Pollyanna spent the next week intending never to see Rory again as she continued learning how to efficiently cook, clean, and sew.
She made sure to have an extravagant meal cooked for Kline when he came home—lest she incur his wrath—and she made sure the house was spotless and that any clothes that needed stitching were mended.
It was a busy job. Especially in the summer heat.
I belong to this man now. He supports me and mother. That’s what matters
. Pollyanna tried to convince herself as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Sometimes, when she was shaking out the rugs on the porch, or when she had to go run errands for Kline in town, she would see Rory. He would approach her—intending to speak with her—but she would quickly move in the opposite direction with a heavy heart.
On one such trip into the town, she decided to quickly pop into the fortune-teller’s tent. The fortune-teller was a human mage of very little magical talent as human mages tended to be.
Pollyanna tried to say calmly, “Please, do you have any potions that prevent childbirth? Any at all?”
The fortune-teller shook her head. “I have no such potions, but I do have an amulet; if you place it under your bed, it should prevent childbirth.”
The fortune-teller climbed to her feet, picking up a gray, diamond shaped amulet from the shelf behind her. “It’s one gold coin.”
Pollyanna didn’t hesitate. She purchased the amulet, purchased meat from the butcher, and commissioned the tailor to make Kline an outfit after giving her his measurements.
Pollyanna placed the amulet under her bed when she arrived back at the manor.
She clasped her hands together on top of her bed to Renthas, “Please… please don’t make me get pregnant…”
When Kline arrived home later that night, he checked the small sack of coins he gave her to make sure it was missing the correct amount of gold.
His eyes were dark when he saw it was missing a piece. “What did you buy?”
Pollyanna gulped, looming over her, backing her against a wall. “I was hungry. I just bought myself vegetables.”
Kline rose his hand; Pollyanna turned her cheek. His hand raked her across the face. It stung, turning her cheek red.
“I-I’m sorry… I couldn’t wait until dinner.” Pollyanna murmured.
“I told you that you were never to buy anything without my permission.” Kline berated her. “Are you stupid? Did you forget?”
Pollyanna shook her head with glassy eyes.
Kline groaned, seizing her by the arm—dragging her away from the wall and out the bedroom door.
“What are you doing?” Pollyanna asked, not daring to struggle as she was pulled along.
He didn’t answer, but his hand tightened around her arm so hard that she was sure it would leave a bruise. He dragged her to the front door, shoving her outside and locking the door behind her.
“You’ll sleep outside. That’s your punishment.” Kline said coldly from inside the manor.
Crickets filled Pollyanna’s ears as she stared out at the dark landscape in front of her.
There are monsters in the dark!
She childishly thought to herself.
I’ll be eaten if I sleep out here!
It was hot and humid outside. She was already beginning to sweat profusely. She turned around, slamming her fists on the door. “Let me in! Please let me in!”
No answer.
She ran over to her mother’s house and frantically knocked on the door. “Mother! Mother help! It’s hot and—”
Pollyanna looked behind her. She could swear she saw a silhouette in the distance--although it may have been her imagination. “There’s someone out here! Help me!”
A minute passed, and Pollyanna was sure her mother would not answer the door. She sank to her knees in misery, hugging her stomach.
She accepted the fact that she would be sleeping outdoors.
But she was proved wrong; her mother appeared at the door—rubbing her eyes tiredly. “What’s wrong, Pollyanna?”
“Kline locked me out of the manor. Please let me stay here, please!” Pollyanna begged.
Pollyanna’s mother had a cold and unfeeling look on her face. She crossed her arms, indifferent to her daughter’s suffering. In a moment, however, her posture relaxed, and for the first time since she was a young child, her mother had a compassionate look on her face. “Come in, Pollyanna.”
Pollyanna was stunned by her sudden and unexpected kindness. Her mother gently took her by the shoulders, ushering her inside.
“Oh, thank you, mother, thank you!” Pollyanna cried. Pollyanna kept wiping her tears away as they walked down the hall, and her mother asked compassionately, “Shall I tell you a bedtime story? Like when you were younger?”
Pollyanna nodded; still too shocked by her mother’s kindness to say anything.
Her mother led her to her bedroom where she climbed up on the bed and patted the spot next to her. Pollyanna laid on her side, shaking, and put her head in her mother’s lap.
“Once upon a time, there was a long line of daughters. The mothers of the daughters in question were wonderful for much of their children’s childhood, but as the children grew older, their mothers would change. This change happened nearly overnight; the mothers would go from brushing their daughters’ hair at night, to hitting them with the brush in the morning…” Her mother was stroking Pollyanna’s hair with emotionless tears running down her cheeks.
Pollyanna stared at the wall with wide eyes.
She remembered her mother telling her this story over and over again when she was younger, but she had stopped one day, and Pollyanna had forgotten it since.
--------“Each of these mothers promised themselves that they would not end up like their own mothers, but eventually, all of them succumbed. They turned from good to evil…” Pollyanna’s mother whispered. “They knew not where this evilness came from. The only thing they knew was that it was something they couldn’t escape. There was one mother who knew she would succeed, however; one who loved her daughter more than life itself, and somehow, she overcame that unspeakable evil passed on from her mother, and she and her daughter lived happily ever after.”
Pollyanna breathed heavily—her heart beating out of control.
She now understood who the story was about.
I can’t have a child. I can’t have a child…
She thought to herself determinedly.
__
“You won’t steal my gold again, will you?” Kline demanded in the morning as the two had breakfast together.
