Caesar

CHAPTER TWO • TRICKED

The sun had retired early and the moon stare down from its pitch black sky. The sound of various nobles departing from the castle, the horses and wheels against the ground rings loud in the night.

Danbury sits down in the carriage watching the nobles depart. She clutches her fist when she spots Verbena in her violet gown walking beside her father.

Her own father had told her to wait in the carriage till he was done with the meetings. She rolls her eyes frustratedly as her hands run over paintings of wild herbs.

The mirror in her gown glows brightly as it whispers; "Look outside!"

Danbury's eyes peek through the windows of the carriage, looking at all the nobles till she sights him 'A paragon of perfection!' His hair the darkest she had ever seen, his eyebrows dark, bushy and knitted, his golden brown eyes were so beautiful and his lashes long and scanty but light giving a his eyes a more appealing look. His nose was pointed and just perfect, his skin bronze, creamy and smooth, his lips...

Danbury watches him as he walks with a crowd of nobles freely laughing with them. As he gets to his carriage, he halt bidding the nobles farewell.

Her eyes remain on him as he stands at his carriage as if waiting for someone. Her eyes flare up as jealously rises boiling her blood, "Is he waiting for a lover?" Words escape from her mouth through gritted teeth.

A lady dressed in violet with veil approaches him. Danbury laughs through closed teeth while knitting with her eyes fixed on the lady, the needle pricks her thumb and she screams out sucking it.

"Verbena!" She grins. She could recognise that little conniving antisocial bitch anywhere. Her hands drop down as she speedily knits a sweater, the needle pricks her continuously, boring holes into her fingers as blood rushes out but she could care less, her eyes stare at Verbena, that little witch!.

The door swings open as her father comes in. He gives the command and the carriage starts moving and the image of Verbena standing next to her paragon of perfection gets smaller and smaller till it completely fades away.

*******

Verbena walks towards the huge black carriage. It was different, crafted by foreigners so it was cube like and large. She could see him stand as if he is expecting her. She stops at his front.

"I am here to return your...fabric!"

His eyes blinks as he watches her through his lashes. His mouth open;
"Keep it! What use do i have for a piece of fabric?"

"What use have i?" She shoots his question back at him.

His eyes wander about as they admire all her features. Her curly African hair bounces as she shakes angrily speaking to him.

He signals his men and they open the carriage door and he attempts to go into the carriage but stops when he hears her say;

"Since it's trash to both of us, i will treat it as such!" With that she throws the fabric to the ground and starts walking away.

"You would have it!" He said in a commanding tone so dominant and powerful that he scared her but she wasn't the submissive type or the type that would have argued her way to being right. Instead, she simply was the type to walk away and never turn back to see his expression or reaction and that was exactly what she did.

She turned her back walking away, never stopping to look back.

Caesar bends down, his hands pick up the fabric from the moist carpet grass. His eyes glare up.

"If i say you would have it darling, then you must!"

His eyes stare down at silken fabric on his hands. Such a fabric worth a fortune in the market but that wasn't the reason he wanted her to have it. He sighs, it was a reminder of her first meeting with him. His eyes narrow as a smile slowly crept on his face as he remembers how his hands felt against the nape of her neck, how her dark brown eyes had stare back at him, how hot her breath was against his skin; she was on his mind driving him crazy.

As he finally enters the carriage, he balances on the seat as he stares at the fabric until it disappears not longer on his palms.

*********

The mud beneath her cloth boot feels sticky as she struggles through trying to get to her home - which is smaller than a mini house but bigger than a hut. It is cubical and minuscule. Its roof is thatched with little holes which rain usually fell through flooding the house any time it rained.

On the ground beneath the holes, there are tiny wooden buckets which were full with rain water. Diana picks them up and strolls into her house carrying both buckets. Dropping them in the little compartment she used as a kitchen, she calls out;

"Andrew! I got the money for...!" She couldn't bring her self to speak as she couldn't find her sick husband anywhere, all she found was an empty sack with two little bronze coins lying on the deflated sack.

Tears rushed down her childish face as she runs her hands through her brown hair crying in pain. Her knees drop to the ground, her mouth opens wide as she sobs uncontrollably.

She had been tricked! Her husband had pretended to be Ill and stolen her money.

Her body stiffens as it becomes smaller. She curled herself on her straw mat weeping uncontrollably. She had been going round the whole city looking for somewhere to borrow money from, all to treat her dying husband and was left with no choice or alternatives that she had to borrow from a shark who had been waiting patiently to devour her as he usually stared at her immorally and made repugnant comments about her body. Coloradin Brothel was the death of many young girls as their corpses were rolled out daily and their bodies thrown into the ocean, left to the mercy of whales and sharks.

She had sold herself through a deadly loan for her lying husband. It became all clear to her now, in stupidity and haste, she had borrowed money without the ability to pay back. How was she going to pay?

The tears which falls down her cheeks were now cold like ice and resting against her skin. Her fingers dig into the straw mat as her eyes stare blindly.