Crawling out of the pigsty, only one thought consumed me. I had to escape.
But I had barely run a few meters when a bright beam of light suddenly fell upon me. Moments later, the entire tribe erupted with the sound of blaring horns.
Within less than a minute, I was completely surrounded by a group of Hastings Tribe men.
Some wielded axes, others gripped long sticks, their fierce eyes locked onto me with murderous intent.
"I told you this woman was cunning! She actually dared to sneak away in the middle of the night!"
"No worries, just follow the usual process."
"No matter how stubborn a woman is, she won’t last past the third trial. By then, she’ll either be broken or lose her mind and once that happens, she’ll obey."
I had heard Albie mention the old, cruel traditions of his tribe before. Among them, he had specifically talked about the so-called ‘Three Trials.’
Without outright killing them, they had devised some inhumane methods to force foreign women to stay and submit.
They did it all because, without women, there would be no future for their people.