CHAPTER 64

But yet according to her, family mattered a lot and it was time to make family smile. 

Martin still had numerous questions but he decided not to ask them. He knew that asking those questions would mislead him into some bitter answers. He would at once ask Ruth for a divorce but he still had to tell her what was in his mind. 

" I loved you like no one would. Even though you were a minor, I still took a great risk to be with you. The chief and the council of elders were against it but I was in for it and decided to love you. I did not know that you were a special person in the closer gates and in my life. The only thing I knew was the fact that I was to rule the closer gates till I am tired to hand it over to Purist and the other children that you and I would have had. If I didn't care about you, then I wouldn't have taken you to school. I would have accepted your grandmother Magdalene to live with us .So please, let me rule the closer gates just the way I have always wanted to. Let met love you like I have always done. Do not dissapoint me" said Martin who went close to Ruth and tried to hold her hand but Ruth resisted. 

" Listen Martin. I love you too. I love you with all of my heart. You and I know very well that the closer gates belong to my grandmother Magdalene and therefore we should hand it over to him. Are you following Lady Akeshia's advices? If you ask me, I do not think that he cared about you and Faith from the moment you were born. Every sacrifices she made was for the power of the closer gates. I am gifted to see the past and that is the least thing that I will tell you so that you make your own decision. So please, take me downstairs since my own family needs me" said Ruth who began assisting herself to get out of the room. 

Luckily, she saw Lady Ruby passing and urged her to help her to go downstairs. She was astonished to find out that Magdalene had not yet dismissed the crowd and this time she was carrying the original header. 

Ruth tried to refresh her mind to get to understand how she got but she couldn't. She had the power to see the past but this was indeed hard for her. It was had for her to understand how Ruth got it. She went and sat close to Naomi. She could understand the anger that Lady Akeshia had.

Naomi was filled with tears of excitement. Ruth tried to calm her down. 

" Mama has got what she had always wanted back. And now it's time for the people who sent her to the cell of hell claiming that she was a bad witch to pay for it" said Naomi. 

She thought she hadn't said it loudly but it indeed caught the attention of everyone. 

" I want that too mama. For the people who made grandma to suffer like this pay" said Ruth as am assurance that she would always support her family no matter what. 

Naomi decided to join Magdalene who was addressing the crowd but she was surprised when Magdalene said that later on in future she would hand over the power of the closer gates to Martin.

Naomi was astonished. She would always see the future and this time it was a bad kind of vision. She saw Magdalene dead and she herself handed over the power of the header to Martin while still on Magdalene's grave. 

Martin who seemed sad went close to Lady Akeshia and Ruth but they seemed not to want anything to do with him. Ruth saw this and went close to him. She held his arm and assured him that everything would be alright. On seeing this, Lady Akeshia and Faith left the room and went to the garden . From a distance, anybody could see that they were quarreling and at times considering each other's emotions. 

After Magdalene had finished addressing the crowd, she dismissed the crowd. Both Naomi and Magdalene went back to the mansion and was surprised to see Martin and Ruth still waiting for them. 

" Thank you Martin for granting me the desires of my heart. You know how to put a smile on my face. And I think it's time for me to tell you the whole truth. It's time for me to tell you how I really ended up in the cell of hell which I myself created" said Magdalene smiling. 

Lady Akesha who had gone back to the parlour widened her eyes in disbelief. She was afraid of the truth to be known.

" There is no need to tell Martin the truth. You already got the power of the closer gates back and I do think that is enough for the day. There is nothing more than that that you really need. Let Martin and Ruth enjoy their marriage" said Lady Akeshia a bit hesitantly. 

Everybody could notice the hesitant in her. Magdalene understood Lady Akeshia very well. 

" I might not speak about it today but someday the truth will come out on itself " said Magdalene smiling. 

That was one thing that Magdalene knew. She knew how to smile even at times of trouble. 

" Thank you. Everybody dismiss to their specific works of the remaining part of the day" Lady Akeshia ordered.

Lady Akeshia had forgotten that she had no power to order anything. She had no power to make new rules in the closer gates. She had been totally rendered useless. Only herself thought of that. 

Everybody else thought different. 

Ruth saw Lady Akeshia as a wonderful mother who sacrificed everything for the sake of her family. Even at the last minute, she was willing to put a smile on her family's face.

Faith considered her as a wonderful mother too. She chose to forgive Martin after everyghing that Martin did to her. She decided to be a mother and even at the last minutes she still urged Martin not to hand over the power of the closer gates for his own sake.

Maybe Lady Akeshia was not too motherly, but she cared about those little things. 

Everybody dismissed to their respective rooms. Martin helped Ruth to go upstairs to their matrimonial room and assisted to put her to bed. 

Martin went to bed too and slept close to Ruth. He leaned at Ruth's shoulders and slept. He had a lot of thoughts in his mind. He had never felt so powerless before. 

What would he do? 

Leave the closer gates and leave Ruth behind. 

No! 

He was extremely obsessed by the love that he had for Ruth. 

" I only hope that love was not this rude. I have loved you beyond everything in my life Ruth. I don't want you to shed those tears. I want you to smile. I want to put a smile in your face. Take it in your heart and understand what I really mean. I mean I love you beyond everything Ruth" said Martin as he caressed Ruth on her cheeks. 

" I love you too Martin. When I first Saud that I loved you, I deeply meant it. Nothing will evrr separate the both of us. I came to that resolution the moment that you had separated me from Tere. The day you judged her to go and enjoy her life with the beggars when she tried to kill me" Said Ruth as she pushed Martin closer to her. 

" What about Faith? Do you feel that Faith should be punished?" Asked Martin filled with lots of curiosity.

" Not really Martin. Even grandma knows about but she does not want to take any action. I do not know how she truly got to know about this. It's either somebody told her or she was there when that unfortunate thing took place" said Ruth in a pellucid voice. 

Maryin urged her to remain silent. He ordered Ruth to close her eyes. He moved his lips closer to hers and moved them in slow motion uniformity. Ruth quitely followed how Martin wanted things to happen. Martin went ahead and unbuttoned Ruth's dress. This time Ruth did not resist. She knew that resisting would make Martin to feel a lot of pain than before. 

In that motion, they heard a rang at the room door. They both assumed. Who would want to destroy a love built between love birds? None of them wanted to put that into consideration. But before they could continue, Ruth saw a pair of shoes close to the room curtain. She stood and put on her towel. She slowly went to check and was surprised to find out that it was Tere. She was crying . Martin immediately chased her away from the room. 

He warned her not to come to the mansion again or else he would kill her and throw her to the dogs to feed. 

Love did sometimes hurt. 

MARRIED AT SIXTEEN.