7. The Greatest Gift of All

The night went on, but the strong winds—which were concerning in more ways than one—still hadn’t let up. Father Fisalis said, “We’ll have to go to the royal palace tomorrow come rain or shine, so let’s call it a night,” and we all went back to our respective rooms.

“Please, God, don’t let any wigs go flying tomorrow!” I beseeched the heavens, gazing out the window.

Mr. Fisalis was quick to interject with a quip. “I don’t think that’s what you should be praying for, Vi.”

Thanks for being the voice of reason, Mr. Fisalis! Now, to get back on track...

“I hope the wind doesn’t blow all our cherry blossoms away. What a waste that’d be, when the tree was at its most beautiful.”

“The late bloomers should be pretty firmly attached to the branches, but who knows. The gusts are getting awfully strong.”

“I know, right?”

My husband has the right idea! The flowers should be a bigger concern than any hairpieces right now.

I could see the cherry blossom tree from our bedroom window; it was swaying in the wind, but it didn’t look like it was losing too many petals. I sure hoped it would stay that way through the night.

* * *

I went to bed still anxious, but it wasn’t long before my mounting dread of tomorrow’s activities overtook my concern for the flowers.

“My plan is to smile and zone out for the length of the king’s tedious—I mean, wonderful speech.”

“Just don’t get caught.”

“I’m not that dumb!”

“Man... Maybe I should take a page out of your book and sleep with my eyes open.”

“Oh no you don’t! You have to stay awake and listen to his whole riveting speech.”

“Whaaat? How come?”

“Because I need you to give me a recap in case someone asks for my thoughts.”

“That’s so unfair!”

“I’m kidding! Let’s book it home as soon as the rite is over.”

“Yeah, good plan. We’ll have Lettie waiting at home and all. We’d better pass on the sanctuary visit again.”

“Yup!”

“When we get back, we can have a relaxed New Year’s celebration with our little girl.”

“Oh, that part sounds way more fun!”

Let’s forget all the boring stuff and focus on the good times!

* * *

“Vi!”

“...Hm?”

“Vi, wake up!”

“Is it morning already...?”

Mr. Fisalis woke me up in a whisper. If anything, he was the type to sit back and observe my slumbering face whenever I slept later than him, so if he was making an effort to rouse me... Yikes! I must have really overslept!

Convinced of the conclusion my sleep-fogged brain had come to, I snapped awake in an instant and sprung out of bed. “Eek! I’m late! I can’t believe I started off the new year by sleeping in!”

Yet Mr. Fisalis hushed me, a finger to his lips. “Shh! You didn’t. Calm down.”

“Huh? Seriously...? Gosh, you’re right.”

I lowered the volume of my voice at Mr. Fisalis’s urging, and when I glanced at the window, the sky beyond the curtains was pitch black. It was still well before dawn.

“Did something happen?”

“You could say that. Here, put this shawl on so you don’t get cold.”

“Sure.”

I took the shawl he handed me and draped it over my shoulders, then let him drag me by the hand towards the window.

Everyone else appeared to be fast asleep; we were the only ones making any noise in the whole pin-drop-silent mansion. At the very least, I was pretty sure this wasn’t some kind of intruder-related emergency.

Why else would he wake me up this early, though? I wondered with a curious tilt of my head, but it didn’t take long for him to answer my question.

“Look.”

He opened the curtains, and I was greeted with the sight of the cherry blossom petals fluttering and dancing in the wind.

“Whoa... It’s a petal shower!”

The sheer beauty of the scene had taken my breath away.

“The sound of the wind woke me up, and when I looked outside, I was blown away by what I saw. I couldn’t resist waking you up to share it with you.”

“No—thank you for doing that!”

In fact, if he hadn’t bothered to wake me up for this, I would’ve been pretty steamed!

The wind seemed to have died down since it roused Mr. Fisalis from his slumber, but it was still strong enough to send more and more petals flying through the air.

“We don’t see this sort of thing everyday. Want to go take a closer look?” I asked.

“It’s cold out there.”

“I’ll make sure to keep warm.”

I wanted to get an up-close view of the floral whirlwind, so my husband and I pulled warm coats over our nightgowns and headed out to the parlor.

“Not too loud now!” I whispered.

“Let’s not wake anyone up,” agreed Mr. Fisalis.

We tiptoed down the hallway, careful not to make a sound, and opened the door to the parlor just as silently.

Through the parlor window, we had an even better view of the cherry blossom tree than from our room. In the moonlight, the falling petals looked almost like snow.

