DANUSHIKI

CHAPTER TWENTY

The next day, he wore a white woven robe, while his neck adorned with six white coral necklaces of different varieties. The necklaces made him resemble a traditional Shaingwan priest in the midst of the warriors who patrolled his palace. He contemplated going to his personal chamber to ask ‘them’ some questions and clear his troubled mind. Later, he decided against it and sat on the large bamboo stool that was placed on a large stone slab which served as the throne.

In Shaingwa, everyone was treated as equal, making no room for any form of discrimination whatsoever. Moments later, while adjusting the broad brass and coral beads belt he wore, he beckoned one of the warriors around the palace. The warrior was thereafter given several instructions pertaining to a meeting later that afternoon with all the ex-warriors in Darjer’s age-grade on the island.

The warrior didn’t bother to ask Sharkoti what the intended meeting was all about when he’d heard the last word from his mouth. The next moment, he bowed his head, disappeared out of the palace to gather twenty messengers and relay the High Chief’s instruction to them. Immediately each messenger understood what had been said he went in a different direction from the rest to start disseminating the information. Darjer and several ex-warriors like himself knew they would not get any satisfactory answer should they attempt to inquire about the purpose of the meeting. Notwithstanding, some of them still asked the messengers out of curiousity. They weren’t surprised when the messengers shrugged, before taking their leave.

The moment the messenger left Darjer’s compound, He sat on a small stool and held his chin in both hands while breathing deeply. The ‘thing’ he’d always feared, which was as a result of his compassionate folly had finally come. This ‘thing’ which lacked any name or definition had finally berthed at his doorstep. This thing which the sacred grove gave him a hint of six years ago had finally come. He shuddered while recollecting those gory images, especially of Ziali aiming with the spear at the fair stranger, and his subsequent action to prevent him.

If his end was near, he knew that of his son was still far off. He remembered how he thought of his son on a daily basis, and how it sometimes brought hope to his troubled mind. Like a helpless chick in the grip of a hungry kite, the messengers had taken away his appetite. Darjer’s appetite was ‘rescued’ about two hours later, when Danushiki (Jnr.) dropped a morsel of bean cake onn his white woven cloth. He sat down eating with the little boy opposite him, while his wife sat three meters away from them arranging some clothes. Babies, (according to Darjer) seemed to possess a strange power of persuasion. Darjer believed that no sane adult could refuse a ‘request’ from them no matter how hard he or she tried. This was especially when your gaze met with those big innocent eyes of theirs.

When he’d finished eating, he walked to where Harshiri sat and watched her intently humming an inaudible tune.

“I thought you were not going to eat?” she began without raising up her head.

“You and Sarme knew what you were doing by leaving Danushiki (Jnr.) with me while I ate my lunch. Looking at those happy eyes of his, I had no choice but to start eating”.

Harshiri stopped what she was doing and turned to face her husband, whose attention was still on the little boy.

“What is going on?” she whispered.

“What do you mean?” Harshiri now had his full attention while a slight frown soon appeared on Darjer’s face.

“I mean…the messengers who came here to inform you of a message about an emergency meeting”. Darjer only smiled and imagined Ziali gazing at him.

“The messengers said nothing concerning the purpose of the meeting…I believe the High Chief will tell us when we eventually meet”. He looked at Haarshiri’s puzzled face before he continued.

“It’s in times like this I wished I’d allowed your cousin to do what he’d wanted to do”.

 Harshiri only smiled as she remembered her sadistic cousin, who was now a fisherman. She moved closer to him, rubbing the side of his face with her right hand. He broke from her grip the next moment, held her shoulders firmly while the unconcerned baby played with the clothes Harshiri had been working on some moments ago.

“I’m not, and I’ll never be afraid of death. I don’t remember making any promise to protect anybody if Shaingwa is ever attacked. Strangely, the three of you are the most important individuals to be protected in Shaingwa as far as I’m concerned”.

Sarme who’d been washing some clothes outside, came in at that moment and stopped in her tracks as she beheld the heart-warming scene in front of her. Darjer, for reasons only he knew, had never told Harshiri the latter part of the prophecy concerning the transformation of their son into a statue. It wasn’t necessary as far as he was concerned, since it was bound to be seen (and heard) by all Shaingwans when it eventually happened.

Though she was scared by what Darjer had been saying, Sarme didn’t show it, rather concentrated her gaze on her baby boy who cared less about her presence. She soon walked towards him, placed him on her thighs and began to remove imaginary specks of dirt on his hair.

“I want you to promise me something”, Darjer whispered to Harshiri while holding her hand in his.

“Promise you what”, she responded looking confused.

“That you’ll do your best to protect him whatever it takes…”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about my love…but if you tell us we can bear it, please”.

“I inquired of nothing and was told nothing, but do you promise me?”

“Yes I promise”. Sarme who’d been looking more confused than Harshiri moments ago, finally spoke as Darjer and his wife focused turned to look in her direction.

