Chapter 05
What should I do?
Siara was frozen stiff, not daring to even twitch.
It was too late to scream and warn of the enemy’s intrusion. The raiders had already surrounded the tent.
She could feel about three of them above her head, too.
The dogs of the plains were fiercely savage and alert, so why hadn’t they barked at the intrusion of these strangers?
“Arghhhhh!”
The sound of leather tent walls being slashed to ribbons was everywhere, followed by panicked screams and shouts.
“Wh-what! You, which tribe are you from!”
“I never invited you as guests! What is this rudeness!”
Siara barely swallowed a scream. This was a situation where she couldn’t afford to make even the slightest sound.
“Agh! Brother!”
“Father!”
“Husband!”
“Don’t kill the women!”
The hairs all over her body stood on end at the chaotic, bloody massacre, the sound of swords swinging indiscriminately.
Amidst it all, she could hear her mother’s shrieks and her three-year-old brother’s terrified wails.
“Not the child! Not the child! My baby! My baby!”
“Waaaaaah!”
Her youngest brother’s frail, final cry was cut short in an instant.
Her father, uncles, and older brother seemed to have been killed in the surprise attack, and now her little brother was dead too.
Only her mother, her sister, and the two other women remained in the tent, now a scene of chaos.
Siara stared toward the tent with frozen pupils.
A sense of foreboding rose like black water, choking her as if she were sinking into a swamp.
Sure enough, the raiders’ coarse voices reached her.
“Ha! So this is the eldest daughter of Chief Asra?”
“Indeed, her beauty is as famed across the plains. It’s a shame to just hand her over to the Vaskahan.”
“Alright, she’s your bride. Take her right here. Right beside the corpses of her father and brother. She needs to understand clearly that there’s no one left to protect her, so she’ll obey meekly for life.”
“No, my daughter! Agh! Oh, heavens! God! Stop!”
It sounded like her mother was trying to intervene, but it was futile.
Her husband, sons, and brothers-in-law were dead before her eyes, and there were over thirty armed men.
One of the men laughed cruelly at her mother.
“Watch closely. The man mounting your daughter now is your new son-in-law.”
Her sister must have been resisting desperately; the sound of sharp slaps echoed.
Then came the long, tearing sound of fabric, followed by sobs of resignation and pained moans.
“It’s winter! There’s no fighting or raiding in winter! The whole plains will never forgive you for breaking this unwritten law!”
Her mother screamed as if coughing up blood, but an arrogant retort came back.
“That unwritten law? Who’s going to attack us? No tribe in these plains can stand against the alliance of Moloi, Vaskahan, and Shiran .”
Moloi, Vaskahan, and Shiran .
Those vile names seared into her ears like red-hot iron nails.
They were the most powerful warrior tribes of the plains.
Father had said these three tribes were hostile to each other, maintaining a delicate balance of power…
They must have agreed to attack Asra together and split the spoils.
No, her uncles had said it.
[It’s an excellent marriage. Because of it, Asra will become overwhelmingly powerful in these plains.]
[The balance of power will shift dramatically starting next year.]
The already strong Asra tribe was showing signs of joining the ranks of Moloi, Vaskahan, and Shiran due to this marriage alliance for the eldest son. They must have banded together out of fear.
“You raised your daughter well.”
Once the rape established the groom’s claim, the raiders murmured in admiration.
“Look at her, in this situation, before strange men, she doesn’t even make a sound, let alone scream for help.”
“I wanted to hear what a beauty like this sounds like when she speaks…”
The chief of Vaskahan, hearing the praise, sounded immensely pleased.
“This fine woman is my eldest son’s wife. If my eldest son dies, she’ll become my second son’s wife. But the sound of this beauty’s voice will only be heard by our Vaskahan’s direct family.”
Sister…
Grind.
Siara slowly gritted her teeth.
Her sister made no sound, like a dead animal, but Siara could almost see her mother holding her eldest daughter’s head and shoulders, the girl’s spirit broken.
The raiders began quickly dividing the spoils.
“The mother is old, but her beauty is still exceptional. She’s healthy, could probably bear another child or two. As initially agreed, we Moloi will take the mother. And two-thirds of the sheep and horses are ours.”
“Vaskahan takes the eldest daughter and all the remaining sheep and horses.”
“Shiran was to get the girl they call ‘Heaven’s Beauty,’ the second daughter, and the remaining property in the tent…”
After a short silence, a voice called out, looking for her.
“Where is that famous second daughter?”
Siara turned deathly pale.
No.
She couldn’t endure what her sister had.
