Heart of Darkness

Roxana was on her way home afraid that her body would give in to sleep before she reached the ship. She should have taken more than a nap before going for her nightshift. Now in the early morning, all she could think of was the mattress that awaited her at home. When she reached the dock, uncle Benedict was already preparing his tools to fish. 

"Uncle Ben!" she waved at him. "Good morning." 

He turned around. "Good morning, Rox. Where are you coming from?" 

"I took the job as you told me." She said. 

"I am proud of you," He smiled. 

If he only knew, he wouldn't be. She was not Rox and she was tired of moving around all the time, meeting good people, lying to them just to move away again. She loved this town, despite all the problems. She had met the best people here. 

"I'll make you fish soup," He said. 

"I am going to sleep now." She didn't want him to go through the hassle to feed someone like her. 

"Go to sleep and rest. I will come with the soup once you wake up." 

She could only smile at this stubborn man. 

Roxana hurried home, took an apple to eat since she was too tired to make anything else, and then went to sleep. The short moment before she fell into slumber she thought about Alexander. What an odd man. Where did he disappear? She didn't see him for the rest of the night. 

After a good sleep, she woke up on her own. She went to the kitchen to see if Fanny had made something but he didn't. 

"Fanny?" She called to see if he was home. 

There was no reply. 

Well, she would have to take care of her own stomach. She got used to Fanny spoiling her for a while. 

A knock on the door caught her attention as she looked for food to make. Roxana went to answer the door and found uncle Benedict with his pot. She had forgotten that he would come with food. 

She moved out of the way and he scampered in. "We should eat it before it gets cold." He said. "Where is your sister?" 

"At work."

"I have made more. You can store some for her." He said. 

"I will." He went to put it on the table and she served bowls and spoons before they sat to eat. 

"I have been thinking." He began. "When I die…"

"Uncle Ben!" She cut him off. "Don't talk about death and ruin my appetite." 

"Don't cut me off." He said hitting her hand with the spoon. 

"Ouch." 

"Fragile boy. Eat the soup." He told her. "When I die, I am giving you what I own." 

Roxana halted, her hold around the spoon tightening. She had enough. She rose from her seat hastily and he looked up at her confused.  She began to unbraid her hair. 

"What are you doing? Your hair will get into the food." 

She let her hair down like when she was Roxana. "Look at me!" She told him. "There is no Rox. Only Roxana." 

The old man watched her confused. "What are you talking about?" 

"Uncle Ben." Her eyes burned with tears. "This is all a lie. All that I am is a lie. Have you ever seen Rox and Roxana together? No. I am a liar." 

The tears threatened to leave her eyes. 

Uncle Ben stood up slowly from his seat. "You… you…" Not knowing what to say he just turned around and walked out of the door. 

Roxana's head fell down, tears streaming down her face. At least she wouldn't have to look him in the eyes and lie anymore. When she was about to fall back on her seat she heard footsteps again and uncle Ben walked through the door with a stick in his hand. 

"Hold out your hands!" He told her. 

Roxana watched him with a saddened frown and held her hands out. "There are a lot of things you were not taught." He said lifting the stick into the air. Roxana closed her eyes with a flinch waiting to feel the pain but nothing happened. Slowly she peeked through one eye first and saw uncle Ben watching her with an angry look. She opened the other eye and looked back at him. 

"Have you no parents to teach you right or wrong?" He asked. 

She shook her head. 

"Then why did you not tell me? I would have taught you a few things." 

Tears filled her eyes anew. "Uncle Ben." She said and then cried relieved that he didn't hate her. The old man gave her a hug and she cried on his small shoulder. 

"You must have been so lonely," he said and this made her cry even more. 

"I am sorry." She sobbed. 

"Alright. Stop crying now. The soup is getting cold." He led her to the table and made her sit down. As they ate he demanded to know everything and she told him. 

Uncle Ben shook his head. "This is dangerous. You need to leave this town soon." He told her.

She felt her heart sink at the thought of leaving. 

"Forget stealing and leave the castle." He said. "We will find another way to save money for you to leave." 

"What other ways could there possibly be?" She asked. 

He became thoughtful. She knew there was no other way where they could get a lot of money in a short amount of time. 

"Uncle Ben. I need to finish this mission." 

"No!" 

"Please!"

"I don't want you to steal." 

"I am not stealing from the needy. The king has silver chains on his boots and gold as buttons on his jacket. They won't even notice a small thing that I take." 

The old man looked conflicted.  "I want you to leave that life behind, Roxana." He said sternly.

"I know. I want that too. I need to do this once and then live decently, otherwise, I can't." 

He sighed not liking the idea. He was quiet for a long moment before he spoke again. "Alright, but I will only let you do it if we make sure it is safe and that you will succeed." 

