Roses for Rosalind

"Romeo," Prince Verona rubbed the center of his brows wearily, Mercutio's injury made him look ten years older in an instant: "You tell me the ins and outs of the whole thing honestly and completely .”

Romeo glanced at the crowd around him unconsciously holding their breath, and pursed his lips.

"It was Tybalt who struck first," he said.

"He's a liar!" Lady Capulet immediately screamed, "He's a Montague, and everything he says is selfish, and it's all false! It's all unbelievable!" Her long, pointed nails straightened Pointing pointedly at the servants of the Montague family present: "A total of twenty of them participated in this fierce fight, more than 20 people! Join forces to murder one person's life! Your Highness, please do justice for Tybalt ! Since Benvolio seriously injured Tybalt, he must pay the price in blood!"

"But this is the truth." Romeo said in a deep voice: "Benvolio once advised Tybalt very sincerely, telling him to think carefully about how meaningless this kind of quarrel is. I can guarantee that he also mentioned His Royal Highness, your strict prohibition. He used a gentle tone, a humble attitude, and a smile on his face to repeatedly persuade Tybalt, but Tybalt turned a deaf ear to him and only played his arrogance. Mercutio endured I couldn't help getting angry, so I confronted him twice." 1

A passerby who was onlookers nodded in a low voice, saying that Romeo was right, and it was indeed the case.

"The wound on Tybalt's left shoulder was caused by Mercutio. Seeing him injured, Mercutio wanted to stop, but it was Tybalt himself who bumped into the blade and caused the wound He deepened further. With malicious intentions, he wounded Mercutio seriously in a way that should not have been used. Mercutio fell down, and Benvolio, full of anger, couldn't bear it anymore, and drew his sword I fought with Tybalt. Before I could stop them, Tybalt was already in a pool of blood." 2 Speaking of this, Romeo stopped, as if carefully considering his words: " To be honest, Your Royal Highness, I personally think that Tybalt should bear more than half of the responsibility for this matter."

"You liar!" Lady Capulet continued to scream, "What nonsense!"

"He didn't!" Mrs. Montague couldn't help but shot back: "My son never tells a lie!"

"I can swear to God that everything I say is the truth." Romeo raised his three fingers and said word by word: "If there is a lie in what I say, I am willing to accept the death penalty immediately." punish."

"Give me peace!" Seeing that the scene was about to get out of control again, Prince Verona roared loudly: "Shut up!"

"According to what you said, Romeo." The prince's brows were furrowed, and he looked worried: "Benvolio hurt Tybalt, and Tybalt hurt Mercutio, is that so?" After receiving an affirmative answer from the other party, the prince sighed heavily: "If Benvolio is responsible for Tybalt's injury, who should compensate for Mercutio's injury?"

"So, Your Royal Highness, I don't think Benvolio should be responsible for this at all." Viscount Montagu took the opportunity to step forward and said: "He is Mercutio's friend, and everything he does is from Because of his concern for his friends, and his so-called negligence is nothing more than executing the punishment that Tybalt should be punished according to law."

"Then is that the only thing Tybalt suffered!" Madam Capulet screamed unwillingly: "Your Highness! This is not fair! I am not convinced!"

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"What did the monk say?" Rosie heard Mrs. Capulet ask her personal maid in a low voice.

"The monk said that Master Tybalt was seriously injured." The maid's voice was also very low: "Although the wounds on his body have been treated and bandaged, they still cannot guarantee enough safety." In the Middle Ages, Many people did not die directly from the serious injuries caused by the wounds, but from the inflammation and infection in the later stages of death and treatment.

"Did they say when Tybalt would wake up?"

The maid shook her head: "No."

"Benvolio!" Mrs. Capulet said the name through gritted teeth, looking like she wanted to take a piece of meat from Benvolio: "I won't let it go! I must ask him to pay for it." cost!"

"...but ma'am," the maid said softly, "the Montague will definitely not leave him alone..."

