Chapter 38: Tyranny Not Easily Conquered
Warning: mentions of abuse and related things. Read at your own risk.
"Oh, good heavens!" Meg ran down the stairs towards the door. She flung it open and dashed outside. Her eyes widened in horror when she saw Guy helping Mietek down his horse. A dagger was embedded in her brother's shoulder, from where blood trickled, staining his clothing. Every movement he made caused him to wince.
Meg turned to Guy. "What happened?" she exclaimed.
"Destin will leave this country very soon," Guy said, "but he couldn't leave without throwing a dagger at your brother."
Glad that Guy was spared any injury, Meg hurried to assist her brother, making him place his arm over her shoulder, and walked with him inside, conversing with him in their native tongue. Noticing that Robin, too, was wounded, Marian hurried to help him inside as well. Once everyone was in the Manor, Guy closed the door. Marian helped Robin to a chair and proceeded to take care of his wounds. Kate went to Allan, who, luckily, was spared the injuries two of his comrades bore. Isabella, who just came out of her bedroom, saw Meg struggling with Mietek. She went to Mietek and made him place his other arm over her shoulder.
Mietek stifled a few groans as he took a seat. Once seated, he looked up at Isabella, his deep brown eyes twinkling with curiosity. He endeavored to smile at her despite his pain.
"I believe we haven't been introduced."
"No, we haven't," Isabella responded. She wasn't looking at Mietek as she spoke, being too absorbed in figuring out how to treat his injury. "Isabella. And yourself?"
"Mieczysław."
"Really?" Here Isabella looked at Mietek. Wonder filled her eyes. "Well, I must confess that I've never heard your name before. How do you pronounce it?"
"Mieczysław," Mietek said slowly.
"Mieczysław," Isabella repeated after him.
"You pronounced my name splendidly. Many cannot say my name to save their lives. But call me Mietek. It's what everyone calls me."
"All right…Mietek. A curious nickname. Pray, tell, does your name have any meaning?"
"The name Mieczysław is Polish for sword of glory."
"A regal name for a regal-looking person. I've heard a lot about you, Mietek."
Mietek raised an eyebrow. "Really? I hope it was all good things."
Isabella chuckled. "Don't worry. All your sister could do was praise you." At that, she turned to Meg. "Treating wounds is my area of expertise. I can take over, if you'd like."
"Thank you," Meg said. "I need to check up on Gwido anyway, see if he's hungry." At Isabella's nod, Meg went upstairs.
In the meantime, Isabella put her hands on her hips, examining the dagger embedded on Mietek's shoulder. Mietek touched the area near the dagger and winced. He looked at Isabella, silent and pensive like a statue. Her lack of motion spooked Mietek. "So…you have experience with treating injuries?" he inquired, as if to see if Isabella would move her mouth to speak or do any other kind of movement.
"Since I was a young girl. Certain circumstances forced me to know how to treat wounds and injuries, particularly those involving daggers," Isabella said matter-of-factly, beckoning for Kate to bring some medicinal supplies.
Mietek didn't grasp the true meaning behind Isabella's words, but Guy did. A feeling of intense guilt crept up to him.
"The pain is becoming quite unbearable," said Mietek, wincing as Isabella wet a cloth with alcohol and dabbed the area around the dagger.
"I'm trying to see what I can do without inflicting more pain on you."
"Well, make it quick!"
"Impatient, are you?"
"Yes, and I have good reason to be!"
Isabella shot him a look of shock. At her look, Mietek immediately looked apologetic. "I'm sorry for raising my voice. You see, the thing is, I've fought many wars, battles, and skirmishes in my life, got wounded way too many times, and recklessly and uselessly put my life on the edge of death way too many times to count. 'Tis here but a flesh wound compared to the broken bones, the concussions, and then blood loss which I endured in the past and at which I never batted an eye. So, why am I fretting over this now?"
"You're quite hot-blooded, Mietek. Be careful. Hot-bloodedness is a trait you do not want to cultivate. Fix that quick temper of yours as well."
