Chapter 62
With that, Rashid turned and walked down the street.
His hand was large and firm enough to cover hers. Rosetta relied on his grip and followed where he walked. She had no trouble keeping up with him, even though his stride should have been much wider because of his long legs. His pace seemed to be deliberately slowed to match hers.
He walked skillfully down the dark street, as if he had cat’s eyes and could see everything in front of him. After a while, Rosetta looked up and saw a large back in front of her.
She remembered the last time she’d run away from Rashid’s men on a similar moonlit night, alone in the woods.
It seemed like such a long time ago. I never thought I’d be walking through the night with this man, hand in hand.
The woods, which had scared her before, didn’t frighten her in the slightest now. On the contrary, the dark forest now seemed serene. There was a soft moonlight, a cool breeze, and a variety of sounds that could not be heard in the daytime.
Insects buzzing, birds singing low in the distance, and footsteps crunching leaves on the ground.
Suddenly, it occurred to me. I realized that even after a long time, I would still remember this day: the cicada skin he’d found for me earlier in the day, the warmth of his hand now.
Feeling a little uneasy, Rosetta spoke up to distract herself. “And what are you going to do with the woman?”
He said he was going to hand the man over to the magistrate, and that would be that. On the other hand, Rosetta couldn’t understand what Rashid had said to the woman earlier.
“Her father will take care of it. It is customary for fathers to punish their daughters for their misbehavior,” he answered Rosetta’s question right away.
“So, what happens to the man’s wife now? Can she divorce her husband?”
“If she wants to.”
“That’s a relief.”
Rosetta beamed; she’d been a little worried that the woman wouldn’t be able to get a divorce after all that had happened, but she was relieved to hear that she could.
Rashid paused and looked back at Rosetta, his face showing some mixed emotions.
“Do you think she’ll want a divorce?” he asked.
“Of course she will want a divorce when she realizes what her husband has done.”
“Maybe not. Maybe she’ll forgive him and take him back. Maybe she wants that more than he does.”
“Why?”
Rosetta didn’t understand his words. How could she not want a divorce after finding out what her husband had done?
“Because the world is not a very hospitable place for a woman to live alone with a child.”
“Ah…”
Rosetta quickly realized what he meant.
The woman wouldn’t have much money. Even if she did get a portion of the property in the divorce, how long would she be able to survive on it? She would have to work, and it wouldn’t be easy for a woman with a child and no special skills to do so.
Divorce was only for those with enough money or the ability to support themselves, she realized now.
“You mean financial ability.”
“That and the fact that a woman without a husband is seen as an easy target by other men, especially if she has no family to protect her.”
Rosetta thought back to the first time she’d met them. She shuddered as she remembered the way Krell had looked at her. If Rashid hadn’t declared her his wife then, he might have done something terrible to her already. In fact, he had reached for Rosetta as soon as she had run away from Rashid. Because he thought she was a woman without a husband, a master.
“So don’t get your hopes up. The reality will be much different than you think. The choice is hers.”
He started walking again. Rosetta walked after him, lost in thought. She could see why he wanted to stay out of this. After all, this wasn’t just one person’s problem.
It wasn’t long before they reached the earlier location. Akal and Masha, tied to a tree, were happy to see them. Rashid immediately knocked on the door of the hut. He heard a small stir inside, and a woman cautiously opened the door.
[Who are you…]
She didn’t recognize Rashid right away. Then she caught sight of his blue eyes reflecting in the moonlight and let out a small gasp.
[Ri- Riga? Are you really Riga?]
[Yes. I need to talk to you for a moment.]
The woman stared at him in surprise, then at Rosetta beside her. She realized that this was the daughter of the rumored Basque chieftain.
[What are you doing in my house…]
[Your husband won’t be back tonight.]
[Sorry? What do you mean…]
[I just handed him over to the magistrate.]
[You handed my husband over to the magistrate? Why?]
Rashid told her succinctly about what had happened today. The truth is, her husband had been having an affair and wanted a new marriage with another woman, so he framed her.
