The Month of the Lion

Prologue

“Get out of my house, you scum!”

The shout from downstairs made young Fay open her eyes immediately. She could tell something was wrong straight away – her father never shouted, not at her, not at her siblings and definitely not at her mother. So who was he shouting at? Trying to stifle a whimper, Fay threw her blankets back and swung her legs over the side of her simple wooden bed. Now she could hear a lot more noise downstairs – things smashing, her mother screaming… she’d never heard her mother scream before. Just as Fay was about to walk into the corridor, her big sister came running into the room, her eyes wide and her face pale.

“You’ve got to hide Fay, you’ve got to hide and not come out until it’s safe!”

“Where are mummy and daddy?”

“Just hide, Fay. Under the bed! Get under there!” Her sister began to push her towards the bed, and Fay had no choice but to push her belly to the floor and roll under it, now feeling rather ill – what had happened to her parents?

“It’s a game, Fay. You’re not allowed to come out until everything goes quiet or until one of us comes to get you, okay?”

She knew how good Fay was at games, and so the young girl nodded obediently at her sister, staying silent. She seemed to give a smile of relief before running back out of the room leaving Fay to curl up into a ball underneath the bed, facing the door to see who might come through. At the sound of her sister’s scream, Fay almost stopped breathing – she held her breath. This wasn’t a game. There was someone in the house hurting her family… and they were going to come for her next. She squeezed her eyes shut; now not wanting to know who this someone was.

“They’ve got hardly any valuables, Gatheo.”

“Yeah, but the women of this house are definitely worth the risk…”

The two men laughed and Fay peered out through her fingers, nearly gasping at the sight of two large pairs of feet in her bedroom. What were they doing in here? They were actually coming for her… they were gonna kill her…

She didn’t want to die! It wasn’t fair… a tear ran down Fay’s cheek, but there were no sobs coming from her – she was too scared to cry. What if they heard her?

“I think this is everything. We can take the women back to Rachia and show them to the King. I’m sure he’ll be pleased.”

“Oh, very pleased.”

The men then moved away, walking out of the bedroom. Fay let out the breath she had been holding, now able to let the flood gates drop. The house fell silent, and Fay soon realised that none of her family were coming back to get her…