Chapter 4. Ritual

Afhany, after a few days, already felt much better and learned a lot about the language of that place with Matheus, who was always keeping her company. Afhany, with her own feminine intuition, discovered that Matheus was in love with her. And thinking of revenge against his brother, she fed that passion by saying affectionate words to him and praising him as if she were also in love. She did not see many opportunities until Matheus started to frequent that room with great enthusiasm.

One morning, Matheus entered the room, and unlike the other times, he was sad and very quiet. Afhany insisted and ended up discovering that in two days, the ritual of virility would begin, where Moses would take possession of him.

Afhany was desperate. As much as she knew she could not escape that fate, she did not want that. But Matheus let it slip that in this ritual, the woman needed to be a virgin. If she was not, she would have to be returned. With this information, she imagined a way to escape the future that awaited her. If he returned her, as soon as he arrived in his land, he could hide more easily, because there he knew more people and all the customs. She looked at Matheus and decided what she had to do. She would have to seduce him. And she had to be quick.

"Matheus... I need to confess my feelings to you..." Afhany said, feigning shyness.

He came closer. His eyes, once sad, shone with anxiety.

"I don't know if I should tell you..."

"Tell me, please!"

"I ... fell in love with you ... Forgive the audacity of my heart."

He smiled happily.

"I fell in love too, and I wanted to tell you too. How brave you are to entrust me with your love... We will be together! I have long thought of having you for myself."

"But Moses will not allow it..."

"You are wrong! You think so because you don't know our customs. You are only an obligation to him. Moses has to keep the covenant with our god, but I see you differently..."

"Are you going to ask me to him?"

"I will. As a legitimate member of the family, I can ask him a favor, and he won't be able to refuse. He already has two wives and will soon be picking up the future Farida. He won't need you."

It was not what Afhany wanted, but Matheus would be easy to control and could demand that they go for a walk on his land after they were married, and there she would run away.

"So we're getting married?"

He looked at her, confused.

"But... We can't get married!"

"You said you would ask me to him, and if he gives you a gift, we can get married.... Or don't you love me?"

"Of course I do, but we still can't get married. It's impossible."

"Why?"

"By our customs, I can ask you only after the ritual of manhood. Only then can we be together, but not before, for you belong to his direct estate, and until he decides otherwise, you will always belong to him."

"But... Didn't you say you would ask me to him?"

Afhany asked him without understanding anything.

"I will! But I can only share you in bed. And I could not marry you because you have no noble blood. But I promise you will be my favorite concubine. Moses will not mind sharing you because he already has many, and I believe he loves Demy, his first concubine."

Afhany was petrified. He wanted her, but only as a diversion. She would have to seduce him to be returned. It was her last chance. As much as she now viewed him with a bit of rejection for believing that he was weak and could free himself of his wealth for her and run away together, she saw no other way out of that situation.

"Matheus... I want to ask you something ... I would like you to kiss me because I can't have you so close and not be able to touch ... I've been longing for your kisses for a long time..."

"Oh, my dear! I am longing, too! But unfortunately, I have to ask you to repress your desires and understand that we must wait until the ritual. After I ask you, I will give you as many kisses as you want..."

"No Matheus! Please don't make me wait any longer... I want you so much..."

"You mustn't talk like that." He reproached. "If Moses listens to you..."

"If Moses listens to what?" A loud, powerful voice came into the room like thunder.

"Brother?" Matheus was startled. "I...I was just leaving."

Matheus bowed and hurried out. Afhany found one more flaw in Matheus. He was a coward. With a sigh, he turned his face the other way. She didn't want to face Moses.

"You mean you're anxious? I didn't realize you were so ardent..." He said coldly in a tone that indicated his fury.

Afhany stared at him in awe. I wonder how much he had heard of her conversation?

"Your brother is very attractive." She lied. In truth, she felt more emotions around Moses, but she would never confess that.

"Get up!"

Afhany looked at him angrily.

"You are not the boss of me!"

"Do not defy me, woman! My subjects are on their way to dress and prepare you for the sacred ritual of manhood."

"But... Wouldn't that ritual be in two days?" Afhany asked, remembering Matheus' information.

"I realize you are well-informed. But in the face of my future concubine's ardor, I am afraid that she will be desecrated before her time, and so I will advance the ritual."

