"Daughter!" Linda shouted.
"What is it, Mother?" Lutheria asked.
"Peel the potatoes for the Feast of Lutheria," Linda said.
"Yes, Mother," Lutheria replied.
Lutheria immediately went into the tiny kitchen, which measured only one by two meters. She sat on a small stool and placed a scrap box in front of her. She pulled potatoes with "eyes" out of another crate; first, she peeled the skin, then she carved out the eyes before placing them in the sink.
'I am so happy. I, Lutheria, named after the Goddess of Lust and Blood. In a year, when I turn sixteen, I will be stripped of my innocence and officially become a nun. How exciting it all is.'
Lutheria cut herself, but she didn't treat the wound. Her small hands were covered in many scars. She pulled out a potato that had already sprouted.
'Oh, look, this potato has grown roots. Does that mean I can plant it in the ground? I could grow so many potatoes. I'll give the first one to Mama; maybe then she'll praise me.'
Lutheria secured the potato against the elastic of her stocking; no one could see it under her long tunic.
'Ha! And after that, I'll plant a million-million potatoes. No one in our village will ever go hungry again.'
"Mama, I'm finished," Lutheria said with a smile.
"Lutheria!" Linda screamed.
"Forgive me, Mother," Lutheria said quickly.
"Fine. Drop everything; we must go to the church," Linda said.
"Yes, Mother."
Lutheria stepped out of the kitchen slowly so the potato wouldn't fall from her stocking. She put on a warm blue fabric jacket, the same kind her mother wore the same kind the whole village wore.
Lutheria followed her mother out of the house and down a street of identical homes. They walked for twenty minutes to the Titan's church in the center of town. The church looked more like a three-story residential building, with yellow walls and a green roof.
Everyone in the village at this time 14:00 walked toward the church like they were programmed. Everyone wore a blue jacket and a forced smile. Lutheria smiled, too. Even the infants smiled unconsciously.
Linda began chatting with other smiling women.
"Oh, Linda! We were just talking about you," Lisa said, a crooked smile on her face.
"Yes, yes, Linda, only good things were said," Laura added, before bursting into laughter.
"It is good that you speak only good things, girls. Do you know when the sermon starts? Lira didn't tell me the time," Linda said with a strained smile.
"No one told me the time either. They just said sometime between 14:00 and 16:00. These A.S. make everything so difficult," Lisa said.
"Tell me about it. Because of those Imperial bastards, the inspectors have started checking our village more often," Laura said, clicking her tongue.
"Don't even start. Last week, the Imperials exterminated the members of the Rebogi sect," Linda noted.
"You don't say? Really?" Laura asked in surprise.
A loud voice reading prayers blared from the loudspeakers surrounding the church. "That's for us, daughter. Follow me," Linda said. Linda grabbed her daughter by the wrist and pulled her along. They were squeezed by other cultists on both sides.
Inside, the building was a massive single-story hall. Far from the entrance stood an altar holding a vase of datura flowers and a monument with a woman's face her hair tied in a bun, a mask covering her eyes, and deer antlers growing from her brow.
Near the altar stood a Holy Father who barely fit into his robes. All the cultists knelt before him to listen to his sermon.
"First, let us remember what we learned in the previous sermon. Who can tell me what we studied?" asked the fat Holy Father, Luka.
"About the place of man and woman, and about power," a raspy voice called from the hall.
"Wonderful, Brother! Come up here to me," Father Luka said in a tender voice.
A thin man with short hair rose from the crowd and approached the altar. He was trembling slightly with nervousness.
"Relax, Brother. You may sit," Father Luka said.
The thin man sat on the floor. The Holy Father handed him the Bible of the Lutheria Sect.
"I am letting you teach this lesson. If there is something you do not understand, you may ask me," Father Luka said.
'What a kind hearted man,' Lutheria thought, along with all the other cultists.
The thin man began to read from the Lutheria Bible:
[Volume 5, Chapter 12. Domination:] That which is considered a man is, by right of birth, higher than a woman. It is not a matter of the preferences of the saints or a heavenly decree. It is rooted in history, ten centuries ago. Neither magic nor technology existed then. Women were engaged in gathering, while men hunted with spears.
'But ten centuries ago, both magic and technology existed. Why does it say there was no magic?' Lutheria wondered.
"The first paragraph is finished. Does anyone have questions?" Father Luka asked.
"May I ask a question?" Lutheria said.
"Quiet, Lutheria!" Linda whispered.
"Stop, Sister. Let the child ask her question," Luka intervened.
Linda bit her lip in dissatisfaction. "Come here, little one. Sit on my lap," Luka said with a smile.
Lutheria approached the altar and sat on the Holy Father's knee.
"What is your name?"
"Lu... Lutheria," she stammered.
"Oh, named after the Goddess? You don't see that often. And what is your question?" Luka asked with a chuckle.
"If there was no magic or technology ten centuries ago, then why do history books say magic was discovered forty-nine centuries ago?" Lutheria asked.
"Ha! So that's the question. The book was written fifty centuries ago, and ten centuries plus fifty centuries is sixty centuries. That means magic hadn't been invented at that point yet," Luka said. Then he added, "Continue."
