Dragonas {WIP}

Bethany was different than most girls in her area.  She was strong, intelligent and well liked but still, she was different.  Girls in her providence were not known to thrown an ax like she could nor had anyone ever seen an arrow glide as Bethany could make do.1

Bethany lived hundreds of years ago and yet her legend follows her to this date.  Since she lived her town had been changed from the name of Lippenshire to Betha to be named after her.2

Women were nothing more than mere objects in Bethany's lifetime.  They were divided into separate groups of workers.  Some of them included: The Field Workers, The Hand Maidens, The Animal Tamers and The Dried.3

Field workers obviously tended the fields.  From dawn till after dusk many a woman worked.  They were strong, they were proud.  They did jobs that most men couldn't or at least wouldn't do.  They alone plowed the fields and fed their Kingdom.  They provided all the vegetation that was fed to the community.  They were thought to be hideous beasts with small brains.  Oftentimes you didn't see a Field Worker stand up right.  Therefore, the menfolk declared that somehow they turned into beasts as they tended to the fields.  Of course, it was just years of back breaking labor that bent these women over so.4

The Hand Maidens were the breeders.  They were allowed to produce ten offspring before being moved to the "Drying Place."  They never saw the children they birthed and many were glad not to for they never knew who the father of said child would be.  It was there job to lay down for the men of the town and allow them to fill their wombs with babies.  They were not allowed to cry out if a "suitor" was too rough nor were they allowed to enjoy the process.  They'd be blind folded every time so they could not see who was making a baby in them.  If need be, they'd be tied to a table, a tree or whatever was closest by so that the man could do his task.5

The Hand Maidens were easily cast aside when they were done with.  Forced to go clean themselves and then come back for another "session" sometimes as many as twenty sessions per day.  Reproduction was the reason for Hand Maidens, nothing else.6

If a Hand Maiden gave birth to more than two females in a row she'd be put out of here community.  She'd be forced outside the Kingdom walls and forced to live among the animals until she either escaped or was eaten.7

The females that were born were given to foster mothers in the "Drying Place."  For three years they'd live there until they could be assigned homes to live in.  In these homes, they'd be maids until the age of 13 at which time they were given their lot in lives.8

If female infants were born too small or if a maid couldn't work in the home they'd be put out into the forest for bait for the wild animals.  That way the King could always be sure that the Hunters always had animals to kill in which to feed the men with.9

At age 13 the girls were put into separate structures.  Each waiting to be chosen.  Actually they would be waiting to be bought.  There was the Field Structure where the bigger girls went.  Then there was the Hand Maiden Structure where the smaller girls went and the left overs went into a Mass Structure where men could buy them and make them do whatever they wanted them to do.10

Men were not allowed to reproduce unless they made an appointment with a Hand Maiden's owner.  Of course it was wide knowledge that the men often reproduced with the women they owned at which time the women would be whipped and sometimes killed.  The men would be sent out of the Kingdom to fend for himself as soon as an "owned" woman began to show of a baby.11

The Animal Tamers were the shy and the quiet.  They took care of the horses, bulls, cows and any other animal that may be owned by her Master.  They would sleep outside with the animals.  They tend to the animal young and taught the sheep and dogs their duties.  They worked hard and were often fed the same slop as the animals.12

The male infants were put into foster care until the age of 13 when they'd be given to men in the community.  The men would teach them trades and set them up with a small house on a patch of land not much bigger then the house.  By the age of 18 all men had homes and would take in other boys when they were chosen to.  The men were taken care of by the females and were allowed to grow into old age.  When a man reached old age he was thought of as a Man Of Wisdom.  Men Of Wisdom would teach the boys and the young men everything they knew.  Most men could read and write.  They all knew numbers by the age of 18 so they could excel in their given professions.13

Bethany was sold out as an Animal Trader in the Mass Structure.  The man that bought her was a gentle man and never touched her.  From the time she was three to 13 though was another story.  The men she maided for took advantage of her and luckily she never ended up with child.  She was beaten into submission thus her shy and quiet behaviour.  The man that bought her was called Jakob and named her himself.  Usually the females were called "girl."  The Hand Maidens were referred to as "Bitches" because they were thought to always be in heat.  It is unknown to this day if Hand Maidens, for instance, knew of other women.14

When the women reached old age, if they were so lucky, they'd be taken to the "Drying Place."  There the younger Hand Maidens would take care of them.  Hand Maidens made it to the Drying Place years and years before the others because they were usually used up by age 23 having given birth to there tenth, and thus final, child.15

The elderly women were often abused by the women put in their charge.  Such anger would grow within the young women that they would be found to take it out on the elders.  It was an allowed practice for many elders would die that way and then the Kingdom wouldn't have to feed them any longer.  16

{To be continued soon...I hope}17