The Virgin of the Ulghan

She couldn't believe what was happening right now. Now the stone doors were locked on her. The one and only exit was a hole in the stone dome where they expected Ulghan - the mighty god of heavens- come flying, literally to "fuck" her.

She looked around the room desperately. If she could find a way out, a loose stone in the wall, or a tiny window maybe... But there was nothing.

The big circular chamber’s walls were smooth as glass. No edge, no notch, not even a shade difference in the color. Like all rooms carved from one stone, all walls were perfectly unified. Then she started to look at the floor. The same white stones continued on the floor with the same precise flawlessness. There was only a rectangular stone stand lying in the heart of the room like a resting coffin, which she presumed must be placed as a love bed. So, they weren't expecting a passionate love scene. They were simply hoping to receive Ulghan's seeds once again, as he had deigned to bestow them 500 years ago.

…

The child was watching the nuns behind the worn door of the wrecked cabin. It was more like a barn than a cabin; old gray stones of the walls were almost randomly erected upon each other. The holes between them were plastered with a mixture of mud and manure. The roof of the cottage was just a cluster of straw mixed with dry leaves and branches thrown upon the slender wood beams.

The nuns were utterly clean and pretty. All four of them were sitting in the same stiff position, making a stark contrast with the filthy house and the wrecked sofa they sat on - which was made out of hays covered with a blanket - with their bright colors and cleanliness. Their porcelain white, round faces were circled with beads and feathers braided into their hairs. Their hair fell down through their shoulders to their waist. Only one of them, the oldest one, had her silver white hair braided over her head into a crown. Her hair was also ornamented with beads and feathers, but her beads were shining brightly with three black feathers peaking at the top of those. Aru couldn't identify the types of gemstones, but she understood from the shine that they were precious. Each nun was wearing a caftan treated with matching colored beads in their hair. The embroideries on caftans picturing birds on flowers, panthers in forests, owls on trees, and rabbits on grass. Each one of them wore a different animal pattern on her caftan, with different colors, as if these details defined their positions or ranks. Their faces were full, with no hollow cheekbones or gray circles under the eyes. The child envied their appearance, thinking that the fullness must look like that. She was seven years old, but she knew hunger very well, as did the rest of the small village. Summers were a bit more bearable since they could grow some food or find berries or mushrooms, and maybe wild fruit trees in the forest if they were lucky. But winters were generally starving.

The nuns seemed to be sorted by age, from the youngest to the oldest. The youngest nun started talking, her color was emerald green, matching the beads in her light-brown hair and the small nightingale patterns on her caftan. Her voice was like a soft melody, gently caressing the ears. The politeness and elegance of her were dizzying, and child sensed confusion in her parents' faces. She couldn't understand what they were talking about exactly - someone called Ulghan and his temple, someone selected, someone who is a virgin, whatever that means.

The silver-tongued nun continued talking, keeping her deep, green gaze locked with child's mom. She had a pretty face, prettier than the other three. She said,

"So you named her Aru-engir ha? What a beautiful name, it means pure night." No one answered the nun's attempt for breaking the ice. She desperately looked at child's parents faces then the old nun and gave a big breath from her nose before continue, but in a more desperate tone this time.

"You have two other children, which most likely the youngest cannot survive the next winter." Her parents frowned but she ignored it and continued. "She is so fragile and sick. We will feed you and take care of you for the rest of your life. We will provide all of your needs. We can even send a healer to her from the continent. And about the one that we will take with us, she will never experience hunger again, nor the cold of the winter. She will be our sacred treasure. We will be her humble servants. She will prosper, and will be served in every way possible."

When she paused, the child's mother started sobbing, hiding her face in her palms. Her shoulders shook silently. Child didn't like it; she didn't understand why the nuns made her mother cry. Her father wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave a sharp look to the pretty nun, easing child's heart. Her father was defending her mother, as she wanted to do, too.

Her mother drew her hands from her face and asked, "And what about when she reaches seventeen?"

