it.
Cat was so absorbed in drawing, the swirling emotions flowing out of her and onto the parchment, that she didn’t hear the door open. She doesn’t notice the person walking up behind her until a low whistle emits from his mouth.
“Wow.”
She looks up and it is Charlie, her older brother. He is tall and has brown curly hair. He has one chocolate brown eye, and one baby blue eye. His real name is Charles, like their father, but everyone calls him Charlie. She always gets comfort looking into his mismatched eyes.
“Your story was amazing! It made me cry! And it inspired me to draw this.” She holds out the sheet of parchment.
He takes the drawing from her and inspects it closely. “I think this is your best drawing yet, Cat. Can I use this for the cover of my story? This picture fits perfectly with it,” he asks her, and she beams proudly.
Charlie is her best friend. She doesn’t really have any other friends. She’s tried making friends in the past, but they always end up calling her weird and laughing behind her back. No one ever shares the same interests as her, but it doesn’t bother her much.
“Of course you can, that’s what I hoped you would use it for! Did you get my other painting?” She had just finished painting him and Elizabeth, his lover, earlier today and she sent a servant to go give it to him.
“Yes, it was lovely, Cat. You are an amazing painter.” He pats her head affectionately.
“And you are an amazing writer.” Charlie wrote any kind of book imaginable, and Cat inspired about half of them. Cat loves his stories. She learned how to read at a young age just so she didn’t have to wait for Charlie to read his stories to her.
“Thank you. Did it really make you cry?”
“Yes it did, but I must go. I’m going to be late for my meeting with Xavier.” She hops off the couch and kisses her brother’s cheek quickly. She waves goodbye when she hits the doorway and he encourages her away.
Unease is heavy in Cat’s stomach as she leaves her house. She doesn’t really want to meet Xavier, the man who’s courting her, today. She thinks she loves him, and why not? He is wealthy, and handsome, and her father was the one who set them up. Her father always knows best.
Xavier is the first man who has courted her. He has been courting her for a few months now, and yesterday he tried to kiss her. Cat panicked, not feeling ready and not sure what to do, so she pushed him away. She pushed him so hard that he fell over and he looked up at her with a stunned and hurt expression. She stared back, equally stunned, and then turned and ran back home.
She received a messenger this morning from him, asking her if she would like to go for a walk with him today. She felt so guilty about yesterday that she said yes, but now apprehension fills her chest. What if he tries to kiss her again?
She shoves the thought and worries down and walks to the gardens he said to meet at. She can see him from a distance, sitting on a wrought iron bench with intricate designs. He notices her too and swiftly gets to his feet, meeting her halfway. He bows, taking her hand and kissing it.
“Good afternoon, Catherin, it is always nice seeing your beautiful face,” he says.
“Good afternoon, Xavier, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Cat?” She pouts slightly.
“I’m sorry, I find your nicknames odd, you were already given a name, why shorten it? Why not just name you Cat if that is what you want? No, Catherin is your name, so I shall call you Catherin.” His tone leaves no room for argument.
“Okay… I am so terribly sorry for pushing you yesterday, you just surprised me, and I don’t know why I reacted that way-”
“No,” he cut her off, “I should not have tried to kiss you. Your lips just looked so sweet; I don’t know what came over me. I do not blame you for acting so, I was too hasty. I apologize.”
“I forgive you.”
“Shall we walk?” he offered her his arm and she took it.
They walked together down the path of the gardens, talking. She told him about Charlie’s new story and the picture she drew for it.
“Catherin?”
“Yes, Xavier?”
“Why haven’t you painted me? You have painted your parents, your brother and your sister, and random strangers. But, why not me?”
“Well, I haven’t been inspired to paint you yet. I haven’t seen a moment that I want to capture forever. Not only you has to be beautiful, but what you’re doing, your surroundings, everything in the moment has to be in harmony. I just haven’t seen it yet. But once I do, I will paint you.”
“I understand now. I thought you just didn’t want to draw me, or I wasn’t special enough.”
“No no! That’s definitely not it. Of course I want to draw you, I just don’t know how yet.”
“That is a relief,” and they continued to walk.
Later that day, Cat went to her sister’s room. “Susie?” she asked, opening her door. Cat was nervous to talk to Susie, but she was the only person she really felt comfortable talking to about this subject.
“Yes, Cat?” Susie’s head popped out of the closet. Her long brown hair was straight, and she had their mothers blue eyes. Her face was more angular like their fathers though, but that only made her more beautiful. Her real name was Susan, but she preferred Susie. She thought it made her sound more approachable.
“Can I tell you something? A secret?”
“Of course you can, I am your sister, but I am surprised that it is me you are confiding in, and not Charlie.” It was true that Cat enjoyed Charlie’s company over Susie’s. Susie was everything Cat wasn’t. She was a social butterfly. Women wanted to be her friend because she made the most beautiful dresses, and men just wanted a chance to kiss her. She had many suitors.
“I’m afraid he might get mad and do something rash.”
“Oh. So this is a girl secret?”
“Sort of. And, you are more experienced with this than he is.” Which was true. Cat had caught Susie kissing a man very passionately, and she begged her not to tell their father. But ever since she caught her, she did her kissing somewhere else.
