The Dancing Jewel

{Music Recommendation: Icarus ~ Phildel}

...Fifteen years ago.....

It was mid-fall. The leaves on the mahogany had changed to a delicate red-brown hue, dropping freely like a bride's veil down the church aisle.

Even though it was afternoon with the sun burning brightly overhead, the air was damp, filled with sea breeze, anyone a few miles from the ocean could taste the saltiness at intervals.

Yet, workers still huddled around the field. They had to prepare for the cold that was coming, stack millet, wheat, rice, and gather it to be sold. Among the workers was a young boy of fourteen. Despite his young age, he lifted hays bigger than most men who worked with him. He had the rough features of a mine worker, and his distinct eye color made him stand out among the others.

What made the other workers envious of him was his focus while working. He never stopped to laze around or gossip about his father like the others, though he could hear them whispering in hushed tones.

"He works so hard, does he think it'd make the Lord accept him as his child?" one of them asked with a snort.

Another added, "I bet you that man is so vile, he doesn't care if this one dies of overworking."

The young boy didn't lose focus. He lifted the hays on his shoulder and walked the long distance to the store. It was on his way he saw something... a jewel, he thought to himself.

Dancing and singing near the pond though her voice croaked worse than five frogs, it still achieved the impossible, getting Rhane's attention.

Her full black hair danced in the wind, covering her tiny body. Her dress, covered in shiny teal stones, announced she wasn't some wretched child like him. A noble.

Rhane had never seen one so tiny, carefree, and happy. She moved her body along with her hands, shouting whatever poor song she'd decided to ruin. Having had enough of watching the dancing jewel, Rhane turned his face away, returning his attention to his life of struggle and suffering.

"Argh!" The scream pierced through the air, followed by a shriek. It wasn't the girl's bad singing this time, she was in danger.

Rhane dropped his hays and turned, his eyes darting around for the jewel. That was when he saw a dress floating in the pond. He tried to move, but one of the workers stopped him.

"Boy, we don't do that. Likes of us should know not to cross the line," the old man remarked with a voice of indifference. "To her father, I'm sure he'd think it's better she drowns than a filth rescues her."

Rhane tilted his head in question. He didn't understand any of that. And because he didn't, he wriggled his hand free and raced down to the pond.

"I did warn him," the old man muttered before walking away. The rest of the workers did the same, pretending they didn't see anything.

Rhane, on the other hand, ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Removing his boots and shirt, he threw them on the ground before jumping into the water in just his trousers.

The jewel, as Rhane thought her to be, was safe because the pond wasn't so deep yet. But she was shivering, her teeth knocking against each other, her hands gripping Rhane's bare chest.

Rhane moved her wet hair from her face and froze. Time stopped for him that day. And if he had known that time would continue to stop around this jewel in years to come, he wouldn't have jumped into the water. Now he was trapped forever.

Seeing the girl from afar didn't do justice to how she really looked, her soft features spoke volumes of their worlds apart. Her long, well-brushed lashes and brows. Her delicate, full cheeks.

The little girl opened her eyes and blinked. "You saved me," she muttered with a smile.

Rhane gulped. He couldn't move his lips. Nothing prepared him for the Bambi-brown eyes that made her look like a doe yet they fit her face.

Time remained frozen both for Rhane and his breathing. He wanted to move, but the girl's small hand grabbed his chest tightly. Even though he was hurting, he was scared of letting go. Letting her go.

And if only the young boy who had been charmed by a nine-year-old jewel of the Chief Merchant's house had listened, he wouldn't have experienced the worst punishment of his life for crossing the line.

"There she is!" the girl's handmaiden screamed. "He- he is harming the young mistress!"

Rhane finally snapped out of his daze and stood up, carrying the young girl in his arms with a smile. His father would be proud, he'd saved his guest.

"Nikolai, I came to your house and you have your dirty shame try to stain my daughter?" A short, stout man with a small red cane asked Rhane's father, who had also arrived at the scene. The man turned to the handmaiden who had raised the alarm.

"Check if she is still clean."

A confused Rhane didn't understand why the jewel was forcefully whisked from his hands and nobody was praising him for his bravery.

"No blood on her, maybe he had dipped her in water to wash it off," the woman concluded, and people around gasped.

"Easy there, Master Brown. He is still a boy, he wouldn't know—"

The chief merchant scowled, "A brute, you mean? Look at those muscles and rough hands, that is a young man who has taken more women than you and I can count. Now I want to know how you intend to pay me back. Let's not talk about the damage done to my only daughter if people hear of it."

Lord Nikolai closed his eyes and sighed. "Who is there, bring the whip."

Before Rhane could understand what was happening, he was on the ground with two men lashing his bare, wet back out in the cold while his father stood there with his hands behind him. Rhane wanted to scream and cry because he was hurting, but he couldn't. Someone else was doing it even better.

"Father! Stop! He saved my life," the young girl dragged her father's shirt and begged.

The chief merchant threw his face to the side. "You don't know what he has done to you until you grow up, Jenna."

Jenna…

Rhane repeated the name in his head, the name of the only human who had ever cried for his sake. While others watched with dead eyes, hers were filled with tears. Her lips trembled and she wailed. She wanted to run to him but was stopped by her servants. So it didn't hurt as much anymore, the whippings on his back.

A young boy beside Lord Nikolai chewed on muffins that covered his face. "Is that the one? You said will be my brother?" he pointed at Rhane.

Nikolai made a gruntled sound. "Not your brother, Gerald, but he is beneath you."

The young Gerald grinned. "I do not want to see him inside the house. He is dirty and should sleep in the stable."

"You heard the young master. Make sure he dries out here, then lock him in the stable," Nikolai ordered, turning to his friend. "Let's go inside and discuss business. I'll make sure your daughter is treated fine."

Master Brown scowled. "Don't you have eyes to see that he has broken my daughter? She weeps for him like a wife does for a husband. How do you intend to fix that?"

"Come, come, friend. Nothing a few lands can't fix." Nikolai nudged him. "I'm sure she will forget him in no time."

Brown spat. "I want him dunked back in the water he ruined my daughter in. Look at his unremorseful face, not a single tear." He kicked sand toward Rhane, then turned and left.

Jenna was dragged along with her father, but she stretched out her hand toward the young man. "He saved me, Father. Please don't hurt him," the young girl cried.

Rhane thought, in that moment, that the precious tears that slipped down her eyes hurt even more than his bleeding back.

Jenna. A name he would never forget, even in the face of death.