Preys and Predators 3 Love Binds, Family Destroy Chapter 18

 

18. 

 

Lord Dante Montague had made a quiet entry to the house and was stopped by the words spoken there in the garden.

“He shall not make me a joyful bride.” Those words were heard.

“Is she not proud?” Another retorted back with more words.

“Proud I can never be of what I hate.” The first spoke on the line.

“What is hate when one is to be joyful?” The reply was heard. (adapted from Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare).

“Where there is joy, then the hate will subside.”

Lord Dante Montague cut in and then appeared to the two who were engaged in what was said to be stichomythia, wherein characters participate in a short, quick exchange of one-upmanship.

“Father, you returned.” His daughter Juliet rushed to her father. His daughter, Juliet, had grown to be a fine lady then. She had on the V-neck long shade of blue gown, with sleeves heavily ornamented, worn over a kirtle or under-gown, with a linen chemise with the high fullness over the belly, replaced by a V-neck, often cut low enough to reveal the decorated front of the kirtle beneath.

“Should I not be?” The father said.

“As much as he wants to.” The daughter smiled. They continued in the exchange of stichomythia.

“And who may you be?” Lord Dante Montague asked of the lady standing there.

“I am Jessica Judas, daughter of Shylock Judas.” The lady dressed plainly but was of good taste.

“Ah… The daughter of Shylock. How is your father?” Lord Dante Montague remembered the moneylender.

“He is well, Lord Dante Montague.” Jessica did a curtsy and then took leave.

“Does she come often?” Lord Dante Montague asked his daughter. She had grown much and looked more like the mother.

“We are friends. We met at the square and soon became friends. She is of the same age as me.” Juliet smiled. “Come, Mother will be glad to see you.”

“She does not go to church?” Lord Dante Montague asked.

“No, she is Jewish. She attends their own version of the churches.” Juliet pulled the father alongside. Lord Dante Montague was happy to be home. He had missed his family very much, and even more so his mistress, Angeline.

“She is at the library with another.” Jessica replied. “Are you here to see me or her?”

“You are my reunion reason, my child.” Lord Dante Montague smiled.

Reunion was also the task of Friar Lawrence; though of the Catholic faith, he held himself to the task of uniting family members that went astray in the wars. In his younger days, he had travelled far to Kosovo to offer aid to the refugees of the war. He held no affiliation to the faith that they belonged to, but his assistance was fair to all. He had travelled there with the huge sack and his faith that all will be well. He collected wild fruits or the small bits he could collect from the kitchens, and thus he fed the ones in need.

“Father…”

“I am a friar, son.” The friar prostrated himself by the frail prisoner at the dungeon. When he was not at Genoa, he was on the move from battlefields to the dungeons. He told the boyars that all were the children of God, and they all deserved the mercy of God.

‘Go forth, friar. Say your last rites or whatever to them. We will not halt your intention. But beware of the faithless or the heathens. They may not take kindly to your tidings.”

The friar was not fearful of the wrath of man, but he feared more of that from God. He took his path where it may lead and did his best. His welcoming words were the same: “I come bearing some fried fruits and my prayers to share with you.”

The jailers welcomed him, for with his prayers they may get to Heaven, for the task of the jailer was not without sins. He prayed with them and with the prisoners.

“Thank you, Friar. I have... I have sinned.” The prisoner was named Vlad Tepes. “My sins are ……”

“Take your time, son. God will not forsake you, Vlad Tepes.” The friar looked to the man who had been there for some years. He saw the sticks there with the carcasses of the rats on the flooring. He knew it was the prisoner’s work and did a prayer. “He heard your prayers and ……”

“My prayers to HIM were for my family. I love them. We as a family are torn apart due to my other love. I… did what I could to preserve my love for the people there, but I am now in despair and await my death. The other prisoners… they were taken, but I am spared or in wait.”

“Say a prayer with me, son. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me." The friar prayed for the prisoner. “Your day will come and you will be freed.”

“I care not for mine alone, but for my people. They deserved peace and harmony.” Vlad Tepes cried. “Why must war divide families?”

Families divided by war was the result of it.

Shylock was of a divided opinion. His family business was divided by the unscrupulous traders. He had taken over his fathers’ business—both fathers’, to be exact—and he learned the trade the hard way. It was not easy years when the traders heard of the young money lender. They pressed on him for the loans and haggled on the rates. He found no guidance from the associates of the same trade; they all viewed his failure as their gain.

