They came and took down the village chief swiftly; destroyed a sixty-year-old village, without warning. Once the leader was dispatched, the Imperial Soldiers of Emora began to make their way through the village people. The old and sick were immediately annihilated and their bodies were taken to the river for a watery grave.
They seemed to be looking for something and after two hours of pillaging, it became clear. Only the young were spared, male and female alike. They were put in separate cages, like animals. Some wives and husbands tried to reach for each other through the solid steel bars, but when the metal didn't give way, and their fingers didn't touch, they were reduced to crying; true wailing. Praying for a solution, or a faster way home to their gods in the afterlife.
The soldiers gathered five young girls and held them in what was once the Chieftain's hut. Skins of leopard and tiger covered the walls of the hut, for decorative purposes. Animal blubber lined the cutout windows to prevent drafts. There was a mass of pillows and sheets in the middle of the room, where most of the girls chose to sit on, crying, as they awaited their fates.
One girl- the only one with golden skin and black hair that cascaded down her shoulders in thick spirals- had her head bent in shame; eyes dry. She was more concerned that the soldiers had ripped off her tribal sari, a sign of her virginity and devotion to the gods, leaving her naked and exposed.
A soldier with hands as grimy as they were rough slapped her cheek and gripped her chin, forcing her to look up at his slightly scarred face. He would have been handsome if not for the sneer that curled his thin lips. He said something to her in his foreign language. Layla stared at him blankly. The soldiers close enough to hear smirked at her lasciviously, giving her a clue to what the soldier had said.
The man in front of her repeated himself, and this time reached out and grabbed her firm breast in his dirty palm. Layla shrieked and pulled herself out of his grip in disgust, stumbling and falling onto the bed of pillows next to the other girls, who quickly scooted out of the way in fear.
The soldier laughed and took a step towards her, teasing. When Layla flinched slightly, he chuckled again and began walking toward her, malicious intent clear. As he came closer, Layla panicked and did the first thing she could think of.
She spat in his face.
The soldier stood frozen as her saliva dripped down his face, and the room was silent, everyone watching the scene in anticipation.
Someone broke the silence by laughing, which proved to be contagious amongst the soldiers, as they all one by one started laughing.
The soldier in front of her growled something angrily in his language and leapt forward, ready to grab for her throat when someone pushed him aside, knocking him off balance. The soldiers guffawed loudly as the intruder shouted at the floor bound soldier, scolding him.
Layla stared in part fascination at the man who had just intercepted what could have been a very violent scene. He wasn't too tall, but he was broad along the shoulders. He had unruly tufts of blond hair on his head, none of the likes she had seen among her fellow clansmen. He had a handsome face, not yet worried with lines of aging.
His eyes, which she saw when he turned his attention back to her, were a vibrant hazel. He bent down closer to her and whispered, "Promise me you won't spit into Alex's face anymore."
Blinking owlishly in surprise, she nodded slowly.
The man with hazel eyes smiled. "I'm Hadrian, what is your name?" "Layla." One of the soldiers grunted in annoyance and muttered something. Hadrian turned his eyes in that direction and snapped at him. The other man quieted.
Layla glanced at the other girls, who were watching her also and gathered the courage to ask, "What is going to happen to us?"
Hadrian looked weary, as if he wasn't supposed to answer before saying, "Each of you are going to be sent to one of the five districts of Athena. Emperor's orders."
"What will happen to us then?"
"Depends on where you are sent. If you are sent to Eceerga, you are to be a farmer's wife. If you're sent to Emora, you are to be a royal dancer for the Emperor and entertain him and his guests daily," he responded.
Layla paused, thinking about what he said. "What will happen to my people, outside in that- in that cage?"
Hadrian stood and slightly backed away. "That's for us to know, and you to never find out."
She paused, thinking it over.
"Will you be there? In Emora?"
Hadrian smiled again, and she took note of how nice a smile it was. "Yes. I will be."
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