5
THE CLASSES
Back to the house, to the shelter of my room darkness, I mused about what it would happen now that Duprina was in charge of my teaching. I was sure that her lessons would do very little with magic but a lot with retaliation. Suddenly, a peculiar sound, like a drumming, made me look out the window. I got up and gently opened it; a restless wind entered vigorously dropping a piece of paper that landed on the bed. Intrigued, I ran up to it and began to read its contents, saying thus:
"The aroma of your love among the mists pushed me,
Mists of bereavement, mists of disaffection,
Alone, tired and wounded by the arrow of jealousy,
Wheezing with great delirium the fruits of my passion,
Because white nights in your absence becomes black
So hide the agony of my aching heart.
Would you like to comfort this beggar with a kiss?
Who mutilated feel he could not find his heart.
Because, perhaps, at nights, it goes after her owner,
Which it is you my little girl, and does not come back anymore
Without a heart may I live? Cases have happened,
But without your love, I cannot live
May sparrows live deprived of food?
Or perhaps may a path live without the feet that walk it?
You're my path and my food
That is why I cannot live without you"
I examined the paper in search of a signature. I found nothing. Who sends me these verses? Leonardo? It could be him but it was also likely that they came, perhaps, from Dorian. None of the Victors wrote so delicate and gentle verses, so I dismissed them as probable authors of such exquisite poetry. Or maybe, they came from a secret admirer, who I had no idea of his existence? I slept with the scrubbing paper on my chest, thinking about theories on the identity of my secret suitor.
The morning surprised me just in time to accommodate myself and going to take my breakfast, at half-past six o'clock, not one minute earlier not one minute later, as provided for in Severa regulations. Now that I started my training, the morning walks and existential arguments with the Victors had been suspended until further notice; and they looked at me at the table, there in the distance from the opposite chair, with resignation and regret like the ones who know that times are changing and that it is necessary a realignment to the new situation. When I left home, a carriage was waiting for me. By the time I pulled into The Fortaleza, it was eight o'clock. The students were already gathered with their tutors in one of the main rooms that were located on the ground floor. The atmosphere was quite informal, with groups scattered throughout the room, with great hustle and bustle. One instructor could have from one to three students. Neither Leonardo nor Dorian was there.
I waited for Duprina a long time but she did not appear. Meanwhile, the guardians had been given to their pupils, books, rods, potions and the study program that would be used during the year. While I was there the Asian girl came up to me.
-Hi! – She said - Has not your mentor come?
-She obviously not -I replied- I'm Camila -and extended my hand to her as a greeting signal.
-I am Sashui -said with a slight bow- my instructor is a taciturn man who is called Latus. He gave me the materials and then left!
-Mine is a snake which is called Duprina and has not appeared, so I have no materials or anything.
The conversation in which we embarked was hilarious, Sashui had a very marked and special sense of humor, very Asian, to say something. But her humor was not that grim and gloomy humor that stands on the gibes and ironies in which a third party is always an innocent victim. No! It was a clean, neat, seated humor based in ingenuity and the subtle nuances of life, and precisely for this reason, it was received with pleasure and emotion, like a fresh breeze in a stormy summer. She came from Indonesia, of humble origin; her parents were engaged in agriculture and had a small farm on the island of Lombok. The girl had an exceptional talent for making potions and amulets. Americus had discovered her in one of his trips to the island when collecting exotic herbs. After convincing her parents of Sashui’s great potential in the affairs of magic, they agreed to her departure and there she was, hobnobbing with apprentices and sorcerers away from her native Indonesia.
After one hour, tutors gathered their apprentices and walked toward their respective classrooms to begin their training. Duprina did not appear anywhere.
-So here it starts your revenge! -I said- leaving me planted in the middle of nowhere to die of starvation!
I gathered my belongings and decided to return to the house on foot to enjoy the landscape while thinking on how to deal with the circumstance. As I was coming down the fields, a wet sea winds hit my face, bringing with them a strong touch of salt and sand. Some farmers met me on the way and took their hats off in greeting signal while driving their wagons which hissed with a rhythmic aphonic sound. Others were standing at the edges of the road into a sort of wood-shop deploying their baskets full of apples, peaches, strawberries and vegetables for sale.
