Adrift: A Little Mermaid Retelling

33: Agnes

It was two long, bitter months until Aroc was called away again for work. Well before that, my husband's suspicions fell upon me again. This time, he was not being paranoid.

He came to me as I sat laboring with my needle. When I saw his face, I knew it would be bad. I put my work aside and stood up, although my legs felt only as strong as blades of grass. "Husband."

"It was only a matter of time, was it not? Or have I been a cuckold these five years past?"

Doom. I sensed it, looming over me. It was over; my life, and Daniel's. "What can you mean, dear heart?"

He saw my fear. His strong, quick hand snatched up a length of my hair and pulled me to him. I might have had time to move away, but I knew it was better not to; I only flinched, willing my legs to hold me up, and let him take me. He dragged me toward the mirror and stood looking over my shoulder, thrusting my face toward the glass. "Is that fear in your eyes, Agnes? What have you to be afraid of, if you are not guilty? Look at you!"

I drew in a trembling breath as, obediently, I met my own gaze in the mirror. There was a woman there I did not know. If he would kill her, let it be fast; let it not be as my father had died. Let him break that woman's neck. She had a slender neck; it would be easy for him.

"I was curious today when one of my officers asked me if my roof was still leaking. I asked him what the devil he meant. He said he'd seen a man on the roof of my house, creeping along in the dark. The fool! Roof repairs by night!"

I closed my eyes and tried to brace myself for what was to come, but there was never a way to prepare for the violence. Although I tried to distance myself from my body, I was acutely aware of him standing behind me, of the slight tightening of the fingers he had twisted into my hair.

He threw me to my knees, and that night he gave me a thrashing worse than any he had given me before. By the end, I had all but admitted adultery to him. I was ready to confess to anything, if he would put his fist away.

His hair was disheveled. He stood at the window, looking out. "I'll find him, and I'll have him hanged. And your punishment will swiftly follow, woman. They will not put a lady to death, but a public flogging is the least of what awaits you. I need only find him to prove it."

I lay on the floor, staring at my outstretched arm through a blur of tears. My mind felt dull and sleepy, but my body was alive with pain. I knew better than to try to get up.

"I'll not just divorce you and set you aside, Agnes. For all the trials I have borne, such a fate would be too easy for you. Worthless woman. What a fool I was—so in need of a wife that I married you. Your father's pennies were just gilding on a whore."

I should have known better than to speak, but I did. I forced my bruised lips into motion. "I am sorry, Husband."

The air in the room was unnaturally still. I closed my eyes. After a moment, I heard Aroc's booted footsteps cross the floor, and he went out. I thought he had left me for the night. By the time he came back, I had almost worked myself up into a seated position. There was a pain in my side that made it difficult to breathe. I slid my fingers along the bones there, but it hurt too much to probe. Perhaps he had broken them when he threw me against the dresser.

The door swung open, slamming back against the wall. I flinched, but stayed where I was, my head lowered. Aroc strode toward me.

I felt something hard and cold beneath my chin, tipping my head up to look at him. I could not see what it was at first.

"Open your mouth, Agnes, and hold still," Aroc said. He sounded almost calm. "I shall show you what becomes of liars and whores."

I looked up at him. For a long moment, I stared at his face, struggling to find something within me that could rebel. The effort made me shake. But there was nothing there to hold onto. Aroc had taken Dannie's turtle, and now I knew the nature of what was between us: it was not the magic of a marriage bond. It was a curse.