PROLOGUE
It was an embarrassing situation for Maria when she met Morabad for the first time.
She was relaxing in the cool waters of a stream alongside her home on a hot stuffy day, when he and his men barged into their private property, frightening her mother as a result of their sudden appearance.
Maria was in an uncompromising situation, caught off guard in the waters. Believing in the privacy her property accorded, she had stripped bare before entering the welcoming waters.
Morabad, on the other hand, oblivious to her predicament at first, then dawning with realization, gave her hardly any time to get out of the water, to put on her clothes so that he could proceed with his intended call of duty.
He was there to question Maria and whoever was in her household about suspicious characters in the vicinity.
His impatience irked her, and Maria hated him for the imposing, lofty attitude he directed at her.
Maria thought him most arrogant and merciless!
However, she did as was told as quickly as she could.
There was a case of insurgents hiding in the village, and Maria wanted to know all the details.
