Till Fate Tie Us Together...

Chapter 3

"Is this how you show loyalty?" The lady of the house yelled furiously. "By seducing my husband? And whoring around with him?" Her hands raised to deliver another blow. "I am sorry, my lady. The master...he's persistent." She cowered in fear, her bloody lips trembling in fear. "And you have the guts to tell me my husband is too weak." And another blow was landed.

Ada couldn't watch anymore. She couldn't watch her mother getting beaten by The Mistress of the house. But at an young age of 6, she knew she had to obey her mother. Her mother had warned her not to come in between her and the mistress. So she stayed quiet.

At night, when her mother came back toiled, she'd place her head on her lap and sing lullabies. And every night one question bothered Ada, Abba said he loved Ammi, then why does she dress poorly and toil unlike the mistress? What was different?

"Sometimes, love is not enough." Her mother made her understand. As she grew up, she understood. Mistress, though the fourth wife, was the richest among the four. Her father owned 2 fleets and traded in the west. Her mother was not a wife, she was a slave, a mistress, she had no authority over Abba. He did want to marry her when she was conceived with Ada. The mistress never allowed it. She'd put a ruckus and threatened that she'd tell her family and they'd kill the slave for sure. Abba agreed on one condition, that the child inside the slave will be brought up as every other legitimate daughters of his.

Love was not enough. She understood it well. Money was important more than love. Money was the one thing that had formed a barrier between her mother becoming a mistress. People only respect you if you're 'Someone'. Power commands respect and power comes only through money, she set this in her mind.

"Ammi?" She smiled at the dark woman in front of her. She had come to visit her at her house, in the outer courtyard. Her wrinkled face lit up in a bright smile as she got up to embrace her.

***

"He is good looking but most of all he is rich. He's going to be the next Emperor of The Great Empire." She ended her story about Salim. A smile lit up her face as she described him and his riches. "But with great riches, come great complications." Her mother advised. "Such as what, Ammi? Too much gold and too little space? What problems could the rich even have?"

Her mother laughed. "Relationships should not be weighed in riches, Ada. The richer the pocket, the heavier it is. It becomes a burden then. It is why kings are never happy and queens are miserable."

"But I am not weighing him entirely on riches, he is rich, of course but he is terribly handsome and makes my heart thump."

"Then I'm happy for you and you have my blessings, as always."

***

Salim sighed for the hundredth time that day. He wished to stay in The Desert Lands longer. He wanted to talk to her more. The first opportunity she got, she traced the scar on his face, one that ran from his eyebrow to his cheekbone. He had to control himself from moaning. Wherever she touch, she lit little sparks that soared into a raging fire in his stomach.

"Another one runs right across my thigh? Do you wish to see it too?" He winked at her. He laughed when he remembered her face then. Even in the darkness, he saw her blush. Two men looked at him with puzzled looks. He glared at them and proceeded to daydream about her. She had been there all night, talking, laughing. He sighed again. He missed the damn girl.

   ***

  By and By two years had passed. She hadn't written to him and he hoped she wasn't married by then. He remembered her everything, her face, her smile, her walk, her talk, her voice. He remembered her like she had been there yesterday. But did she? That question pestered him every night.