Roxana frowned. "How can we possibly know that?" 

He smiled. "Do you have some money?" 

"Yes." 

"Come with me." He told her. 

Roxana was surprised when Uncle Ben took her to a fortune teller. She had a history with them so she did believe their words but she knew most people didn't. "You believe in fortune-telling?" She asked. 

"Yes. Trust me. They know what they do." 

The fortune-teller was a woman who owned a shop of herbs, scents, and candles. Her shop smelled heavenly and looked comfortable and pleasing to the eyes with decorations of fur and feathers and beautifully shaped candles. She had rhinestones made as curtains decorating the windows and beautiful vases with sweet-smelling flowers. 

She led them further in through a gloomy passage to a dark room where she began to light large candles. Once the room was lit she motioned for them to sit on the round carpet in the middle of the room. She brought a small table that she put between her and them.

"So tell me." She said. "What brings you here?" 

Roxana looked at uncle Ben and he gave her a nod. "Well, I…I want to know about my future." 

"What about your future exactly?" She asked sternly. 

Uncle Ben interrupted. "I am trying to stop my niece from stealing. I came to show her that her plan of theft could lead into trouble." 

The woman looked between them and then reached her hand out. Roxana was confused about what to do.

"The money," uncle Ben nudged her with his elbow. 

"Right," she reached inside her pocket, the shadow of her figure on the wall following her movement. She pulled out the pouch of coins she received from Lord Quintus and hesitantly handed them over. 

Roxana felt a stab in her heart as the woman put the pouch somewhere under her sleeve. She just gave away her money for this. 

"Give me your hand." The woman said holding her hand out. 

Roxana placed her hand in the woman's hand. The fortune-teller examined her palm. "You came from a land far away. You are a traveler. You have seen a lot, learned a lot. You are a thief." She looked up at her. "With a plan. You want to steal from the castle." 

Oh, she knew. Uncle Ben smiled. 

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. Let me see." The woman said. 

"Will I succeed?" Roxana asked. 

The woman looked at her palm again. This time she closed her eyes and with a finger began to draw something on her palm. It took a while before she shot her eyes open as if she had seen something horrible. 

"Oh dear," she breathed her eyes wide. 

Roxana's heart skipped a beat. Fear crawled under her skin. 

"You will steal something. Something of high value." She said. 

What? 

"Really?" Roxana breathed. 

The woman nodded with a cunning smile. 

"Will I steal it and be safe?" She asked. 

"What I am about to tell you is very valuable. I need more money." She said. 

Of course. Now she was being robbed. She looked at the woman skeptically. 

"This will change your life," the woman assured her. 

Roxana reached inside her pocket and took out whatever was left. "This is all I have." She said. 

The woman took the coins. "Don't worry about money. Soon you will have an endless amount. What you steal will be an endless resource to riches." 

"Will she be able to escape with it?" Uncle Ben asked. 

"No!" the woman shook her head. "No escaping. What you want, what will change your life is here. You can not and will not escape. Not if you want to live a life of comfort and wealth." 

Oh, Lord! This woman was speaking nonsense. 

"I am not speaking nonsense." The woman said and Roxana's eyes widened. 

"Can you hear my thoughts?" 

"No. But the spirits can. They tell me everything." 

Spirits. 

"So heed my words, young woman. Stay in the castle. That is where the treasure lies and when it falls into your hands, don't let go." 

"What is the treasure?" 

"A very old man." 

Old man? 

"What do you mean?" 

"You heard me, young woman. You will marry a very old man that will provide for you and give you riches you could never dream of having." 

"I will marry an old man?" Roxana laughed. "Look woman, I may be greedy but not so desperate to marry a VERY old man. What? Is he dying?" There was a time she was willing to marry for wealth but even then she was not ready to give herself to old men. There was a limit to what she could tolerate. 

The fortune-teller tilted her head to one side looking thoughtful. "I don't think he is dying anytime soon. You will have plenty of time together." 

Together? 

"You are mistaken," Roxana said standing up. "I am leaving now." 

She rushed back through the tunnel and walked out of the shop. The memories of humiliation come back to mind. The rejection, the look of disgust, the feeling of being looked upon like she was worth less than dirt. 

She took a deep breath to calm down, pushing away those memories. She waited for Uncle Ben to come outside. 

"Roxana." he looked at her with sympathy as he stepped outside. 

"Do you see? That is my fate. Of course, only an old man would accept me. A very old one. I am worth nothing more." 

"Don't say that," Uncle Ben said. "You are bright, young, and beautiful. You will find yourself a good young man." 

"You said they know what they do." 

"They don't anymore." He said. 

Through her sadness and anger, she smiled at him. But deep down she was scared because she believed in fortune-tellers.. Had seen with her eyes their visions become true. Was she doomed to this?