"That's a blunt way to put it."
"Well, I am not going to beat around the bush. You do not want to be a person easily prone to anger. Anger is a despicable vice in my book. Your quick temper will make everyone despise you."
"I'll be sure to write that down in my mental notes," Mietek said, tapping the side of his head with his finger and smiling.
"Now, hold still." Isabella placed one hand on Mietek's unharmed shoulder while her other hand touched the dagger. Truth be told, Mietek was disappointed that Isabella so abruptly changed the subject. He was rather enjoying their conversation about anger.
"One…two…three." Isabella ripped the dagger off. Mietek stifled a scream of pain. Isabella immediately disinfected the open wound and wrapped it with a large bandage. She soon discovered that the bandage would not do, so she wrapped the wound in a second bandage and put Mietek's arm in a sling. After finishing up, she looked at the sling in approval.
A few days later
Isabella wrapped her arms around herself as she sauntered around the outskirts of Locksley. She'd been walking for some time now, distancing herself away from the village yet still walking on its lands. She crested a small green hill and looked out to behold the village shining in the late-afternoon sun, surrounded by pastures and small hills. Noticing a boulder at the edge of the hill, Isabella sat on it, pulling her knees up to her chin, resting her chin on her knees, and looking out at the village. She closed her eyes, her hands rubbing her arms, embracing the warmth of the sun and the chilly breeze.
Isabella felt like she was transported back to the past, to Locksley fifteen years ago. She saw her ten-year old self running around the village with her friends and fourteen year old brother. She saw the entire squad of children playing tag, and then hide-and-seek, and then hopscotch. All of a sudden, she heard a woman's voice calling for her and her brother. She turned to the Manor, beautiful and untouched by flame, where her mother stood under the threshold, waving for the both of them to come inside for dinner. The two youngsters dropped whatever they were doing and immediately went inside, for they always looked forward to their mother's meals from her native Normandy.
Those memories occurred so long ago, yet they were fresh in Isabella's mind as if they occurred yesterday. She longed for the innocence, the happiness, the simplicity, and the peacefulness of those days. But she knew that she could wish all she wanted; those days would never return. One could not undo a fire. Isabella remembered a piece of advice that her mother gave to her and Guy concerning the events of the past. She had said: One cannot change one's past, no matter what it may have been. You cannot undo the actions of the past, but you can control the actions of the future.
Isabella remembered that Ghislaine advised her and Guy on many matters. It was almost as if Ghislaine sensed that her end was nearing, and she thus needed to give her children all the life advice they needed before she died.
Isabella and Guy loved and respected their mother dearly. Although they did not take every piece of their mother's advice to heart during their tumultuous lives, they still keep a pure memory of her. They believed that the only reason why their dark lives had some light left shining in them was because of their mother. They never spoke an ill word about her. Guy even killed a person who once dared to say something disrespectful about Ghislaine.
Thornton multiples times said many crude things about Ghislaine, which was the reason why Isabella physically attacked him for disrespecting her mother. Even though Thornton would retaliate and hurt Isabella more than she hurt him, Isabella patiently bore her injuries for the sake of her mother's good name.
"Lady Isabella? Is that you?"
Isabella spun her head around to see Mietek walking towards her.
"I'm sorry if I was intruding," he said demurely. His arm was still in a sling.
"No, you're not intruding at all," Isabella said.
"Whenever I was left wounded as a result of fighting or an act of recklessness, I would always spend my time recuperating outdoors. There is a healing force in nature." Mietek looked at his sling. "I would like to thank you for your assistance. Your expertise was much-needed and appreciated."
"It was nothing. Mind you, I am not a physician."
"Jaka szkoda, for you would make an excellent physician. You're talented, Lady Isabella, and that's a fact." Mietek grinned.
"Just call me Isabella, all right?"
"Isabella? All right…Isabella." Mietek nodded. He coyly shifted around before gesturing towards the boulder and saying: "May I?"
