Storms of the Forest

by Dele Daniel

  “I am the Right Hand of thechief,” Leni said, self-importantly. All eyes turned to him as he proudly made his way over to Prince, stopping to stand boldly at his side, his eyes flashing excitedly.

  “Prince?” I said, looking toward my brother and waiting for an explanation.

  Prince gave a curt nod. “You heard him,” Prince said simply, and then looked from me to Remington. “Leni is the Right Hand of the Chief. He will assist me in all matters concerning my rulership. And he is also the new leader of the Hawks.”

  Prince’s words floated heavily through the air, and I noticed for the first time just how confident he looked. Gone was my shy and timid little brother, and in his place stood a young man that I barely recognized. How had he changed, again, so drastically in just a couple of days?

  Yet, I already knew the answer to that as I stared at Leni, standing so proudly beside Prince. I clenched my jaw, annoyed and wondering what nonsense he had been filling my brother’s head with during my brief absence. Prince was quickly growing up, but he was clearly still too impressionable for his own good.

  Or maybe it was just that Leni was too convincing and conniving for his own good. He’d probably known exactly what to say to Prince to get in his head . . .

  I balled my fists at my sides and glanced back at my parents.

  While I was gone, what the hell had they been up to? How could they have let this foolishness happen? I wanted to call a family meeting right then and there, but Prince began speaking again, his voice so clear and confident that it immediately commanded the attention of everyone in the room.

  “There are other changes as well,” Prince announced, looking at me, Remington, and Zane. “There needs to be more organization and division within this movement. So I have decreed that all female Hawk members will now solely take care of domestic matters.”

  “Mostly cooking and cleaning,” Leni chimed in with a smug smirk, as if Prince’s words needed translation. Perhaps my dumbstruck expression had made him assume I wasn’t comprehending Prince’s statements.

  “Meanwhile, the men will prepare for war,” Prince resumed. “We’re going to take over Black Forest and build a fortress around it.”

  Remington and I exchanged stupefied glances.

  CHAPTER 15

  Livid. I was positively livid. In all my years and after all I’d recently been through, this was somehow the most upset I could ever remember being. I guess it was because I could force myself to handle whatever came my way, but it was a different story when my family was being messed with. And as I stood there, listening to such preposterous words coming out of my little brother’s mouth, I knew someone was messing with him, manipulating his thoughts. Putting him in danger of losing himself and disrupting the development of the man he was supposed to become.

  The mere thought sent bile rising in my throat as I exchanged glances with Remington yet again. His brow was lowered and there was tension in the way he held his mouth. Of course he couldn’t have possibly felt as betrayed as I did, for Prince was my brother, not his. Still, he’d known Prince for a long time, and Prince had always looked up to Remington to some degree. So I knew Remington felt quite stung too.

  He came to my side, shaking his head slightly as if he was also lost for words. He swallowed and turned his gaze to my parents as the Hawk members in attendance began filing out the house, the meeting adjourned.

  “Can we speak with you?” Remington said to my parents.

  My father gave a single nod, and then Remington and I followed him and my mother farther back into the safehouse, away from as many prying ears as possible.

  I looked from Mother to Father, my blood practically boiling. “What the . . . what . . . how?” I stammered incoherently.

  Father sighed, knowing what I was trying to say even if I couldn’t get the words out. “You have to understand that in your absence,” he looked at me and Remington, “a whole lot changed very quickly. Too quickly for anyone to do anything to stop it. The very second you left, Leni saw an opportunity to get into Prince’s head, and he did. He wasted no time taking advantage of the situation, and in the process, he won Prince’s trust.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes for an instant. Father and I had always had our fair share of disagreements, and the same could occasionally be said for me and Mother. But never had I felt this let down by my parents before. Not even back when Father had so harshly criticized my decision to attend Promenade. This was on a different level entirely.

