The Blood-stained Belt (25 page)

'That's a good
question.' Zaliek pulled at an ear and looked at me speculatively.
'You're not on the top of Vaxili's popularity list but you're
probably not in any danger. Vaxili wants Sharma, not you. My advice
to you is: keep a low profile, recover your strength, and see how
the wind is blowing.' Zaliek stood up and said gruffly, 'Look after
yourself, deputy commander. You're a good soldier and I wouldn't
want anything to happen to you. Remember – keep your head down.' He
squeezed my shoulder, nodded, and left.

I walked into
the hut, picked up my bag, and left without anybody noticing. Then
I found a bungalow with a spare bed, dumped my kit, washed, and
walked over to the mess hall. I was hungry as I had ever been.

I was halfway
through my second plate of food when someone tapped me on my
shoulder. Two men wearing light armour were standing there looking
at me as if I was a rag fit only to be thrown onto the garbage
heap. One of them said dourly, 'Deputy Commander Jina, you will
come with us.'

Thinking that
Zaliek or someone higher had summoned me, I replied, 'Certainly, my
friend. Just let me finish my food. Why don't you sit down? I won't
be more than a few minutes.'

The man put his
hand on my shoulder, none too gently, and said, 'Our orders are
that you are to come with us immediately.'

'What's the
hurry, comrades. Surely --?'

'We said
immediately!' They hauled me to my feet and turned me towards the
door. I tried to shrug them off, saying, 'All right, comrades, I
don't need your help. I might have been in the sick bay but I can
walk on my own.' At that they let go of me but still shepherded me
towards the door. I asked, 'What's going on?'

One of them
growled, 'It's not our business to ask. We're just following
orders.'

The men marched
me to the headquarters building where Vaxili's new adjutant, a
pock-faced man who I had never met before, was waiting for me in
the antechamber. He ignored my salute and said tersely, 'Deputy
Commander Jina, you are under arrest.'

I was
flabbergasted. 'Under arrest? For what?'

'For colluding
with the outlaw, Sharma.'

This took the
wind out of my sails. I didn't know whether to protest first about
the matter of collusion – whatever he meant by that – or about the
unlawfulness of declaring Sharma an outlaw. As it happened, I
didn't get a chance to protest about either matter. Before I could
say anything, the adjutant made a dismissive gesture, as if waving
away a troublesome insect, and the two men seized me. They marched
me to a building on the outskirts of the town where the guards
opened the door and thrust me inside. The door thudded shut and I
was left trying to adjust to the turn of events – from mess hall to
imprisonment within five minutes – as well as to the gloom inside
the building.

A voice asked
warily, 'Is that you, Jina?'

I looked
around, trying to see who was speaking. It was so gloomy in the
room that I could hardly see the walls let alone any other details.
I replied cautiously, 'Yes, I'm Jina. Who are you?'

The invisible
speaker replied, 'I'm Drohita. Remember me?'

Of course I
remembered Drohita. He came from a village near Osicedi and he
joined the army at the same time as I did. In fact, we marched
south together to sign up. When he served with Sharma and me in the
same basic training squad, I got to know him well as a quiet,
studious young man who seemed out of place as a soldier. In fact,
he had probably only survived this long because of his wry sense of
humour. When I last spoke to him, a few months ago, he told me that
he was hoping to leave the army soon to train as a priest.

Looking towards
where the voice came from, I asked, 'Drohita! What are you doing
here?'

He replied
dryly, 'I'm taking a census of the prisoners, comrade. The problem
is, just when I finish counting, they throw someone else in and I
have to start again.'

Another voice
said, 'Greetings, my brother.'

'Abozi! Are you
also here?'

'So it
seems.'

'What have you
done, to be here?'

'Well, my
brother, it seems that my crime is the same as yours, and the same
as all the others here -- namely, to be who I am.'

Someone called
out irritably, 'I don't mind you having a family reunion but if you
move another step to the right, you'll tramp on my leg. That will
annoy me so I advise you to be careful where you put your
feet.'

I asked, 'Is
that you, Anagina?'

'Right first
time, comrade Deputy Commander Jina. And don’t ask me what I’m
doing here.' There was cynical laughter from all over the room.
Anagina continued, 'Because only Zabrazal and Vaxili know the
answer and neither of them is saying.'

