A Woman's World Read online

  A Woman’s World

  Book 1

  Lynne Hill-Clark

  Copyright © 2021 by Lynne Hill-Clark

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise), except for short quotes for review purposes only, without prior written permission from Lynne Hill-Clark, the copyright owner of the book.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events are purely the imagination of the author. Any resemblance to anyone, living or dead, is coincidental.

  1st Edition

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Also by Lynne Hill-Clark

  Dedication

  Childhood Memory

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  About Book 2

  Also by Lynne Hill-Clark

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Lynne Hill-Clark

  The Lords and Commoners Series

  Of Lords and Commoners, Book 1

  Of Princes and Dragons, Book 2

  Of Gods and Goddesses, Book 3

  * * *

  The Woman’s World Series

  A companion series to

  Lords and Commoners

  A Woman’s World, Book 1

  Lost Powers, Book 2

  A Collision of Worlds, Book 3

  This book was written for Fatima, Khadijah and Ayat.

  I hope you found love and happiness.

  I miss you dearly.

  Childhood Memory

  No moons shone in the night’s sky. Such a night only occurred once a year in Pathins.

  Something gently shook Baya from her sleep.

  “Wake up, little one,” Rus whispered. “Your mother is about to give birth.”

  The little girl threw back the covers, leapt to her feet and ran out of the room.

  A pain-filled scream came from her mother’s chambers, causing Baya to stop short in the hallway. “What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t worry. Your mother is strong and the midwife says that everything is fine. Her baby is due any minute. Come see what your mother is capable of creating. She can bring the miracle of life into this world — a gift from the Great Goddess Herself.”

  “Wow,” Baya said. Since Rus appeared to be calm, she decided that everything must be fine. Slowly, she ventured to peek around the door to her mother’s chambers. The blood drained from Baya’s face.

  Her mother, Aga, was pale and covered in sweat. Another scream rang out. The midwife placed a damp rag on Aga’s forehead.

  “That’s it, Aga … just a couple more pushes and this will all be over.” The midwife spoke in a low soothing voice.

  Baya’s head felt light as she held her breath in anticipation.

  The midwife guided the baby into the world and wrapped it in a white blanket that was soon smeared with dark blue blood. Baya was wide-eyed and too scared to move. She had never seen so much blood.

  Rus carefully took the baby from the midwife. “Why hello there,” he cooed at the tiny bundle in his arms.

  “Is the baby okay?” Baya’s tiny voice shook as she spoke.

  No one answered.

  Rus studied the baby who had begun to fuss.

  “I’m sorry,” the midwife said. She moved around Rus and headed for the door.

  Rus was left alone to tell Aga the bad news.

  “Sorry … why? Don’t tell me …” Aga’s weak voice trailed off.

  “Yes. It’s a boy,” Rus whispered.

  “No,” Aga gasped. She glared at Baya, as if this were somehow her fault. Then she rolled over, turning her back on Rus, Baya and the baby.

  Rus moved to the washbasin to clean the newborn.

  Baya’s frustration came out in an angry outburst. “What’s wrong? Is the baby okay?”

  “He’s healthy,” Rus said.

  Even after being cleaned and wrapped in fresh blankets Aga refused to hold or even look at the baby. She kept her back to her family.

  Rus walked over and sat in a chair in the far corner of the large room and held the baby close.

  “May I see him?” Baya asked.

  Rus shifted the baby so that Baya could crawl up on his lap. He placed the newborn across her legs and they held the baby together.

  “He’s beautiful.” As Baya spoke, the newborn opened his large eyes and stared up at her. “Rus! He has your eyes, too.” She tilted her head to the side as she admired the baby’s light brown eyes with the sunburst of green running through them. The baby’s eye color turned to bright gold in a narrow band that surrounded the black pupil. To top it off, his eyes were surrounded by generous dark lashes. His head was covered in soft dark hair and his skin was a lovely golden-brown.

  Baya furrowed her brow in concentration. “How come we have eyes like yours?” Baya asked. The dark hair and skin were common but the tri-colored eyes were not.

  Rus shrugged. “The Great Goddess works in mysterious ways. I wish I was smarter so I could better answer your questions.”

  “But … it’s like we are your children … somehow. I mean Aga is our mother … and maybe you are our …” there were no words in her language for what she was trying to say.