  I swallowed, trying my absolute best to keep my voice steady now that I finally had the words to articulate myself. “All I want to know,” I said slowly, “is how you could sit back and watch someone brainwash my brother like that. Your child!”

  A long stretch of silence passed between us. Father’s eyes flashed dangerously at me, indicating just how I’d offended him. But I didn’t care.

  When he spoke, his voice was low and stern. “Do you honestly think I didn’t try to stop it? You speak as if you think I’m all right with this. But as my daughter, Genesis, you should be smarter than that.”

  There was a retort on my tongue, wanting to point out that as his son, Prince should have been smarter than to get bamboozled by someone like Leni, and that his parenting skills clearly left a lot to be desired. But even through my anger, I knew such a comment was undeserved, and I didn’t dare give voice to it.

  The way Father looked at me, though, he knew something was on my mind that I wasn’t saying. “Prince,” he resumed, taking advantage of my silence, “he’s been different for a while now.” He paused, his lips tugging downward into a frown. “He doesn’t really listen to what I say anymore.”

  In my periphery, I saw Remington shifting uneasily. The ensuing silence seemed to make him regret being there, hearing what felt like such a personal confession from my father. I also shifted uncomfortably on my feet, a twinge of sympathy seeping through my anger at my father. I had rarely considered things from his perspective, but I imagined it had to be tough as a parent when your own children didn’t listen to you. Father had gone through this far too recently with me, back when I’d been so naive and against the Hawk rebellion. And now, he was struggling with Prince.

  He’d gone from one misguided child to another.

  I swallowed, considering whether my own rebellious behavior, particularly toward Father, had encouraged Prince in any way.

  Didn’t he understand this was entirely different though?

  Or was I becoming the kind of big sister who lived by the motto, “Do as I say, not as I do”?

  I shook my head, trying to shake away my own guilt as I reminded myself that my behavior had been completely different from Prince’s. After all, I hadn’t been brainwashed.

  Or had I?

  When I’d been so hell-bent on staying loyal to the capital, refusing to see the error in the king’s ways despite my father and Remington begging me to see differently, hadn’t that been a form of being brainwashed? The whole reason I’d initially been chosen to attend Promenade was to reward my loyalty and obedience toward a king who didn’t deserve it.

  I grimaced, not wanting to think of it that way because if Prince shared just a quarter of my stubbornness, none of us would be able to pull him out of his current state; he would have to find his own way out. He was still so young though, so impressionable and naive—it could take a long time for him to come to his senses.

  “Prince isn’t brainwashed.” Mother spoke for the first time, breaking the silence. Father, Remington, and I all looked at her. She took a deep breath, her mouth stern and her eyes sad.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  She smiled, though it too looked sad. “You have to understand, this is your brother’s way of showing his father that he’s a man now. It may not seem like it, but he’s not disobeying his father’s wishes just for the sake of it. He’s trying to win his respect.”

  I shook my head in disbelief and gave a mirthless laugh. “No. He’s
not . . . He wouldn’t . . . I mean, come on! Would he really go this far just to prove a point to Dad?”

  I looked back to Father, wondering if he believed Mother’s excuse for Prince’s behavior. Yet, he remained silent, his gaze distant as if he had mentally checked out of the conversation. Beside me, Remington sighed and turned around, his back facing us as he prepared to walk away, having concluded that this was very much a family discussion that he shouldn’t partake in.

  I looked back to Mother. She gave me that same sad smile again. Frustration bubbling inside of me, I almost wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake it off her face.

  Undoubtedly noting my frustration, she reached out and gently squeezed my shoulder. “Like I told you before, a lot has changed with Prince. You don’t know him quite as well as you once used to. He’s a growing boy. You’re young, Genesis. There’s a lot you don’t know about the ways of boys. The ways of men.”

  I clenched my teeth, offended, but also wondering if Mother was right in her assessment.

