There he was, staring back at me with eyes as dark as midnight ..... Then he said, "Where do you think you're going?" "I've been waiting for you.....you know how much I hate waiting"
At this moment I knew I was in for a long night...
CHAPTER 1
Growing up I didn't really have much and I didn't really ask for much either. My parents were both of low-birth so we didn't really have much; and by "we" I meant my father, mother, I and my younger brother.
My parents did everything in their power to make sure we had decent clothes on our bodies, a roof over our heads and three square meals a day and that was more than enough for me.
My father was a wood craftsman, he had a small shop in the market where he crafted different types of furniture from these woods. He would go into the forest and cut these woods, carry them by himself out of the woods and to his shop where he worked tirelessly day and night.
Most times my heart would ache for him because he wasn't getting any younger, and I just wished he would stop carrying those heavy log of woods all by himself;but my younger brother was not up to the age to engage in such heavy work and there was nothing much I could do to help either, my mom on the other hand was a full-time housewife who cared and catered for us.
"Leilana" I heard my mother call me....."yes mother " I answered and left my little brother's side whom I was trying to put to sleep. I quietly stepped out and closed the door behind me not wanting to wake him up.
"Yes mother, you called for me".... "Sit down Ana" my mother said tapping the space beside her ..."Uh oh" I sighed, whenever my mother was like this, was when she wanted to talk about the one topic I always tried to avoid, "MARRIAGE".
I tried to play smart by raising a question to avoid the lecture I was about to receive, "Father isn't back yet, is he?" I asked, "No, your father seems to come back a little late these days, but that's not why I called you"....."I wanted to talk to you about what we discussed the last time"
"Mother, I know and I'm still searching, I haven't found anyone whom I want to marry yet, give me some more time"....."Well that's why I called you here, Lord Carter has declared his intention to marry you" she said.
Lord Carter was a decent young man, a young lord, his father was a count at the time, he often came by father's shop to get wooden furniture at his father's order, we exchanged pleasantries a few times, but I thought that was it, he was a kind man but I didn't like him enough to get married to him.
"Mother, Lord Carter is indeed a kind man but I do not see him that way"..."this isn't about how you see him or not see him, this about the family....as you know your father isn't as strong as he used to be, I do not have anything doing and you brother is still too young to labour at his age, it's high time you got married and think about your future, do you not want a better life?"
" I do want a better life mother, for you, for father and for marcel, but not at the expense of my own happiness" ....."and who says you won't be happy? Hmmm?,Lord Carter is a good man, and you know he likes you, he will take care of you" and just then my father walked in and mother went to him, not before whispering to me "think about it, hmm?.
Late into the night, I lay on my bed wide awake as If I had been robbed of sleep. I couldn't help but think about what my mother told me.
Lord Carter was a good and kind man, plus he came from a decent enough family, I would be doing my family a huge favor if I married him and I could finally help my father with some workers to aid him at the shop.
The more I thought about it, the more it didn't seem like a terrible idea, besides who still got married due to their feelings these days. And before I drifted off to the other world of sleep I concluded that I would marry him.
Talk about friends, I didn't have much of them just two; Isolda and Jocelyn. Isolda was the daughter Count Bancroft, a wealthy man.
Isolda and I met once when she first sneaked out of her home the first time, she stole toke some fruits from a fruit seller and gave to some hungry children, only to realise she didn't have money on her to pay.
The fruit seller wanted to beat her up, claiming she was a thief, I had to pay him off so he would let her go. She thanked me and promised to pay me back; I didn't believe her, but she did come back and paid me and she never stopped coming.
Jocelyn on the other hand was the daughter of a famous breadmaker in our village, we've been friends for as long as I can remember.
"I'm getting married" I said to my friends the next day when we met at the market. "What? Ahhhhhhhhh" Isolda squealed she had always been the dramatic one amongst us.
"To whom?" Jocelyn asked.... "Mr Carter" I replied. "Congratulations, when is the wedding?" Isolda asked,..... "I haven't even told him I'm going to marry him, and you're already planning a wedding?".... "Wats stopping you from telling him? If I were you I wouldn't even give it a second thought, He's a good man and comes from a decent family", Jocelyn said; she was always the mother amongst us.
"I know, I just don't want to rush into anything, to avoid looking desperate"..."take your time, but not too long" she said, "Alright, I've heard you".