Olivia Hutanonoyong

They clothed Olivia in gilded gown; they crowned her with a sparkling tiara; rouge they puffed upon her cheeks, and mascara they drew on her eyes. They led her to the palace hall, where she will tell of the plight of her people. Olivia, our champion was what they called her. She shall bring a tear to an eye of many a governor; she will move their hearts with stories of suffering.

The governors brimmed with compassion at her hearing. They smiled when she beamed, and teared when she wept. They were enthralled by the beauty of Olivia Hutanonoyong. One by one they stood up, and offered her refuge in their own homes. Olivia, you can be my bride, said one. You can be my concubine, said another; my child's caretaker, my prized minister... The princes were overtaken by Christian charity. They vowed to be of help in any way they can. Only in this way shall we Rumelians show our unity; that we may show our strength and our moral uprightness in a world full of evil people.

Olivia basked in the attention. She had come with the burdens of her people on her shoulders, but the heat of the moment made her feel light. She felt the radiance of her own beauty and the exuberance of personality that came with it, and she became in the grip of a strange energy in this dazzling and unfamiliar ambiance. Facing the magnanimous gaze of the prince-satraps, she replied:

You hypocrites! You were the cause of all our sufferings. Do you pretend to exercise Christian love now that you see beauty before you? I am a Permyak. My forerunners were marched across the Hindu Kush; my ancestors dug themselves into the frozen ground in Karaganda; in Nineveh they saw their families massacred; in Kitay they were slandered and abused. Even today, we are assaulted from both sides in this civil war that was your making. 

What do you newcomers know of this martyrdom? Our faith is older than the hills, yet you have always sequestered us beyond the Pale in your minds. You worship a false god who lavishes you with earthly riches, and you blame the poor for their own afflictions. Me you will keep for your own pleasure, but my brothers and sisters you will continue to torment and ignore. Be off with the lot of you! You can marry the ass I rode in on.

Upon her words, the generous and beckoning smiles turned sour. The princes and the governors hissed and scowled at Olivia's ungratefulness. They were offended by her negativity. They renewed their suspicions that the Permyak rabble could never see the good side of things, that they may always squander their chances of striking a favorable deal. They had not anticipated that anyone would reject them so cruelly. They bared their teeth and beat their chests to nurse their wounded pride. They would not allow Great Rumelia to appear as if she were losing in such a public occasion. Then they came to a decision on Olivia Hutanonoyong.

Strip her of her gown and her adornments, and put her back in the rags she came in. She shall be passed between all of our households, not as family or guest, but as a slave, to whom we can do whatever we please. She shall have to perform the most revolting forms of labor, scorned even by the other slaves, as this only befits her kind. 

And this was how Olivia came to be in the residence of Jaromil Toyogarov, the harshest of the princes. Here was where she met Irannika, Jaromil's betrothed, and convinced her to flee.

Notes
1. Olivia's role in this story is based loosely on Yazidi human rights activist, Nadia Murad, and other darlings of public opinion who have likewise been put into a spotlight.

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2. Olivia lists a selection of twenty-first century people groups (in order: South Asians, Volga Germans in Central Asia, Chaldeans in northern Iraq, and Mainland Chinese) as "forebears" to the Permyaks in her speech. This is plausible, because the "Permyaks" are by (my) design a highly heterogeneous group in terms of ethnic origins. My own notes pin Olivia's ancestry to the Diaspora Chinese (which puts her closer to the Rumelians than she would like to admit), with some elaboration on the etymology of her surname.