Intertwine

60 - I Hate Men

TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER - SEXUAL ASSAULT

I've also changed a detail from a previous chapter (chapter titled When Is Happy's Birthday) this is the detail I changed: Aditi was getting a lot of new dreams about Roara's life, passing out three or four times a day. She and Peter had started to write them all down, trying to understand some sort of pattern. 

ADITI

"My father is thinking about marrying me off soon." The girl with long dark hair turned to her companion.

"Any suitors in mind?" The man asked. They were sat in an abandoned castle, legs dangling off the edge of a tall tower.

The girl bit into a piece of bread and cheese. "Of course." She said, her mouth full of food. "He's got a house in Town and his father owns the manor house in a nearby village."

"London Town?" The man asked, taking a swig from the bottle that had been on the rooftop behind them.

"What other Town is there?" She asked.

"Ro, there are plenty of towns in this country." He sighed and passed her the bottle.

"Yes." She took a drink, before passing it back and taking another bite of food. "But then you would say Oxford, or Bath, not just Town. It's with a capitalised T. I have explained this to you."

"I still think it strange." He shrugged.

"Loki, I think you strange for not understanding this simple concept." Ro smiled playfully.

"What else does this man possess that makes him so suitable?"

Ro swallowed. "Well, I'm just a peasant girl aren't I? If someone owns a house that is enough. Word is this man saw me taking care of the horses for the farm next door and took an interest in me. Asked around, found  who my father was, and that was that."

"What does your father say?"

"My father says I'm not likely to get a better offer." She looked sadly at her bread and took a large bite. "But I don't want to marry him."

"Why not?" Loki picked up an apple and took a bite. "He seems like a good choice."

"He likes his women like he likes his mares. Obedient, pregnant, and silent." Ro looked sadly out at the view of the countryside sprawling below them. "I don't wish to be any of those things."

"Where I come from women have a say in who they marry." Loki sighed and looked at her. "You need not marry him, you know. There is always a choice."

"Where you come from, oh great Asgardian prince, people live far longer and so you are stuck with the same person for much longer. It makes sense for both parties to have a say." Ro shook her head and sighed, pulling the apple from Loki's hand and biting into it.

"Why don't you want children?" He asked, giving her a side glance.

"I do, one day. But for now I want to be free from that responsibility. I'm only 18. The girls in the village, most of them of my age are already married, and to men far older, and all they do is bear children."

"You know, he can't marry you off if you're already married." Loki said, a small grin on his face.

"Who am I to marry then? Don't be absurd. The farm boys all think me mad for going out riding with you, a stranger, every day. The Johnson boys all have their eyes on other girls. Marriage is important, it's what will allow me to live a comfortable existence, and so those would be my only choices." She shook her head. "And I cannot run away, not with my sister at home."