Marcia sighed as she churned butter for her current husband. When she had walked through the woods as Mark two years ago, she quickly got abducted by a traveling group of males. Their culture was known for using females as baby makers only, getting rid of their wives once they birthed a son. Typically, those wives were traded to a different tribe within the same culture. Which was what had happened to Marcia.
Before Mark knew what was happening, she had been renamed Marcia, stripped naked, and given a magical tattoo. It marked her as a tribe baby maker and also prevented her from leaving whoever was her current husband. Females who gave birth to a daughter were thrown out, along with their daughter, to fend for themselves. It was the easiest way to escape. But Marcia had only had sons so far.
Marcia finished churning the butter and brought it over to the campfire she was cooking dinner at. She adjusted her slip dress carefully and sat down, her anklets and bracelets jangling. She was given jewelry for each son she produced. Since she had produced triplets for her first husband and quadruplets for her second, she had a lot of jewelry.
Gar, Marcia's current husband, came from behind and pulled her dress up, exposing her bulging belly. She was already halfway through her third pregnancy in two years. The culture didn't believe in giving women breaks between pregnancies. Once she gave birth, she was traded off to a different tribe for another woman who had just given birth, assigned to a new husband, and impregnated immediately.
"I can sense you will give me five sons," Gar whispered in Marcia's ear. Marcia shivered in fear. She had a feeling he was right.
"Perhaps," she replied. They both spoke in the native language of the culture, one that took Marcia a while to master. But after two years, she was fluent in it. "Where are we going when we break camp tomorrow?" she asked.
"Lakeford."
Lakeford was the satyr village her friends were at! Marcia felt a surge of hope. If she could find them, she could be purchased and finally be free!