Back then, one could understand why men had a higher social status. But now, there are no objective reasons for it. Therefore, the Heavenly One decided to create magic to equalize their status. Sex that is, the magic that will take all skills through the bed.
"Wait, please. I just received a message that we need to wrap things up. Let us pray and then go home," Father Luka said.
All the cultists knelt, including Lutheria. They straightened their backs and looked upward.
'O Goddess, Mother of all beings, bless your children. Let everyone who does not know your name or speaks ill of it burn in the flame of sacred blood.'
After the prayer, the cultists began to leave. Lutheria hopped off the Holy Father's lap. The potato that had been squeezed in her stockings fell onto the temple floor.
"So, you decided to steal a potato from your own family?" said Linda, the girl's mother.
Lutheria opened her mouth to speak but froze in terror of the punishment.
"Why are you silent? Nothing to say?" Linda slapped Lutheria across the cheek.
"Perhaps I can help you with your daughter," Father Luka suggested with a smile.
"Thank you, no, Holy Father Luka. you already help us so much every day," Linda replied.
"I insist. Your problems are my problems. It will only take five minutes," Father Luka said, hand over his heart.
"Very well, Holy Father," Linda said, bowing slightly.
Luka quickly took Lutheria to his office in the church. As he dragged her inside, someone stopped him. Lutheria couldn't see the person's face.
"Now, Lutheria, go and sit quickly at the table. I need to talk to this other gentleman," Luka said.
Lutheria sat at the table. The room was spacious enough, with gray wallpaper and wooden floors, and cabinets in the corners. She immediately heard a loud, furious voice.
"You failed to kill the children?!" came Luka's muffled, distant shout. After that, she heard only faint voices behind the door. Ten minutes later, Father Luka entered the room and sat across from her.
"Well, tired of waiting?"
"No," Lutheria said.
"Tell me, please, why did you take the potato?"
"I took it so I could plant it and grow many potatoes, you see," Lutheria explained.
Luka didn't seem to be listening. He looked at her like a predator watching prey. He stood up from the table.
"And how exactly did you want to grow this potato?" Luka asked. He approached the girl and gently stroked her neck.
"I heard about it from some people once..." Lutheria started.
Suddenly, her eyelids felt incredibly heavy, and her body became completely relaxed. She remembered nothing after that. Then, a bright light hit her eyes. Lutheria snapped them open; her head throbbed, and her body felt weak.
"Are you awake, dear?" Luka asked with a smile.
"You fell asleep all of a sudden."
Lutheria couldn't grasp what was happening; her mind was shrouded in fog.
"Go to your mommy. We've already discussed everything," Luka said.
Before she could process it, she was ushered out of the room to her mother. Luka said to Linda, "We have discussed it. I advise you to act in a godly manner."
Linda bowed to him, then grabbed Lutheria's hand and dragged her away. Halfway home, the fog in Lutheria's head cleared. Linda brought her into their small house. There was one main room and three tiny ones: a toilet, a kitchen, and a storeroom. The main room held a double bed and a rocking chair.
Linda took out the Lutheria Bible and sat in the rocking chair. Lutheria sat on the edge of the bed across from her mother. Linda read the book quietly to prepare herself to "act in a godly manner." The ticking of the clock seemed to grow louder.
Tick – tock*
Lutheria glanced at the storeroom door and swallowed hard.
Tick – tock*
Her breathing grew heavy.
Tick – tock*
Cold sweat ran down her spine.
Tick – tock*
The walls seemed to be dripping with oil.
Tick – tock*
Her mother's whispering grew louder.
Tick – tock*
Suddenly, the book in her mother's hands snapped shut. Linda stood up. Lutheria stood as well, and they entered the storeroom. The storeroom had bare, damp, cold walls. There was no light.
"No matter what happens, remember: this is harder for me than it is for you," Linda said.
Lutheria entered the room, and the door closed behind them.
Whish*
Lutheria felt a sharp pain across her back. Her weak body shuddered from the blow.
Whish*
Lutheria fell to her knees. "Get up," her mother said. Lutheria's face turned pale; tears streamed from her eyes.
"Get up! Or I'll add another twenty lashes!"
Lutheria stood up.
Whish*
She couldn't hold it back anymore and began to sob, rivers of tears and snot running down her face.
Whish*
A groan escaped her lips the one she had been trying to suppress. More welts appeared on her already torn and bruised back.
Whish*
After the final blow, Lutheria collapsed onto the cold wooden floor. She wept, her face covered in tears and saliva. She couldn't even stand. "I hope you think about your behavior," her mother said.
Lutheria felt incredible weakness and pain. But inside, she felt a mixture of humiliation, pride, relief... and bliss.
'YES! MAMA, THANK YOU FOR PUNISHING ME! I shouldn't have stolen, Lutheria thought.
With the last of her strength, she began to repeat something under her breath like a mantra.
"Titaness of Lust and Blood, Lutheria, possessor of the lips of greed... I swear my life to you and submit to your will," Lutheria whispered as she faded out.