A voice said
sardonically, 'He lived in Asjolorm, didn't he? He's guilty of
consorting with the enemy.'

Anagina said
quietly, 'That might be so. But maybe my crime is compounded by the
fact that I'm also from Lower Keirine.'

'Are you? I
didn't know that.'

'Yes. I was
born there.'

Someone said
dryly, ‘Welcome to the club, Anagina.’

I backed
against the wall and looked around. Now that my eyes were getting
accustomed to the gloom, I could make out that there were dark
shapes huddled all over the floor. I asked, 'How many of us are in
here?'

Someone
snorted, 'Ask Drohita. He's the census-taker.'

Drohita called
out, 'Forty-three, if no on has escaped or died since the last time
I counted.'

I asked, 'How
long have you men been here?'

Abozi replied,
'The first four were put in here three days ago. Since then,
they've been throwing us in at regular intervals.'

I asked,
'What's the charge?'

Once again,
there was cynical laughter from all over the room. Different voices
said:

'Charge? No one
told me about a charge.'

'We're here at
Vaxili's pleasure.'

'Wise up,
comrade, his royal highness Vaxili doesn't think he has to keep to
the law. If he takes a dislike to you, that's it – it’s curtains
for you!'

Someone burst
out vehemently, 'Law? Vaxili is the law -- at least, that's what he
thinks.'

There was a
deep silence, gloomier than the dusk itself, before Abozi called
out, 'Hey, Anagina, change places with me. That way I can sit next
to my brother.'

There was the
sound of shuffling and I felt the weight of a body against my right
leg. A hand grasped my knee and Abozi's voice said, 'All right,
Jina, there's room here. You can sit down.'

Below me to my
left, a voice said, 'Do it carefully, man. I don't want you sitting
on my head.'

I slid down the
wall into a sitting position, shifted around to get as comfortable
as possible on the hard-packed earthen floor, and asked, 'So not
one of you knows what he's supposed to be guilty of?

There was a
deep silence -- so deep that I could hear the sound of the guards
stamping their feet against the chill of the evening. After a
while, Abozi said, 'Oh, we reckon we know what we're here for.'

'Well, let's
hear it then.'

Abozi cleared
his throat and said, 'It's not difficult to work out what we all
have in common. Firstly, we're all from Lower Keirine. Secondly, we
all have a connection with Sharma.'

‘Yes? And
--?’

‘And
nothing!’

I whistled.
'You mean, that's it?'

'Yes. That's
it.'

'But so what?
Those aren't crimes. There must be something else as well.'

There was more
cynical laughter by way of reply.

Abozi muttered,
'Vaxili! I despise the man. He's not a good enough soldier to
defeat the Dornites so he turns on his own men instead.'

I replied,
'Save your feelings for later when you're free to do something
about it. Meanwhile, stay calm. That's the best you can do under
the circumstances.' I remembered Zaliek's injunction: 'Forget about
revenge. Forget about resentment. They get in the way of clear
thinking.' His words were appropriate here as well, except that
they applied to a situation in which the enemy was our own supreme
commander and king. I repeated to myself, 'Forget about revenge.
Forget about resentment. They get in the way of clear
thinking.'

There was a
long period of brooding silence before someone muttered, 'It's
going to be cold tonight. They should give us more than one blanket
each, the bastards.' His words were answered by a resentful mumble
of agreement.

Anagina said in
a low voice, 'We should try to get out of here. Why wait to find
out what they intend to do with us? By then, it'll be too
late.'

Someone
responded, 'We could probably get out through the roof without much
trouble. This isn't a proper prison; it's just a derelict
building.'

I replied,
'Don't be a fool, man. Where would we go? They'd have us in no
time.'

Someone said
gloomily, 'I know where I'd go, for sure. I'd go straight home.
I've had enough of this damn-fool king and his damn-fool army. You
give good service, you risk your life, and what do you get? I’ll
tell you -- you get this! You get locked up for nothing, treated
like a common criminal!’ He spat out the last words and followed
them with a disgusted, ‘Pha!'

I said,
'Presuming you reached home, which is not very likely, they would
find you there in no time.'

Anagina asked
gloomily, 'What do you suggest? Got any plans?'

I responded,
'Give me a chance. I've just arrived. But my advice is that no one
should try to escape. For all we know, it could provide them with
just the excuse they want.'

Someone asked,
'Excuse for what?'