“From what you just said, does that mean there’s a terrible war coming, or I’ll never see my love again?”

Danushiki (Jnr.) seemed to be interested in playing with his mother’s mammary glands at the moment, though they were firmly held by a woven wrapper. The woven wrapper flowed from her chest to her heels and its colour complemented Sarme’s necklace and bangles. Darjer, stared at his daughter-in-law’s breasts for a split second, while listening to Sarme’s question. They were slightly bigger than they were that fateful night, when she’d come with her parents, after her pregnancy had been discovered.

“The fact is, we all have instincts, and everything you heard me say are results of my instincts…and nothing more. You’re like a daughter to me and I cannot deceive you, because if I do, I’ll be like a man deceiving his own flesh and blood. The gods and goddesses of Shaingwa will not fail us, they haven’t failed us for ages, and I don’t believe they’d start now…”

“What about Danushiki?” she interrupted while looking at Harshiri, who as she’d expected, was suddenly interested in their conversation.

“Danushiki’d be fine”, Darjer began confidently, “I strongly believe he will, and in about six months, you’ll be together with him”.

Darjer felt like slapping himself for making the last statement. He knew by virtue of the sacred grove’s prophecy, Sarme could only be back with Danushiki after a war had been fought and won. Nevertheless, he wasn’t a prophet, and the happenings of the future were known only by their gods and goddesses. Shaingwans could only hope and pray to these gods and goddesses for strength to withstand any unpleasant future occurrences. Minutes later, the trio joked and laughed among themselves as if nothing serious had been said. Darjer talked absentmindedly as his mind was engulfed in anxiety over what was going to be discussed at Sharkoti’s emergency meeting.

The cold evening air blew around the four of them while they conversed in low tones. They paced quietly around the statue of a crusader atop a horse. It was on very rare occasions like this that the Queen stood while talking in a meeting. Although the palace guards knew about the meeting, it was only the four of them that were privy to the meeting’s agenda.

Their heavy coats and silk shirts notwithstanding, the effect of the cold weather was visible on each of them, with the exception of the Queen. Her face was well plastered with cold powder, alongside a heavy fur scarf draped around her neck. She was dressed in a large pink gown, white dainty shoes, a small crown and modest jewelry. In the dim light which shone from the flaming torches on the palace walls, the figures could well be described as the Queen and her thugs.

She desperately wanted the ‘meeting’ to be done with, so she could go into the warm palace for a cup of tea.

“You all know we’ve been through this a thousand times”, she began through her nose. She interlocked her fingers, and stared at the men one after the other.

“We understand fully well”, said the first man who acted as their leader. His name was Admiral John Robertson, a ruthless naval officer, known all over the Empire as a loyal (and treacherous) servant of Her Majesty. He had the reputation for always carrying out Her Majesty’s orders, no matter how perverse or morally unacceptable they seemed. The second man who was the Queen’s son was yet to speak since the meeting commenced. He maintained a scowl on his handsome face, and smoothened his dark hair endlessly with his right hand. She took two steps towards her son, and walked back to the statue.

“We’ve all known General Kenneth Whyte to be a loyal soldier for the Empire. His dangerous ambition will do nothing but wreck the Empire if ‘something’ is not done immediately. My son has been following his trail for years, and we all know as a fact that General Whyte has been making serious plans for the throne…”

“I wish I could just tear his ambitious heart out…” The Prince fumed under his breath, ‘forgetting his manners’ for a moment, before his mother hushed him.

“Patience my dear, patience… the General won’t live one more hour the moment he arrives here with all the diamond he can grab. He’d be tortured into a confession in the royal dungeon…”

“What about the map?” Admiral Robertson cut in. The Queen gave a wicked grin, before proceeding to answer him.

“He never allowed anybody to see the map, not even I the Queen. This goes to show that he had his plan perfected to the latter. He’d be tortured into a confession alongside his co-conspirators when they all arrive”.

When the other men asked her who the other co-conspirators were, she simply said that they were undoubtedly the captains and soldiers who’d travelled with him.

“He already knew how much of everything he was going to need. He already knew how many soldiers, ships, weapons… everything in their respective amounts and proportions”.

She breathed deeply and didn’t even realize when her son held her in his arms and begged her to calm down.

“An army of ten thousand would be placed on standby around the ports to finish them off the moment they arrive with my diamonds”. She released herself from her son’s grip and continued with her ‘controlled’ rage.

“I can’t believe it. After all these years and all the love and respect shown him by the Empire, this is how he tries to repay the Empire. A General attempting to deprive the Empire of a rightful successor in the future… unforgivable”.

“So it is agreed, that upon arrival from his quest the General dies”. Admiral Robertson spoke solemnly, trying to look serious while watching the Prince adjust his mother’s crown.

“The diamonds will be handed over to the royal family, while the soldiers who went with him will be charged for treason and publicly quartered”. He suppressed a yawn before continuing.

“The captains… they’ll be hung for assisting an enemy of the Crown”.