by Asia
Emerald went slowly downstairs, not wanting to start this day.
"good morning everyone, where is Nanny?" she asked.
"she's making you breakfast". Margaret answered a little shocked to see her the way she looked. "where did you get that dress? you look so...grown up"
"Nanny made it for me". she answered and went to the kitchen.
"Nanny, don't you think Astel knows how to cook? this is why she's here, you know".
"well you have a big day today and I wanted to make sure you will eat properly". Nanny spoon Emerald's chin in her hand and made her look up, "don't worry, my child, everything would turn out for the best".
she went back to the table and ate quietly.
"the carriage would be ready in 5 minutes." her father announced.
"but I told you I'm taking star." she got angry.
"this is not for a young woman to ride to town on a horse." he looked in her eyes.
"I don't care, if you want me to come, it is only with star." she returned his gaze, in a battle of will. he looked away first and she smiled. 'I won'. not that it help that much, she'd still be going to town.
they rode side by side, Emerald looked on the view, it was such a nice day, she could have done so many things a lot more fun or useful then going to town.
she could run with her dogs in the fields or go to the meadow with star, or be in the clinic helping, everything but this.
"I don't understand why you are so angry, you should be happy to do this, and before your friends..."
"I don't have friends". she said with anger in her voice. "you know that, all this gossip and giggling, it's not for me".
as they got near the town he turned to her. "please, behave yourself".
"I'll think about it". she answered quietly looking at him sadly ."why are you doing this to me?"
"I'm doing this FOR you, it's time you'd grown up". he said sternly, "this is not a girl place to doubt her father."
she sigh, this is going to be a long day.
she sat on a chair in the hall of this small house, there were another five girls with their fathers, they all looked so happy.
'what is wrong with me?' she thought to herself. 'why can't I be happy with it?'
she looked up and saw an old lady signing her to come. she sigh and got up. she followed the lady to a small room, her father was already there.
the old lady motioned her to upright and started checking her, oh she hated being there. she was treated like a cow before the sale.
"she looks good, good body, not too skinny and not fat" the woman said, "now, show us how do you pour the tea"...
Emerald got out of the place with her eyes full of tears. she got on the horse and turned to leave.
"we're not going now, I have a few things to do before we leave", she heard her father.
without looking at him she said "I'm going, I need to be alone". not waiting for an answer she urged star to a quick pace.
when the town got out of site she leaned forward, signaling the horse to start running.
when he stopped running she got down of his back and sighed, and suddenly she could take it no more, she fell to the ground crying.
*****
Joharran opened his eyes to the darkness, as he tried to get up he felt a terrible headache, and something more, his hands were tied up, and his legs too.
"hello" he shouted, but no one came.
"is anybody here?" he tried again, no answer, he was so exhausted the injury made him weak, so he laid down and fallen asleep.
when he woke up again it was morning, he saw a few men lying next to him, their hands were tied up too.
'am I in the camp of Attaroa?' he thought to himself "who are you?" he asked the men.
the only answer was a strange look, he tried again this time speaking sarmunai, one man said something in a language totally stranger to him.
he shook his head in disappointment, they wouldn't understand him, he was thirsty , but didn't know how to say it, though he got the feeling they wouldn't give him anyway.
he looked at them and notice their clothes, he looked at his and saw it was the same as the men had, it was much softer then the clothes he used to wear, it was a tunic and leggings but they were different, actually it was very comfortable.
after what seems like eternity he saw a few men coming, one of them was the leader of that he was sure, his body language said that. he had something strange in his hand, a long object with two holes in the end, it was maid from an unfamiliar material.
the man shouted a few words and someone got to him and lift him up brutally , the leader studied him , then gave a big evil grin and walked away. one of the men pour some water on his head, Joharran opened his mouth to drink it.
a few moments later the man returned and said something, all the men who was lying on the floor got up and stand in a row, he followed them, as a man chained one man to the one after him to the one after etc.
suddenly he saw the leader, and he was sitting on a horse, no one except Ayla never had a horse, and here they had many, and all the men who were free rode them...
it took him a few days , but finally he got to know all the chained man by their name, and even started to learn their language.
after a half moon cycle of walking he got used to all the strange things this people had, he learned that they were slave, which meant working for someone, and they were going to a city, there they would be sold to someone.
he had a hard time to except it, that people forced other people to do their bidding, and no one seemed to stop them from doing that.
it was also hard to understand the meaning of been sold and the concept of money.
as the walking progressed he got to know the other men who were with him, Thomas was a slave all his life, but his master lost all his money and sold him to the 'head hunters'.
Abraham was sold by his own parents, they were poor and had a lot of children. when Joharran heard that he got furies, but he couldn't say anything, he maid a point of not telling anyone but Thomas, who become a friend, about him knowing their language. they both felt it was for the best.
every night he had the dreams. he felt hopeless for been there, not helping her, every dream it got worst. the crying tore his heart out. he realized he missed her laughter. life was unbearable, he didn't care been chained or starve he just wanted to hear her laugh again.
he also felt cheated by the mother, thinking she just wanted to torture him.
