The Long Endurance

 Part II:

Many, many years later, and much further down the road from the grand city was the farming community of Legosh. A family stirred before daybreak like so many others did, readying for their tasks in the fields and feeding of flocks. A daughter, mother, and granddaughter busied themselves making breakfast as the men resumed plowing.

   “Mother, I have to go to the Mitharian Market for supplies, would you help Mi‘sheth finish everything? Don’t look for me being back till they close after mid-day.”

   “Certainly, Mil’nah – but here you must have something to eat before you leave,” handing her some buttered cakes.

   Mi’Sheth added, “It is all right mother, grand mistress and I are capable. Be careful,” her daughter smiled over at her grandmother.

   “Of course, well I’m for the road,” Mil’nah said leaving the grandmother and granddaughter alone for the day.

 

   Cleaning up after their breakfast the granddaughter, Mi’sheth started, “Grand mistress, I –.” She stopped short and became distracted in early preparations for the evening meal, anticipating her mother’s return, “Never you mind – I found it – all is well.”

   But the grandmother heard something worrisome in the younger woman’s voice, “Mi’sheth, come, sit with me a while, there is plenty of time for doing that later in the day. Child, I see something weighs heavily on you. Pray, tell me freely, and know this is only us.”

   The sixteen-year-old girl burst into tears, “I –I am with child, grand mistress.”

   “There now, my darling, Neda is here. Know I love you very much and no matter know that your mother and father hold you most precious as well.”

   “I know this,” through sobbing tears, Mi’sheth added, “He –he said he loved me too, during and after all our visits, even after he would withdraw himself off me. But I know he will never be mine to keep, grand mistress – Neda.”

   “There, there child. If this boy is honorable, he will honor his love and duty to you, and all will be well.” The grandmother smiled trying to offer up hopeful consolement.

   But the granddaughter cried all the more, “He is married to another, and fifteen years my senior with seven children of his own. A daughter is my closest friend.”

   Neda’s face fell, frozen pale even as her granddaughter added, this time without tears, “I cannot abandon the life that is growing inside of me, and I will not live knowing the child would become a forfeited son, given over to the Priesthood or if a daughter becoming a scribe for some king or nobleman.”

   Sternly, Neda replied, “The child will be all of ours to raise and shall be my own to adopt, if need be, only know this that none of those things shall befall this blessing to us. Be assured Mi’sheth, like you, this child shall be the very heart of me.” The two embraced.

   “Grand mistress, gratitude for so much. I am still terrified, yet you have allowed me not to feel alone. Neda –have you ever had a broken heart that ached so much you begged for the utter darkness to overtake you?”

   A loving expression came on Neda’s face, “We have all had broken hearts at one time my dear, for such is the way of life and the pathway for more lessons to be learned.”

   Mi’sheth saw her grandmother quietly stare off in the distance, speaking softly, and knew a story was about to unfold. “Yes, I have known such heartbreak before. More than most I have also endured the crushing of my soul beyond humility or shunning,” then feigning a joyous smile, recalling a lost hope, she held her granddaughter’s hands in her own adding, “Deep within us there is the gift of tenacity, given us by the gods to continue on when such times seem unsurmountable.

   “When I was a child both of my parents died in a house fire. My father rushed me outside into the arms of a neighbor woman as he ran back inside to save my mother, but it was then they both perished in the collapse.” Mi’sheth’s eyes teared at the loss that was not her own.

   “When I was six years old the ancient woman could care for me no longer and gave me over to the Scribal Sisterhood, for training in the royal courts was her hopes. Apparently, my wealth of tenacity poured itself into everything I learned. The Mother-sister, Adearmah said I out-shined all those she had ever instructed before. I instantly memorized all the laws, histories, and excelled in debates over them with my teachers. Then, on my tenth birthday, I received my golden dipped quill of graduation and was then assigned my charge, the King himself.

   “It had long been forbidden for us girls to seek the affections and passions of being loved by men. It was called a capital offense to any who touched a scribe in such a manner. Never is a scribe of the court spoken to outright, and if questioned we are strictly taught to speak when directed to and only briefly in due measure about the Law. As scribe to the King, a most coveted position, we were closer than even his own shadow ever at his side and silent record keepers of his every word and deed. He was my sacred charge, and at times my own status reviled his on matters of the law in court.

   Her granddaughter spoke above a whisper, “I never knew you were a Scribe, grand mistress nor that it was so ridged, as I never gave such things much thought. Thank you for sharing your experience.”

   Continuing her confession, Neda said, “My experience had only to see more, much more. One day the king and I walked about the grounds of the Map Gardens of Finomal. He sat on one of the stone benches, then bade me to sit alongside him, instead of on the floor mat each scribe was mandated to carry with us. I complied. For a long wearisome span, he went on about the queen, saying the most unflattering of things. Mine was but to listen as a scribe’s commentary was unimportant as record keepers.

   “Then the conversation turned, and his words colorfully detailed his being neglected by her touches and the manner in how he –enjoyed being touched. Here, my charge pressed for my thoughts on the matter knowing full well the matter was not in the scope of Scribal duties, and I feared he wanted more than talk. Still, I remained silent, Kings are after all the most curious creatures among men but remain men none-the-less. For the whims of a crown turn upon the wind.

   “Sitting beside the king, instead of being at his feet on the floor mat was my first mistake. My second –was not running away. He –began turning his spoken thoughts into… well, moments later he could not stand my repeated recoiling from his soft touches and advancements. Striking me hard in the face he mounted me upon my own mat. He violated me, over and over again. No quoted laws nor persons about helped against his ferocious lust to do as he would to my person. Nothing quelled his lust till he was finished and then looked down upon me with utter disgust.”

   The listening granddaughter began quietly crying as Neda went on. “I returned to the House of the Sisterhood a shattered mute, but bleeding stains on my clothing and bruised, near blinded swelling of my face spoke the volumes my words neglected to profess.

   “The Mother-sister informed the king’s court that a sudden illness had overcome me in the night taking my life; immediately assigning another, and much older, experienced scribe in my stead. I was hidden away from the royal court and any prying eyes. But none ever came seeking me out.

   “Many, long months passed and still I remained mute and stunned, even after my appearance healed. Then at long last after delivering a healthy male child, one which King Korale had seeded in me, did I confess before everyone in the dining hall all at once. The sisters had no choice but to listen to my horrific revelation, snuffing out once and for all, all of the vile whispered rumors many spread and believed about me playing the part of a whore.

   “Only now, Mi’sheth, for the second time in my life have I shared this with anyone. I am the mother of that abandoned child. Shattered and confused, sick and yes very much heartbroken, I abandoned the babe on the steps of the marble gazebo. Mine was the child whom the king murdered, and then publicly set afire, all in order to keep his secret unknown. His greatest fear was that a bastard son would usurp his throne.

   “So yes, Mi’sheth yes, I have known heartbreak, and I have endured –any ridicule or shame that others could devise against me was never mine to bear. My darling, neither is your situation your fault, done to you with the greatest hubris of deceit.” The two women embraced and found in one another’s company a new relationship.

   “Well, I’m back,” announced Mil’nah, laden with bundles from the market.

 

. . .