"He has his father's eyes", Naane said to her attending maid with a smile. The maid smiled back as she agreed. "Have you decided on his name?" the maid asked. "Yes! Before his father left with the other spirits, we decided on the name Nabro, if the child turned out to a boy and Manne, if the child turned out to be a girl", Naane said as she lifted up her baby boy. "This is my little Nabro", she introduced.
The day went on without any interruptions; the baby Nabro had been fed and was currently sleeping in his mother's arms. Suddenly, there was a loud rowdy sound outside the house. "What's going on?" Naane asked the maid who quickly cracked open a window to take a look outside.
She backed up in fear after seeing what the cause of the noise was. "What is it? Tell me what's happening out there", Naane said as she began to panic. Before the maid could answer, the door of the house was kicked in and several militia men stormed in; the noise freaking out the sleeping baby and causing it to wake up and cry loudly.
"What do you people want from us?" Naane asked as she held her baby closer to her chest and backed away from the scary group of men before her. The men by the door made way as Mulatta, the leader of this militia, strolled into the house with a smug look on his face. "Naane…my bride. I've given you enough time. It's time to come home to me. It's time for us to get married", Mulatta said to her.
"What are you talking about? There is no way I'm getting married to you. You chased away the only man I ever loved. Did you think I'd jump into your arms after committing such a travesty? You cannot be serious!!" Naane shouted back in response.
"Are you certain you want to refuse my proposal?" Mulatta asked. "Get out of here!! I have nothing to say to you. And take your lackeys along with you", she spat at him in anger.
"If that's the case…retrain her!" he turned to his men and commanded. Two men stepped forward quickly and grabbed a hold of Naane who was stunned, almost dropping her precious child. "My princess!!" the maid shouted as she tried to reach her mistress and assist her.
"Get her out of here", Mulatta instructed as another of his militia men stepped forward and grabbed the maid's arm, pulling her out of the house with a freaky grin on his face.
"Leave her alone! What do you think you are doing?" Naane cried out in frustration. Mulatta steeped forward and grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to look up at him as he bent down and whispered into her ears.
"I will have you no matter what you say …even if I have to hurt you to get you. If this thing in your arms is what is keeping you from recognizing your love to me, I'll just have to remove it", he said as he grabbed the crying baby by the legs, snatching it from its mother's arms and turned to leave. "Bring her to the center of the village!" he commanded as he exited the house.
Naane screamed for her child to be returned to her arms as she was dragged along the path to the center of the village, drawing a crowd along as they went. Upon reaching the center of the village, there was a crowd already gathered. Naane's eyes opened wide in shock as she saw what lay in the center of the crowd. Before her lay the mangled corpses of her father and little brother, who was just two years younger than her.
"Father!! Omare!!" she screamed as she escaped the hold of her captors and scurried towards the bodies of her father and brother. The bodies had been gored all over; clear signs of attacks from horned wild animals.
"They returned like this a few hours ago. It seems they got greedy and tried to take on multiple wild buffalos whilst they were out hunting. The men couldn't get to them on time", Mulatta said with a grin as the men, who supposedly went on the hunt with the village chief and the prince, had smirks on their faces as well.
Naane could do nothing but cry out loudly over her father's dead corpse. She wasn't dumb. She knew her father was basically murdered by this disgusting creature of a man standing before her. "Since your father had no other sons, as your betrothed, it falls on me to take over as the chief of this village", Mulatta declared and was met with cheers from the crowd surrounding them.
"Over my dead body will I let you take my father's place. You are not worthy to take his place", Naane spat out interrupting the cheer. Mulatta walked closer to her and squatted beside her. "You are putting on a brave face now but soon, you will be worshipping me at my feet. I just have to break you first…and there's no time like the present", he said to her as he rose to his feet and walked to the man holding the baby.
"Stop! What are you going to do with my child?!" Naane screamed as Mulatta grabbed the baby by the leg, causing it to dangle in the air. The baby started squealing loudly as the pain of being held upside down by one leg was too much for him.
As the baby wailed loudly, the mark on his forehead started to glow. The atmosphere around the village started getting windy all of a sudden. The glowing mark on the baby's forehead grew more distinct as the speed of the wind increased.
"See this everyone!!" Mulatta shouted as he raised the baby higher for all to see. "This child is the impossible abomination that came out of the taboo committed by princess Naane and the rogue spirit Nashi. Look at what is happening around us right now. This abomination is causing such a storm at such a young age…imagine what it would do when it grows older".
"This monster would start oppressing us with his powers just like his father and his cohorts did before we got rid of them. Because of his abominable mixed blood, he can't be banished from the mortal realm like any other spirit. Well then, my people…what do we do with a monster such as this?" he asked the crowd.
"KILL IT…KILL IT NOW!!" The entire crowd shouted, calling for the death of the baby. The had to shout louder because the storm around them had grown fiercer within the few minutes since the baby started crying. "No!! Please, don't do this…don't hurt my baby", Naane screamed as she was held down by the men.
"Don't worry my bride-to-be. I know Nashi influenced you into getting together with him. This monster here is clearly what is still manipulating your mind to not see the truth. Once it's gone, your mind would be cleared and you will see that I'm the right person for you", Mulatta said as he handed the baby to a rough looking man who quickly mounted a horse and rode towards the forest on the outskirt of the village.
Naane cried out in a hysterical manner as she tried to free herself from the hold of the two men. Seeing this, more men joined the two to hold down the hysterical woman. Naane cried out in pain and despair.
The sky grew darker as the storm grew stronger and stronger, turning into a literal hurricane and ripping the roofs of some houses in the village. The mark on the baby's forehead grew brightly as the baby dangled by his leg, letting out a painful cry as the rider of the horse disappeared behind the shrubbery.
Several houses collapsed under the pressure of the storm as Naane tried to crawl in the direction her child was taken. A few seconds later, the storm suddenly stopped and the sky cleared revealing the bright sun. This phenomenon was a clear indicator that the job was done…the baby was dead.
Naane let out one last cry of despair before her head hit the floor. She had lost consciousness. The amount of trauma she had just experienced had resulted in her brain forcing her body to shut down in order to protect her.