'why are you doing this to me?' his heart shouted 'why?'
but donii didn't give him an answer, not even a sign.
in one of their stops he sat down and suddenly it hit him, he was in the future, he didn't know how but it was the only answer to all of his questions. the money thing, the land, everything pointed at it.
he was overwhelmed, he didn't notice that everyone was starting to move on, and got pushed by one of the guards.
he started walking, but the thought didn't leave him.
*****
"don't worry, my child, everything would be just fine" Nanny tried to cheer her up.
Emerald didn't answer, she just cried harder.
"honey, did I ever let you down?" Nanny asked.
"no, I guess not, but what can you do to prevent this from happening" Emerald tried to protest.
"I can't prevent it, but I have a strong feeling about it, everything would be alright." she said firmly "now, go and wipe your face, you do not want him to see you like that".
"yes, I do, I don't want to get married" her eyes pleaded her to understand "not to him, not at all, I'm only sixteen."
"you know honey, marriage does not depend on age"
"but why him?, from all the people in this world, he is the last person I've wanted". she just couldn't stop the flowing tears. her eyes was red from all the tears she'd been shed in the past week.
Emerald looked downstairs through the balustrade, she should be getting down any moment, trying to linger on a little more, she tried to find someone who was missing, almost everyone was there. the only one missing Pol.
she made a sigh of relief, she had a few moments for herself, then she sigh again, this time of agony. there he was, standing near her father. it's her time to get down now.
she started getting slowly downstairs. suddenly all eyes turned to look at her.
she looked incredibly beautiful in the sky blue dress, her hair was tied up but few laces of her curly hair escaped and landed on her forehead and down to her cheek.
Margaret thought she was going to cry when she saw her. her eyes conveyed her sorrow and pain, it was overwhelming. "Joseph, you are breaking her heart.." she said to her husband, but he ignored her. it seems as if Pol was also oblivious to her sorrow, he smiled at her and stared at her beauty.
Pol tried to talk to Emerald the all evening, but she avoided him, she didn't want to talk to anybody, afraid that if she will open her mouth she would start crying again.
Mathew, Pol's father, and Emerald's father stood talking all of the evening. Joseph saw Pol's fail courts but chose to ignore it.
Nanny was beginning to get worried. Emerald looked terrible, she never heard of anyone going to such depression because of it, but she knew Emerald was different from the other girls, who only wanted to get married and knit all day.
she lost weight, every time she thought about it she got sick, and as much as Nanny stuffed her with food, she just through out more.
her eyes became glazed, as if she didn't care about anything anymore. she stopped going to the meadow with Star, and stopped taking care of her dogs.
Brandy did all her funny tricks, trying to get her attention. but it seems as if she just lost contact with the world outside.
"he didn't even asked me if I like him." she sobbed "they shook hands and didn't even notice me sitting there, why, why did he do this?"
and then the recognition filled her, she was just been used, her father wanted to get control at Mathew's farm for a long time.
"so that was it. that was why he did it so quickly" her mind was racing. "how dare he, using me like some toy" she said out loud.
Nanny was startled from her thoughts. "what toy?" she asked and then, in a second, she understood. her eyes filled with sorrow. "oh, my child." she said and then sigh, there was no need to talk. she just hugged her as they both cried their pain out.
*****
the convoy that got close to the city was quite rare site. all the children was out to see them, and Joharran found himself looking in curiosity back at them, trying to find some different between the children he used to know and the children of the future that was his present now.
but when they entered the city he forgot about them and stared in wonder.
the city was incredibly ugly, there was mud everywhere and the smell was awful , but the built structures was amazing. 'how in the great earth mother did they do this?' he thought to himself. he could see it was made by men hands, it was too symmetrical to be natural.
it seems that instead of finding a place to live, like a cave, they just made their home, and there was so many, and so many people, more than at least five or six caves.
after he filled his eyes with the site, he looked for more, more amazing things, but all he saw was dirt. he saw streams of water, but their color was brown, like a bog, and their smell spread to everywhere.
when they got inside it was worse, he felt he was going to get sick. but what he saw was unbelievable. now he could see there were more people then he thought, more even then at a summer meeting. they were all gathered at the center of the city, all occupied in something that looked like trading to his eyes, he could see something that he thought was money, but he wasn't sure.
he was fascinated, watching at what they traded. he saw birds, birds he didn't recognized. actually he didn't recognized any animal that was there, and there was a lot.
but the most incredible thing was that all the animals was alive. the first reaction was to step back, 'did they had some kind of magic on them?'. the thought left as quickly as it came. he saw too many amazing things, they probably found some way to do this, he thought to himself.
'what a strange people, they have great advantage with their inventions, but they live in such terrible conditions' he thought 'perhaps it's their punishment for not caring for each other'.
*****