Lara was on her knees, saying prayers to the goddess Verae. She was alone in the temple, the last visitor had left since dusk. After the last prayers of the day, she glanced at the offering for the goddess that the villagers had given from last month. There wasn't much left, merely a handful of grains in the basket. There wasn't much when Lara accepted it either. She sighed. The time had been hard for everyone.
After the old king, Wugan the Last, died ten years ago without an heir, and the scheming Court Grand Wizard seized control of the capital and declared himself ruler, there had been ceaseless rebellions. The nobles were furious that the wizard has taken the throne, which they saw as rightfully belong to one of them, and one by one rose up in revolt. The kingdom was torn in half.
The provincial lord here threw his lot with the rebel. At first, the region where Lara lived saw no warfare, thanks to being far away from the capital - the capital was located along the southern coast whereas Lara's province was further north, just 150 miles from the border. But people here soon had their own problems to deal with. With central authority lost, elves and orcs and other races had begun attacking human settlements, intending to take back their former territories. This drove people away from the northern frontier. Lara had seen thousands of them trekking south through her village, seeking refuge in big cities.
However, another kind of trouble had reached Merinth - Lara's village. She heard that bandits from the north have been raiding villages, and they'd come dangerously close to here. They captured the villagers and carted them away. Where were the villagers taken to? Probably sold to foreign slavers to work in the mines or, in the case of the women, as sex slaves in neighboring kingdoms. Lara shuddered to think of the fates of those poor people.
For the past month, the people of Merinth had packed up their belongings and moved to the nearest city. Now, only a few villagers were left. Lara had decided to move too. The decision didn't come easily, since moving would mean abandoning the temple to the raiders.
Lara was born 20 years ago, left by her parents at the steps of the temple of Verea. She had grown up inside the temple and lived with the incumbent priestess, who had taken Lara as her own child. The old priestess has taught Lara everything about a life of devotion to Verae, the goddess of Love, Marriage, and Family, the Mother of All. It was expected that one day she would become the next priestess of Verae, and that day came two years ago when the old priestess passed from old age. Lara had been tending to the temple alone ever since.
After the evening prayers, she cleaned the temple one more time and went to collect her things and put them into a simple sack. This would be her last night here until after it was safe to return. She would leave with the villagers for the city the next morning. It was too dangerous to stay, the bandits could appear at any moment.
Behind the walls of the city, she would be safe, yet Lara didn't look forward to it. She was alone in this world and had no one waiting for her in the city; Lara could only hope that the temple of Verea in the city would take her in. Otherwise, she could find some odd jobs to support herself. Life in the city would surely be different from the calm and peaceful countryside.
She went to bed that night with a heavy heart. Maybe one day all of this would be over. A new ruler would rise from all the contenders and order would be restored. Then she can return to the temple and continue to perform her duty. People would sing joyous songs in the harvest season. Life would be normal again. Maybe.
---***---
A loud noise woke her up in the middle of the night. She heard screams amid yelling and galloping outside the temple.
The bandits. They're here!
Lara frantically got off the bed, grabbed her sack and quietly run to the temple door. She peeked outside. Unknown horsemen were riding from house to house, gathering people up. They're coming in on her direction.
Lara turned away from the door and quietly ran to the back door of the temple. She carefully opened the door. Nobody outside. Clutching her sack tightly, Lara left her home and run towards the direction of the city under the moonlit sky.
A loud shout made Lara turn her head around. A rider had seen her and was fast approaching. She tried to run faster, but the moment of distraction proved fatal. She tripped on a stone and fell, her head knocked on the hard ground. The world went dark.
---***---
A loud metallic noise woke Lara up. Her head hurt so badly, she couldn't look up at first. It took her half a minute to slowly lift her head. Lara was lying on a cold stone floor in the middle of a small room. She touched her left temple and saw dried blood. The room was lit by a small rectangular overhead window. It was morning. She turned her head toward the noise.
