The Woman Knight

2 - Houses and Husbands

Richard Bakers wasn't a very nice man.

Everyone was slightly afraid of him. Whenever something went wrong, his name cropped up in the list of suspects. In his first week at the town, he had already started multiple bar fights, earning him a lifetime ban. He could easily switch from severely depressed, to violently tempered, without a warning, and took it out on pretty much whoever was in his immediate vicinity. So people usually stayed away from him, an arrangement that worked best for both parties - Richard definitely wasn't a people person, and he always glared at nearby strangers like they were an evil witch who had personally cursed his entire bloodline. They were usually quick to excuse themselves.

But Richard wasn't your stereotypical abusive father, either.

Say what you want about him, but everyone knew he loved his wife. He always did his best to care for her, and hated himself when he failed her. This attitude extended to their one child, Lola. He didn't particularly like her, the same way he didn't particularly like most people, but he knew his wife really cared about her daughter, and, thus, he took up the mantle.

When his wife was diagnosed with malaria, he sat at her bedside and never moved til the day she passed. When she did, he probably would have festered in his own mind and drowned out his thoughts with alcohol, had it not been for his wife's dying wish. She knew he never took well to their daughter. But she begged him, for her sake, to secure her daughter a life better than that of her parents'.

And thus, Richard had one more goal, one more purpose he woke up with in his mind every morning. He would secure his daughter, Lola Bakers, a good life.

Of course, his idea of a good life for his daughter, and his daughter's idea of a good life for herself, didn't always line up. This caused many problems.

Like now, when Lola was getting home from the marketplace, the same day she had met the woman Celeste.

"I'm home," she said cautiously, walking through the door. "And I come with silver. A lot of your pies sold today."

"Good work," he said. Lola could tell that he was unusually happy. "Daughter, I have exciting news to share."

"What's that?" She asked.

"The young man Alex," he began. "The inheritor to the steel mines, has agreed to be your husband."

Lola's heart dropped. She knew he wanted her to get married, but she didn't know he had already begun to make arrangements. And Alex? She barely knew him. The little she did know, she didn't like; Alex was well-off, sure, but he was also a very arrogant boy.

"Doesn't this make you happy?" Her father asked.

"Yes, of course," she replied hastily, not wanting to disappoint him. But the truth was, this didn't make her happy. In fact, she desperately wanted to get out of the arrangement as quickly as possible. But she didn't know where to go. This was her only home, her father was her only family, Alex was her only suitor, and the few friends she had couldn't do anything.

Still, she thought, I might as well see what they have to say.

So Lola hurried to her friend Bessie's home before it got dark. Bessie was slightly poorer than Lola, so her home was in a slightly poorer district: not quite the "house" homes, but not quite the slums, either. Lola arrived.

"Hi."

"Hi, Lola."

They sat down.

"Bessie, I wanted to ask your advice about something," Lola said. "My father is going to make me marry Alex, the mine-owner's son."

Bessie stared at her for a second.

"And?"

"I don't want to," Lola replied.

"So?"

Lola looked at her, needing elaboration.

"Lola, are you really that spoiled?" Bessie said. "I would celebrate if I were you. You're not going to marry an addict or a wife beater. Plus, he has a bit of money."

"But I don't like him."

"Since when was it about that?" Bessie asked. "Also, he's quite handsome, I might add." Lola rolled her eyes.

"So you think I should marry him?"

"Obviously," Bessie said. "It's not like there's much you can do about it, anyway. That's just the way it is in this world."

"I could run away."

"Lola, get real," she replied. "Where would you even go?"

Where would I even go?

Where would I even go...

Those words echoed in Lola's head, over and over again.

Until she remembered the note.