Pollyanna’s mother had been kind enough not to tell Kline that she let her daughter sleep indoors; Pollyanna went back outside just after Kline woke up, and when he let her in, he was none-the-wiser that she had slept indoors.
Pollyanna took a sip of her orange juice and shook her head silently.
“Good. I shall have to be more precise about the amount I give you from now on, little thief.” Kline said as he ate a piece of bacon off his fork. After he left for work, Pollyanna told the servants that Kline gave her an errand to run in town.
It was a lie.
In actuality, she wanted to go see Rory.
She headed into town and stood in the middle of a crowd for a moment. She delighted in the noisy comfort of knowing that there were people around who could help her if need be. It was delightful after living in silence and isolation at the edge of town with a man who beat her and a mother who was indifferent to her suffering. She strolled past the smithy that was belching smoke and the bakery that smelled of freshly baked bread.
------She saw Rory’s family shop in the distance—a shop that made cutlery, furniture, and other practical items—and quickened her pace. Her heart was in her ears the closer she got. Her eyes were so focused on the building that she bumped into someone.
She apologized profusely until she realized it was Rory she had bumped into.
It was all she could do to resist throwing her arms around him.
“Rory, I want to talk to you.” Pollyanna said frantically.
Rory was wearing an apron and carrying a heavy box that looked too big for such a small man. He looked at her sourly, thunder ringing in the distance. Eventually, his harsh expression softened, and he nodded slowly. “Let me deliver this box, and then I’ll meet you near the riverbank.”
Pollyanna nodded.
She watched him disappear into the crowd, sniffling.
I blew it. He probably doesn’t want me at all anymore.
Pollyanna waited for Rory at the riverbank, wondering whether he would show up. She had left him suddenly and cruelly, after all when they had met up a week ago, and she still felt incredibly guilty about it.
She listened to the stormy sky, looking at her distorted reflection in the water.
It looked about as good as she felt.
Time passed, and eventually, another face appeared in the water next to hers.
She spun around, standing up. “Rory!”
He had his arms crossed angrily. “Why did you run off like that? Why did you continue avoiding me if you wanted to see me?
Pollyanna clasped her hands behind her back. “Because I’m married… Because I have my mother to think about.”
“Then why
are
you seeing me?” Rory challenged her. “You said you wanted me to save you, why don’t you let me?”
Pollyanna didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what she wanted out of this meeting.
She just knew she was alone in her suffering. “Because it’s lonely… Can you be my friend? Even if you can’t be my lover?” Pollyanna asked. “I… I can’t let you be killed for running off with me. It—it would be far too dangerous…”
Rory came closer and closer until he was only two inches away from her.
She was scared he was going to push her in for a moment.
But he merely kissed her hand. “Of course I’ll be your friend. What brought this on?”
“Kline…” Pollyanna took a deep breath. “Kline struck me across the cheek. He—he tried to lock me outside and make me sleep outdoors last night. I was so frightened.”
Rory had a look of utter disbelief on his face. “God…” Was all he could say.
Pollyanna knew he wanted to argue with her more; she knew he wanted to convince her to leave with him, but she also knew that he knew that he couldn’t convince her.
All he could do was throw his arms around her in compassion.
She pressed her cheek into the top of his head, feeling warm and safe for a second. After a moment, he sat by the bank and she sat next to him. There was peaceful silence for a time. She leaned her cheek on his shoulder.
Eventually, he asked, “Why did he slap you? Why did he try to make you sleep outdoors?”
“Because I spent his gold on something I shouldn’t have…” Pollyanna whispered.
“What was it?”
“An amulet that prevents pregnancy. Promise me that you’ll never tell him. I told him I spent it on vegetables.” Pollyanna answered.
Rory couldn’t help but laugh at that, and Pollyanna couldn’t help but join him in his laughter. “I think you should pick a day and time for us to meet here each week. I want to be here for you as much as possible.” Rory said kindly. “As a friend, since you won’t have me as a husband.”
Pollyanna screwed her eyes shut, tears being squeezed out from them. “You don’t have to do this for me if you don’t want to. I want you to at least find a wife of your own if you do.”
“I told you; you’re the only one I want for a wife.” Rory said determinedly.
Pollyanna was taken aback by his kindness; she simply couldn’t comprehend why someone would lay down logic, their own happiness, and their future, to chase the ghost of a relationship with the least desirable girl in the town.
“But why?” Pollyanna asked breathlessly.
There was a long breadth of silence, and then…
“Because there’s no one else on Yharos like you. In many ways, we both blend in with everyone else; we’re just products of our parents—we’re what everyone wants and expects us to be—but deep down, there’s a piece of us that our parents didn’t instill within us—a piece that’s all our own—and I know that my piece will fit with no other but yours.” Rory explained as well as he could. “I know we’ll do great things… Things that the world would never expect of us.”
__
“He was right about one thing; I did end up doing great things that the world never expected of me.” Pollyanna murmured with ice in her voice.
“You think butchering innocents is something great? Something worthy of praise?” Eory contested.
“I think whittling out the weak in favor of the strong is something worthy of praise.” Pollyanna countered. “I whittled weak Pollyanna out and replaced her with someone strong; someone who can contribute something to this world.”
“I’m weak.” Eory said with brutal honesty. “Would you whittle me out, too?”
Pollyanna had no answer for a moment.
No
. She screamed on the inside.
On the outside she said, “Yes. I see the potential for you to become someone strong; someone more worthy of the Arrozan name than any in the past.”
Eory looked disappointed, but he changed the subject. “Tell me the rest.”
“It’s about to get much worse, but your wish is my command.” Pollyanna whispered.