Leah took her seat next to the husband. She was with a child, their second one after so many years after Jessica. It was different when you worked or learned the trade from listening, until the actual negotiations fell on you.

“My love, the traders are putting you on their chopping block.” Leah told him. “We have to think differently.”

“But how? I applied every trick my father taught me, but we are minions to their strength.” Shylock was nervous. He held no power of strength to gain back his dues. He hired the mercenaries, but they are as good as the winds on the sails of the boats. They come and go when they please.

“We need to get a powerful ally.” Leah told him. “I am in the advanced stages of my second birth. It had been hard and difficult for me. Soon, I will be away from your side. We need to collect more than we give.”

Shylock took to the tavern to search for allies in the form of mercenaries. He saw some that he had hired and left with a bigger dent in his treasury. He took off from there and walked to the synagogue. He saw the young boys there doing their studies by the elderly. He took his place to pray for guidance and love.

“I pray for my second child soon to come, and also for peace, but it seems to elude me every time.” Shylock heard the prayer and looked towards the direction. It was a man who was offering his prayer to God. He heard of the man and only knew his name.

“Abram…”

God does listen, and sometimes, too well.

“Romeo Capulet, you will be hoe-bound till I am satisfied.” Lord Gencio Capulet looked to his son, who was off his teenage years, but his antics were still of that. The conflict with the boyar’s son reached his ears. He had ordered the son to appear before him at the library. The others followed suit, and there was the head of the household there, Reynard.

“Do you know the Lord Helmut is the powerful one among the German barons? He has the king’s ears at court. If his son was hurt, it may not only be your head but mine too that he will demand.”

“Father, all I did was……”

“Silence!” Lord Gencio Capulet looked at Sampson and Gregory.

“I expected you to coach my son, and yet he runs circles around the two of you.” Lord Gencio Capulet did hire the two veterans to protect his son, and that includes the coaching of fighting skills. He, himself, had learned that at an early age as part of his training to be a trader, and the need to know how to fight was needed on the journeys. He did not train to be a warrior but could protect himself in those fights.

“Reynard, I want you to take over the role now. Sampson and Gregory will follow me on all business.” Lord Gencio Capulet needed protection in view of the many mercenaries in the city. The wars were still ongoing with the Ottoman Empire, but the ones at the city were the discards or maimed ones. They were the rascals or thugs in their new roles, and thus the traders and nobles required guards.

“Lord Gencio Capulet, I will coach the boy.” Reynard was then old in age, but his firm grip on the sword was still strong. He could not run fast nor jump higher, but he knew how to fight dirty if needed.

“Father, I must protest.” Romeo, ever outspoken, looked to the older man. “I have……”

“That will take care of it.” That was the voice of the mother, Lady Sofia. She had arrived on her son’s excuses. She looked to the Lord and said to him.

“Romeo will be at home. I will make sure he is.” Lady Sofia looked towards her son. Lord Gencio Capulet knew better than to remain silent and then erupt into a family argument. The lord stood up and then took leave of the library, followed by the two assigned escorts. He was late to the court, and God knows when he will return unless Romeo upsets another lord’s family.

“Romeo, you will be assigned a daily schedule planned by myself and Reynard, and no excuses will be entertained.” The lady told the son. She then referred to Reynard.

“I will speak to Romeo myself now.” It was not a request but an order. Reynard took his leave of the mother and son. The mother then turned towards the son.

“Romeo, where art thou? If not in the tavern drinking, you will be upsetting some ladies in the park.” Lady Sofia sighed. “What……”

“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and my mother is the sun!” (Adapted from Romeo & Juliet from Act 1, replacing Juliet’s name with the mother, as radiance to the light of the sun.)

“I am distressed, Romeo. Your antics are funny, but be serious. Your father held high hopes for you.” The mother snapped at the errant son. “We have only you, and no brothers or sisters.”

“A half-brother, Mother. I have Lorenzo.” Romeo looked at his mother. “He is your child too.”

“Yes, Lorenzo is mine, but he is not a true Capulet. You are, and your father held high hopes of you.”

“I will be obedient, Mother.” Romeo prostrated himself before his mother. “That I promise.”