A strange taboo

**Shaira’s POV**

The helmet Omawit had lifted transported me to a scene that, in the blink of an eye, showed me placing it on my head before going out to... fly?

I fell to the ground, overwhelmed not only by the fragment of memory that was trying to surface but also by what Omawit’s words and the circumstances meant. Would I never stop being haunted by him? Why was he so obsessed with me when there were so many beautiful women in Zuwua?

“Come on, sagorio, don’t resist and hand over the girl,” Omawit insisted as he saw Assu standing in front of me. “If you do, I’ll forget you were here and let you go, but you must hand over my slave right now.”

From the ground, where I had fallen on my knees, I counted six men, including Omawit, all strong and armed with a spear. With every moment Assu hesitated, they took a step forward, surrounding us. No matter how brave or strong Assu was, I was sure he couldn’t take them all on. It wasn’t worth him dying or getting hurt to defend a lost cause.

“Run, Assu, go back to your people and leave me here. I’ll find a way to free myself a second time,” I said desperately, clinging to my protector’s leg.

“You are my wife, Shaira, don’t forget that,” Assu replied with determination in his eyes. “I may dissolve our union in Sagoria, but until that happens, I am duty-bound to defend you.”

“You’ll die, Assu, please don’t. They are more and armed. You’ll give your life for nothing.”

“For nothing, Shaira? I will have given it for you, who trusted in me, in my word, and risked becoming my wife. This is the least I can do for you.”

“Assu, no…”

Omawit’s patience was very limited, but not his persistence, and he attacked first. He threw his spear at Assu’s chest, who managed to dodge it but was still grazed by the sharp copper tip, which nicked the side of his abdomen.

Omawit’s attack emboldened his henchmen, who let out a war cry as they rushed, united, towards Assu.

Cowards! I thought in that moment of distress. They had to attack him with six to have any chance.

Five sharp spear tips were thrust at Assu’s body, which, injured by Omawit’s initial attack, moved clumsily. I saw only one option to stop this madness.

I stood up and, placing myself in front of Assu, waited for the copper of the spears to graze my skin, pierce it, and end what would only be a succession of misfortunes.

I heard Omawit shout an order to his men, probably to make them stop, but their momentum was unstoppable, and they believed they were ending the life of their hated enemy. In less than a second, I would be pierced by five spears, thus saving Assu’s life, who had been willing to give his for mine, when something knocked me to the ground and the five bronze tips sliced through the air.

What had it been?

Then, emerging from the tall trees and dense grass surrounding us, a group of men appeared, threatening Omawit’s henchmen with a war cry of their own.

Who were they?

The slender figure of a warrior leaned over me, and I only recognized her by her voice, as her face was covered with war paint.

“Are you okay, Shaira?” Zania asked. I nodded, despite the jolt I had received when I fell. “I’m sorry I had to knock you down with a bola, but it was the only way to keep you from being skewered by five spears.”

“Assu, help Assu, please!” was the first thing I said.

“Calm down, Shaira, he’s out of danger too,” I saw Zania lift her gaze. “Omawit’s ‘warriors’ are already fleeing, chasing their leader. How pathetic and cowardly they are.”

As I tried to get up, I realized what had caused me to fall. Despite Zania telling me, I didn’t understand it until I saw it. My ankles were tied with a thick leather cord attached to two large wooden balls that had wrapped around my legs when I was struck.

“I’m really sorry,” Zania repeated when she saw my eyes on what she had thrown to save my life.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Zania, on the contrary, I owe you my life.”

“Actually…”

Zania didn’t finish saying what she was going to say when I saw, above the young warrior’s head, Angro’s face. He was pale, as if he had seen death face to face, but at the same time smiling, satisfied.

“I thought Zania wouldn’t make it, but once again, she proves the little faith I had in her,” Angro said as he bent down to untie my ankles.

“You owe me much more than your faith in me, Angro,” Zania replied with a smile.

“Assu, where is he?” I asked when my feet were free to get up.

