[This chapter contains themes of child endangerment & attempted exploitation.]
SALAZĀ'S JOURNAL
"I'm Salazā and don't you forget it!" I said to the new arrivals.
I dropped my grapes when I saw the face of this drunken, scary-looking man.
His yellow eyes sunken, his teeth barely there, and his face seemingly decomposing. Attached to his grip was a young girl in a flared white dress and tight pigtails.
"Behave, child," he grunted, then threw coins out at me, some rolling off the table.
I studied him for a long time. He growled, sending my chair flying back. I got up, still staring unafraid.
"Dress," he spat at me.
I looked to the pale girl whose head hung down and estimated her size.
"Any particular kind of dress?"
"Wedding dress," he said.
"Oh, what size is your wife?"
He groaned and nodded to the girl.
"Can't you tell?"
I looked at the short girl's tiny frame.
"Is your wife the same size as her?"
"Don't be dumb," he grumbled. "This will be my wife."
"I surely hope not."
"What?" he snarled.
"You're old enough to be her father, and that's just being kind. Love is love and all that, but I don't think she's even old enough to spell that word. If she were, she certainly wouldn't be spelling it for you."
He snapped. Then grabbed a hold of the coins and yanked her arm away, the rest of her body having to catch up.
"Mother!" I called yelled, having rushed out.
She looked to the child, then the man, and an understanding scowl pressed across her face.
"Doesn't this look like your daughter and my sister, Sjino? The one who went missing a town over," I gasped loud enough for neighboring heads to swing over, ears perked.
"Oh, my," Mother touched a strand of Sjino's hair and looked at her endearingly. "Can it be?"
Some neighbors crowded in, raising their brows at the man.
"How did my little sister end up in your hands? And why do you want to put her in a bridal dress?"
Gasps filled the square. The man's eyes widened as he made a hushing sound. Mother stood between Sjino and this man.
"You will leave right now, and without her."
"That's my wife!" he yelled, pulling for Sjino, who leapt back.
A guardian soldier stepped through.
"What's the matter here?" he looked to them, then to the girl. "What's your name, child?"
"Ssshee-noh," she hushed.
"Sjino, who claims you?"
Sjino looked nervously between Mother and this man. She wouldn't say.
"Very well. We'll find your family," he reached for her, but she ran behind Mother.
"This is my mommy, and that's my sister."
"That's my wife, just playing games," the man snickered. "She doesn't know them. I can prove it. What's your sister's name?"
Oh no.
"It's Ssshalazā," she said.
"You remembered?" I whispered.
"Of course," she winked at me. "I wouldn't forget it."
"That's ridiculous," the man said, clenching his teeth. "I want my wife back."
The soldier shot the man a once-over.
"Who is this man to you?"
"I don't know. He pulled me into a bag once I got lost, then carried me here, saying that he wants to put babies in me. I don't know what that means. Do you know, soldier?" she asked softly.
"Yes," the soldier's face turned cold as he pulled out his glowing, beating whip and stepped to the man. "I know what that means."
The man gulped, then ran, only to get hounded by nearby soldiers and villagers who beat him with whatever they could. Right until he was out of Amari.
That's probably a better fate than what would have happened if he stayed here. Yet no doubt his fate would still match his sins.
"Thank you," the girl said softly to all and walked on.
"Where do you think you're going?" Mother boomed.
Sjino instantly stopped and got on her knees to apologize.
"Get up," Mother said sweetly. "You'll help your sister chop potatoes."
"But she's not—"
"I don't want to hear it," Mother wavered a finger, then walked inside.
"But we're not actually sisters," Sjino whispered to me.
I gestured to all the neighbors, still listening.
"How about we play a game where we pretend to be sisters?"
Sjino's green eyes instantly lit up with a hopeful radiance, but she stubbornly tried her best to hide it.
"For how long?"
"For however long your heart desires."
I had a feeling that it would be for a long while. Even more so when she stepped inside to see the boys, chopping the other vegetables.
Mother casually pulled out the spare thin mattress.
We were looking for mattresses for the boys, and someone happened to be selling three little pallets in a pack.
She struggled to get out any words, but her face was flushed.
After the food was boiling, we sat around and snacked on earth fruit.
She kept tugging at her head, so eventually I unraveled her tight pigtails, freeing her straight, brown hair, which glimmered with a hint of red.
"Much better, right?"
She lit up, nodding eagerly. The boys whispered, asking why a man had taken her.
"He wanted to marry me. Probably to do whatever a husband can do to their wives without getting scolded for it. Any ideas on what that is?"
The boys looked at each other as if they knew but wished they didn't.
I said, "While that would be a fascinating tale, let me tell you another one where the girl who almost became a bride to a dirty ogre found her new family instead."
"I want to hear that one," Shaka chirped.
Silio nudged Sjino gently and said, "I think you'll like this story."
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