The Blood-stained Belt (5 page)

At mid-morning
on the following day, Vaxili was crowned King of Keirine.

CHAPTER
THREE: A FAVOUR

About a month
later, I was on the road that led southwards from Osicedi towards
Upper Keirine. After the recent rains, it was pleasant to sit on
the box of the swaying wagon enjoying the rich aromas of the
countryside while looking across the swaying backs of the oxen at
the pastures and the hills that fringed the valley. Suddenly,
someone grasped my arms from behind. I nearly jumped off my seat in
shock. Bandits? As I flashed a look over my shoulder, a voice said,
'Keep calm! It's only me.'

I could have
shouted out in relief. Instead I said, 'Damn you, Sharma! You
scared me. What are you doing here?'

Sharma crawled
out from amongst the bales and scrambled onto the seat next to me
where he dusted himself off, looked around warily, and asked, 'Are
we alone?'

'Except for a
team of oxen -- yes, we're alone.’

Still looking
around warily, Sharma said edgily, 'I need your help.'

'If you wanted
a ride, or whatever, you could have asked me straight out! You
didn't have to skulk in the back of the wagon like a thief.'

Sharma
hesitated, settled back, and said confidentially, 'I'm in
trouble.'

'What sort of
trouble?'

'I guess you
could call it woman trouble.'

'Let me guess
-- trouble with Roda?' Sharma nodded morosely and I said, 'I'm not
surprised.'

'Man, Jina,
don't take that tone with me! I'm sick and tired of hearing
it.'

'Then maybe
you'd better explain what's going on.'

I had good
reason for saying that I wasn't surprised. Roda had turned into a
robust and shapely young woman with hips that swayed more
extravagantly than was required for ordinary forward motion and
eyes that roved more than was necessary for plain eyesight. With
her vitality, flashing glances, bubbly laugh, and low-cut gowns,
Roda could make any man itch with desire. Furthermore, to add to
her charms, as the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in
Osicedi she was quite a catch. However, people observed knowingly
that, fast as a man would have to be to catch Roda, he would have
to be super-alert to keep her. They also said that Roda was the
sort of young woman who could have just about any man that she
wanted. Then they winked and added that in fact that was exactly
what happened.

Sharma's story
was simple and predictable. As everyone knew, he got involved with
Roda about four months earlier. I saw it happening and, like a lot
of people, I never could understand why he took up with her. Sharma
was good looking and well built, with quick intelligence and an
easy manner. His generosity and easy-going nature blunted the envy
even of those who resented the fact that they weren't as gifted as
he was. Men respected Sharma and women liked him. In short, Sharma
didn't have to compromise his reputation and peace of mind by
taking up with a flighty woman like Roda. He could have had just
about any eligible woman that he wanted and, what was more, he
could have had her in the honourable way.

Sharma
hesitated before he said, 'Roda's father is after my blood.'

I grunted. It
was too predictable. I said, 'Now you're going to tell me that Roda
is pregnant?'

'No. Not that I
know of, anyway.'

'Ah! That's a
relief! But the fact is that she could well have been. Not so?'

Sharma said
sulkily, 'That's no business of yours.'

'You make your
trouble my business but I shouldn't ask for details, eh? Is that
how it is?'

Sharma couldn't
meet my eyes when I looked at him. After a while, head averted, he
asked in the same sulky voice, 'Are you going to help me or
not?'

'Help you sight
unseen? No ways!' I jumped down from the seat, walked to the rear
of the wagon and took a drink from the water flask. Then I strolled
beside the wagon, whistling. Damn Sharma! Did he think I was one of
his household servants, to be used just as he desired? However,
even as I affected nonchalance, I was curious. But I wasn't going
to let Sharma think that he could rely on me for assistance while
he told me only what suited him. He would have to address me openly
and honestly, man to man, or he wouldn't have my co--operation.

Sharma began to
whistle as well, trying to out-nonchalance me. After a while, the
oxen began to stray from the road and I had to climb back on the
box to set them straight. Sharma and I sat there next to each
other, whistling and affecting to ignore each other. The wagon
lurched and Sharma bumped against me. I clicked my tongue in
annoyance. Sharma did the same but more emphatically. I shoved him
with my elbow and he reciprocated. After more elbowing and shoving,
he caught my eye and grinned. Then we started laughing. I never
could be angry with Sharma for long. It was always like that and,
in spite of everything, it’s much the same even today.