Isabella nodded and scooted to make space for Mietek. She took a moment to study the man. His long, dark brown hair was in a low ponytail. His goatee was neatly done and trimmed. He wore a white unbuttoned tunic over light grey pants and a plain, black leather belt. What piqued Isabella's curiosity was that underneath his shirt she could see exotic-looking tattoos painted all over his chest and diamond studs on his ears. He was unlike any man she'd ever met. Exotic, she would say. What kind of a man was he? From what she gathered from Meg, a prominent and respected member of the Polish gentility and a knight: half of the time serious, calculating, shady, and ruthless and half of the time easy-going, bubbly, kind, and chivalrous. What strange combinations! Isabella thought to herself.
When his eyes lifted to meet hers, Isabella felt something jump in her chest like a frog that was suddenly poked with a stick. She could have sworn that those deep brown eyes of his could see into her soul. She didn't know that someone could have such…beautiful eyes.
"I enjoyed our previous conversation the other day."
Those words shook Isabella out of her reverie. "Huh?"
"Our conversation when you were tending to my injury," Mietek continued. "About anger."
"Oh. That. There's nothing extraordinary in what I said, Mietek."
"But it made me think. Who would want to acquaint oneself with someone who has a quick temper? I am a man easily prone to anger, especially if something doesn't go my way, and especially if someone expresses an opinion contrary to mine. It's sad, but it's true."
"At least you're admitting that you have faults. Many people have this stupid mentality where they think that they are perfect saints, free from any fault. At least you're not one of those people."
Their conversation ended at that. Isabella averted her gaze from Mietek, as if something perturbed her, and, indeed, something did.
"Are you all right, Isabella? I can't help but notice that you look distraught," Mietek said.
Mietek regretted mentioning her distress, for her ocean-blue eyes went from sad to even sadder, to the point of hopeless. Despairing. "Trust me, Mietek," she said in a low voice, "you don't want to know. My life and the lives of my daughters were anything but pleasant."
Mietek nodded, as if he understood. "I am so sorry to hear that, Isabella. It couldn't have been easy for you and your daughters, whatever it was."
Isabella twiddled her thumbs, looking down. "It wasn't."
"What are their names, your daughters?"
"Adelina and Celestina."
"I saw them the other day with the servant Kate. They seem like good children."
"They are. They mean everything to me. They are my world."
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"
There was a long moment of silence before Isabella responded. "My husband. He turned our lives into a living hell!"
Mietek gasped. "Oh, Isabella, I'm really sorry to hear that! I hope you fled from him!"
"I managed to." Isabella turned her head to the other side which granted Mietek a view of some purple bruises on the side of her neck. His eyes widened in horror.
"I'm glad you and your daughters escaped."
"Yes, but I was told that I was breaking my marital vows."
Mietek scoffed. "That's utter cow manure!" Isabella shot Mietek a surprised look at his comment.
Mietek continued in a firm voice: "You did a good thing saving yourself and your daughters from your husband. Your husband is the one breaking his marital vows by treating you like dirt."
"True, but I'm still married to the man."
"How long have you been married?"
"Since I was thirteen."
"THIRTEEN?" Mietek sputtered. "What the-thirteen! You were still a child!"
"I know, and that's what makes it worse: that I was still a child."
"Oh, dear! In that case, you should request an annulment."
"But we consummated-well, he forced me to consummated-the marriage. I was not happy with the arrangement. I remember thinking I don't want to get married to this man when I said my vows."
"Perfect."
"What? What do you mean perfect?" Isabella sounded offended.
"The fact that you were a child and the fact that the marriage was against your will are perfect grounds for an annulment."
"Yes, in your eyes, but what about in the eyes of others? In the eyes of the Church?"
"Did the ceremony take place in a church, before a priest?"
"No. In fact, there was neither priest nor church involved. But who is willing to listen to my case, especially since I am a woman? And I'm afraid. Afraid that if I come out, my husband will find me and my daughters and drag us back into the hellhole."
