• When Eliza came to, the first thing she saw was thousands of bright lights set against a navy background. It took her a moment to realize that she was staring at the night sky.
    Sitting up, Eliza rubbed her throat, which was sore and dry. What she would have given for a sip of water.
    “Gerald look, she’s awake.”
    The next thing Eliza knew her family surrounded her. One by one, each of them took a turn embracing her. When it was Sophie’s turn, she burst into tears and buried her face in Eliza’s chest.
    “Shh,” Eliza whispered as she held her sister tightly, “everything’s going to be alright.” She looked over at her father, “Where are we?”
    Her father, who always looked relaxed and peaceful, looked like a nervous wreck. His clothes were dirty and torn, and his hair was ruffled. And yet despite his haggard appearance, he was still able to sound calm and collected. “We’re in middle of the desert. If it wasn’t for…for, what was your name again?”
    “Ro.”
    His voice startled her. All this time he had been sitting only a few feet away from her, and yet she hadn’t noticed him at all.
    “Ah, as I was saying, if it wasn’t for Ro then I don’t believe we would have gotten out of the city.”
    “Can I get you anything dear?” Her stepmother asked gently.
    “Water would be nice.”
    Nodding, her stepmother motioned for Maria and Sophie to follow her as they walked out of sight.
    Once they were alone, her father moved to the other side pf the fire and sat down besides Ro.
    “Now,” he began as he cleared his throat, “ as soon as Eliza is well again, I expect that you will take us to the nearest city, preferably one with a port.”
    Ro sighed and stood up. The fire made the features on his face look cold and foreboding. “I’m sorry, but this is as far as I go.”
    “What? How can you say that?”
    “I got you this far for free, I will not go any further until you pay me,” Ro demanded as he kicked at the sand.
    Eliza watched her father’s face relax. If the issue was money, then she knew that they had nothing to fear. Knowing her father, he probably had more than enough money to pay Ro for his assistance through the desert as well as passage on the next ship heading for home.
    “How much are you charging, I’m sure we can work out a reasonable deal,” her father said confidently as he pulled at bag of coins.
    “I’m not interested in money,” Ro replied flatly.
    “How about jewels, I can also pay you in that,” her father suggested but Ro shook his head.
    “My business is done here, you have nothing that I want.”
    Eliza couldn’t take it anymore, “Then what do you possibly want?”
    Ro turned around and gazed at her for a long time before looking away, “I want what all Dúnedin covet.”
    He was a Dúnedin, a real Dúnedin. Eliza couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
    “And that is?”
    Ro looked up and smiled wickedly at her father, “A wife.”
    “NO!”
    All three of them turned around and watched Emily fall to her knees in a fit of tears.
    “Take what ever you want,” Emily cried as she wrapped her arms protectively around Maria and Sophie, “just please don’t take my daughters away from me.”
    “Then we have nothing more to discuss,” Ro said as he climbed on top of his horse.
    “Please there must be something else that you want.”
    Eliza watched in horror as her father got down on his knees and beg. Ro however shook his head before taking the reigns in his hands.
    If he left, then she knew her family would not survive long in the desert.
    “Wait!”
    All three of them, Ro, her father and stepmother, turned and stared at her.
    Taking a deep breath, Eliza slowly rose to her feet, “Take me as payment.”
    The cry that escaped her stepmother’s mouth was more than enough to ward off any unwanted intruder.
    “Gerald, do something,” she demanded in between sobs.
    Ro however jumped off his horse, ignoring her father and mother’s protests and walked over to Eliza and looked at her closely. Twice he circled her, his brow knitted deep in thought before he finally stepped back.
    “In my culture,” Ro began in a flat and empty voice that was deprived of all emotion, “women are considered to be lowest form of life, next to rats of course. As my wife, I’ll work you until you collapse from exhaustion. I’ll abuse you daily and deprive you of food and water for days at a time. At night I’ll rape you until you cry out in pain. And when I grow tired of you, I’ll sell you to another man who will also abuse you and when he grows tired, he too will sell you and the cycle will repeat. I will be your master and you my slave.”
    Suddenly Ro reached out and grabbed Eliza’s hand before running a crude blade over her palm until she bled, “That is the life a Dúnedin wife and that is now your future.”
    Eliza stood in shock while Emily wailed like a dying animal into the desert sky. Glancing down at her hand she saw the blood escaping from the wound. Eyes widening, the realization of what she had just gotten herself into hit her hard. The impact was so great that it brought her to her knees and soon she too started to cry.
    “Please there has to be some other way,” Emily cried.
    Ro glanced at Eliza then the ground, “I’m sorry, but the deal has already been made. The penalty for going back on such a promise is death.” Ro turned his back to them, “I’m sure you would hate to have me kill your daughter, especially in front of her siblings.”
    Hearing Ro say that silenced her mother who jumped to her feet before throwing her arms around Eliza.
    “The next village is a three days journey from here, we leave at dawn,” with that said, Ro walked off and disappeared into the darkness.

    The next three days went by too fast. During the day, Eliza spent time with Maria and Sophie, sharing stories and secrets from their childhood. At night, Eliza would listen to all the plans that Emily had had for her, the type of wedding that she had dreamed of throwing while her father sat in undisturbed silence, desperate to think of out of the deal that Eliza had made but to no avail. Each day she became closer and closer with each member of her family, until Eliza was certain that she would never forget any of them.
    Sensing Emily’s anger towards him, Ro stayed out of Eliza’s way for those three days. Most of the time he spent guiding her family across the ever-dangerous sands of the desert. Other then that, he hardly ever spoke and when he did, he was careful to only address her father. At night, he would separate himself from them and sleep as far away from them as possible.
    On the eve before they were separated for good, each member of her family presented her with something to remember them by. Her father gave her his reading glasses and made her promise to read as often as possible even though Eliza was pretty sure that Dúnedin women were forbidden to know how to read. Silently Maria handed her a bright blue ribbon before walking away. Sophie wouldn’t stop crying as she handed Eliza her most prized possession, a heart shaped rock that she had found while strolling the beach near their home when she was six. Last was Emily who presented Eliza with a silver locket.
    “This was your mother’s. In her will, she requested that it be worn at your wedding,” tears started to well up in her eyes, “she would have been so proud of you,” Emily managed to say before erupting into tears.
    Taking the locket, Eliza carefully fastened it around her neck, “I promise, I will never forget any of you,” she whispered before throwing her arms around her family.
    That night, the three sisters fell asleep hand in hand while her parents watched over them in silence.
    It was not yet dawn when Eliza was shaken awake. Rolling over, she saw Ro standing over her.
    “Lets go.”
    Eliza dressed in silence and made sure that all her treasures were safely inside the only bag she was allowed to take. By the time she was ready to go, her whole family was awake and ready to say their final farewell.
    While Ro waited on his horse, Eliza hugged each of her family carefully, trying to memorize their scent. When she reached her father, he broke into tears before throwing his arms around her. Ro had kept his promise. The night before, he had drawn her father a map and told him that the village was only half a day’s journey from their camp.
    “Be strong, and never forget your family,” her father whispered before letting her go one last time.
    Nodding, Eliza wiped the tears from her eyes and promised she would. Then, with help from Ro, she climbed on top of his horse and waved goodbye to her family.
    Clicking his tongue, Ro pulled at the reigns and the horse took off, carrying Eliza off towards the rising sun, and her new life.