Chapter 1 "East"
The wind whipped through Mother's hair, long dark strands covered her face. She stopped walking and quickly set down the basket in her left hand. Just as quickly, she lowered her son down with her right arm. He began to whimper immediately as she swept up the stands of hair, bundled them loosely, and tied them with a piece of yarn, taking only seconds to do this. She swept up her son again, and picked up her basket while resuming her brisk walk.
Yes, Mother was her name, her only name. In Eastern culture women were rarely given names, and she was no exception. To her husband she was Wife, and to her children, Mother. She despised her husband as she despised just about everything in her life, except her children, her instinct to mother them was all she had, and she loved them despite her cold demeanor. And so, her name was Mother.
Indeed she rarely walked this road alone. All women in this land never traveled alone if possible, for the men on the streets would eye them lustfully, and if they could get them in a secluded spot, do much worse. This was not frowned upon by the general public, in fact the women were blamed in such a case for not having a husband or other man to protect them. So she moved warily and quickly, not making eye contact with others and not stopping for more than a few seconds. The only reason she was out here today was for the sake of her son who had developed a rash and needed an ointment. Her husband was out, and the boy was inconsolable, so she risked the trip into the city to get what he needed.
Her older son Ninrun was seven years old and she left him home with orders to stay in the yard. Rinkun was the younger by four years. Against her will she remembered her daughter who had died in childbirth a year ago. With a great force of will she kept her eyes dry at the thought of the dead baby in her arms. Her husband, had not mourned the loss of their daughter, and scoffed at her sorrow, saying that it was only a girl anyway and she was obviously too weak to live in this world. Gha! She despised him!
While she was lost in thought, she had not noticed a burly man who was walking the opposite direction stop and turn to follow her. After a half minute of this Rinkun had noticed the stranger and began crying. Mother did not notice the reason for this and did not slow down, shifting the basket to the other hand, she rubbed the child's back to try and calm him. The burly brute closed the distance between them until he was only a few feet behind. It was his unpleasant smell that alerted Mother. She stiffened slightly but did not stop; she could now see the outline of her home approaching.
With a grunt the man reached for her, but Mother was prepared. She dodged to one side despite her load and the great paw missed her. The man laughed and swung his arm at her but she dodged it and clutching her son ran for the house! He lugged after her still chuckling darkly, as if enjoying the chase of his prey. Realizing she would not make it, Mother stooped and all but threw Rinkun ahead screaming "Get to the house. NOW!" The frightened child obeyed and waddled towards the property. Mother turned to see a great hand slap her in the head.
She fell on her side, her ears ringing with pain at the blow. The brute grabbed her and threw her like a doll into the wall that ran parallel to the road; she hit the wall with her back and head, reeling from the assault and slumped to the ground at the base. An older man in the house across the road saw the assault and looked at Mother for a brief moment, then turned and closed his window. The man sauntered towards her with dark lust in his eyes, but before he could reach her something struck him in the head with great force and he bellowed in pain as a thrown rock fell to the ground. The man held his head and blood flowed from a fresh wound near his temple. Mother reacted and despite her battered body dragged herself towards the house. Looking up she saw Ninrun her son grab another rock and fling it at her attacker. This one struck him in the knee and he gave another howl of pain. However, he turned and saw the young boy, in a great rage he stood despite his wounds and charged Ninrun.
"No! Don't!" Screamed Mother, but the man did not stop. Ninrun reached for a third rock and threw it at the man's face but this one missed and the man struck Ninrun in the side of the head and the boy fell in a heap. Mother gave a cry of fear and rage, instinct took over and she forgot everything but her son, crawling towards him. The man turned back to her and was red with fury. Before he could advance on her though, another man rode up on horse like the wind. Before Mother could comprehend what happened the man was on the ground in a heap, a knife stuck in his back and blood pooling on the ground.
Mother rushed to the side of her son. Ninrun was unconscious but appeared ok. The horsed man turned and rode back up to them, and Mother saw that it was her husband Taurun. He glared at her, "Always making trouble for me woman!" he sneered and then looked at his son. "Is the boy alive?" He asked her. "He'll be fine." She answered softly. Taurun sneered again then turned his horse and trotted up to the house, leaving them there. Mother scooped up her son and limped after him, leaving the dead rapist's body crumpled in the road….