What would you trade to remove a lifelong disability, if you had one? Would you trade your voice, like the mermaid from Alessandra’s favourite story? Or would it be something simpler?

For me, I did not have a choice in the matter. But I suppose I traded my freedom.

It had been three and a half months since I broke the curse of the Midnight Enchantress, I remember. We had all been out in the gardens, Milou and Nephele guarding me as though the actual guards pretending to be watching the gate were not enough. Though maybe they were there because of Zander’s presence. I do not know.

Whatever the reason, they were not enough. The crow swooped down from its position on top of a nearby statue and tore the simple necklace from around my neck before I had a real chance to stop it.

“Get back here!” Milou yelled, scrambling up onto the edge of the fountain and reaching up to grab the crow by the wing — a cruel thing to do, but we knew this crow. “Zander, Nephele, help me catch it!”

So followed the chase, with all three chasing the low-flying bird until it had enough of playing with them all. It instead landed on Zander’s shoulder, clamping its beak around the yellow earring he wore in his right ear (the one in his left was blue) before tearing it away.

He screamed, seemingly forgetting what he had been trying to do moments before, but by the time anyone else remembered, the bird was long gone.

Just a week later, Zander disappeared.

Two days later, I would do the same, but when I did, I would be able to dance.

Something I have never been able to do.