Angro pointed, and I threw myself towards Assu, who was sitting on a fallen log. The wound on his abdomen didn’t seem severe, but it was bleeding profusely.

“Assu, you saved my life too!” I exclaimed, throwing myself at his feet.

“It’s nothing, Shaira. The one who really saved us was Angro and his timely intervention.”

“Come, let me. I’ll bandage your wound,” I said, seeing Assu’s open skin.

I tore my blouse at the waist, creating a long, almost perfect strip of fabric that turned the blouse into an improvised belly band. As I wrapped the fabric around Assu’s torso, I noticed his cheeks, as well as Angro’s, turning a bit red. I hadn’t realized until that moment that the opranchi women were quite modest with their clothing; even Zania, despite wearing war gear, covered almost all her skin except her arms. My improvised belly band might have been interpreted as some sort of insinuation or broken taboo.

“This should stop the bleeding until you receive proper treatment,” I said, trying to pretend I hadn’t noticed what I had done by tearing my blouse.

“We’re not far from Sagoria,” Angro said, still a bit flushed and unable to take his eyes off my exposed belly. “There we should find a healer who can apply a poultice.”

Assu slowly stood up to avoid ruining the bandage, and Zania took that moment to take me by the arm, moving me away from the two men’s gaze.

“Here, cover yourself with this,” Zania said as she handed me a thick strip of leather she had pulled from her supply pack.

“Oh, it’s not necessary, Zania, really, thanks, but I’m fine. It’s just my belly showing.”

Zania’s face also reddened, and she looked at me as if I were crazy.

“That’s exactly why you need to cover up, Shaira. You can bare your breasts, that doesn’t matter, but never your belly. That’s the most… provocative thing you can show a man.”

Immediately, I covered my stomach and understood what had happened, though I couldn’t quite believe it.

How strange, I thought. For the opranchi, a woman’s belly was considered more obscene than her breasts, a custom that struck me as odd and confirmed once again that I wasn’t a natural opranchi but that my past was tied to a different culture, one very different from theirs.

Could it have something to do with the helmet Omawit had lifted and with which, according to him, he could prove I was his slave?

After covering my belly with the leather strip Zania had given me, I listened to Angro explaining his timely arrival to Assu.

“We knew Omawit had gone out to find the bird,” Angro looked at me when he realized I was listening, “and that the fallen bird might provide some proof about Shaira’s true origin.”

“The bird?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t you really remember anything, Shaira?” Assu asked in turn.

“No, I have no idea what you’re talking about. What bird?”

Angro and Assu exchanged a glance.

“Shaira,” Angro said solemnly, as if about to deliver terrible news, “I have strong indications to believe that you were on the bird that was shot down shortly before you appeared.”

I didn’t have to make any effort to connect the idea of a ‘bird’ falling from the sky with the strange helmet Omawit had shown me and that had caused that memory of a confusing past where I was preparing to fly.

“Are you referring to the helmet Omawit was holding?” I asked, fearing the worst.

“The helmet?” Angro asked. “What helmet?”

“The one Omawit…”

“Damn it!” exclaimed Angro, startling me, “So he did find something? Did Omawit find the bird?”

Assu explained to Angro what Omawit had said while showing us that strange helmet.

“We need to hurry and stop him,” Angro said when Assu finished explaining what had happened. “I thought he hadn’t found the bird and was only following you, but now I understand why he was here. If Omawit shows that helmet to Chief Owan, he’ll be able to prove that Shaira is indeed an eteri and we’ll be lost.”

Assu went to get up but had forgotten the bandage.

“No, my friend,” Angro said, placing his hand on Assu’s shoulder. “Take Shaira to Sagoria, go with one of my men, and make sure to keep her hidden, so no one knows who she is or why she’s with you. We’ll go after Omawit, but if we don’t catch him, I’ll let you know, Assu, so you can keep her hidden until I can find a solution.”

Without wasting another second, Angro, Zania, and their men set off after Omawit, while my heart sank with the anxiety of imagining that Omawit might get away with it.