Chapter Ten
Summer shined brightly outside the tall glass window feeding nature its daily portion of life. Dathan sat quietly looking out, his hands laid slightly fisted over his lap as he absorbed the outdoors through his chambers. Never in his life did he realize he would actually miss going outside to enjoy the hot sun. When working in the fields, along with a few of his cousins, he took little notice to his surroundings.
Now as he sat looking through the large window of his chambers, he could not help but want to stand and take a long stroll outside his grand back yard. Lately his thoughts had begun to trouble him. For once none of it had to do with the plantation now being handled by Matthew for the time.
A week had drifted away and since then he had slowly began to progress. The nasty bruises on his back had now turned into a sickly yellow. Had it not been for her hard work Dathan believed he'd still be stranded to his bed. He shifted in his seat and turned from the window to reach for the coffee laying on a silver platter on the oil lamp stand. It was a brown leather book that caught his attention. It was a small booklet wrapped in expensive leather with the indentation of the letter S on the front. Curious, he reached for the small book and undid the bow on the side.
He read the handwritten confessions one by one. Dathan felt a small twitch in his chest as he realized then it was none other than Scarlett's personal thoughts. He swallowed guiltily but could not avert his eyes. This was the opportunity to know what she really thought of him. The beginning of the pages were merely about her family. She described the nobility of her parents and how she dearly missed her sisters.
Then after a few pages the writing changed. His interest peaked when a noble man was mentioned. Dathan felt his back straightened as he read each word. She spoke of his nobility, his tender touch and how she came to meet him. Every word seemed to put him on edge. With an angered sigh he closed the small book the instant her words became a bit too passionate for his taste. He clutched the book in his hands as each word ran through his head.
Clenching his jaw he forced himself to give little thought to the written words and settled the book back on the oil lamp stand. He rubbed at his temples and ran his fingers through his hair. He had been long overdue for a trimming. Even his stubble had begun to grow. He would see to it that he called for a barber to visit him on this day.
All thoughts were vanished when the door behind him opened. Dathan forced his gaze to look out and concentrate on the contrast of the daylight.
"How are we feeling this morning?" she asked.
He felt his heart slam inside his chest. Dathan fought to voice words but all he could register was anger. Scarlett had been romantically involved with another man under his nose. He was forcing himself to ignore it to learn to cope with it but somehow he found it difficult. In truth, what had he expected? Who was he to judge what she did?
"Are you well?" she asked.
"Perfectly fine, what is it that you want?" he rudely asked.
She stilled next to him and then quietly turned to walk away. Part of him felt guilty as he heard the door close. Closing his eyes he let out a frustrated sigh and slumped a little in his chair. He knew he was being hard on Scarlett for no reason. But why did it anger him to know she had another? Part of him was slowly realizing that something was changing and the other was merely telling him that it was his pride being affected.
Nevertheless, Dathan felt trapped inside his mind. He argued with his thoughts most of the day. Maybe spending too much time around her has affected my judgement, he would tell himself.
His hart seemed to hammer at the thought of her but he deeply tried to suppress the flutter of knots that formed at the pit of his stomach. Could he help being attracted to her physically? He felt sick to his stomach as he thought about it over and over again.
"I must be losing my bloody mind." He growled.
His eyes shifted over to the journal and he felt his veins boil with anger and curiosity all together. His fingers were itching to take hold of it and keep reading. The small leather bound book was a temptation all together.
"To hell with it all." He muttered, as he reached over for it. Had Scarlett purposely placed this here to throw him into a jealous rage? Dathan parted the pages and his eyes took in every written word.
"He came to my window and I received him with a bright smile. He sang the most beautiful of melodies and I blushed with passion for him. His almond eyes showed the love he felt for me, the dark waves of his hair were as tempting as the chocolate I sneaked every now and then between meals. Victor....," Dathan swallowed and continued reading, "Victor R. Killian has stolen my heart and soon I hope that I will be the woman that will sleep in the crook of his arm at night." He lastly read.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Scarlett closed the door behind her and felt her stomach knot with hurt. Dathan and she had been progressing quite nicely until today. Things between them had not entirely reached a friendly level but in the back of her mind she had hoped that in the end they could have remained friends.
Biting down on her lip she walked away, feeling somehow awful at his harsh words. Maybe he was slowly coming down from the high cloud he had been on. Scarlett walked to her room and reached for her things only to realize her journal was missing. She began to feel worried the instant she realized she had taken it with her down to the kitchen.
Desperate to find it she went on a search for it but came up empty handed. No one had seen the journal and it had not been in the garden as well. She tried to focus, tried to think where she had last left it but her mind drew a blank. Finally she reached Dathan's door and quietly knocked.
"It's nearly noon, would you like to eat something?" she asked.
He seemed tense and unfocused as she walked closer to him. "I do not wish to be disturbed. Go about your life and leave me in peace." He harshly replied.
Scarlett felt her anger rise the instant she realized that something was bothering him on a personal level. "If you have anything to say to me, say it now. Clearly there is something on your mind." She sternly said
Dathan turned to look at Scarlett and tossed the journal at her feet. The leather bound book hit her boots with a thunk and her heart sank the instant she realized he had read her personal thoughts and stories.
"How dare you?" she said. Bending, she reached for it and clutched it to her chest.
"Maybe you should learn not to leave your personal things lying about my room. Especially ones so grotesquely detailed as yours." He remarked.
"You had no right reading anything in this journal." She argued.
"Your little prince charming will meet the end of my rifle if I ever catch him singing ridiculous songs by your window. I gave you a simple rule and you have been making a mockery of me." He shouted.
Laughter wanted to escape Scarlett the instant she realized Dathan was angry over a fictional character she had created. She was a poor lonely soul and was merely desperate for love and companionship. The only thing that had stopped Scarlett from flirting with the black smith or the man who sold vegetables at the market had been her stories of a knight and shining armor. This was too good to be true.
Part of her suddenly felt prideful to know that Dathan now realized she was not alone. Although she truly was. Maybe he was angered that he had not after all succeeded in making her feel worthless.
"A mockery you say? Why Dathan you take the lead in that race. At least I had the good decency of keeping my affairs private. You, however, have flaunted your mistress before me for nearly three years. Tell me, how does it feel to be the one meeting the end of the sword?" she asked.
"Get out." He said softly.
Scarlett grew angered as well and chose to heed his words by turning and walking out of the room. Closing the door behind her she let a soft sigh escape her lips and leant against the door. Maybe she had done wrong in making him believe that her stories were true. It wasn't too late to walk back in and tell him the truth? Knocking, she turned the knob and re-entered the room.
"What do you want now?" he asked.
"Please, try to understand that what was written here was because I was lonely. I didn't..."
"Want to be caught? Shamed? Just accept that you have been discovered and leave my sight at once before I change my mind and have you thrown out." He interjected.
"Dathan, what I wrote in this journal..."
"Get. Out." he said through gritted teeth.
Silence filled the room as Scarlett stood there with the journal in her hands. If he wouldn't listen she knew he would be tempted to read the rest of it. The silver platter containing his morning coffee suddenly flipped in the air as his fist slammed down on it. The coffee slipped unto the carpet and the silver platter landed close to her feet.
"I said get out!" he shouted.
Angered she too tossed the journal at his feet and slammed the door, but not before saying he would regret his action.