I replied, 'An
excuse to dispose of us.'

The silence
that followed merged with the darkness that covered the room.

Abozi asked me
quietly, ‘How are you brother?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘I visited you
in hospital two days ago. It looked like you were going to die. I
got those lazy female attendants to wash you, for what that was
worth. Then, before I could go back to see how you were, they
grabbed me and threw me into this place.’

‘Don’t worry
about me. I’m fine.’

Abozi squeezed
my knee, which was about the only part of me that he could reach in
our cramped positions, and muttered gruffly, ‘Good to see you,
brother!’ Then he chuckled ironically and said, ‘You should be able
to get all the rest that you need in here, eh?’

It was only
about an hour after sunset and already the chill was beginning to
seep into my limbs. I asked, 'Has anyone got a blanket?'

Someone said,
'Ask Denga. He's got two. Isn't that so, Denga?'

There was a
muttered curse before a voice said resentfully, 'All right, here it
is. Pass it to Jina.'

I wrapped the
blanket around myself and wriggled my way down the wall, pushing my
legs forward to find out how much space I had. The answer was: not
much. I had to lie with my legs bent at the knees and with my
shoulders hunched. The floor was hard and cold. It was going to be
a long, restless, uncomfortable night. Worse still, there were
likely to be many more nights like this. My thoughts were as
cheerless as the darkness that covered the room.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN: THE WASTELAND

Three months
later, I was standing at the mouth of a cave in the mountains that
overlook the desert that fringes the northern parts of Lower
Keirine. I took a drink from a water flask and laid out my
breakfast on a flat rock. Bread, cheese and figs -- it wasn't much,
but, in the words of the proverb, bread and cheese in freedom are
much better than a four-course meal in a prison cell. I cut a piece
of cheese, laid it on a slice of bread, and sat back to watch the
sunlight seep across the plain. As always, I marveled at how the
harsh contours of the wasteland soften with the hues and shadows
that come with the rising sun.

Sharma joined
me. I nodded towards the plain and said, 'The desert has two
seasons.'

'Yes, my
friend, I know -- sunrise and sunset.' He grinned at me
companionably.

I said, 'Bread,
cheese and figs again. Isn't it time we had a change of menu? How
about beefsteak with dumplings, gravy, and fresh vegetables for
dinner?'

Sharma replied,
'Some new recruits should be arriving today. I hope they'll bring
supplies with them.'

'Beefsteak and
fresh vegetables?'

'I can't
promise that. Maybe they'll only bring some more cheese and bread
flour.' Sharma laid a hand on my shoulder. 'Enjoy your breakfast,
comrade. I'll see you later.'

Two weeks
earlier, we had still been prisoners in Koraina. Then, one day, we
were hustled out of our cells and were marched northwards under
heavy guard. Along the way, three more groups of prisoners joined
us. They were all soldiers, they had all been imprisoned at about
the same time as we had been, and they were all from Lower Keirine.
When the last group joined us, there were more than five hundred
men in the column.

At mid-day on
the second day, we reached a small town that lay close to the
southernmost part of Lower Keirine. There we were herded into the
town square and ordered to sit down. After about two hours, a
messenger arrived from the south and the guard commander and a
detachment of men moved to the northern edge of the square. Then,
suddenly, Sharma appeared, accompanied by some armed men. We set up
a shout, greeting Sharma, complaining about our plight, and
demanding to be released. Sharma waved at us, as if telling us to
be patient. He talked to the commander of the guard, nodded, and
then gestured to the lane behind him. Mecolo appeared, riding a
horse and dressed resplendently in a travelling cape and a flowing
gown.

The guards
freed a group of about thirty prisoners, separating them from the
rest of us like a flock of sheep and driving them down the lane
behind Sharma. Soon the same men returned, carrying arms, to stand
at Sharma's side. Sharma nodded to Mecolo, who shook her head
vehemently and drew away from him. He took hold of her horse's rein
and talked to her quietly while she continued to protest. Mecolo
looked as unhappy as Sharma was insistent but finally she yielded
to Sharma's persuasion and they walked forward to meet the
commander of the guard. He took the reins and led Mecolo around the
side of the square and back down the road by which we had entered
the town. Mecolo sat on her horse rigidly, staring straight ahead,
with her face hard-set in unhappy resentment. She didn't even look
back at Sharma.