"I... How could you have warned your servants? How could you have known..."

"I was not alone as I listened to you and Matheus from behind the door. Someone I trust went to arrange everything."

"You can't do that!"

He laughed and left. After a few minutes, the room was full of people. They bathed her with roses, painted her body, did her makeup, and as soon as she was ready, they all left leaving her alone. She looked at herself in the big mirror they had brought into the room. She was unrecognizable. Her hair cascaded down her back. The makeup gave her a wild look, and the clothes were strange to her. Only something in gold to cover her breasts and the most intimate part, and on her arms, hands, legs, and feet, they made tattoos of sayings that she did not know. Suddenly, she felt tired. She remembered the tea that someone had brought her and decided to drink it.

After drinking the tea, she felt shaky, and her whole body relaxed. She had the feeling that nothing there was real...

The tea! They must have put some dr*gs in the tea.

They had come for her. Contrary to everything she had seen or imagined so far, they took her to a room where there were only five people. One of them was Moses, who was half-nake. The sight surprised Afhany. He was wearing a different kind of thong, and it was made of gold, as were the bracelets and anklets.

The other people were wearing a kind of white dress with gold details on their robes. There were two men and two women. Moses was in the center, and a couple on either side. They all held golden vessels in their hands. In the background was a bare table but with sayings and drawings that Afhany did not know and an image of a golden god with a tiger's head.

The feeling of unreality increased. The god was removed from the table and placed reverently on the altar in front of the table. A sheet was placed on the table. Moses held out his hand in the mute invitation for her to join him, and Afhany walked towards him as if her legs had a will of their own.

He embraced her, and at that moment, the people present began to tap their feet on the floor and sing a song in time with their feet.

Their lips came together, and people began to pour the liquid from the vase into their bodies.

Afhany felt a shudder as she felt Moises' tongue invade her mouth intimately. The song, the foot tapping, and the cold liquid on her back gave her even greater lethargy and, soon after, an excitement she had never experienced and a desire to be possessed and invaded her intimacy. Moses took her by the hand and led her to the table. He laid her down and slowly stripped her of the few things she was wearing.

As soon as she was more naked than she already felt, the music stopped, and so did the tapping of feet. Afhany looked around. The four people were standing around the table and saying things as if celebrating something. Moses was devouring her with his gaze as he groped her in front of everyone. She looked him in the eyes again, and what she saw made her feel afraid. He was naked, and his eyes, once so blue, were red. His long hair was loose, and only now did she realize that he had an earring in his ear shaped like a tiger, and he was watching her like a ferocious, hungry animal.

The lethargy passed. And so was the excitement. She just wanted to get away from there, from the fear and humiliation of being possessed in front of those people.

Afhany started to wail and scream, but soon, her hands were bound, and her feet were bound, too. It didn't take her long to figure out what was happening. The people there were holding her down. Her screams were drowned out by the words they were all saying at the same time. Terrified, she felt them spread her legs. A stabbing pain invaded her as soon as Moses penetrated her violently. She let out a scream that echoed throughout the room, and now that silence dominated the room, it sounded like a distinct wail. Afhany felt the blood running down her legs and hot tears streaming down her face as Moses continued the invasion, oblivious but with a look of triumph.

Afhany closed her eyes and only opened them again when she felt that weight was no longer on her body. They lifted her up, and the shouting started again as they put a red silk robe on her body and marked her forehead with white paint.

Moses took the sheet with the mark of her purity and, opening the door, displayed it to the people who were waiting on the other side of the door, and these people started dancing happily. Afhany found it all too barbaric and bizarre. And she wondered where she really was.

She was taken to the palace, where she was shown her room and locked inside. Afhany looked dejectedly at the richly furnished room. Nothing would compensate her. She was a prisoner.

Soon, some women appeared and put her in the tub with scented water again. She felt better but could not forget what had happened to her.

When the bath was over, she was taken out of the water and wrapped in a bathrobe and taken to bed, and left alone. Without observing her surroundings carefully, Afhany lay down and went to sleep immediately.

When she woke up, she felt a warm body pressed against hers. She didn't even have to open her eyes to know who it was.

He reproached himself for discovering that he liked the warmth of that body.