While he was explaining, Rosetta looked around the house. At first glance, it was a poor living situation. The house was cramped and filthy. There was cooking going on, and something was simmering in a small pot on a hearth to one side. A child stood beside it, looking at her with a quizzical gaze. In her hand she held something she couldn’t tell was a doll or a piece of wood.
[Hello?]
Rosetta greeted her in Ardennese, and a small smile appeared on the child’s face. Rosetta gestured and the child moved closer. The child looked to be about five years old. Her limbs were scrawny and her body was skinny. The clothes she wore looked like they’d been worn out.
[What’s your name?]
[Ethel.]
Ethel, what a pretty name, like a flower, she thought, and then she noticed a bruise on one side of her forehead. At first, she thought it was a shadow from the dim light, but soon realized it wasn’t.
Rosetta sat down on her knees to match the child’s height. Pulling back the hair that covered her face, she realized that the bruise wasn’t just on her forehead. There were also scattered bruise marks across her cheeks and the nape of her neck.
[This… who?] Rosetta made a slapping motion with her hand.
The child flinched and spoke in a small voice, [Papa…]
Rosetta bit her lip hard; the man had done more than just cheat on his wife and tried to sell her and her daughter. He’d also beaten his own daughter, who couldn’t even speak properly yet.
Why on earth? Why would he beat a child who couldn’t even speak properly…?
Suddenly, a strange scene came to her mind. A dark place with no sunlight. Red blood everywhere. A fishy smell, a piercing scream of something…
[Sister?]
The child tilted her head. Rosetta shook her head and brushed off what she had just seen. This is strange, why did that scene suddenly come to mind?
Rosetta spread her arms wide. The child walked over and hugged her without hesitation. Rosetta picked up the child and stood up.
By now, Rashid and the woman had finished their conversation and were looking at her. The woman looked at the child in Rosetta’s arms with a very puzzled expression. The child was running her fingers through Rosetta’s golden hair with dirt under her fingernails.
“Rashid, I’m sorry, but could you please translate for her?”
“Translate?”
“Yes.”
Rosetta looked straight at the woman and said, “I’m sure you’ve heard the gist of it from him. I’m going to make you a proposition.”
Rashid translated Rosetta’s words into Ardennese. The woman looked puzzled, but nodded.
“If you want, I can find you a job in the castle, and you can move in with your child. I’ll pay you a salary that won’t be insufficient for the two of you to live on, which means that even if you divorce your husband now, you won’t have any financial problems. Now you have a choice: divorce him, or continue living with him.”
And Rosetta quickly said to Rashid, “You haven’t forgotten that I gave you a good tip about dyeing silk earlier, have you? I think that covers her salary.”
Rashid raised one eyebrow. Rosetta, feeling a little stung, added a long-winded explanation, “Look at the bruises here. When I asked her, she said her father hit her. I can’t leave her with a man who isn’t even her father anymore. You said the choice is hers, but I think in order to make a choice, the two choices have to be equal. You can’t give her an alternative, a choice between two things, and then say it’s her responsibility because she made the choice. I mean…”
Rashid suddenly sighed. “…You have a tendency to make me look like a fool. I have no objection to that, even if you didn’t tell me how to dye silk and sell it.”
Rashid quickly translated for the woman, then took the child from Rosetta’s arms and held her close. The child, who was already sleepy, was soon fast asleep with his head on Rashid’s shoulder.
It was then that the woman spoke. […Are you really giving me a chance to work in the castle, so that I can live alone with my daughter?]
Small tears formed in the corners of her eyes. It wasn’t easy to get a job in a castle. Whether it was cooking or cleaning, only the best and the most experienced could work there, or those who learned the job from a very young age.
Rashid nodded. [Yes, you can work in the castle if you want. But if you don’t do a good job, then there’s nothing I can do about it. You’ll have to remember that if you don’t pull your weight, you’ll be out of the castle again.]
At Rashid’s words, the woman bowed her head with tears in her eyes.
[I will never cause you any trouble, I will do my best to learn.]
[…Thank her, not me, because she’s the one who thought of taking you.]
The woman looked at Rosetta. With trembling hands, she took both of Rosetta’s hands and kissed the tips of them.