"You awake yet?" said a female voice.
Lara slowly became aware of her surroundings. She was in a prison cell. An old woman stood at the cell's door. The woman had long scraggly hair and a wrinkled face. Despite her age, her eyes were still clear and her gaze penetrating. She stood in a narrow corridor, outside of Lara's cell.
"Can you hear me?" she said loudly.
"I can. Who are you?" murmured Lara.
"You were captured by the fine gentlemen of Tarok's band. Ever heard of him?" replied the old woman.
Lara shook her head slowly. There's no point in knowing: bandits were all the same anyway. She thought of the horrible future awaits her as a slave: sexually abused, or laboring in a city somewhere and dying far from home. Her body shook as she sat up, the only thing stopped her from sobbing at that point was how much her head hurt.
"I see you have become aware of your situation," remarked the woman. "Don't be too sad, it could have been much worse. We don't sell people to the foreign slavers, you know. Our leader, Tarok, hates them. We only deal with the lords of the land. So if you're lucky, you may become a household servant for some lords. If you asked me, that is much better than being sold to foreigners.
"But now, I would need some information about you. You better tell me the truth, as this will help me find you a new home. If you lied to me, and we have some unhappy customers, then things would be very bad for you."
Lara stopped shaking. So it was not as bad as it could be, but still, she was a slave. Her future was still as uncertain as ever.
"Hey, you heard me? If you don't help me, I can't help you. Tell me something useful and I will make sure you get out of here quick."
Lara composed herself and stood up. She looked at the woman and told her about herself.
"So, you're a priestess of Verae. Should have recognized that from the white dress you're wearing. The soldiers did say something about a priestess. How old are you?"
"Twenty."
"Twenty? So young. I guess you're still a virgin, right?"
Lara nodded. Then it hit her: being a virgin among these bandits would certainly cause some dangerous curiosity. She quickly said, "Please don't tell them that. I beg you. Please."
"About you being a virgin? They probably know that already. You're young and was found alone without a husband. We northerners don't know much about the cult of Verea, but I remember their priestesses don't get married early. But don't worry, the men won't touch the prisoners without permission from Tarok. You have my word on that," the old woman said.
The assurance worked, if only a little. So she won't be raped immediately by these bandits. Obviously, they had to protect the commodity before selling them.
They talked for a little while. The woman's name was Erika, Tarok's secretary and advisor. She told Lara about the raid last night, that Lara was the only captive, the others were too old and were let go, but their possessions were taken. Erika said that Tarok's band set camp inside a small old fort called Millith, which was large enough to house a few dozen soldiers. Lara had heard about it. It was 10 miles south from her village, built to hold the border ages ago, but after the border was expanded, its importance fell and was abandoned. Now Tarok's band has taken it over and Lara was imprisoned inside its walls.
Erika gave Lara some food to eat and a piece of wet cloth for her head wound. Erika told her that she would serve in the kitchen or clean until they found a new owner for her. She also gave Lara a dingy old dress, the kind typical to a household servant.
"Wear it, it's more suitable for work than that white dress you're wearing. No work for you today yet, but you should get some rest. Tomorrow you will be working in the kitchen. And also," she hesitated for a second, "there's something you need to do tonight. Tarok wants to spend the night with you."
---***---
Lara sat with her back against the stone wall. She was alone. She couldn't cry anymore. Of course, if the bandits couldn't touch her, then their master would.
Erika tried to be stolid but budged when she saw Lara's pitiful tearful face. She inhaled and said: "I know this is hard. Just - just do what he tells you to do. I'm sure he'll be reasonable with a virgin like you. He's not a monster. Well, he's a minotaur-"
Lara didn't hear anything more after that. The thought of having sex with a minotaur had shut her brain down. She was catatonic.
As sunshine slowly faded from the cell and moonlight started filling inside, Lara prayed to Verae, hoping the goddess would save one of her faithful, hoping that she had not been abandoned, hoping for a miracle to happen.
