Christine's POV
When Erik left, Gustave crawled beside me and plopped back against my pillow.
"A bed," he sighed. "And a nice one too. I always wondered how comfortable the Master's bed was."
I giggled at the child's innocence and plopped down beside him.
"He does have a comfortable bed," I continued. "I may have to continue acting ill in order to continue sleeping in it."
Gustave hugged one of the pillows and smiled. "I never had a real bed. When I sleep at Nadir's, I sleep on the couch."
I felt bad for the boy… All children deserved to sleep in a bed, and yet, this boy had yet to do so.
"There is an extra bed in the back of the master's caravan," I said. "Perhaps he will let you sleep in it."
"The master doesn't like me," the boy replied. "I don't think he's going to give me his extra bed."
I ruffled the boy's locks and smiled. "Well, I'll tell you what… If you get me some string and a few feathers, I might talk to the master about the bed situation."
The boy raised a curious brow. "String? And feathers? Why do you need that stuff?"
"Would it be impossible to get?"
The child shook his head. "It be simple."
"Good," I said shooing him off Erik's bed. "Get the supplies I asked for and return here tomorrow."
After hugging me, the child ran off and left me alone once again. I spent the remainder of the day reading a book and waiting for Erik to return. He did so that evening looking extremely exhausted. I continued reading, pretending that I didn't even know he had entered the caravan. He began stripping himself of his extra clothing, placing his coat and vest on his desk chair. With only his white shirt and black trousers still on, he took a seat and began rubbing his temple. It was then that I placed the book down and looked at him.
"You look exhausted."
He paused from what he was doing and nodded. "I am."
"If you wish to sleep, I could go back to my own bed…"
Erik shook his head. "No, you need the bed more than I do. I don't sleep much, and when I do, I wake a little while later. You sleep better than I do and right now you need it."
"I…I wanted to thank you for letting me see Gu…I mean the boy. He cheered me up a little bit."
"You're welcome…"
Knowing that I wouldn't get the answer I wanted if I asked him for a favor now, that being the reason why I continued our conversation.
"When is the show going to continue?"
"In a few day's time… We are going to be back on the road again tomorrow and then, when we arrive in the next town we're going to start performing again."
"And what about me? You've barely trained me…When am I going to sing?"
Erik shrugged his shoulders. "When I think you're ready. Everything takes time, Christine…"
There was a moment of silence and then, I rubbed my bare ankle, the same ankle that used to have the shackle locked around it.
"You removed my shackle," I continued. "Does this mean that you trust me now?"
"We've already been through this," he growled. "If you continue bugging me about the shackle I won't think twice about putting it back on you. And no, this does not mean that I trust you, I just thought that you would rest easier without it hurting your ankle."
"So does this mean that you're going to put it back on when I'm well again?"
"If you continue to ask me about it, I won't think twice about doing so. Promise me that you won't run away and I may think about leaving it off you."
I smiled, for even though he was a dark and unpredictable man, I knew that there was a small bit of hope within his soul.
"Erik, the boy…The gypsy boy that is staying with the camp…I…I wanted to know if you wouldn't mind having him stay in the spare room?"
Erik seemed surprised at this, for he immediately crossed his arms over his chest and looked me in the eyes.
"That gypsy boy is forbidden from staying in this caravan, a caravan that belongs to me."
"He doesn't have a bed! He sleeps on Nadir's couch…"
"And even that is too good for him!"
I knew I shouldn't have continued, but I didn't understand why he had such a grudge with the boy.
"He's only a child! What has he ever done to you? What? He's only a boy!"
The moment I said those exact words, the man before me tore his neatly tucked shirt out of his trousers and pulled it up, revealing a canvas of lumpy scars.
"These were not made by your God!" he cried. "These were made by that innocent gypsy boy… His people did this to me!"
I only had a few moments to gaze at the scars, for he pulled his shirt back over the hideous canvas.
"But he's been here since he was a baby… He is no harm to you. You shouldn't hate him because of something his kind did. He's harmless! He wouldn't hurt a fly!"
I was a fool to test Erik's temper, for he lunged at me and grabbed my wrist. I wasn't sure if he did so with the intention to hurt me, but when he let go, I knew there would be a few bruises forming there by morning.