  ***

  My restlessness made the night drag by excruciatingly slowly—that was until the sun rose and I actually began to feel tired. Nevertheless, my tiredness quickly dissipated when I began noticing all the movement and commotion surrounding the safehouse. I woke, catching snippets of conversation and realizing the Hawks were about to go for training.

  I quickly rose from my pad on the floor, in search of my brother.

  I didn’t care what he said. I wasn’t going to miss this training, especially not when they were going to be using weapons that I had helped acquire.

  I stepped outside into the brisk morning air, spotting Prince standing just beyond the entrance as if keeping an eye on things. Leni, of course, stood nearby, as if his presence was needed.

  I approached Prince, studying the stern look on his face that was so unlike any expression he’d ever worn as a little boy. An overwhelming sadness suddenly came over me. How I longed for simpler times, when my brother had been a happy child with little to worry about and few responsibilities.

  Back when he’d had any troublemakers in his ear, steering him wrong and hindering his judgment.

  “Good morning, Prince,” I said, plastering a smile onto my face as I stopped beside him. His glance flickered toward me, unreadable. “Morning, Genesis.”

  I kept my eyes trained on him even though I could feel Leni’s piercing gaze, watching like the creep that he was. “So, training is about to begin?” I said, keeping my voice casual.

  Prince merely nodded, although I saw something flicker in his face.

  “Mind if I go? I’d like to get an idea of how those guns work. What sense is there in finding them if I can’t work them, right?” I said, hoping it wasn’t lost on him that the whole reason we’d acquired them was because of me.

  Prince briefly looked back to me, his brow furrowed.

  “Didn’t you hear what the chief said?”

  Staring at Prince so intently, I had almost managed to forget Leni’s presence. It was disorienting to see Prince’s mouth not moving but to hear a voice speaking on his behalf.

  I closed my eyes for a second, exasperated, and then slowly turned toward Leni, seeing him making his way over to us. It was hard for me not to sneer at his haughty gait.

  Keep calm, Genesis, I told myself. I cleared my throat. “Excuse me, but I was talking to my brother.”

  “Well, as his right hand,” Leni said, “talking to him is the same as talking to me. And judging from the topic of your conversation, you really don’t have anything to say to him in the first place.”

  I seriously contemplated whether I could get away with slapping the daylights out of Leni. Would he hit me back? I looked him up and down, taking in his size and debating how much a retaliation blow from him could possibly hurt.

  Prince shifted beside me, redirecting my attention. My brother had changed an awful lot, but in that moment, I knew that he could still sense the direction of my thoughts, at least. And evidently, he didn’t want me starting a fight with Leni.

  I sighed. Though I thought the whole thing was ridiculous, I decided that it might work to my advantage to play along. I cleared my throat again and took a deep breath. Turning away from Leni, I faced Prince. “May I speak with you alone, my chief?”

  Prince blinked, clearly taken aback by the way I had addressed him. In that brief moment, I saw a flash of the boy I knew to be my brother.

  “Whatever you want to say to him, you can say in front of me,” came Leni’s obnoxious voice, interrupting the moment.

  Never before in my life did I need to pray for patience so badly. Now wasn’t going to be the time though. I rounded on Leni, no longer able to control my temper. “How about you mind your own damned business?” I growled.

  “Whatever you say to the chief is my business,” he said, his voice low and cold.

  “News flash,” I said, stepping into his sneering face, “he has been my brother for his whole entire life! I’d say that drastically overshadows the short amount of time he’s been your king! So if I want to speak to him alone, as his sister, I have every right to, and you’ve got another thing coming if you think you can do anything about it!”

  “If the chief wants to speak to you alone, he’ll decide that for himself!” Leni shouted.

  “If that’s the case, then shut up! How can he decide anything with you constantly speaking for him?!”

  “STOP IT!” Prince yelled, bringing Leni and I both to a halt. Leni had just been about to make a retort when we both wound up freezing and turning toward Prince instead.

