Chapter Text
17th of July
Eesha 'Aileen' Spicer, currently in France
It was a heck of a few days, but I am alive!
Dear diary, today I am starting my job as a merchant of spices and rare trinkets from Mumbai, India. Merchants have always seemed to make a lot of money (scammers or not), and I want a bright future of my own full of riches. I had to say bye to my parents, family, friends and make my way to France, my first location. Why there? I don't know. It just stuck out to me, even if there were better kingdoms. And I almost forgot, I am going to be a travelling merchant. I think it would be easier to get better deals, especially since spices are rare outside of India. It's honestly pretty scary, I have never left India since the day I was born, and I am still not married to anyone yet, even if I am in my thirties. Not like I care about marriage anyways. Men have always just been pretty bad, to me at least. Less they are my Aba or my brother, Yameen, I am always skeptical about them. My Aba helped me load my cart, since a lot of the bags are really heavy. He is a nice man. He may get off his rocker at times and almost did kick out of the house, he just has a lot of trauma of his own. But on my way I go to a new kingdom. Saying bye to my family one last time. I think Ami was crying. I hope I can come back home someday but now is not the time. I am going to make a legacy!
I was excited but also super nervous. It was going to be tough for me to get used to an English country, but I think I'll survive (if I don't act stupid). It took a while to reach to France, but I got there eventually after multiple days. And as for why I am writing this now, I might've forgotten to. It was an eventful few days and only now do I have time to write in my diary. I wrote a few letters to my family and one to the king, but that's it. I reached the country and the people there were nice, if not a bit judgmental. I was wearing male clothing and had a cross necklace. I am not a man nor am I a Christan. It was purely for aesthetic. One thing I did learn was that travelling merchants had to stay at a 'pub' of sorts. It was like a sanctuary of sorts. Did I use sorts twice in two sentences? Ha! Anyways, the merchants were less judgmental than the peasants outside. Less. A few of them were staring at me and a group of British looking men were whispering, maybe about me. But I found a table to sit down at, to cool off a bit. Everyone seemed to be male and wearing 'normal' clothing. I stuck out like a sore thumb. A few came over and said hi to me, exchanging names and telling personal stories. Some even taught me some things to do as a first-time spice merchant. I did have to make a fake name for myself. Turns out Eesha is too hard for them to pronounce. One of them suggested Aileen. Aileen. What a cute name. You can even see I signed myself as that (I know you are sneaking through my diary Yameen). I still introduced others by my real name though.
One merchant approached me and asked he could sit with me. I said he could, and he sat next to me, holding a knife and a block of wood. It was so weird, and other merchants were giving him disgusted looks. "Are you a knife merchant?" I asked with curiosity. He laughed at me. Apparently, he is a puppet and doll merchant. Never heard of that... ever! He joked that he might be the only puppet merchant in the world. We had a giggle, and he offered to buy some beers. I obviously excepted. I needed something to fill me up until I start selling. He was a strange fellow. He looked like any other merchant. Brown hair, pale skin and the normal clothing that the lower class could only dream of wearing. But his eyes. Oh boy. They looked lifeless, almost like beads on a necklace. They were pitch white, like he was blind. But he obviously wasn't. He was using a knife after all. But he didn't feel human. Like, something else was at play. I felt uncomfortable, but I didn't want to seem rude. I'll finish my beer and then leave, I thought to myself, taking another sip. I got up, but the guy called out for me. He wanted to exchange names, if we ever meet again. Turns out I was the only guy nice to him, which, wow. What's weirder: a girl wearing male clothing and had a bloody bandage she wraps her eyes around or a normal looking guy. I keep getting sidetrack, oh my gosh. I told him it was Eesha. He actually pronounced it right somehow. He did a warm smile afterwards, almost flirtatious. Gross. The guy gave me the doll he was carving, still naked and lacking any features. He told me his name. It was Ben Puppurta. He came home to France for a week. What a lucky man he is. I'll write tomorrow after some sales.
Love, Eesha.
P.S. Remember to write to Ami later!