Arriving at the house, I found Severa on the porch, picking up the dried leaves of a tree which stationed in front of her residence, undressed each day around leaving a trail of tiny stalks and crunchy flakes that sounded at the passage of pedestrians, with a dry sound chas!, chas!, chas! That was very disturbing to the acute hearing of Severa. As it was very early, then she asked me:
-Did you have a problem? Are you feeling sick? -interrogated me with concern.
With a sigh I approved to respond:
-I have a big problem, well actually I have more than one, but what worries me right now is the first one, more than the second; although the third one occasionally leaves me sleepless.
Severa had already piled the leaves curbside, left aside the rake and heading towards me, grabbed me by the elbow and urged me to enter the house, while she repeated:
-I do not understand what you are saying but there is nothing that cannot be resolved under the shadows and charms of a nice cup of tea - and saying this followed the action.
Already in the kitchen, put on fire her fat teapot of wide handle and took out from the cabinet two huge white cups with a floral design on them, which were a match with the teapot design; then, filled them with two lumps of sugar, very white, very clean and very neat. Then, she poured an aromatic jasmine and orange teabag whose citrus essence perfumed, instantly, the kitchen. Still on fire, the teapot grumbled their vapors with passion; Severa removed it from the oven and poured the precious liquid in the cups. During the entire operation, which lasted less than five minutes, I had taken my place at the table and when the steaming infusion was ready, she approached me a bowl.
Quite right Severa was to joining her praises to the properties of the jasmine and orange tea, because at the first sip, my tongue, feeling the warmth of the concoction, unleashed the secrets of my mouth and with a profusion of details began to parade one by one, before the undaunted face of the woman, who was listening to me like a priest listening to a parishioner in confession. First, came out the lie, that ungrateful which forced my hand to write the testimony of my false virtues and my fictional experiences, condemning to the most good-natured of the Magicians, Americus, to the discredit and dishonor. Then emerged Duprina’s revenge whose opinions I accepted with impotence and resignation, hoping an illusion: that she will honor her duties as a tutor and give me the knowledge to become a sorceress. Last, but not least, I confessed my love for Leonardo in all its grandeur, in its entirety, with its forwards and backwards, with evidence and mysteries. I also thought it was appropriate to mention the sugary lyrics of my secret admirer, in the hope she shared her suspicions with regard to his identity.
Severa heard all the time without making judgments, but in the end, after my heartfelt confession, unleashed her language to cover me with accusations and recriminations:
-Foolish girl! How could you get involved so much in this string of lies? Don’t you realize how it has been complicating your life? Honesty is a very serious matter to these wizards. Lying, Camila, is like a monster that is growing every day waiting for the opportunity to take the blow. How could you, girl? How could you?
The answer emerged inside my head: "Severa, I did it because I wanted to and because I could. You see, at that time the idea did not seem so bad. If you weren't so meticulous, so carefully and so outdated, you would realize the genius of my occurrence. From every point of view, it was very beneficial since got me what I wanted: to be an apprentice and also be close to Leonardo”.
But, there was another voice in my head that backed up everything that Severa said and accused me with the same devotion: "Are you very pleased with what you did? Ah? What lack of sanity! If the foolishness were a person, its name would be Camila. Have you noticed the pandemonium in which you're stuck? Now, you have to be responsible and accept the consequences of your actions. It's time to pay!"
And as the two voices were so different and contradictory, I decided not to outsource my thoughts and keep a submissive attitude to the woman, who was still talking about:
-Oh! The follies of youth! Duprina parents were black magicians and there have been rumors that she is involved in such activity. However no one has been able to confirm this fact. And you are precisely messing around with the boyfriend of a black witch! -And shaking her head, said- How would you untangle this mess, Camila?
