by Asia
Sam climbed up the tree and sat on one of the branches. from where he sat, he could see most of the farm. no one was in site. he heard Emerald and Joharran talking in an unfamiliar language, he spread his legs on the branch against him. the night was so bright he didn't have to make any effort at watching. so he relaxed and listened to the murmurs of the stream next to him.
he almost fell from the tree when he heard her screaming, he climbed down as fast as he could, and ran to her direction.
he found Joharran hugging Emerald, humming to her ear trying to calm her down. his eyes were filled with tears.
he knelt down beside her "are you alright ?" he asked gently, then looked at Joharran's tears stricken face "she told you".
Joharran nodded "when all of this happened?" he asked with hesitation.
"three years ago" Emerald answered weakly.
"did you found out who he was?"
"yes..." Emerald exhaled heavily "he's the one I'm going to marry."
Joharran's mouth gaped in surprise "you mean no one punished him? he ruined your life, but he entitle to have his own? what is wrong with this people?"
"I...I didn't tell anyone."
he calm down a bit, maybe this people are not that bad "why?"
"because, no one would believe me. and even if they do, I'll be the one to be punished..."
"this is outrages." Joharran's rage was up again. then turned to Sam "and you knew about it, and didn't do anything..."
Sam was about to answer, but emerald beat him "don't you dare blame Sam. he was just a child, what could he do ? it wasn't his fault, it was mine."
"would you stop saying that!" Sam was beginning to get angry himself "this is not your fault, this is only Pol's fault" then looked at Joharran to see his reaction.
Joharrn kneeled near Emerald again "this is not your fault." he said with a tender look in his eyes "no man is entitle to do this. no matter what the girl is doing, he can not force her to do anything" then he just walked away.
Emerald looked at him with interest.
"what is he doing ?" Sam whispered.
"it looks like he is looking for something..."
in a few minutes they saw him come back with some leaves in his hands. he ducked them in the stream, came back to Emerald's side and started washing her eyes with the soothing herbs.
"I don't know much about plants, and you don't have a lot of them here. but I thought i saw this somewhere near the stream, and I know the uses of this herb...how do you feel?"
"good, what is it?"
"it is sage, it has a lot of purposes that I don't know. but I know this is good for soreness."
Emerald smiled at him, then turned to Sam "just one more minute, okay?"
Sam nodded and walked a few paces away to allow them some privacy.
"thank you Joharran, for your understanding."
he smiled "you are welcome"
"I won't come tomorrow..." she could feel his disappointment "just because I don't want to raise suspicion , and I want you to get some sleep."
Joharran lean his head to kiss her "good night, my love. sweet dreams" he whispered to her ear. he walked to Sam and shook his hand, then he walked away.
Emerald watched him until he disappear in the darkness.
*****
the door opened quietly. two green eyes poked through the crack, blinking to get used to the dark. careful not to make a sound as the door's pivots turned slowly , the figure opened the door in silence, groping it's way through the obscure room. the shadowed form opened the window, not too much, but enough to create a dim light on the bed. it got closer, then hunkered down near the pillow.
" GOOD MORNING "
Sam leapt up "what...what happened?" looking down he saw Emerald squirming on the floor, groping her stomach in effort to control her laugh.
"you scared the hell out of me." he said in anger, though his eyes laughed with her. he slide down to the floor and started tickling her waists.
when Emerald came to the dining room, she still had cramps from the laughter.
Joseph looked at them with anger "Emerald, this is not the expect behavior of a lady!"
"oh Joseph, come on. she is not a lady yet. let her enjoy her few moments of childhood. it won't be long till she'll have to stop." Margaret was out to her defense.
Joseph looked at Emerald, then at Sam, then back to Emerald "fine, since you came to the right conclusions in the past few days I would not make a fuss about it. but I think you ought to practice a good behavior before your marriage."
Emerald smiled a sweet as saccharin smile "of course." and kicked Sam's leg under the table.
Emerald took the basket off star's back opened it and pulled a blanket.
Sam looked at the sun, that was high in the middle of the sky "what a perfect day for a picnic!"
Emerald nodded her agreement and started to draw the food out of the basket. Nanny put so much, it would take ages to finish it. Emerald looked at the food that was ordered on the blanket. Nanny made pancakes, she even packed a jar of maple syrup. she made meat balls, salad and bread. and chocolate cake for dessert.
after they had their fill, they lay down on the blanket.
"hey, this one looks like a rabbit" she pointed at one of the clouds.
"what are you talking about Emi, can't you see it's a potato ?"
"how can you talk about food? just thinking of it makes me sick." she laughed "look at the right one. don't it looks just like grace?"
grace heard her name from the distance and howled at loud. then they saw both of the dogs come bouncing through the meadow.
"so what do you think?" Emerald looked at Sam seriously.
"think of what?"
"of HIM, you silly."
"he look like a good man..." he looked back to her gaze "I could tell that he really cares for you."
Emerald smiled dreamily "we have to think of the rest of the plan..."
"frankly, I don't think there is a way" he said quietly.
"but..."
"there is no but. I thought about it a lot, and I can't find anything. I'm sorry, but there is no way that the two of you are going to be together here." he looked at her sadly "I'm really sorry..."
*****
"this food is delicious." Joharran said with his mouth full.
Emerald laughed "don't tell me, Nanny made it."
"who is Nanny?"
"Nanny is just her nickname, it actually means a nursemaid..." seeing his puzzled look she explained "it's the woman that took care of me since i was born."
"what about your mother ?"
Emerald's face frowned "my mother is dead..."
"I'm sorry."
"yes me too. she died when I was seven, I still miss her very much..." her eyes were wet.
"but, you said Nanny took care of you since you were born."