I said, 'Hey, I
can't stand any more of your whistling. Just tell me whatever you
want me to know and do it in your own way.'

Sharma pursed
his lips, took a deep breath, and muttered, 'You were right.'

'About what
could have been?'

He nodded and
continued, 'That's what caused the problem. She told her father
that I had -- well, you know, that we had done what -- you know --
what you said --'

'She told her
father that you slept together?' Sharma nodded morosely. I asked,
'Why in the name of Zabrazal would she do a thing like that?'

Sharma bit his
lip and said in a thin voice, 'She wants to marry me.'

'Ah! What a
surprise! So, if I've got this right, she goes to her father and
says, Papa, dear Papa, Sharma has slept with me. I'm a ruined
woman. Now there's only one way for me to salvage what remains of
my virtue and that's for Sharma to marry me. Am I right?'

Sharma
muttered, 'You've got it.'

'Can't you just
pay compensation and keep the whole thing quiet?'

Sharma shook
his head morosely and grunted, 'They won't accept it.'

I sat back and
thought about the matter. Right now, Sharma was completely in the
hands of Roda's family. If they wouldn't accept compensation, then
according to law he had to marry her. If he didn't do that, then he
could be imprisoned or sent into exile. The law was pretty strict
when it came to protecting the rights of violated women – or,
perhaps more correctly, it was pretty strict when it came to the
rights of violated fathers.

While the oxen
jogged along and the wagon creaked and swayed, I put my mind to the
question of how to extricate Sharma from his predicament. After a
while I asked, 'Are you the only man that she's slept with?' Sharma
gave me a wondering look as if I had asked him if the sun rose in
the east. I said, 'All right, I was just checking. But don’t you
see -- that's the way out for you?’

‘How come?’

‘It’s simple.
You just have to get someone else to admit that they've done the
same and you're off the hook.'

Sharma replied
despondently, 'More easily said than done.' I grunted, still
thinking the matter through. Sharma continued, 'Do you think that
someone will just step forward and say, Hey, here I am – I slept
with Roda?’ Sharma snorted. ‘Anyway, I can't go back to Osicedi.
Her father is a madman. He wants to beat me up and then haul me
into the temple to marry Roda. He has his workers out looking for
me right now.'

I couldn't help
grinning when I asked, 'Are you sure they aren't coming down the
road after you?'

Sharma looked
around uneasily and said, 'No, I reckon I'm safe. No one saw me
getting into the wagon.'

We travelled in
silence for a while before I said, ‘I think I can fix it for
you.’

Once back in
Osicedi, after asking around I found someone who would admit to
having slept with Roda, against payment of a reward for being
prepared to make a sworn statement to that effect. At first,
Sharma's father exploded with anger at the thought of parting with
so much money. He roared that his damn-fool son could damn well
find his own damn way out of the hole that he had dug for himself.
However, after about ten minutes of roaring and raging, he calmed
down and agreed that it was better to pay the money than have his
son married to a woman of Roda's reputation and background. When
that was settled, I had a word with Roda. I pointed out to her that
if I took her former lover to a priest to make a statement, he
would have to do so in the presence of two witnesses. Not
surprisingly, her family abandoned its matrimonial claims on
Sharma.

Sharma stayed
away from Osicedi for a month while things cooled down. When he
returned, he said to me, 'You're a true friend. I'll never forget
what you did for me.' In gratitude, he gave me a leather belt,
broad and sturdy with a bronze buckle. Along the whole of its
length, the belt was engraved with a wonderfully intricate pattern
of mythical beasts intertwined in struggle. It wasn’t from Keirine;
it had the character of something foreign and fantastical. Someone
told me that the style of the belt showed that it was made in
Bakuel, a country that lay on the Great Plains somewhere far to the
south of Upper Keirine. Whatever the origin, it was the finest
piece of apparel that I had ever possessed. As I stood there lost
for words holding the belt to the light to view the craftsmanship,
Sharma chuckled and asked, ‘Do you like it?’ I nodded dumbly.
Sharma fitted the belt around my waist, stood back appraisingly,
and said, ‘Always wear it as a sign of our friendship.’

