Chapter 4
4 months later
"Get out!" Rebekah shouted at her brothers. Tears were coursing down her cheeks; she couldn't stop crying. That made this whole thing even more humiliating.
"Get out, get out!"
"Bekah, please," Niklaus pleaded. "Please tell me what's wrong. Are you hurt..."
"Out!"
"Niklaus," Freydis' calm voice said. "Elijah. Please."
Rebekah crossed her arms and turned her back to the door. She still couldn't stop crying.
"Rebekah?" Freydis said. "May I come in?"
"Why?" Rebekah snapped. "What do you want?"
"I would like to help you..."
"You can't! No one can!"
She sobbed even harder, unable to control herself. Freydis entered her small nook and closed the door behind her.
"Rebekah," she started gently. "It's alright. What you are experiencing right now is normal."
"How do you know what I am experiencing?" Rebekah snapped, keeping her back turned.
"You bled last night, did you not?"
Rebekah tensed.
"How do you know that?"
"Well... I can see the blood on your nightgown."
Rebekah blushed, she felt completely humiliated.
"I bet you love this," she murmured bitterly. "Seeing me like this."
"No, of course not. Why would you even think that?"
"Because I don't want you here," she snapped.
"I know," Freydis replied calmly. "You have every right to feel that way, but right now I would like to help you, if you let me."
"How could you help me?" Rebekah murmured tensely.
"Well, how about we start with basic things. Do you know why you are bleeding?"
"Of course," she snapped, although that wasn't completely true. She had heard some things from her friends, but according to them, bleeding was something disgusting and dirty. Something shameful.
"But I suppose you can tell me anyway," she added reluctantly.
"Alright. Bleeding means that you have become a woman. It means that your body is now able to have a child."
Rebekah had heard about that, but she hadn't been sure was that true.
"But why... Why do I bleed?" she murmured.
"Women bleed every moon until they are with child," Freydis replied. "The bleeding usually continues few days. You might also feel some stomachache and nausea, but that's normal."
Rebekah's eyes widened as she finally turned to face her stepmother.
"Few days?" she gasped. "How am I supposed to..."
Her eyes were filling with fresh tears when she thought about going out. Her brothers would notice and probably mock her. Or even worse; they would think that she was disgusting.
"It's alright," Freydis assured gently. "I have some cloths I use when I bleed. You can have them; I can sew more."
"You bleed?"
"Yes, but I am not bleeding now."
"But I thought that you are barr..." Rebekah swallowed the rest of her sentence when she realized what she was about to say. "I mean..."
"It's fine," Freydis replied, placing a smile on her face. "It's true that I will likely never have children, but I still bleed."
"Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."
"It's fine. How about I prepare you a bath? After that, I can show you how to use those cloths."
"Sounds good," Rebekah murmured. "I feel... dirty."
"No, no, you have no need to feel that way. This is natural, although a bit uncomfortable."
"You can say that again," Rebekah sighed. "I just want to cry and scream."
Freydis smiled.
"That is also natural. I'll go and prepare you that bath now."
"Hey," Rebekah murmured before Freydis reached the door. "Thank you."
Freydis turned to look at her, she was still smiling.
"You are welcome."
Mikael looked at his daughter who was sitting on a chair while Freydis was brushing her hair. They both seemed calm. Rebekah certainly hadn't been calm this morning; she had screamed like a demon. Mikael had immediately guessed what the problem was and he certainly hadn't stayed to deal with it. Those things were for women to deal with and clearly Freydis had fulfilled her duty as Rebekah's stepmother.
In fact, this was the first time Rebekah didn't show any hostility toward Freydis. It seemed that the girl was starting to accept Mikael's new wife. That should have been a good thing, but... But for some reason it made Mikael feel bitterness. Didn't his children miss their mother anymore? Didn't they wait for Esther's return? Mikael did.
He still hadn't given up, he wanted to believe that Esther was coming back. What about Freydis then? She was a pretty girl and she had proven to be very useful, but she was only a pale copy of Mikael's true love. He needed her to run his household, but she didn't really mean much to him. He had tried his best to treat her properly, but sometimes she just annoyed him too much.
It wasn't anything she did or didn't do, her mere presence annoyed him. Apparently, his sons actually listened to her though. They had all been extremely considerate of Rebekah today, even Kol. He had started some joke at the dinner table, but one look from Freydis had silenced him.
Mikael still couldn't believe that his daughter was a woman already. He still remembered Esther's happiness after giving birth to Rebekah. She had hoped for a daughter after four sons. Mikael had hoped for a daughter as well. A daughter who would be just as beautiful as her mother. Rebekah looked so much like Esther that sometimes Mikael could barely look at her.
Freydis didn't look like Esther, but her hair was very similar to Esther's. That was one of the reasons why Mikael had agreed to wed her. When he didn't see her face, he could pretend that he was with Esther. He also liked the fact that she probably wouldn't be able to have any children. He didn't want children with her. She was a useful tool who made his life easier and in return she didn't have to spend the rest of her life in her father's house. That seemed like a fair trade to Mikael.