"she is not instead of a mother, she helps the mother with the baby. cleaning and such. but mostly they get very attached to the baby. Nanny loves me so much, she even prepare my food sometimes, even though this is not her job to do so."
"everyone here have a Nanny?" was his next question.
"no, only the one's that can afford it." she gave him a slice of cake and watched him eat it, savoring it's taste.
"this I don't have at home."
she smiled "you see, we have some things that are good in here."
he lowered his head "I miss my home..."
*****
Emerald stood on a footstool looking down on Nanny with impatient glares "do I have to do this ?"
"have to what? stand here or have a wedding dress?" Sam remarked sarcastically.
Nanny smiled with mouth full of needles "Sam, you should go out now. I heard rumors that you won't mind getting married after all..."
"good." Sam said before he closed the door after him.
Emerald took her wedding dress off and put on a more simple dress. then Nanny opened the door for Sam to come in.
"so.." Sam turned to Nanny "do you know who started the rumors?"
"of course I do, it was one of Joseph's servants. I guess he talked about it quite a lot..." Nanny answered with a wink "my daughter has been convinced to get married, at last"
"well, maybe I should..."
Nanny and Sam looked at Emerald in surprise "should what?" they said at once.
"maybe I should get married to Pol."
"but, I thought..." Sam started to say, but Emerald interrupted him.
"there is no way I'm going to be with Joharran in this world, you said it yourself. and I thought about it also. Joharran is very miserable here. he miss his family. maybe I should just..." she swallowed hard "maybe I should just let him go."
Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing "what do you mean?"
"I mean that I love him. I want him to be happy. but he would never be happy here. so...I want to get him back to his home. I want to set him free."
"and how are you going to do this?" Nanny asked, still in shock.
"I'm going to give...Joseph" she said his name in disgust "I would offer him a barter. I would marry Pol without making problems, if he would set Joharran free."
"you mean, you would sacrifice yourself for him?"
*****
when Emerald got off the stairs in the morning she saw Margaret and Sam talking quietly, but when Margaret saw her they stopped. 'weird' she thought to herself.
they sat near the table and started to eat. Margaret and Sam were strangely quiet.
"where is Nanny ?" she asked Margaret.
"Nanny wasn't feeling very well, she is at the clinic."
"why didn't she told me? I'll go see how she is doing." Emerald was about to get off the chair when Margaret motioned her to sit back.
"she asked us not to tell you, if you would come she'll kill us..."
Emerald smiled "okay, but if she will not return in a few hours I would go."
Margaret nodded "fair enough."
when the silence became too stress she turned to Sam "so what are we doing today?"
"actually...I have to do something, and Margaret said you have much to do before the wedding."
"but, but the wedding is more then a month from now. can I come with you?" she couldn't understand him.
"we have to look over your things, to see what you would take to your new home and what not" Margaret tried to explain.
"and it's have to be done now ?"
"yes, you wouldn't have time for that near the wedding."
*****
"hello Henry, how are you?" Sam addressed one of the guards.
"fine, thank you sir."
"I need one of your men. a strong one." Sam got to the point.
"the strongest is in the end of the field, but I don't think you would be able to use him. he don't know our language." Henry answered. he didn't want him to take the big one, the work would be delay.
"it's alright, I don't need his mind, only his muscles."
Henry sigh and talked to one of the guards.
"don't worry, it won't take long." then Sam turned to leave with Joharran after him.
when they were out of site Joharran asked Sam where they were heading.
"we are going to the clinic. I have something for you there..."
*****
Emerald sat on the floor near the closet, rummaging through her belonging. Margaret was standing near her looking at her clothes.
"what did you talk with Sam about ?" Emerald surprised Margaret.
"when ?" Margaret tried to buy some time.
"this morning, you stopped when you saw me."
"well...he told me about what you said yesterday. to tell you the truth, I think you should reconsider."
"there is no way Meg. there is no other way." Emerald said sadly.
Margaret saw that her eyes began to get wet and changed the subject "I think you should put everything that is essential for you in the side, so it would be the first thing we bring there. everything else would be brought there later. I mean clothes and stuff like this."
when Emerald and Sam climbed down the tree that night Sam whispered to her ear that he was going back to his home in the next day.
"I would like you to come with me." he asked her.
"of course, any reason ?"
"I want you to see my mother again, you haven't been at our house for 3 months. I don't think you will have time after the wedding. and to tell you the truth, I don't think she would come to your wedding"
"why ?"
"well, you know how she feels about your father. and to hear that he made you married that...that man. my parents would be very mad."
"you are right. I'll tell Joharran that I would not be here for a couple of days."
*****
the sky was very cloudy in the morning, but Sam insisted on going home, though Nanny pleaded him to wait a couple of days.
"I'm sure a storm is about to come, why won't you wait ?"
"don't worry Nanny, we will ride there as quickly as we can, it would take just a few hours. we would be safe and sound at my home when the storm begins."
Nanny sigh "okay you stubborn, but watch over my baby!"
they mounted the horses and waved goodbye.
the ride went on quietly, the only thing heard was the hooves of the horses.
suddenly a thunder roared. Sam's horse neighed, star reared on his hind legs as Emerald tried to calm him down with soothing words.
"we have to hurry." Sam said at loud while trying to calm his horse "Jenny is very nervous."
they increased their pace. for a few minutes it was quiet, then a lightning tore the sky and a few moments later another thunder roared.
Sam felt a drop on his nose. and in seconds the sky opened and the rain poured hard on them.
the noise of the rain and the thunder made Jenny nervous but when she lost her feet a bit on the wet soil she could no longer contain her fear and reared.
"saaaaaaaaaaaam"
*****