  “There are only mothers. Men have nothing to do with the creation of new life.”

  Baya frowned. “Then how come we look like you? I mean, Mother’s eyes are a common brown.”

  Rus smiled. “Always with the questions.” He gently poked her tiny nose. “I honestly don’t know, Little One.”

  Baya sighed in resignation as she turned her gaze back to the baby. A smile crossed her lips and the faint lines that creased her forehead disappeared.

  “What will you name him?” Rus spoke to Aga’s back.

  “I don’t care what he’s called. It doesn’t matter.”

  Even young Baya recognized the sorrow in her mother’s voice, yet she didn’t understand why. H
er mother should have been happy that he was healthy. At least Rus didn’t seem to mind that he was a boy.

  “Well, Baya, you will have to be the one to name him,” Rus said.

  Baya’s eyes widened. “Me! Really?”

  Rus nodded. “It’s always the woman who names the baby.” He frowned briefly at Aga’s back. “I suppose the job falls to you, as the next oldest female in the house. You said you wanted a baby brother, remember?”

  Aga let out an irritated snort.

  Baya studied the baby’s perfect round head, as he slept peacefully in her arms. “Bek. It starts with a B, like mine.”

  “That’s a good name. Bek it is. Bek will make a good theo someday.”

  “That is all he will ever be — a manservant.” Aga’s voice was bitter and full of sleep.

  Baya frowned. She waited until Aga’s breathing grew heavy, indicating that she was fast asleep before whispering, “It doesn’t matter that you’re a boy. Rus and I will always love you.”

  Chapter 1

  Baya’s entire body jerked as she woke from an all too common nightmare. She had been alone and lost in a vast unfamiliar land in which every shadow seemed to have eyes — stalking her. She had caught a flash of something at her side, as a wild beast lunged for her.

  Sometimes Baya dreamt about giant beasts with three elongated noses that hung to the ground, beasts so huge one of them could stomp her into dust with a careless step. At other times her night terrors consisted of large mouths filled with countless sharp teeth that could swallow her in one bite. In the world beyond the island of Pathins, humans were nothing more than tender morsels — at the bottom of the food chain.

  “Maybe the stories of Ameris are not the best bedtime stories,” Baya mumbled to herself. Ameris was the Great Goddess and her adventures in the wild were legendary.

  Baya shook her head to help brush way the dream.

  Yellow sunlight poured in her window and the familiar sight of her room set her at ease but then Baya remembered what day it was. “Oh no!” She bolted upright.

  It was a day she had been dreading for years. Her hands trembled as she pulled the covers off and crawled out of bed. Today was her eleventh birthday.

  Baya watched Rus from her window. Rus was her mother’s theo, the man who raised her children and tended to the household. Birds flocked around his feet, pecking away in a frenzy, as he spread feed from a bucket tucked under his arm.

  A soft knock came at the door. Bek popped his head into her room. “Good morning, big sister!” Bek looked a lot like Baya. He had thick dark hair and light brown skin. Their most unusual feature was their tri-colored eyes. They were light brown mixed with green, and gold surrounded their pupils.

  Baya quickly wiped a tear from her eye. “Hey, baby brother.”

  Bek moved to stand beside Baya and he also peered out the window. He kept his arms tucked behind his back. “I always thought birds were ugly.”

  She chuckled. “That’s because they are.”

  “But Rus sure knows how to cook them up good,” Bek said.

  “Thankfully they don’t taste like they look. Birds must have been Ameris’s most hideous creation. She must not have liked them, for some reason, if she made them so ugly and yet so delicious to eat.”

  Even the wild ones were fleshy, as if they had been shaved. Their wings consisted of a veiny almost transparent membrane that carried them through the air. They came in the dullest of colors — various shades of gray or black. On land they were particularly awkward, as they had to hop around on one spindly leg.

  Baya eyed Bek. “Why are you standing like that — with your hands behind your back?”

  Bek revealed a bouquet of orange and red flowers. In his excitement to give them to his sister, he almost smacked her in the face with them.

  The sweet scent of the flowers accosted Baya. She took a step back to place them at a safer distance. The flowers had broad soft petals and long yellow stems.

  Baya frowned. “Did mother make you get these for me?”

  “No. It was Rus’s idea. He thought they could be braided in your hair, or something — you know, for your big day.”

