• Weeks passed and Eliza slowly fell into a routine. Each day she would wake early, far before the sun had risen. Then she would take the food that she had brought in the market the day before and prepare Ro his breakfast. Thanks to Mesha, she had learned how to bake bread and even started a garden behind the house. After breakfast, Ro would leave for an unknown amount of time and usually returned before the sunset. He never discussed where he went or what he did each day and Eliza learned not to ask. After dinner Ro would usually go into town for a number of hours and return smelling of smoke and of a bitter combination of dried spices and alcohol. Then he would motion for her to join him and both would lie down and fall asleep, waiting for the day to start again.
    While she hardly ever left the house, Eliza understood just how lucky she was to have Ro as her husband. Whenever she did venture into town, she, Mesha, and a number of other women would gather together and share stories of women who had been brutality beaten and raped by house guests, all on their husbands requests. With the exception of that one time, Ro never hit her again. Some days he would raise his voice to her but most of the time he simply ignored her. Often, Eliza was satisfied at Ro’s lack of attention towards her though some days, she found herself wishing that he would notice that she had prepared him his favorite meal or how she had worn her hair a certain way with hopes of hearing a compliment or two. The worst days though had to be when she would wake up in the middle of the night, finding herself longing for Ro to put his arms around her and hold her. On those nights, she would crave to have Ro kiss her again, even though he hadn’t since that day in the pond. Nights like those drove her crazy since she had convinced herself long ago that she didn’t love him. How could she ever love him after taking her away from her family?
    While Eliza carried out her daily activities, Ro would use whatever excuse he could find to leave the house. As soon as he could get away, he would jump on his horse and ride until he was miles away from the town, and anyone else. Once he was alone, Ro finally could relax. Something was happening to him, something he couldn’t explain. Each day he would find himself missing Eliza’s presence more and more. It was this nagging feeling that drew him home each night. He couldn’t talk to Jesseb about it because he knew what Jesseb would say and he didn’t want to hear him confirm what he already knew. He was in love, or at least, on the path to falling in love with her.
    Love.
    Dúnedins didn’t fall in love; they had slaves committed to serve one purpose, have healthy children before being sold to the next man and so on. This realization was too much for him. He couldn’t love her, because if he did, than others would find out and they would try take her away from him. It had been said that when a man falls in love, he becomes weak and allows his lover to walk all over him. One of the many stupid rules that the ‘king’ had decreed was that if two people are found to be in love but the woman isn’t pregnant, than the two lovers were to be separated immediately, the man’s hands were to be cut off while the woman had her eyes put out and sold to another man.
    Just the thought of the king made Ro want to rip something apart. It was because of that man that the Dúnedins were stuck living in the dark while rest of the world moved forward with technological advancements. If he wasn’t so stubborn, then maybe he would have renewed trade with the outside world and helped pull their civilization out of the depressed state that they were living in.
    By the time he would come home, Ro would have missed Eliza so much that he had to restrain himself from throwing his arms around her and holding her trapped in a tight embrace. But this love was pointless. He wasn’t blind; he could tell that Eliza didn’t love him, besides how could she? He had taken her away from those that loved her and brought her into a world where her life was in danger almost every minute.
    One afternoon while Ro was out, Eliza set to work at cleaning her obviously never been washed home. For hours she was on her hands and knees, scrubbing away the grime what was practically caked onto the walls and floors. Once she was done with main room, she moved into the bedroom. It was while she was scrubbing the floor that she came across a loose stone. Curiosity got the better of her and she eagerly pushed the stone aside revealing a small hole in the ground. There in the hole, was the bag filled with all of her old clothes and things. On the verge of tears she grabbed the bag from its hiding place and dumped the contents onto the floor. Shifting through the silk dresses, she found her father’s reading glasses and held them close to her heart. Then she found Sophie’s rock. Crying now, she took the rock and kissed it hundreds of times as she thought of her younger sister. There hadn’t been one day that she hadn’t thought of her family and she missed the now more then ever.
    After she recovered from crying, Eliza decided to try on one of her old dresses. Slipping into a silk blue dress with a tight bodice, Eliza felt like a princess. The dress was a little too big for her but she didn’t mind. Twirling around, thousands of memories of parties and banquets slowly came back to her. Ro didn’t have any mirrors but after some searching she found her old silver hand mirror. At first she was too scared to look at her reflection but in the end she stole a peak into cracked glass. Like she had expected, her face was thinner, and there were deep bags under her eyes. Her hair was far too long and the color seemed duller than she remembered it being. Sighing she put the mirror back into bag, not having the heart to look at herself anymore. She wasn’t the beautiful girl that all the boys at parties had lined up to dance with.
    “What are you doing?”