"I've got connections, Isabella. Connections that will guarantee the annulment of your marriage. Connections that will protect you from your husband. Connections that will ensure your daughters' safety. Connections that will make your husband die 'of an accident' and place in the populace no doubt that it was just an 'accident', nothing more. That way, you can exterminate the problem with exterminating your good name."
"Would you really do that? Especially for me? You don't even know me."
"True, but I cannot allow you or your daughters to be tormented by your husband any longer. This reminds me of my cousin, Marysia. She had an abusive husband and could do nothing about it. Her father refused to get involved in the predicament and rescue his daughter. Now, I, feeling immense pity for my poor cousin, resolved to free her from her husband's tyranny. I put in requests for an annulment; that didn't work, so I took the second option."
"What was the second option?"
"I hired my 'connections' to put an end to her husband."
"You hired assassins? Your sister wasn't lying when she said you were the shady, ruthless type. I commend you for your actions, though. That was a noble thing to do."
"Sometimes, in life, you gotta do what you gotta do."
Isabella nodded. She closed her eyes, as if an unpleasant memory appeared in her mind.
"Why did these things happen to us? What did we do to deserve such cruelty?" Her voice was breaking. "Celestina is just an infant, yet she was deprived of food, and I couldn't do anything to help her, feed her, comfort her, because I was locked up in my bedroom while she was in the other room, screaming and crying for me to end her hunger.
"Adelina was starved, beaten, bruised, thrown around like she was a useless thing. She's so skinny, she fell ill multiple times. Since I was locked up in my room, I had no choice but to listen to her cry and scream for me in the other room.
"Hearing my girls cry and yet being unable to help them brought me to the brink of madness. I couldn't sleep at night? How could I, when my poor baby girls were suffering? I had to be strong for them. I needed to defend them from their father. That was why I always begged my husband to hurt me, but not my girls. They're children; children don't deserve to suffer.
"Everything haunts me to this very day. Sometimes, I doubt whether I did the right thing leaving that home."
"Isabella," Mietek said in a firm voice, "don't ever regret what you did. Neither you nor your girls deserved to endure such barbarity. You had to save your life and their lives, as well. You couldn't risk their safety and yours, as well. You couldn't risk their being starved again. I commend you for your actions. What you did-enduring such barbaric torments, defending your daughters, taking their place, escaping-was noble and laudable. Now, you and your girls have a chance at a new life, a life where you are finally liberated.
"That's the first time anyone has ever said that to me," Isabella said softly.
"And I'm afraid I cannot provide an answer to your query," Mietek admitted, dropping his head. Then, he raised it to look up at the sky. "Frankly, I can't even understand myself why bad things happen to all of us." His voice started to break. "I saw a disgusting man rape my sister before my very eyes, and I did nothing to save her. Being held down by his men, I was forced to watch as he was doing licentious things to her. Her screams still reverberate in my head as if it occurred yesterday. I am her brother! Her twin brother! I should have protected her!"
"But, Mietek, you said it yourself that you were held down by his men. Don't blame yourself for what happened."
"I was there, yet I did nothing."
"You couldn't do anything."
"But why did it happen? What did Meg do to deserve to be raped? Nic! Nothing!" Mietek took a deep breath to prevent himself from bursting in anger, as his voice was becoming more heated. He was pensive for a moment before responding. "The way I see it, I neither know nor understand why bad things happen, but they happen for a reason. Whatever that reason is, I don't know at the moment. However, I believe that time will reveal what that reason was.
"If it is of any comfort, Isabella, the only person to blame is your husband, and you want to know why? Everyone has free will, right? Everyone has the freedom to either choose good or evil. Your husband could have easily chosen good and been a good husband and father, but no, he chose evil. The same principle applies to Meg's rapist. I did not fall for his she seduced me or I had a difficult childhood bullshit; that does not justify him raping my sister! No, he chose to be evil. He chose to rape her. He abused his free will by doing so.
"I admit it's difficult to endure the sufferings of this life." Mietek paused. "Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph."
Note: Mietek's very last sentence about tyranny and conflict comes from the quote by Thomas Paine. When I read it, I immediately thought of my fanfic.