Being violated by a stranger next to the corpses of her father, uncles, brother, and little brother was a horrific hell.
Should she run?
No.
There were men swarming outside. The moment she lifted the cellar hatch, she’d be grabbed by the scruff of her neck.
Besides, the plains were an open wilderness.
A single glance in any direction revealed the horizon on all sides.
There was nowhere to run and hide in these plains.
From the extreme tension, goosebumps prickled all over her body. Her pounding heartbeat echoed in her head, and for a moment, she couldn’t hear anything.
Her mother fired back sharply.
“I sent my younger daughter to the Imperial capital.”
“Lies! We watched from a distance a few days ago. There were clearly three women wearing head coverings.”
“There were two. They must have been swapping head coverings.”
“Hiding your daughter is useless! Find her!”
The order was given, and immediately a commotion erupted as they searched inside, outside the tent, and among the sheep pens.
Crash! Clatter! Bang!
Pots were thrown, bedding shoved aside, men stomping and tapping the ground with their feet and swords.
Trembling violently, Siara nonetheless kept her eyes wide open, coldly resolved.
If I’m found, I’ll bite my tongue and die right then. She hardened her heart fiercely.
“She’s not here! The cellar only has food supplies!”
Father’s foresight had been right.
There was a large cellar inside the tent, but it only contained winter food supplies.
This small storage space dug behind the tent was a strict secret, unknown even to relatives, a hidden space known only to the immediate family.
Mother and sister knew full well that Siara was in the underground storage.
“Damn it! Talk! Where did you hide the second daughter!”
Smack!
A hard slap echoed, followed by her mother’s cry.
Her sister’s faint moan was also audible, but neither of them said a word.
“Hey! How dare you! Don’t even think of touching my eldest daughter again! She’s our Vaskahan’s woman now! My daughter-in-law!”
After a brief scuffle, her mother’s voice rose sharply.
“I told you, I sent her to the city! That girl has gone to a high-ranking noble! To learn noble etiquette so she can be sent to the Emperor’s harem!”
Her mother’s voice that followed dripped with venomous intent.
“If that child learns of this terrible slaughter, she will take revenge someday! Emperor Sha holds immense power, enough to wipe you all out!”
The raiders scoffed, but then murmured amongst themselves that it was possible.
Everyone had looked down on the third uncle for making connections with city nobles and engaging in various trades, calling it ‘wild wolves eating dog food.’
The chief of Shiran voiced his anger.
“We agreed, trusting in the famed beauty of the second daughter, even though our share of the plunder was the smallest. But like this, we Shiran get nothing. Only the indelible shame of breaking the plains’ unwritten law.”
“……”
“You must give us a woman. Surely you don’t expect us to be satisfied with the useless household goods in this tent?”
A precarious silence fell, the air thick with the possibility of internal conflict.
Moloi, Vaskahan, and Shiran were originally hostile tribes, and now the chiefs and heirs of all three were gathered inside the tent.
If they just fight each other now, that would be good…
“Moloi will step back. We take the mother. She’s healthy, could bear one, maybe two more children if lucky.”
“You expect Shiran to be satisfied with an old woman?”
“Fine. We’ll also give Shiran exactly half of Moloi’s share of sheep. For the solid unity of our alliance, Moloi will make a big concession.”
Giving away one’s share unconditionally was an unprecedented offer on the plains.
Especially since they had broken the unwritten law and earned an inerasable stain, and Moloi’s gain from this raid had now become the smallest.
Shiran finally acquiesced.
“Good. For our alliance.”
“For a strong alliance.”
“Take the women away.”
Amidst her sister’s heartbreaking sobs, her mother made a desperate plea.
“I beg Shiran earnestly! Everything in this tent now belongs to Shiran, but my eldest daughter’s wedding dress! Please, let that girl take it with her to Vaskahan!”
It was a beautiful dress the three women had sewn and embroidered together for her sister, who was to marry within a year or two.
“Give her the wedding dress.”
With Shiran’s permission, her sister was dragged out of the tent first. Then her mother was pulled out, resolutely offering her final advice.
“My fair bird… My child, the life ahead will be like walking through fire in the dark, frightening, but endure it steadfastly.”
My fair bird.
This was the pet name for the second daughter. Her mother was speaking to Siara Asra.
Siara clenched her eyes shut, hot tears overflowing, and gritted her teeth. Yet, a faint sob escaped her trembling lips.
She desperately, fiercely swallowed the sound back down.
Her mother, whom she would never see again in this life, was crying out a desperate prayer for her daughters.
“Please… May the merciful gods protect the daughters of Asra!”
