Age of Orphans (Tp/B)

Kurdistan, Persia. a Village High in the Zagros Mountains. a Small Green-Eyed Boy Wrestles Free From His Mother and Climbs Atop a Straw and Mud Hut to Gaze at the Dusty Landscape; the Jagged Mountains and Azure Sky, the Cattle in the Distance. With His Arms Stretched Out Beside Him He Pretends to Be a Bird, to Lift Up and Soar Over This Land the Land of His Fathers and Forefathers. Kurdish Land. Soon After He is Ritually Initiated Into Manhood, Messengers From the Hills Bring Whispers of War; Rumours That the Shah's Army is Moving From Village to Village, Stamping Out Any Tribal Rebellion That May Stand in the Way of the Creation of a Unified 'Iran'. Just Nine Years Old, the Boy Must Stand Alongside His Men and Fight for Their Land. Years Later, Reza Pahlavi Khourdi Can Only Faintly Recall the Brutal Murder of His Father and Cousins. Orphaned on the Bloody Battlefield, Conscripted Into the Great Column of the Army and Given a New Name, He Has Quickly Risen Up the Ranks, Proving Both