Ebony

Ebony found her mother in the market place. It was clear that she was looking for work still as well as for her daughter. Ebony walked up to her from behind calling to her. She turned and smiled brightly.

“Ebony, you should have come to mass, it was wonderful!”

But Ebony did not listen.

“I saw you talking to the noble. Why, mother? Why did you let him talk to you? Why did you let him touch you? What did he say to you?”

Her mother’s smile vanished.

“He invited to dinner at the tavern tonight,” she explained. “He wants to help us Ebony, even just for the winter. He is very sorry about yesterday and wants to make it up to us by giving us shelter and food and work. Isn’t that wonderful news?”

Ebony could not believe her ears. She did not trust this noble and as of last night neither had her mother. She had wanted nothing to do with him and now she was willing to meet him at a tavern. Ebony voiced her concerns.

“This will only lead to no good, mother,” she said quietly. “I cannot believe that you are going back on what you said last night. You wanted me to stay away from him and now you are going to have dinner with him—“

Her mother interrupted her rant. “I am doing what is best for us, Ebony. Please understand.”

Ebony merely walked away.

A few hours later she found her mother back at the monastery preparing for meeting the noble.

“Why would he want to help us?” Ebony asked the question that had been on her mind since she had last spoken with her mother. “We are gypsies and everyone knows that. We cannot hide from what we are no matter how hard we try. And no one has ever offered to help us before.”

“You need to have faith and trust,” her mother said calmly. “Please, my darling daughter, I beg you to have faith and not be so skeptical. I trust that God is looking upon us now and wishes to bless us with good fortune.”

“What is this talk of God? You have never spoken like this before. It is just because you went to mass this morning. That is why I did not go. Now look at what it has done to you!”

“Hush, Ebony! Not here. Do you wish to be thrown out?”

Ebony was about to reply sharply but bit back her tongue.

“Now, I am heading towards the tavern. I will be back in a few hours. Please mind yourself and come find me if you need anything, but only if it is important.”

Ebony remained silent as she watched her mother leave. She counted five minutes before following her. After a while of wandering, she found the tavern in question. It was a rather large one, to Ebony’s delight, meaning she could spy on them without being noticed.
After counting another five minutes, Ebony slipped quietly into the tavern and took a seat at the dark corner of the room. She noticed a few young men eyeing her but she ignored them. A young girl asked if she wanted anything, but she declined the offer, saying she was here to meet someone.
It wasn’t long until Ebony spotted her mother and the noble on the other side of the room. Even from afar, Ebony could tell the man was drunk. Ebony silently prayed that her mother would not do anything foolish and get herself into trouble with him.

As she watched the couple eat and drink, a young man approached Ebony, also somewhat drunk.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he hissed, “There’s a room upstairs. Want to join me?” He eyed her body hungrily.

“I’m supposed to meet someone,” she replied with a smile, hoping he would go away like the waitress did. Unfortunately, this was a man not a woman, and a drunk man to boot.

“I can be that someone you’re meeting,” he said with a wink.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ebony noticed her mother looking in her direction. Shit, Ebony thought, I can’t have her recognize me. And in the spur of the moment Ebony stood up, pulled the drunken man towards her, and kissed him. He did not hesitate to respond and immediately put his hands on her waist and deepened the kiss. Ebony used him to shield her from her mother’s view, but just enough so she could still see her mother with the noble.

After a few moments Ebony sees her mother and the man leave the bar. Thinking fast she told the drunken man that she wanted him to go get her a drink. He obliges and once he disappeared, Ebony made her way towards the door, the taste of ale still on her lips. Outside she sees her mother follow the noble behind a row of houses and she quietly follows them.

“My dearest, please sleep with me.” The sound of the noble’s deep voice penetrated the silence. Ebony froze in her steps.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot,” she heard her mother reply. Ebony breathed a small sigh of relief.

“But you are so pretty and your body…”

“I said no.”

Ebony began to get frantic for her mother’s safety and ran to where she thought they were. As she arrived she watched as the noble grabbed her mother’s waist with one hand and her breast with another and he kissed her ferociously. Her mother pushed him away and slapped him. The man howled as he held his face in pain. He looked up menacingly.

“You bitch! How dare you treat me this way! I try to help you and you repay me like this?”

Before Ebony could stop him he drew his dagger and in one fluid motion stabbed her mother in the stomach. Everything turned into slow motion. The blood spurting from the fresh wound, her mother crying out in pain, her body following in a bloody heap to the ground. Ebony lost her breath and her insides constricted. She felt bile in her mouth and faintness in her head. Everything went black as she fell to the ground as well.