My name is Jayna and this is my story. I had a charmed childhood. We lived in a small village and although we weren’t part of the court we had everything we needed. My father raised horses and my mother was a seamstress. Father was away most of the time peddling Mother’s garments. We had a small piece of land where we grew what we needed and raised enough animals to sustain ourselves. My father’s horses were the best in the Kingdom. All the nobility came to us for their horses. I was an expert rider nearly before I could walk. My brother was only 2 years older than me and we were good friends. My days were spent looking after the land and helping my mother with her work as well as tending to the horses. When we had free time my brother and I would play in the nearby forest.

I remember asking my father one night why I had the crescent marking on my right hand. He said it was part of our family’s tradition. All the men born in his line had a sun- a symbol of our family. He told me the story of my ancestors. They were as different as day and night. Their families were at war with each other. They fell in love and married ending the feud. So, it had become tradition to mark the men with suns and women with moons to symbolize that night and day can come together. He said that’s why sunrise and sunset were so beautiful. Because night and day are opposites but compliment each other perfectly. He was much better at telling the story but to this day I stop at sunset and think of my father.

The day my life changed started out like any other. I tended to my chores with Jason, my brother and afterward we went scavenging in the woods for berries. We were laughing and playing when we heard the screams coming from the village. It had always been a small, peaceful village and the only time you could hear sounds from our valley was when there was a celebration. We ran back to see our village in shambles. People were running around like crazy. The houses were on fire and Dad’s horses were trying to break through the fences to get away from the flames of our house. Jason grabbed my arm and told me to stay with him as he crouched behind some bushes. We hid there for a while and then I saw Ella. She was bundled up in the middle of the road. Maria, her mother, lay dead in front of her. With all the commotion coming from the village I could still hear Ella crying. The blankets she was wrapped in wiggling as her young body fought to wake her dead mother.

I couldn’t sit by any longer. I was only eight years old but I knew that no one was going to save that poor little girl and the invading soldiers had already come dangerously close to trampling her several times. I whispered to Jason that I’d be right back and ran down the hill into the village. I hid between a burning house and some bags of grain as I tried to find a time to dart between soldiers and villagers and pick up the crying child. I turned to run back to my hiding place and there stood the largest man I had ever seen in my life. He grabbed me as I held Ella protectively and dragged us to the goat’s pen where they were gathering the villagers. Once they had searched the rest of the village for valuables they began to divide us. Young men, old men, young women, and old women. I looked everywhere for my mother but couldn’t find her. They took the old men and women and locked them in the flaming town meeting house and made the rest of us listen as the screams grew in a frantic cry and then died out as our loved ones died.

Next the soldiers took the young men and tied them together and marched them out of town. With everyone gone but the young women the soldiers turned on us with grins. They took the thin ones with large breasts first. Pulling them aside and ripping off their clothes. The leaders of the group walked up and down the line choosing the ones they preferred. They bent them over and began forcing themselves inside the women. I’ll never forget the screams and looks on their faces as they were raped. I was young at the time and didn’t completely understand what was going on. But I knew that they were doing terrible things to my friends and neighbors.

Out of all the women abused that day I remember Tanna the most. She had always been the prettiest girl in the village. One soldier made her suck on his member. At first she refused but he slapped her and she opened her mouth for him. At the time I didn’t understand why a man would want to put himself in a woman’s mouth. I’ll never forget the evil grin that crossed his face as she took him in her mouth. Or the moans that escaped his lips…they were the most awful sound I ever heard.

Tanna was crying by the time he removed himself from her and her tears were streaking down her soot and dirt smudged face and breasts as he stepped behind her. She turned and grabbed at him begging him not to do what he had planned next but he hit her again and as she fell he grabbed her hips and turned her so she was on all fours in front of him. With one thrust he pushed himself inside her and she screamed in pain, clawing at the ground to get away from him. He grunted and groaned as he pulled against her burying himself in her. After a few minutes he threw his head back and gave a few hard thrusts before he removed himself and called another soldier over. The next soldier placed himself behind her and used her in the same way. This went on with each soldier signaling to another when he finished. At one point Tanna passed out but the men kept using her. Then she was revived with a bucket of water and the first man took another turn with her.

I stared around me as most of the women in the village were used in this way. Some taking two men into themselves at a time. Alane, a nice girl who had always been shunned by the village was the only one not crying. I remembered my mother saying she was unpure. I wondered if that had something to do with it. I watched as she smiled as the men took her. She bucked and undulated against them. Smiling as their fluid filled and covered her. I couldn’t understand why she was so happy. The men were lining up to use her. She would place one in her mouth and the man would moan as he grabbed her head and forced himself deep in her mouth. She would greedily grab his rear in an effort to force him deeper. At one point I was shocked to see that she was on top of one man while another was behind her and another had himself in her mouth. She was holding the penises of two other men in her hands pulling on them while she moaned.

This went on for what seemed like hours. I would occasionally look into the forest for Jason but I couldn’t see him. I hoped with all my heart that he had escaped. I also looked for my mother who was nowhere to be found.

When the soldiers were finished they rested and drank and ate. Once they had their strength back they tied us up and made us follow them while they rode on horseback. As we marched out of the village I saw my mother’s body laying in front of our burning house. My poor mother!

Sometimes they would stop at a river and let us drink. Other times they would give us each a small piece of bread. Other resting spots were just an opportunity for the men to use the women again. This went on for days. Finally we crossed the border into Lalicland. I knew where we were because my father had taken me there once.

After another day’s walk we got to a busy city. We were made to bathe in the river and were not allowed to dress as we were walked back into the center of town. There were the Laliclanders crowded around a small stage. We were marched up one by one as people bid on us. My mind shut down as I realized what was to become of us. We were being sold as slaves. I thought back to my happy life in my small village. I wondered why I hadn’t just stayed with my brother up in the hills under the cover of the forest.

Just then Ella grabbed my leg, bringing me back to the present. I looked down at those blue eyes and I realized that I had made the only choice I could. Ella and I were placed on the stage together. We were sold to a handsome man. He was rough and mean looking but I imagined to myself that perhaps he could be kind if we were good slaves.

We were dragged off the stage and I watched as the man exchanged money for us. It looked like a lot but I was unfamiliar with Lalicland currency. He grabbed us by the ropes around our wrists and dragged us out of the square. Ella looked up at me with her beautiful eyes and asked, "Mama, where are we going now?"