The raiders had come in longboats from over the Big Water. The battle was long and vicious, but very one sided. The enemy had wielded magical metal weapons that were far beyond the power of the bronze clubs and axes of the People of the Forest.
Over the past year the People were totally subjugated and by now had yielded, fully, to the will of the new Masters.
There not even a hint of questioning, when once each full moon, a fresh virgin was to be sacrificed - the Masters demanded, and that was that.
And so it was that at the spring moon Rubira found herself gagged and put upon the Masters' special pedestal by the Big Water, clad only in leather boots, stockings and singlesleeve, and chained with that magical metal that only they possessed.
There she was, her beauty helplessly exposed, as the sun set and the moon rose. She sat there, trembling from fear as much as from the chill in the air, squirming now and then, as the night passed ever so slowly.
Morning came at last, and with the first light came the Masters, too. They seemed quite pleased with the choice the People offered this time, and so for once did not burn any huts or kill any of the People.
Rubira was released from the pedestal and a collar of that magic metal was placed around her slender, graceful neck. Arms still behind her, she was led on a leash from the only place she ever knew, to a fate she could not fathom.