A silence fell among the nuns. Even the silver-tongued nun opened her mouth but couldn't find a word. She turned her head to the oldest one again, who gave a sharp nod. The silver-tongued nun closed her mouth, and a heavy silence filled the room.

The oldest one, with all-white hair and a wrinkled face, was sulking all the time since her arrival. The day's light was not reaching her black gaze. As if she had no joy or fear behind those eyes. Her color was silver - a silver silk caftan braided with black beads and jewels matching the ones in her hair, alongside three big black feathers. An exceptional, broad panther embroidery on the back of her caftan depicted a panther's eyes beaded with black stones, shimmering as if alive and watching.

The oldest one cleared her throat leisurely. "Ihhhımm..." Everyone's attention turned to her, and she waited for it, demanding it with that small voice. Then, she started talking. "? Sister Manday was trying to be kind. But apparently, you are not good with kindness, aren't you? As you well aware, if Ulghan's temple picks someone, it's an honor and duty, not a choice. We will take her with us tomorrow, with your acceptance and collaboration, which will be good for you, or by the Khan’s order. You have two more children that you need to take care of. You don't want to leave them as orphans, right?"

Her father's face distorted with fury; he jumped to his feet. Her mother tried to pull him back, but he shook off her grasp. "How dare you!" he roared. "How dare you threaten me in my own house!"

The old nun smirked.

"You call it a house? This barn?" She opened her arms, displaying what she meant.

Her father yelled at them,

"Get out of my house!" He pointed to the door, the very door child had hidden herself behind.

The nun stared at the door, her eyes squinted as if she was seeing through it, and smirked again. She stood up, and the other three did the same immediately. They headed to the door, but the oldest one turned and said,

"You have time until tomorrow morning. We will sail at seven from the harbor. Choose wisely. You can give one and spare all the rest, or you can give everything and everyone you love..."

Child felt like she was talking to her, not to her father. The old nun turned her head before her father could summon any words, but she saw her father gulping.

When they started walking out of the cabin, she swiftly ran to the corner of the cabin and hid herself behind a bush. The nuns were leaving from the small front garden. She saw the fear and despair in her mom's big, blue eyes, while standing at the entrance of the cabin and watching them leave. Her normally elegant, long figure was distorted with a hump. Her shoulders were down, her dusty-gold hair was flatly falling from her shoulders. Her whole body was looking like the edge of collapsing to where she was standing.

She was seven, but she was not an idiot. She understood the threat and the despair of her parents against it. She waited behind the bush until her mom returned inside, and the carriage disappeared behind the sharp turning off the hill to the coast road.

She went into the cabin back; her mom and dad stopped talking immediately. Her mom turned to her and forced herself to smile.

"Aru darling, can you look at your sisters? They were playing in the back garden. Please keep Aksanaa away from the henhouse. She scares the hens." Aruengir nodded silently and left. She heard the intense whispers start as soon as she closed the door behind. But she didn't leave. Stayed there and trusted her ear to the door to hear more.

Her mother asked,

"What are we going to do ?"

"We won't give our daughter; that's what we will do."

"If they send the soldiers of the king, they'll slaughter us, you know it, and they'll take Aruengir anyway." Her voice wavered as if her throat bobbed.

"We will run. We will run from this village; we can go to the continent. Nobody can find us there. They will leave tomorrow morning. They cannot inform the king's men until they reach the continent. We can go with the next ship, to somewhere else, and keep our daughters safe." "What about money? They'll never take us on the ship if we don't have money."

"I can offer to work for them; you can work for them too. you can cook and I can clean or do whatever they ask."

"And that's our only chance. If they don't take us to the ship, we will be cornered on this island as soon as the king's men arrive."

"What about Aksanaa? Can she survive while sailing?" A silence fell between them. Then, Aru heard her mother sobbing softly as her father said,

"Shhh, They will hear it. Try to act normal now, and pack everything as soon as you can. We have to try."

...

Aru didn't need to listen more. At that moment, she understood what she needed to do.

Next day, with the first lights of the dawn, long before her family wakes up, Aru was standing at the harbor looking at the giant ship on the dock.