  An eleventh birthday was indeed an important day — for a girl. “Thank you. They’re lovely.” Baya’s eyes swelled with tears. Today she would be moving into the Palace of the Unawi to continue her education. Una’ meaning one and, ‘wi’ refers to a female, so the Unawi was the ruler of Pathins — which included all of womankind.

  The only time Baya would be allowed to see Bek and Rus was for the most important holidays — the time of No Moons and the time of Four Moons. Otherwise, she would not be allowed to come home.

  Her stomach turned at the thought of Bek and Rus being left alone with Aga and Tash. Their mother, Aga, served as a high priestess on the council of the Unawi. Tash was the youngest of Aga’s children. Tash looked nothing like the rest of the family. She had long flaxen hair and bright blue eyes the color of the sea.

  Baya’s hand shook as she took the flowers from Bek. “I don’t want to live with the other daughters of the priestesses.”

  Bek lowered his head and ran his big toe in an arc across the stone floor. “I don’t want you to go.”

  Baya wrapped her arms around his tiny shoulders. A sharp intake of breath accompanied the terrible thought that popped into Baya’s head. “Bek, I won’t be able to give you secret lessons anymore.” A sob stuck in her throat and almost stopped her from being able to continue. “Your education … We didn’t even get to solving equations or —”

  “It’s okay.” He still gazed at the floor. “I don’t know why I would need to know all that stuff anyway.”

  A sad smile crossed her lips. “Remember when Mother caught me teaching you to read?”

  Bek laughed. “She was so mad. She grounded me for a week and sent me to bed without dinner.”

  “I thought her head was going to explode.” Baya chuckled. “I kept arguing with her, telling her that you were learning everything I taught you but she said, ‘Bek can’t light a candle with a wave of his hand, now can he?’ As if that proves anything. So what if boys don’t have powers. You’re still very smart.”

  Bek frowned. “And Tash was going on and on about how I’m nothing but a stupid boy.”

  Baya growled. “I wanted to pull every piece of golden hair out of her head.”

  “You’ve always been a good sister. You snuck bread to my room that night.”

  Baya sighed. Who was going to look after Bek while she was gone?

  Bek forced a smile. “We got smarter after that and never let Mom catch us again.”

  “It was like a fun game, just between us.”

  “Our little secret.” Bek chimed.

  Baya shook her head in dismay. Aga had even blamed her that day for Bek being born. Aga had said, “You wanted a brother more than anything. You are the reason my household is burdened with a boy.”

  “When I come back for the holiday,” Baya said. “I will teach you all the new stuff I’ve learned, I promise.”

  Bek nodded. “It’ll be just like old times.”

  Tears were about to spill out of her eyes when Aga entered the room. Baya had to quickly pull herself together. Her mother despised crying. It was a sign of weakness that she wouldn’t tolerate from her oldest daughter, especially now that she was eleven.

  “The flowers will be a nice touch,” Aga said. “You can go, Bek. I must see to it that Baya is ready to meet the Unawi.”

  Bek left the room quickly with his eyes on the floor.

  Aga braided the stems of the flowers into Baya’s thick brown hair. The braid hung down the length of her back. Aga had bought her daughter a special gown for the occasion. She helped Baya into the full-length tunic. It was white with gold trim. The finishing touch was a gold belt that hung loosely around Baya’s waist. Once it was fastened Baya spun on tiptoes to test the light fabric. The gown flowed elegantly around her legs. It made her feel older and prettier — important even —
like when she used to play dress-up with her mother’s clothes.

  Aga studied her daughter.

  Baya shifted uncomfortably under her intense stare.

  “Today you are no longer a girl, you are a mistress. This is the stage between childhood and womanhood.” Aga’s face softened. “You are positively lovely. You’ll grow to be more beautiful than I ever was. You simply must become the next Unawi.”

  Baya could not help the smile that crept across her face. She hated that her mother’s praise meant so much — but it did.

  “Are you ready?”

  Baya’s stomach did another summersault. She wanted to say no. But instead she found the strength to give a slight nod.

  Chapter 2

  Baya’s family lived in Una Sitka — the First City, also called the Ruler’s City. Shema was their current ruler and Una Sitka was located in the far South of Pathins. The large island was the only land inhabited by humans. Even the Northern part of the island was difficult to reach as it was separated from the South by a high mountain range that could only be crossed on foot and in the Time of Daylight.