Maybe I should tell you a bit about myself, it would certainly explain a few things, like why I am terrified that there are bruises that are on my wrists. It?s a silly fear.

?What did you say your problem was again ma?am, spiders??
?No, no. I am afraid of having bruises on my wrists because when I see them I feel my mind slipping away and all I want to do is scratch my skin until they?re gone.?
?Oh, well isn?t that interesting??

It is interesting. At least, I find it interesting and it?s my damn problem.

Do you know what an abusive relationship is? There are different kinds: emotional, physical and a good old combination of both. I?ll give you an example in case you have been left in the dark or perhaps you just turn a blind eye? I wouldn?t blame you.

There is this leather shop on the corner of Fifth and Market in downtown RhyDin. The man that owns it is in his late thirties and has recently married a young girl of sixteen. Everyone in the neighborhood knows that he hits her all the time, with or without excuse. Hell, even I know this and I live outside the city or at least I did until I was forced to move back into the Inn for a time. But he doesn?t only hit her, and that is something not everyone knows.

I should tell you what this girl is like. She?s a sprite young thing who keeps the shop as her husband works, talking to customers and selling them anything they don?t need with just a smile. She has supple little curves that will soon be spread out until they disappear when she is forced to bare a child for her husband. This is bound to happen soon. Until then, she can dance around and sing as she cleans his shop: lighthearted and sweet.

You may not hear it, or perhaps you don?t understand its meaning, but he tells her she?s an ugly bitch every day. Or maybe sometimes, when he?s feeling creative, he?ll toss the word whore in there. You may not see the effect, but I can. She believes him. She eats in every word from that man?s mouth, tinged with the scent of ale and decaying meat as it is.

She used to feel pretty when she would try on a new dress and dance in front of the mirror. Now, she?s ashamed to even look at herself. All she can think about is how displeased he was with her for the smile she offered their new neighbor, how she deserved to be hit across the face like that for counting the money in the store till wrong the other night.

I see this all in the way she holds herself, the falter in her smile and the way her voice shakes and her body trembles if you happen to take her by surprise.

It?s sad because I know I was like that once. I still catch myself at it, years later though it may be. I?ll feel myself shrink away from a man who raises his voice to me or find my thoughts wandering down dark paths of self-loathing. I have to fight it every day.

That poor young girl, who is married to the man who owns the leather store, is doomed.