"Ask me to give that monster a bed again and you won't have one either…"
With that being said, the man threw on his cloak and headed out the door. I was alone again, alone and ten steps back from gaining Erik's trust. I knew he wouldn't trust me now, and that our relationship was back to where it had started from in the beginning…
Erik's POV
I thought Christine had changed. I thought Christine had turned back to being the girl I had once loved, but no, she was no closer to being that girl…Not after what she had just said to me. How dare she go against my wishes and beg me to let that monstrous child sleep in the spare bed that was located in the back of my caravan! I hated gypsies! I hated them with all that I was! The boy needed to go… I couldn't continue to let him stay. He was a gypsy and gypsies didn't deserve to live!
After leaving my caravan, I decided to take a walk, finding Nadir sitting with Reha around a small fire. It disgusted me to see the two of them cuddling in a chair like love stricken children. I rolled my eyes and approached Nadir from behind. He was whispering sweet nothings into her ear and giggling. Oh, it angered me to no end!
"And what, might I ask, is so funny?"
Reha gasped and stood to her feet. I frightened her and I was proud of it. I enjoyed the fact that my employees all feared me. Nadir seemed upset over this, for he stood as well, stepping in front of his wife to stand up for her.
"I am entitled to a little private time with my wife, Erik. This is not a crime… Just because you can't get a little private time with a woman doesn't mean you should come ruin mine."
Oh, that Persian had a saucy mouth at times, one that I wanted to strangle him for.
"You may be my most trusted advisor, Persian, but you need to remember your place in this camp. Speak like that to me again and I won't think twice about banishing you and your whore."
The moment I said that despicable word, Nadir lunged towards me. I never thought he would have done so and before I knew it, the man had slugged me square in the face! How dare he! How dare he punch me in the face! Reha knew her husband was in trouble, for she gasped and covered her eyes as I grabbed the man by his shirt.
"How dare you! How dare you slug me in the face?!"
"And how dare you stand before me and call yourself my boss with the disgusting mouth you have! A boss does not address one of his employees as a whore when it is plain to see that she clearly is not! I don't appreciate you addressing my wife as a whore! She has a name, and it's Reha! I demand that you call her by her birth name!"
"Your whore is banished!" I pushed the man away from me and grabbed the woman by the collar of her shirt. The woman cried and attempted to slap me, but I was too strong for her weak struggle. The woman screamed, and I thought nothing of it, until I felt someone shove me away. I fell to the ground and looked up expecting to see Nadir standing there, but no, there, standing beside me was Christine.
"Don't touch her!" Christine cried. "You have no right to touch Reha. She didn't do anything to you…"
Nadir stepped in now and turned to Christine. "Take my wife inside the caravan…"
When Christine didn't move, Nadir yelled something to Reha in his own language causing the woman to take Christine's hand and hurry to the caravan. I was left alone with Nadir now, and I wasn't sure what the man was going to do to me.
"If we were in Persia, I'd kill you," he growled.
"Well, we're not in Persia, Persian, we're in Rouen…"
"I have always followed you, Erik… I have never questioned your decisions in life. I have followed you everywhere without questioning you, but I will not continue following you if you call my wife a whore. She has never been with anyone but me…She has a name and I want you to call her by it. I know you are jealous of me, Erik, jealous that I have a woman to go to bed with each night and you do not…But that is no reason to call my wife horrible names. Now, I will forgive you for this and continue helping you run the camp, but you have to promise me that you won't call her anything but her name ever again."
The man held his hand out to me, but I swatted it away. I was furious, furious that this man was setting the terms!
"With an attitude like that, Erik you will die a lonely man. I'm sure Christine could find some way to live with you if you were just a little kind."
"I want nothing to do with that woman… All women are evil, and I wish they would all perish!"
"I thought you would say something like this, which is why I'm going to let you know that Reha is with child…"
Pregnant? Pregnant? Nadir had knocked his whore up with a bastard child?! How was this supposed to make me feel any better?
"She's what?!"
"Reha has wanted a child for a while now, Erik and I have every right to decide whether we should have one or not. You cannot play God!"
"Maybe not, but this is my camp and in my camp there are no babies!"
"And if you want me to continue being your advisor and employee you will not say one more word about it and let us have this little bit of happiness in our lives. You would understand happiness if you just stopped being so cruel and found a woman to love. When you're in love, you feel things that you could never imagine feeling in your entire life."
"I know what love feels like, Persian… I too once loved another."
"Perhaps, but it's different when the person you love also loves you back."
With that being said, the man left me standing there alone… But the man was right… If I didn't change my ways I would always be alone.