My reply was a shoulder shrink since it was very obvious that if I had the answer to that question it would not have been necessary my confession and well I could have saved me the awkward conversation and the subsequent exposure to ridicule. She also devoted some time to the development of theories about the identity of my secret admirer, and like me, dismissed her Victors claiming the total ignorance that her boys had in any kind of literary manifestation such as verses or proses and that the only approach they had had to literature was reciting, aloud loud, the letters of the alphabet.
-Well! –Severa said at the end- with point one and two, I can help, with point number three, unfortunately, not, because I do not have inferences in the affairs of heart.
Severa told me that still maintained contacts with personalities from the magic world and that she would contact them to talk about my problem. On the other hand, she considered that Duprina no way would fulfill her tutor duties, so Severa offered herself to replace her as an honorary tutor.
-You must, however, understand that I am not familiar with the procedures of the current magic and that my knowledge comes from the old school. Nevertheless, I think, and you will agree with me, that old magic is better than no magic at all.
The truth was I was in agreement with her thinking and sealed the arrangement with hugs and laughter. Severa rose from the table and, with an air of mystery, walked toward a corner which was in darkness. There, from a small cabinet pulled out a copper key the same as the ones hanging from her waist cord and that clinked each time she stepped; and making a sign told me to follow her.
We headed towards the back of the house where a courtyard, planted of friendly orange trees scattered on either side of a never-ending corridor, cut into two halves the sturdy garden. A disguised pine door was hidden, imperceptible to the eye, unless you were very close to it. The door was carved with strange figures and quirky symbols that I could not define. Severa introduced the key carefully and after a little "click", which chirped, the gate opened wide with ease. My heart gave rollovers inside my chest when I saw the outline of a stair falling into a deep and gloomy darkness. Severa rummaged in her pockets and pulled out a small candle that ignited and landed on a small plate. Then, when the enclosure was illuminated she started down the stairs and I followed her.
The smell of moisture was unbearable, the walls and the stairs were covered with slabs of gray stones and cobwebs hung everywhere, entangled in our heads and adhering to our clothes as we walked down. At the end of the staircase there was a small room. Later I understood that it was the place where Severa kept her magic items and where years ago practiced witchcraft. All the furniture and utensils were covered with a grey powder that reminded me very much of the basement in which my sisters and I had to live in The Borrascosa in the custody of Gertrude.
-With a bit of cleaning, we can start your lessons of magic here -she said.
A gigantic table reigned at the center of the room: it looked like an oak monster standing on four legs, voluptuous and quirky. The woman approached and opened the front drawer and pulled out a bulky book that struck giving three hits. This innocent action raised a gray cloud of dust that covered up our bodies and made us sneeze for a few seconds.
-This is my book of magic. You shall have yours. Shall not you?
I responded with great resolution:
-Last year I found two books in Saint Andre. One belonged to the sorceress Zarnia and all it did was bringing me problems and misfortunes; the other, "The Keys of the Kingdom" was the one I found in the basement of The Borrascosa and where I found the cure to the ring curse which Zarnia had tended me. The first is in Eisenbaum in custody of the wizards so it cannot do more damage in the world of men, the second, I have it in my power, since for some reason, although it seems insane, I feel that the book wants to be with me.
The woman smiled with satisfaction, then exclaimed:
-It is not crazy! This is your book! It will reveal the secrets of its magic.
You should only believe in it, and also believe that what I am telling you is possible. Without belief, or faith, which comes to be the same thing, you will not get anywhere.I nodded gently giving her the understanding of my total agreement.
Oh! The inconsistencies of life! Who would have thought that Severa, the dark, the haggard, the bearer of the Hitler theories, the dictatorship of the Republic, would be precisely the person that would guide me through the mysterious ways of witchcraft? Duprina, my enemy, Duprina, how bad I see you! How bad your revenge is turning! And from the poisonous flow of your actions, it flourished the sweet flower of hope in the figure of Severa. Well the saying expresses when stated that when a window is closed, thousands more are opened to the rescue! In this puzzle that is the existence, often, evil disguises itself of goodness, and to not be outdone, goodness also disguises of evil, and thus walking together through life, let us to us, poor mortals, the ignoble task of going by deciphering which is which.