I murmured, 'I
will.' And I did, for almost all of the rest of my life.

CHAPTER FOUR:
THE CRADLE OF CHAMPIONS

Anyone who
tried to rule the fractious, tribalistic Nation of Keirine needed
to be both diplomatic and strong-minded. For instance, it was
commonly said in Keirine – and only partly with tongue in cheek –
that if the Dornites would only leave us alone we could get down to
the really serious business of falling out with each other. There
were enough rivalries, feuds and ancient insults to keep the pot
boiling interminably.

Vaxili had
enough sense to see that he had to put his stamp on the country as
soon as possible so he began his reign by visiting the major towns
of Keirine to introduce himself and his programmes. His style was
unusual, in the sense that when he arrived somewhere he refused
offers of accommodation and board for himself and his retinue.
Instead, he set up camp just outside the town and requested the
elders to provide him and his party with food and refreshments.

To most people,
this was a serious slighting of the hospitality that a visitor
should accept graciously. For instance, after Vaxili arrived in
Osicedi, my mother said disdainfully, ‘Is this the way for a king
to behave? I ask you – a king! He arrives with hardly any advance
notice, riding on a horse covered with ribbons. A horse! Since when
did we have horses in Keirine, I ask you! What's more, he sets up
camp outside town instead of staying in a decent house. Huh! Tell
me -- is that any way for a king to behave?’

My father
chuckled and asked, ‘How do you know how a king should behave?’

My mother
replied heatedly, ‘Oh, don’t get smart with me! You know as well as
I do that every dignitary who has ever visited Osicedi has arrived
on a donkey. It's customary, isn't it? Even the High Priest rides a
donkey when he enters a town. Not so? You think that a king should
be different?'

Vaxili’s
behaviour seemed to be paradoxical. On the one hand, he paraded
himself on a beribboned horse. On the other hand, he stayed in a
modest tent when he could have enjoyed the comforts of any one of
the finest houses in town. Later, when I gained better insights
into Vaxili's thinking, I saw that there was no contradiction. He
arrived on a fine horse because he wanted to impress people and he
stayed within his own encampment because he didn't trust anyone
outside of his own circle of officials and advisers, all of whom
came from his home region of Orifinre.

My mother
flapped a dishcloth dismissively and cried, ‘Well, he might think
just because he's king that he can act like Vaxili the High and
Mighty but he'll find that people in Osicedi aren't impressed by
his manners or his upbringing.’

My father just
sighed and shrugged.

Later Sharma
observed, ‘Vaxili should have become the guest of the town. As it
is, he’s confusing people and putting their backs up. What’s the
sense of doing that when he hasn't got any weight in his
belly?’

‘No weight?
He’s the king, man!’

‘He's a king
without a treasury, without an army, and without many supporters
outside his home base – don’t forget that.’ Sharma whirled his
sling, let fly and smiled in satisfaction as he hit his target. He
picked up a pebble, fitted it into the sling and said, 'If Vaxili
gets money, an army, and a lot more support then he can behave as
he chooses.’ Sharma stood back, eyed his target, and let fly again.
Plink! He smiled in satisfaction and offered the sling to me.

On the morning
after his arrival, Vaxili caused more dissatisfaction by demanding
that the elders should come to his quarters for an audience instead
of him going to them as was customary for a visitor. That
afternoon, he addressed the people of Osicedi in the town square.
Izebol, who was a member of the royal entourage, introduced Vaxili
and outlined the circumstances that had led to Vaxili being
anointed as king. He concluded his speech by saying that now that
Keirine had a king, the priests would no longer provide military
and political leadership. He said, ‘Zabrazal the Defender will act
through his anointed king.’ Then he added pointedly, 'But Zabrazal
the Righteous will speak through his priests as always.'

Vaxili stepped
forward, looking nervous and stroking his chin with one hand while
the other hand fiddled with the hilt of his sword. However, he
started well enough by praising Osicedi as the cradle that had
produced great men who had served Keirine well. After thanking the
town for its hospitality, he said, ‘Let me get down to business.
You all want to know what my program is and how it’s going to
affect you. Well, my program starts with two major tasks. The first
is to build up a sense of nationhood. Soon I will appoint a royal
advisory council that will represent all the tribes and regions of
Keirine.’