The Familiar

Valentina asks Luzia about herself and is unsettled by the girl’s gaze. The next day, Luzia goes to the church of San Ginés. Her mother, Blanca Cana Cotado, was buried beneath the church floor after she died of illness and had a pauper’s funeral. Her mother taught Luzia to read; she also taught her Hebrew prayers to recite in secret.

Luzia visits her aunt, who lives in a house paid for by her patron, Víctor de Paredes. Once Luzia saw Víctor leaving her aunt’s with a strangely pale, white-haired young man, and the almond trees bloomed, though it was winter. Hualit is Víctor’s mistress, and now that Luzia’s father is dead and cannot forbid it, Luzia asks Hualit again to take her in and save her from the drudgery of the Ordoño home. Luzia is 20 years old and has no suitors.

Valentina has heard rumors of illusions and miracles performed at court, where she has never been. She makes a tear in a skirt to test Luzia, then slaps the girl, feeling “[t]here was nothing she might not do” (16). When Luzia hands her the skirt there is no tear, and Valentina orders the girl to come to supper that night. Luzia initially thinks she should pretend she is stupid. Luzia knows their household is not rich, and when she goes to dinner and sees Valentina humiliated before her guests, she takes one of the goblets of Venetian glass and smashes it. Then she says a small verse and the pieces come back together.

Luzia goes to market and sees a man whose bones were broken when the inquisitors tortured him for making a dirty joke about the Virgin Mary. Valentina shows Luzia the many invitations she has received, now that word of Luzia’s performance has circulated. Marius will borrow money so they can entertain more. Valentina hopes she is changing the family’s fortunes as rumors spread about Luzia’s powers.

Every night, Luzia smashes and mends a goblet, but hides that she uses words and song to perform the magic. Luzia tells Valentina she wants money, and Valentina gives her a pearl.

Luzia goes to mass and sees someone removing furniture from the house that belongs to the Inquisition’s alguacil (an official). A servant offers her a position in the Olmeda household. Luzia remembers how her mother died and her father ended up a beggar; she won’t let that happen to her. Hualit warns her to be careful as there is a fine line between miracles and witchcraft. She tells Luzia, “You are walking onto the pyre and whistling while you do it” (33), because conversos—Jews who have converted to Christianity—are not considered “real” Christians. Luzia thinks, “She was allowed to want more for herself. And even if she wasn’t, she would find a way to get it” (35). Later she will realize she was wrong, and there is no end to “more.”

As she helps the cook, Águeda, Luzia reflects on how her great-grandfather was burned by the Inquisition, and her own mother warned Luzia about ambition. After she mends the goblet at dinner that night, one of the guests asks if there is something else she can do. Luzia remembers how, that first night, she felt she had seen Madrid from above. She wonders, “How big might the world become?” (38). She makes the candles flare, then puts them out. Valentina is delighted, but the new man stares at Luzia.

Luzia realizes the man might inform the Inquisition and she could be in real trouble. She could be thrown in jail like Lucrecia de León. Luzia packs her things, resentful that she doesn’t have more. She is used to keeping secrets, taught so by her parents. She goes to Hualit for help but realizes there are already men at her aunt’s house.

Víctor de Paredes is waiting for Luzia. He is said to be the luckiest man in Madrid. The pale man, Santángel, is with him. Víctor wants to see a milagrito (a magical or miraculous act). Luzia wonders briefly if in fact her magic comes from demons, or if there is a demon inside her. She thinks she might burn, “[o]r she might sprout wings after all—very fine wings of velvet and pearls” (50). Luzia makes a grapevine explode across the courtyard of her aunt’s house. Don Víctor eats a grape, then tells Luzia she will hear from him.

Hualit explains that the pale man, Guillén Santángel, has been a member of the De Paredes household for a very long time. The king’s former secretary, Antonio Pérez, is trying to regain favor after the failure of the Spanish Armada to invade England and is hoping to impress the king with miracles. He is hosting a tournament to find a holy champion, and Víctor intends to enter Luzia.

Hualit has been pretending to Víctor that she is a widow named Catalina de Castro de Oro, and she told him Luzia is an orphan she found. Víctor is powerful enough to keep Luzia safe and free of suspicion. She could seek better employment, “might marry and have children without fear. She might be free to speak, to read, to be seen” (56).

In the carriage, Santángel speaks with Víctor. He understands the importance of the tournament to impress King Philip, whom people are angry with. Víctor says if Santángel helps him, Víctor will set Santángel free.

Doña Valentina is thrilled to receive an invitation to La Casilla, Pérez’s castle. Luzia reflects, “Wishes granted were rarely the gifts they seemed” (63). Hualit has told her the refranes, her magical songs, are a small magic, a scrap, but to Luzia they now feel like more.

Víctor visits and offers to become her patron. The Ordoños give Luzia a linen closet instead of making her sleep in the larder. The closet has a window, and in a neighboring house, Luzia sees a woman and a harp. When Don Víctor squeezes her wrist, Luzia realizes he is dangerous and she wonders what the price will be for his patronage.

Santángel stays in the room to confront Luzia, warning her the Torneo Secreto is not a game and her life may be at stake. He reminds her, “There are certain places our miracles must not go” (74), and “There is a fine line between a saint and a witch” (75).

Santángel tells Luzia to show him her skill and wants to know the language of the refranes. She says she makes up the tune, and he suggests she can perform the magic by thinking the words in her mind. She practices with a bean and is successful.