I turned to my father. I was furious, terrified, and above all, heartbroken. Thomas was my dearest friend. My only friend.
“You
sold him? No, you can’t! You can’t do that!” I knew it was a mistake
speaking out of turn to my father, but I didn’t care. He was sending
away the only person who completely accepted me. He grabbed me, dragging
me toward the house. My mother screamed and tried to put herself
between us.
He
shoved her aside easily, causing her to fall against the knight’s
strange yellow woman, who tried to catch my mother as she fell. The
instant they touched, she jerked away as if burned and her eyes turned
to me, wide and shocked.
My mother scrambled toward the knight, grabbing at the bottom of his long tunic, looking up at him
tearfully. “Take my daughter too, sir. Please!”
“I
cannot take her. I only have need of the boy.” The knight did not seem
to be affected by the scene before him- my mother, sobbing at his feet,
and my father attempting to drag his screaming, crying daughter into the
house, stopping once to strike me hard across the cheek.
“My
lord.” The strange woman spoke for the first time, her voice husky,
surprising us all. My father stopped dragging me, turning to look at
her, and I stopped struggling.
“My
Lord,” she repeated, once she had the knight’s attention. “I believe I
can make use of the girl, if you would agree to bring her with us.”
Something unspoken passed between the knight and the mysterious lady. He nodded once, and turned back to my father.
“Sir, I would be willing to take your daughter as well, if you are so inclined.”
“I
don’t know about that, now.” My father still held my arm, but he
loosened his grip slightly. “She does quite a bit of work around here. I
don’t fully know how we might manage without her help.”
A
look of disgust crossed the knight’s face, only for a brief instant
before he composed himself. He removed a coin purse from his belt and
tossed it to my father.
“I believe you will find yourself well
compensated for your loss.”