    Startled, Eliza dropped the bag that held the mirror. Before she could stop it, the bag landed on the ground with a thud followed by the sound of glass shattering into a million pieces. Turning around, Eliza timidly brought her eyes to meet Ro’s. He was leaning against the doorframe, his face unreadable like always. At first he just stared at her, his eyes lingering on her dress. After what felt like forever, Ro let out a sigh before moving away from the doorframe until he was standing next to her.
    “Why are you wearing this?” Ro reached out and ran his hand over the bodice of her dress. Slowly he moved his hand up towards her neck until it rested right under her chin.
    This time she couldn’t hide it, couldn’t hide the blush the burning across her cheeks.
    “I…I was cleaning and I found my old things,” she stammered as Ro moved closer to her.
    Taking his other hand, he gently rested it on her waist before lifting her chin until they were staring into each other’s eyes, “Didn’t I warn you that if I ever saw you wearing these clothes again, I’d be forced to punish you?”
    “I…I’m sorry, I-” Ro silenced her by covering her lips with his.
    At that moment, the whole world seemed to tilt forward, sending Eliza falling into Ro’s arms. The feeling of his hands holding her felt so good that she couldn’t stop herself from running her own fingers through his messy red hair. When their lips finally parted both stared in silence at one another. Then Ro kissed her again and Eliza felt the ground she was standing on disappear as she landed among the soft blankets of their bed.
    Though all they did was kiss, after hours of lying in each other’s arms, Eliza was exhausted. Besides her was Ro, who was weaving his fingers through her hair as he spoke softly to her.
    “I have to tell you something, something I have never told anyone,” he confessed as Eliza took his hand and held it tightly. “But before I tell you, I must ask, what do you know about the king?”
    Sitting up, looked down at Ro and smiled as she straightened her hair, “I only know a few things. I know that the king is a stubborn man, trying to find a way to prevent death though he is slowly dying. I know that he had a son who ran-”
    “His son didn’t runaway” Ro, said, interrupting her, “his son was exiled because he didn’t share his father’s beliefs on how to govern the nation.”
    Eliza had heard something similar to that. According to one of the women in the village, the king’s only son had run away when he was only twelve because he had hated his father, later his body was brought back.
    “He died…”
    Ro let out a laugh and sat up before asking jokingly, “Do I look dead to you?”
    His question surprised, “What?”
    Leaning back until he was resting against the stonewall and sighed, “I was actually thirteen when he exiled me. Dad just told everyone that I was twelve so they would pity him about losing his one and only son, especially at such a young age. I never got along with that man; in fact I couldn’t stand him. Everything about the way he ruled his people bothered me. I already hated my great, great, great, great, great grandfather, the king who stripped women of their rights, so it was no surprised that I grew up disagreeing with my father’s laws.”
    It was too much for her to take in at once. Standing up, Eliza paced around the room, trying to understand what Ro was telling her. His father was the king, which meant that he was…he was next in line to receive the throne meaning that he was…
    “You’re the prince?”
    Shrugging his shoulders Ro flicked a bit of dust off of his shirt, “Ex-prince to be exact, I was after all, banished. But then again, according to Dúnedin rules, by law I automatically inherit my family’s legacy the moment my father dies, thus my dad’s foolish quest to find a cure to prevent death. All his efforts are so I don’t inherit the crown which, unfortunately in the end, I will.”
    Bringing a hand to her head, she tried to make sense of what he was telling her, “Why don’t you want the crown?”
    “Truthfully, I don’t want anything to do with this godforsaken civilization. I hate everything about these people. The way they treat each other is barbaric and I know that we’re better than this. I tried running away from here, twice actually. The first time was two weeks after I was banished and I ended up almost bleeding to death in the field the Jesseb found me in. The second was when I found you. Every time I try and runaway, something always seems to get in my way.”
    Sinking down besides him, Eliza rested her head against Ro’s chest, “When your father finally does die, what are you going to do?” She asked as he kissed her forehead.
    “Report to the royal city, tell the council that I’m not dead and that I’m not interested in being king, then come back here and take you as far away from this desolate place as possible,” he said firmly.
    “Once we’re away from here, I’ll help you find your family, I promise.”

    Another month passed and there was no news about the king’s passing. During that month, Mesha gave birth to a healthy baby boy that she named Ronan.
    “After a certain someone,” she would say to Eliza with a wink.
    Both Ro and Eliza carried out their day as if nothing had changed between them. But at night, at night they stay up late sharing stories with one another about their childhood and families before falling asleep in each other’s arms.
    “I was eight when my father gave me my first slave,” Ro said one night while he helped Eliza clear the table.
    “The next day, I handed her a bag of coins, and released her from the palace.”
    That was the type of person Ro was. Even if he tried, he could never accept his father’s policy on treating women. It was his so-called ‘weakness’ that led to his banishment. Often, Ro would tell her that his father viewed him as an embarrassment to the throne. She learned that perhaps the biggest reason Ro despised his father was because he had his mother sent away after she fell and broke her ankle.
