12 Can You Keep a Secret?

"I thought we told all of you bastards last year that the festival is banned!" a soldier screamed. Everyone got up and scattered as the soldiers chased us. I looked behind Bella and I and spotted one of the guards I recognized from the palace, Gabriel. I had to get Bella out of here or Gabriel would know Bella was the one who cursed me. I could not let that happen. But by a moment when I tried to explain to Bella why we needed to split up, I heard my name. Gabriel had recognized me and called out my name. This was trouble. I tried to run but he was always faster than me. He caught up and grabbed my shoulder.

"Why were you running away?" he asked.

"I thought you were going to arrest me," I lied.

"Of course not! The palace is not the same without you. Who is this girl you're with?"

"This is," I was interrupted.

"Bella. You can call me Bella," she introduced.

I gave her a look of question. She looked at me as if she had an idea. I decided to try and go with it.

"He needed a place to stay after he escaped that witch. I'm simply providing him a place to stay while he is trying to overcome this curse of his."

"Well, he can return to the palace now that we know he's alright," Gabriel proposed.

"He hasn't broken the spell yet," Bella reminded.

"We'll have our best workers trying to find the way to break the curse."

"What if they can't find a way."

"They will, I have faith."

"Faith doesn't always get results."

"It does with me."

Bella glared at him and grabbed my arm.

"Can we talk about this at your place?" I suggested while looking at Bella.

"Sure," Gabriel agreed.

Bell just glared and pouted out the words, "Fine."

We all ran to her tent to try and not raise suspicion. We finally arrived and Bella sat where she always does, on her favorite fluffy blanket her mother had given her. Her mother knit it from wool she found on a trip somewhere, Bella had told me.

"Alright, what's going on?" Gabriel grunted as he sat down.

"Gabriel, the thing is...well, first, can you keep a secret?" I asked, knowing he would be trustworthy for a regular secret, but I didn't know if he could handle this one.

"You know I can. Why bother to ask?"

"This is big, Gabriel. Really big. You must promise to keep this secret from everyone including your closest friends and family. Everyone. Got it?" I looked him dead in the eye with the most serious face I could make.

"If it endangers our country, then I can't. If it is about witches, may I remind you of how witches truly are? They will trick you, make you think they are good people, and then stab you in the back. Witches are dangerous, Daniel. They killed the King and Queen. You were close with the prince, remember? Remember how devastated he was when his parents passed away?" Gabriel's eyes were glowing in the lantern light like he was about to cry.

"Daniel?" Bella questioned. I had forgotten that I never really told her my real name. She just always called me Edgar.

"Why doesn't she know your name?" Gabriel asked.

"I just call him Edgar, like a nickname," Bella explained.

"I guess I never got around to telling her my real name." I shrugged.

"Well then, now you know," Gabriel gestured to her with an open hand.

"I-I still don't like you," Bella pouted.

"Never said you didn't," Gabriel said, looking smug.

Bella continued to pout as I tried to move on from the subject of my name, " Look, the thing is, we need you to keep this a secret and I will not be coming back to the castle until I make things right."

"What do you mean?" Gabriel asked.

"Can you keep the secret or not?" I added.

"Fine I will, but if people die over this, I'll have to tell someone."

"Okay, Bella is the witch that cursed me. Please don't say anything, she is not as bad as you might think she is. She is kind and nurturing. She-"

"But she's a witch! She cursed you! Her kind killed the King a d Queen!" Gabriel interrupted.

"Calm yourself, people might hear. You said you would keep the secret. Please. We need you to calm down and listen," I placed my hand on his shoulder and he loosened himself. He wasn't as tense as he was before. "Alright, now, she never meant to kill, she only wanted them to pay for what they had done. She wasn't the one to kill them, her mother was, but because of that, her mother fell ill. Witches aren't supposed to hurt others, they're supposed to use magic for good."

"Then how do you explain all of the diseases and people who stop going to church? How do you explain the pain from others and sorrow others have felt?" Gabriel protested.

"That's not from the witches. Half the time, maybe more, we kill off innocent people. People who are not witches. People who did nothing to hurt others. Disease is not caused by a spell; it is natural and spreads naturally. Just because crops are not growing does not mean someone cursed you, it is just that something is wrong with the crops or the farming. What I'm saying is, witches are not to blame, we are," I defended.

"That's preposterous," he looked down with a worried, but thoughtful face. "I can't believe this."

"Can you please keep this secret to yourself?" I begged.

"Yes, I believe I can try for your sake."

"Thank you," Bella and I said in unison.