Agnes' illness would not leave her. Another curse from the gods in addition to being cursed to be alone for all her life. No parents, no grandmother, and no Adris.

The knock on her door dragged her from her bed to the persistent guest.
Eros.
She didn't want to see him. She didn't want anything that reminded her of Adris.
"Please leave me alone."
She closed the door but with what little strength she possessed Eros pushed past her invading her dark and moist space.

"I need to understand what happened, Nessie."

"I hate that name. Don't call me that."

"Fine. I won't. But Agnes what happened that night. Adris believes you betrayed him."

She shook her head. She wanted to forget Adris, but most of all she wanted to forget that night. Her eyes stung with heated tears.

"I can see the truth if you'll let me." He touched her shoulder where her love mark was.

"I'd rather you don't.Please." She shrank away.

"Nessie."

"You have my permission after I'm dead. Not before." She said pulling her cloth around her shoulders.

"I'll visit you again, Agnes. Please take care of yourself."

She nodded and let him leave.
His visit though unwelcome gave her the news she was terrified to seek after.
Adris still hated her. He still hasn't come home to check on her or even listen to her explanation after all the trust she'd given him.
His love wasn't true like he claimed. And he called her a liar when it was him who had lied to her. He had left her when she needed him the most. I'm the time of her greatest suffering.
She had been defiled and contaminated by a man who wouldn't tell her why?
Eros couldn't take his mark away. Only till death will the mark disappear.

Agnes eyed the knife that called to her from the table time and time again.
She screamed.

My love will always be until death parts us. She remembered her silent oath to Adris.
She'd hold on to life and wait as long as she could for his return. They'd been married for a year and apart for a year.
She'd been fighting alone for a year.

The market streets were crowded with hawkers and buyers, more than usual and Agnes was grateful for it.
"Fresh olives sold here! Come and get your fresh olives." A vendor cried.
"Taste the sweetest cherries ever at my stand." Another went.
People crowded stands with coins ready.
No one paid attention to the hunch cloaked figure combing through the streets to find a physician.

"Rest, fresh air, clean food, and a clear mind, maiden. The medicine alone won't lessen your symptoms. Return after a week."
Simply said yet a few things on the physicians list couldn't be done so easily.
"Do you have a tonic that could clear the mind?" She laughed, the action never touching her heart.

"It's a fungi that could help. Come tomorrow and there might be a few in stock."

Could she risk another trip into town? The better question was would she have the energy to leave her bed to face the world.
She nodded even when the answers to her questions were unforthcoming.

It had been a year. Maybe it was time to forget Adris. A year.... Aphrodite's words had come to pass.

Agnes shoulder met resistance.
"I'm sorry." She apologized to the woman.

"look at what you did." The maid cried over the loss of her fruits and flowers smothered in horse feces.

"I'll replace them." Agnes promised. She dug into her purse for her coins and realized she had none left.
"I left my coins at home, but if you'll wait I can fetch them."

"You. You're that witch."

Agnes pulled her hood lower but her hand was caught.
"It is you. How the mighty have fallen."
The woman's pitch called on the attention of others.
The heat in Agnes' body intensified; she'd become the center of attention like a monkey on display in a market corner.

"Greed is an ugly thing. You had it all and you lost it all for greed and vanity."

Pain sliced through her wrists as she tugged free from the other woman's hold.
"That man assaulted me." Agnes

"That's not what we heard." Someone added.

"You asked for it. Sauntering about like you were a queen."

The scratches stung the least in comparison to their words.
The blood rose to the surface of her fresh cuts she'd take care of them at home with the rest of her wounds.

"Where do you think you're going?"
Agnes fell first first to the ground her back blazing from the impeding bruise.

"You still haven't learned your place you cheating whore."
Several feet kicked her where she fell. They couldn't turn down the chance to exact their revenge.
"Bitch."
"Slut."
"Whore."
"Homewrecker."
Heavy blows landed on all parts of her body.
Then they dragged her to a meadow where the fragrant citrus accosted her senses.

"Return what you owe me."

Her body weighed like a sack of grain. Every part of her ached and moving spread the discomfort like a wildfire. Her legs wobbled, supporting her weight.

"My coins are at home." She whispered.

The woman slapped her.
"Liar. How can I trust you won't cheat me? I want them now."

Agnes' chest flared with heat.
"If you were so impatient you should've eaten the other one. It was covered in shit. And you're full of it already." Agnes spat.

A heavy object fell on her head with crippling weight. Agnes collapsed to the ground, her head meeting another hard object. Agony exploded in her head but she couldn't move.

"Get up and say that to my face. Come on. Get up." The voice said from a distance.
"She's bleeding." A distant voice gasped.

"Let's get out of here."
Anxious feet retreated abandoning Agnes to her fate.
She tasted the metal on her tongue and smelled the liquid that flowed from her scalp onto the rock soaking into the earth.
Her arms couldn't move neither could her legs. She'd lost control and with each passing second the lull of fatigue pulled stronger. So she laid there.

"Adris." She whispered. She saw him through the trees and smiled.
He'd come after all.
It made her wait all the more worth it. She'd stayed awake for him.
Now, she could close her eyes and rest and be united with the only man she ever loved.
"Adris." She breathed.