“Do you think we can go outside?” I asked.

“As long as you’re careful not to catch a chill.”

“We can make it quick, then.”

I nudged open the door to the garden and walked over to the cherry blossom tree. As if the nights weren’t chilly enough already, the strength of the breeze made it even colder.

When he saw me shivering, Mr. Fisalis wrapped his arms around me from behind.

“You all right?”

“Yeah. I’m nice and warm now.”

As a matter of fact, I’m so embarrassed that my face is straight-up overheating!

Amid our silly banter, the blossoms continued to flutter through the air like snow.

“Most of the petals will have fallen by the time of the rite tomorrow.”

“No kidding! Our tree is gonna go bald before any of those noblemen do!”

“Vi... You’re killing the mood here.”

“Whoops. My bad.”

When I glanced back over my shoulder, I saw a rueful smile on my husband’s face.

“I’ve never seen anything so magical in my life,” I remarked.

“Me neither.”

“My condolences to the king, but I’m so glad I got to share this sight with you, Cercis.”

“Oh, Vi...”

“What a wonderful way to start a new year! Do you think this is God’s gift to us? I’ve got a good feeling about the days ahead!”

“You know what, Vi? I consider you to be my gift from God! You and Lettie both.”

“There you go getting all romantic on me! In the spirit of the holidays, I’ll let that one slide.”

“Ha ha—why, thank you. I appreciate it.”

“You’re very welcome.”

We gazed out at the cherry blossoms in the tranquil moonlight. In that moment, I could have sworn the world belonged to just the two of us.

* * *

I would have liked to stay there watching the petals forever, but alas, the body has a mind of its own. No sooner had I begun to shiver than I unleashed a powerful sneeze.

Mr. Fisalis was keyed into even the slightest of changes in my physical condition. Just as I thought, Great, now I’ve done it, he said, “Okay. I hate to cut this short, but we’re going back inside.”

“Fine, fine!”

He swung me around 180 degrees, his arms still wrapped around me from behind, and pushed me right back into the mansion.

“It was cold out there, but it was so pretty,” I said.

“Yeah. I wish we could have stayed longer.”

“You’re telling me!”

“But I’m putting my foot down. Just look at you—chilled to the bone!”

“I know.”

Though I’d had Mr. Fisalis to keep me warm, we’d been out in the garden in the middle of the night with the wind blowing something fierce. Of course I was going to get cold.

“It’s still too early to be up and at ’em, so let’s warm up under the covers.”

“Good idea!”

Then again, I was so thoroughly frozen that I wasn’t sure a few blankets would be enough to thaw me.

Man...in times like this, nothing beats soaking in a tub of warm water! But I couldn’t live with myself if I asked the servants to draw me a bath at this hour. Let’s not.

I was trailing after Mr. Fisalis, my head full of such thoughts, when he came to a dead stop all of a sudden.

“What’s wrong?” I asked him in a whisper only he could hear.

“Happy New Year,” he said.

And next thing I knew, he’d placed a kiss on my lips.

“Huh?”

“Look up.”

“Oh—the mistletoe!”

“You got it.”

I’d been flustered by how sudden the kiss was—until Mr. Fisalis smiled and pointed to a sprig of mistletoe decorating the wall.

Tradition said that a kiss under the mistletoe on New Year’s would bring one happiness.

“Isn’t that jumping the gun?”

“Of course not. The date’s already turned over,” he replied, the picture of nonchalance.

Jeez! He’s really dialing up the charm today!

When we snuck back into our room as quietly as we’d left, I spotted something giving off steam from atop the bedside table. I got closer, wondering what it could be, and found that it was a cup of some kind of hot beverage.

“Was someone else awake?” Mr. Fisalis wondered.

“That’s the only possible answer.”

Whatever the case, I was glad to have something warm to put in my chilled body. I picked up the cup and discovered that it was mulled wine. The sweet fragrance of the spices wafted up with the steam.

A single sip sent a wave of warmth washing over my body. The crisp, sweet aftertaste had hints of molasses in it.

“This’ll put us right back to sleep,” said Mr. Fisalis.

“I’m all warmed up now,” I said.

With both our bodies and our hearts warmed, we indulged ourselves in a few more hours of sleep.

* * *

The next day rolled around.

“That was quite the gorgeous petal storm last night. However, I can’t say I approve of sneaking out in the wee hours.”

“We know! Thanks for the mulled wine!” Mr. Fisalis and I chorused. We were no match for Rohtas’s smile.