“Have you ever heard of the story of Romeo and Juliet?” she asks.
I blink a few times. “I think my mom might’ve mentioned it once, but I honestly don’t remember any specifics.”
“William Shakespeare?” When I shake my head, she grins. “Romeo and Juliet’s families hated each other.”
“Why?”
“Good question.” Her laughter confuses me, even though I do love the sound. “The why is never explained in the play.”
“This is a play.”
“A play, a movie… Many movies. The story has been retold in so many different ways, even with vampires and werewolves, and I’m sure there have been some versions when Romeo’s an alien.”
“Is that so?” I’m amused. “Why can’t Juliet be the alien?”
“Well, I suppose if one is an alien, they would actually consider each other aliens. Anyhow, the point is that Romeo and Juliet fell in love, but because of the war between their families, they couldn’t be together, not publicly. They came up with a plan to run away and be together forever.”
“They would never see their parents again.”
“No, but it was a small price to pay for their three-day love affair.”
“They fell in love after three days.”
Sophia’s face turns a slight shade of pink. “Yes. I know. Completely unbelievable.”
“If you say so,” I murmur, not agreeing at all, having a feeling that her discomfort is from her feeling the same way but questioning it because she’s been led to believe that love should take a long time to develop.
Not always.
Not with Novans.
Not with Kurians.
When we fall in love, we fall in love hard.
“Juliet went to a friar—”
“A friar?”
“A friend,” she says, but I have a feeling that’s a simplification. “Juliet got a sleeping potion from him that would make it seem as if she were dead.”
“Ah! Yes! You want to fake your death!” I burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“I actually thought about that. I thought that we could fake your death and…” I trail off, thinking about the rest—buying a house, filling it with babies…
I barely convinced her to let me help her to team up against John Doe. I’m not about to press my luck by asking her about moving in already.
"What happened with Romeo and Juliet?" I ask so that she won't ask any questions about my plan. Although I could just say that I didn't have any specifics because that's not exactly a lie. Between everything with us having sex and then her running off, I never got around to suggesting to her the idea of our faking her death. She bought me off all right, bought me with her strength, her ferocity, her drive, her determination, her beauty…
It takes me a moment to realize that Sophia hasn’t answered my question yet.
“I take it things didn’t go so well for Romeo and Juliet then,” I say dryly. It’s not really a question anymore.
“No. Word was supposed to reach Romeo about Juliet’s death not being real, but he never got the message, so he thought she was truly dead. He bought poison, took it beside her body, and died.”
“He killed himself?”
"Yes. Then, she woke from the potion, saw he was dead, kissed him to see if the poison would kill her too, but there wasn't enough, so she killed herself with his dagger."
“That’s… depressing.”
She laughs. “It’s a tragedy, not a romance.”
I blink a few times. “You said it was made into movies and lots of adaptations, right? Why would people want to see or think about such a terrible story?”
“It’s not terrible.”
“Romeo should’ve made certain she was dead, but even then, wouldn’t Juliet have wanted him to continue to live on without her?”
“They were in their teens, so they were very young.”
“Are they certain that it was true love? Because true love isn’t selfish. I almost feel like their killing each other wasn’t an act of love. It was more desperation or obsession or…That’s not what love is.”
"Then, I'm not even going to tell you about Rosaline."
“Who was she?”
"At the beginning of the play, Romeo is infatuated with her."
“And then, what? He meets Juliet, and he’s instantly in love with her?”
“Pretty much, yes. There’s the whole theory that Romeo being in love with Rosaline is supposed to be immature love, and it does contrast heavily with his feelings for Juliet, which is supposed to be his mature love. I mean, yes, it’s a stretch to believe that a thirteen-year-old—”
“Juliet is only thirteen?” I interrupt.
“Yes.”
I blink. “Thirteen is really young by Earthling standards.”
“Romeo and Juliet is a really old play. Back then, it was legal for a girl to get married at twelve and boys at fourteen.”
“Is that so?” I murmur.
“Yes, but that wasn’t the norm. Most got married later in life.”
My head is swimming. “How do you know all of this?”
She laughs, throwing back her head. “Would you believe it’s because of a target? I had to get close to a man who was a scholar of all things Shakespearean.”
“Why was he a target?”
“A woman wanted to meet him. It wasn’t a typical bounty by far.”
“You played matchmaker?” I guess.
“In a fashion, yes.”
“Why couldn’t she have just talked to him outright?”
“Because she wanted to lure him into a game of wits. It was, what for it, rather Shakespearean.”
I burst out laughing. “You Earthlings are so very strange.”
She giggles. “Yes, we can be, but we can also be callous, ruthless, and downright evil.”
Clearly, she’s back to thinking about John Doe.
I clear my throat. “The general, did she know about the poison?”
“Yes. Even better, if we stick around a bit longer, she’ll acquire it for us.”
“And then…”
“We’ll go back to my house, separately. You’ll wait an hour, and I’ll make sure that everyone can see that I’m there, that I’m back, it’s me. Then, you’ll give me the poison, and I’ll be dead.”
“But not dead dead, right?” I ask.
“Are you worried?” she asks, grinning widely.
“Why do you seem to enjoy the idea of you taking poison?”
“It’s not that I have a death wish,” she protests.
“Are you sure about that?” I grumble.
“Yes, I’m sure,”