  My heart dropped. Gone was the brief flash of familiarity I’d seen in him not long ago. He had returned to that guy I didn’t quite recognize anymore. He looked back and forth between me and Leni for an instant before settling on Leni. “Leave us,” he said.

  “My king?” Leni said, his eyes wide with surprise.

  “I said, leave us,” Prince repeated more firmly, his voice momentarily sounding uncannily like Father’s.

  Leni swallowed and took a slight bow. “As you wish, my king,” he said. And then he turned around to retreat but not before casting one last hateful glance at me.

  I released a deep breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Maybe some of the Prince I knew was still there after all; it was just like him to not tolerate someone yelling at his big sister.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “For what?” he asked, not quite meeting my eyes.

  I wanted to say for finally choosing me over Leni but thought that may have been too dramatic. So I just pressed my lips together and took another deep breath. “Look, Prince,” I began, “I know a lot has changed. You . . . you grew so much during the time that I was away. During the time Dad and I both were away. Mom has been around to know this, but it’s going to take time for me and Dad to see it. Regardless, though, no matter how much time away we spend from you, we’ll always only want the best for you. And we’ll always hope you’ll be the best that you’re capable of being . . .”

  He glanced at me from the corners of his eyes, no doubt wondering where I was going with my sentimental speech.

  “I just want you to remember who you are,” I said after a pause. “That-That law . . . that law you made against women—it’s completely at odds with who you are. With who we are as a family. Prince, you’ve known me and Mom your whole life. How could you even come up with something so sexist? This isn’t you, Prince. Don’t let a bully like Leni dictate what you think and feel and say. I promise you, your own thoughts and ideas are far better than anything he can come up with. And if you need guidance, he shouldn’t be the one you turn to. You know you can count on—”

  “Enough, Genesis,” Prince said, cutting me off. He turned to look me square in the eyes, exasperated. “This is precisely the problem,” he said. “You don’t know who I am. You never did. All you, Mom, and Dad have ever done is control my life without ever bothering to find out how I feel! None of you ever consider w
hat I want! You just try to do everything for me, or expect me to go along with whatever you come up with! I’m tired of it!”

  I tried to swallow back the tears I felt forming in my eyes. “Prince, come on. You know that’s not—”

  “You’re doing it again right now!” he yelled angrily. “Look at you. You’re standing here, trying to tell me right as we speak that what I’ve just said isn’t even true! How can you stand here and discredit what I’ve been experiencing my whole life?”

  “Prince—"

  “No matter what, you still want to be overprotective. You still want to control everything when it comes to me. Well, not anymore. You need to accept that I am the king of Black Forest. That means my word is law of the Arnazuri, period. So no—you cannot go to the Hawk training. As a matter of fact, you won’t be joining any of the Hawk battles. So just get that through your head, because that’s the way it’s going to be.”

  I stared at Prince, gaping and feeling myself beginning to tremble. The tears forming in my eyes were no longer from sorrow over what had become of my brother; they were from rage. Unable to stand being in his presence another second, I turned around and stormed off.

  CHAPTER 16

  I made my way over to the corner and slumped against the wall, my arms crossed.

  Another meeting had been called into session, although this one was noticeably different than all the others. All around, there were nothing but women. The men were busy training while we had been left behind.

  My eyes landed on my mother. She gestured for me to join her, but I stayed put, still furious over my encounter with Prince and not interested in hearing any more of her excuses for his behavior.

  Averting my gaze, I looked around at the rest of the women present before one in particular caught my eye. Much like myself, she stood off to the side and simply observed everyone, taking it all in. She was extremely heavyset, practically obese. I shamefully found myself thinking there probably wasn’t much she could do but look around; it seemed that even the smallest movements were probably tough for her. Being from the Arnazuri tribe, I couldn’t help wondering how she had gotten into that condition. There had never exactly been an abundance of food in our community. Then again, I supposed some kind of health issue could have been the underlying cause for her weight.