"So what?" Mrs. Capulet's originally beautiful face was distorted by strong hatred: "Now he has been exiled from Verona. Unlike Romeo, he is the only son of the Montague family. It’s impossible for Montague to send someone to guard him at all times—he’s always going to be alone, so am I afraid that I won’t find a chance to do it?”

Yes, Benvolio was immediately expelled from Verona by order of the prince, and never allowed to return.

"The hatred between your two families has lasted for a hundred years. There have been so many fights before, and I have always turned a blind eye to not interfering with you too much." The prince weakly supported the attendant's hand , It seems that it may fall to the ground at any time: "But this time I can't sit idly by anymore, because the hatred between you two has already involved me, and in your brutal fight, my relatives have been shed blood."

"Therefore, I want to give you a heavy punishment and warn you about your future. I don't want to hear any pleadings and defenses from any of you, and neither crying nor praying can make me bend the law. Therefore, regarding my decision, You don’t need to think of any other ways to redeem it.” 3

"Now, I declare." The Prince of Verona said in an unquestionable tone: "Benvolio will be expelled from the country immediately, from Verona."

"Your Highness!" Mrs. Capulet and Mrs. Montague exclaimed at the same time, but the words they said were completely different: "This punishment is too light/too heavy!"

"Don't say any more, I've already decided." Prince Verona waved his hand slowly and heavily: "Montague, send Benvolio out of the country as soon as possible, and never allow him to come back. Otherwise, when will we If you find him, you will execute him at any time."

"No one is allowed to disobey my order." He glanced firmly at the two families: "You can't show even a little mercy when it comes to hurting people and bleeding, otherwise you are encouraging hurting people...Actually, I should have done this a long time ago, otherwise, the trouble would not have reached the point it is today."

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They went to Tybalt's bed and looked at him carefully.The fire in the room was burning so vigorously, but his hands were as cold as death.His face was so pale that there was no trace of blood, and the death god in black seemed to have come to his side, ready to wave his sickle at any time to harvest Tibalt's life.

They dared not say some things in front of Mrs. Capulet. After they returned to Juliet's room, Juliet finally couldn't help but speak: "I think Romeo is right." She bit her lip hard, and said A deep mark was bitten on his lips: "Although it is inappropriate to say so, I also think that such a result is unfair to Benvolio."

"Hush." ​​Rosie immediately covered Juliet's mouth.She went to the door and looked around, making sure that no one had heard what Juliet said just now, so she quickly locked the door and walked back: "Are you crazy!" She reprimanded Juliet in a low voice: "How dare you say such a thing ? Are you not afraid of being heard?"

"I dare not say such things to others, but can't I say it to you?" Juliet's little finger pinched deeply into her palm, making a deep white half-moon imprint.Her body trembled violently: "Isn't that the case? Didn't Tybalt do it first?"

"Yes, yes, he did it first." Seeing that Juliet's emotions were on the verge of collapse, Rosie quickly hugged her tightly and tried to calm her down along her back: "Don't get excited, Juliet , calm down first."

"None of you saw his wound." Juliet's hands trembled uncontrollably: "You all only focused on Mercutio and Tybalt, and I was the only one who saw Benvolio's wound!—— On his broad back! So deep! So deep!"

"He suffered such a serious injury, but no one found out. I don't know if anyone has bandaged his wound now, and I don't know if he has been treated." Juliet's fingertips were cold.Her legs could no longer support her to continue standing, and Rosie almost exhausted all her strength to prevent Juliet from falling to the ground: "Tybalt is not dead, which is obviously good news, but why do I only Do you want to cry? The prince said that he would exile Benvolio and never allow him to return to Verona. These two words were like a sharp knife, piercing my chest mercilessly. It You didn't kill Tybalt, but you killed me, the me who killed ten thousand times!"

"How I wish I could forget these two words, but they are firmly attached to my memory, like the unforgivable sins lingering in the mind of a sinner." Juliet raised her hands to cover her face, Leaning all his weight on Rosie: "Cissy, I'll never see him again, will I? I'll never see Benvolio again in my life, will I? Yes? !"