In a bleak cin­derblock house by the Riv­er Tigris in 2014, Nar­in scrubs pots amid a tense atmos­phere marked by mil­i­tant frus­tra­tion over loss­es in bat­tle. The com­man­der abus­es the two new­ly acquired Yazi­di women. One, a younger woman, cries con­stant­ly, while the elder attempts sui­cide, result­ing in bru­tal pun­ish­ment from the com­man­der. Nar­in, tasked with serv­ing tea, ner­vous­ly enters a room full of mil­i­tants only to be grabbed and spun around before being saved by the com­man­der, who scolds her cap­tor and drops her uncer­e­mo­ni­ous­ly.

Three days lat­er, con­ver­sa­tions in the kitchen reveal the commander’s wife believes that Nar­in is cursed, respon­si­ble for her hus­band’s impend­ing death. Agi­tat­ed by the hos­til­i­ty, Nar­in attempts to avoid the commander’s wife, but their encoun­ters are fre­quent and uncom­fort­able. The com­man­der even­tu­al­ly informs Nar­in that she will be sold to a new own­er in Antep due to her “bad luck.” Dev­as­tat­ed, Nar­in pleads for her friend Salma but is denied. Hor­ri­fied by the impli­ca­tions of her new mas­ter’s appetite for young girls, she fears there is no chance of escape giv­en the bru­tal real­i­ties faced by those who resist.

In despair, Nar­in stum­bles upon a clay tablet while seek­ing sup­port, rem­i­nis­cent of the ones she learned about from her grand­moth­er. Her brief moment of joy turns to ter­ror when the com­man­der dis­cov­ers her. He vio­lent­ly rep­ri­mands her by strik­ing her and sub­se­quent­ly kicks her while she is inca­pac­i­tat­ed. After regain­ing con­scious­ness, Nar­in encoun­ters a doc­tor and the com­man­der, who reveals he wants her to read the tablet as part of his loot­ing and sell­ing scheme involv­ing antiq­ui­ties.

Nar­in learns that the mil­i­tants not only com­mit vio­lence but prof­it from stolen arti­facts, per­pet­u­at­ing a cycle of destruc­tion and greed. The com­man­der presents her with a lapis lazuli tablet, demand­ing she reads it for poten­tial prof­it. In a moment of defi­ance, she extracts a promise that Salma must not be harmed. Faced with the real­i­ty of her friend’s suf­fer­ing as a result of the com­man­der’s vicious­ness, Nar­in suc­cumbs to despair, feel­ing only numb­ness as she awaits an inevitable demise.