    “He try to explain to me that her fall had made her useless, and unfit to be called his wife. I was four when he sent her away and that was when it started, that’s when I first started seeing my dad as the monster he truly was.”
    But Ro didn’t like thinking about the past; in fact, he almost wished that he could forget it. He had plans for the moment after his father took his final breath. He was going to collect half of his inheritance, and leave forever. In fact, that had been his plan when had first run into Eliza, he was on his way to the royal city to say goodbye to his father for the last time. He had to change his plans the moment he struck the deal with her father. Ro confessed to her that he had never planned on finding a wife. He admitted that he wanted the royal bloodline to die with him. By taking a wife, Ro had not only put himself in danger, but her as well. He explained to her that he did not have the right to take her out of the village even though he was her husband. Women are forbidden from traveling, he told her. Besides there were other problems preventing him from leaving, if he left before his father’s burial, then chaos would erupt and the Dúnedin culture would go down in flames. So until his father’s death Ro was bounded to the desert.
    “These people need a proper government, if I left before establishing that, then they most likely claw each other’ eyes out.”
    Once he was through talking for the night, he would put his arms around her, and carry Eliza back to their bed where they would kiss one another passionately until they fell asleep.
    A few weeks after Mesha delivered her son, a messenger came through the town, bearing the message that Ro had been waiting half his life to hear.
    “The king has passed on, may his soul be blessed,” the messenger cried before heading off to inform the next town.
    While the rest of the nation mourned the loss of their king, Ro could barely contain his happiness. The night after hearing message, he arrived at Jesseb’s house bearing food and wine to celebrate the death of the king.
    “My friend is so stricken with grief, he believes that the only way to properly mourn our king is through celebration,” Jesseb joked to his wife who only shook her head while trying to contain her smile.
    As soon as they returned home, Ro began preparing for his journey. All night he stayed up gather what was necessary for his trip.
    “I have asked Jesseb to come and visit you everyday. Otherwise, do not open the door to anyone,” he warned. “If people find out that you are living by yourself, than they will try to hurt you.”
    Eliza promised to follow his instructions.
    “I should be back in two weeks, less if the high council doesn’t give me a hard time when I tell them about my plans to melt down the crown and use it as a doorpost.”
    Early the next morning, Ro set out. After kissing Eliza goodbye, he took off into the desert, heading for the home he hadn’t seen in six years.
    At first, Eliza was determined to keep her mind busy so she wouldn’t think about how much she missed Ro. Spending most of her days cleaning and reorganizing the few possessions that they had, she would also eagerly wait for Jesseb to visit. Once he would arrive, he would throw his arms around her until she would swear her back was going to snap in half. Then Jesseb would bend down and ask her if she was expecting a little visitor anytime soon. The truth was, she was still a virgin something Ro had made her vow never to tell anyone. It wasn’t because she had refused to lie with him, not that she would have had a say in it anyway, it was because Ro didn’t want to have his future children growing up living in the world that he had.
    Though after a week, not even Jesseb’s visits could distract her from her fears. The night before he left, Ro had admitted that the high council might not be keen on letting him go.
    “They may try and postpone my return to you, but do not worry, there is nothing they can say or offer me that can change my mind.”
    But what if the council prevented Ro from leaving? What if they never let him return? Upon hearing how foolish she sounded, Eliza would scowl herself for her stupidity. She knew that even if they stopped him from leaving, Ro would find a way out of the city. So pushing her fears away, she carried on.
    However, one day something happened that Ro had not expected. A traveler cloaked in back and carting a wagon full of young women whose hands were bounded in chains approached his village. The man was a collector of sorts, sent from Nazareth to find all women living without the restraints of a husband. His name was Bezant. Upon reaching the wall, he amusingly watched the men of the town usher their wives into their homes before shutting the doors.
    Dismounting from his horse, Bezant walked leisurely through the town, knocking on doors, requesting the women to present their husbands or children to him as proof that they were no longer pure. Finding beautiful women was one thing, but finding a virgin was even better. Virgins were rare and once back in Nazareth, were able to be sold for high price. By the afternoon, he had only collected two girls, twin daughters of a man whose wife had died of fever the year before.
    He was heading back to his horse to leave when suddenly a man with a dark beard approached him.
    “I think I can offer you something that you will find hard to refuse.”
    Ears perking up at the possibility of finding another prospective slave the Bezant handed the man a few coins, “Tell me dear brother, what do you have that I would be a fool for walking away from?”
    Smirking the man pointed to a hut on the outskirts of the town, “In that house lives a foreigner, at the moment her husband is away.”
    Reading the man’s mind, Bezant smiled evilly before leading his horse and cart towards the house.
    At the moment Eliza was waiting impatiently for Jesseb to arrive. He was later than usual and she hoped that everything was all right with him and his family. Then she heard a low rap at the door. Smiling she smothered the wrinkles out of her dress before walking to the door and opening it…