“Do tell. It’s man trouble, isn’t it? Your darling Xavier?”
“Well, yes it is. He tried to kiss me on the mouth yesterday. He has only kissed my hand, and it surprised me so much that I pushed him to the ground. I then proceeded to run away. He saw me again today and apologized. I’m wondering if I should have let him kiss me, or if I did the right thing?”
“Well, I would have never pushed a man down, but I could see it from you. Did he ever tell you he wanted to kiss your lips?” “No! He said today that my lips looked so sweet, that he couldn’t help himself. When he says stuff like that, I feel like I should have let him kiss me. But then I realize I’m not ready for that. I get scared and nervous…”
“Well sister, you’re going to have to try it someday, do you not love him?”
“I think I do, but I can’t be positive.”
“Well, if he doesn’t ask you permission first, then don’t let him. Protect your youth, Cat.”
“Okay Susie, thank you.”
“So, you really pushed him down?”
“Yes, and I am ashamed of it. I pushed with strength that was not my own.”
“It’s all your climbing around. You have muscles that a woman should never have. It’s repulsing. A woman should be delicate, soft and curvy. Not bulky and hard. It is not pretty.” Cat went on a lot of hikes. That’s how she finds places to paint. She didn’t know how, but her feet led her to them. She sees a path in almost everything, leading her to a new wonder, and a new painting.
“Oh. But I can’t stop. I need to find those places. Will you go with me to just see one? I have a perfect place for you.”
“Cat, your drawings are good enough. I already feel like I’m there. I don’t like the wilderness. The wind tangles my hair, dirt gets in my clothes, grass stains my skirts, and the smell! It smells dirty.”
“Oh… Okay. Thank you though. I’ll leave you now.”
“I’ll see you at dinner Cat.”
Cat decided it was time to practice her swordsmanship. Maybe that was why people thought she was weird, not that any of them knew, but she was fascinated with swordsmanship. At the royal tournaments she would always watch the men battle with swords instead of watching them joust. She had tried to broach the subject with her parents once, wanting to learn how to wield a sword, but they thought it was out of the question. A woman doesn’t need to know that, and she shouldn’t want to. Instead, they let her train with a bow and arrow.
That wasn’t enough for Cat though. She wanted to learn swordsmanship. So, on most days, she would go down to the blacksmiths shop and sneak in, take a sword, and practice with it in a meadow she had found. And when she was done, she would sneak back in and return it. She hadn’t been caught yet, and she liked their swords better than her father’s.
She saddled her horse and rode it to the blacksmiths. She snuck in the window like she always did. She went to grab her favorite sword, but she heard someone working on something. She peeked around the corner and the blacksmith’s son was there. He had started working in the shop a few years back, and Cat was afraid his keener senses would catch her, but he never did.
He was holding a sword in one hand, and he was hammering it with the other. His back was bare, and it was glistening with sweat. His hair was jet black. She stood there in awe for a minute. She didn’t see them working often when she snuck in. She crossed to the next room quickly and grabbed her sword. She snuck out the window, and rode to her favorite meadow.
She practiced until the sun started to set. She rode back as fast as she could. She returned the sword, hoping to see the man working some more, but he wasn’t there.
Cat hurried home, washed up a bit, and practically ran to dinner. She was late, but no one cared. Cat was always late for dinner.
“I’m sorry father, mother. I lost track of time!” Her father was a very rich man, and he was personal friends with the King. He had inherited his wealth from his father, which was normally how your family was wealthy. Her mother on the other hand, had been the exact opposite, and her father had run into her when he was shopping down at the market. You could say it was love at first sight. Her father was tall and ruggedly handsome, and her mother was very beautiful for a commoner.
“Like you always do, daughter,” said her father.
“Actually,” said Charlie, “you are just in time. I have something important to say, or to ask really.” He stood up, faced Elizabeth, who was joining them for dinner, and said, “I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but, I love you more than I love my books and stories. I am eighteen and you are twenty, which isn’t very old but,” and he sank to his knee. He grabbed her hand, “Bethy, my one and true love, will you make me the luckiest and happiest man, and marry me?”
“Of course I will, Charlie!” and she hugged him. Their mother, Mary, squealed with delight, and their father clasped his son’s shoulder saying “Atta boy.”
Cat was happy. She liked Beth, and knew she would be perfect for Charlie. They had met because of Charlie’s books. Charlie donated some of his books to the bookseller, and Beth had bought one and decided she had to meet the author. They became fast friends, and then Charlie started courting her.
“Oh Beth! I will sew you up the most beautiful wedding gown! Could I please?” said Susie.
“Of course you can Susie. I wouldn’t have it any other way!”
“Oh good! I already have a perfect idea for it. I’ll get started right after dinner!”
“Thank you Susie.”
They finished dinner, talking about the wedding, when it was going to be, and where, who was going to be invited, and all the decorations. It was a very happy dinner.
After dinner they always went off to do their own pastimes. Charlie would go up to his room, and go into his library that was connected to it, and write. Susie would go into her fabric room, which was also connected to her room, and make dresses. And Cat would sometimes go into her art room if she had a painting to paint. They had a very easy life, and it was served to them on a silver platter.
