Love's Joy

by Emil Toth

  “I have known, Terchee, ever since I could remember. We were seventeen when we married. The only thing missing in our lives is a child. She has had two miscarriages. We are hopeful she will carry our next child to the end.”

  “So, you are happy?”

  “Yes. We actually fell in love long before we were married. I do not know why I waited an extra year before asking her to be my wife.”

  “Do you have married friends?”

  “We do. Besides Jacob and Pauli and their wives, Terchee has three ladies she grew up with and they are now married and we see them as well.”

  “What do you do when you get together?”

  “We usually share a meal, wine and talk and play guessing games afterward.”

  “Do your talks ever touch upon Creator?”

  “Rarely.”

  “Why not?”

  “I do not know. Maybe we want to relax and have fun. Creator is heavy talk.”

  “Did you always believe in Kaathi’s Creator?”

  “No. When I was young, Romir was High Priest. I did not like going to the religious services. The High Priest kept putting the fear of the gods into us. It was distasteful to me. When Romir died and Kiirt committed suicide, Kaathi became High Priest, and the sessions were no longer mandatory.

  “I knew she had talked King Edmund out of making war, and she had us visualize seeing the fire turn on itself and saved the village. Those occurrences made me curious what kind of person could do those things. I succumbed and attended one service she conducted, and I was hooked. It was easy to see how she could convince the king not to go to war.”

  “What are your thoughts about Jacob having multiple wives?”

  “I have mixed feelings about it. I would not consider taking another wife. I will say, since I have been attending the sessions and services conducted by Kaathi, I am opening up to a different way of looking at life and relationships. I imagine as my friendship with Kaathi continues my personal philosophy will keep changing.”

  “Are you looking forward to visiting Homar and Nubilon?”

  “Indeed. This kind of opportunity does not come often. It came and I jumped on it. The Homarians were an abusive tribe. Thankfully, the king is taking action to change the men by giving them the chance to attend classes about relationships. I do not know anything about the Nubilons, and I am more anxious about them. They must be a decent clan since Ashlee lived there as a child.”

  “We shall find out soon enough.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The travelers approached an area of the river Kaathi remembered to be dangerous from her last adventure. Pauli was in the bow of the dugout. “Pauli be wary of this area coming up. I recall this part of the river is a crossing place for zebra and the crocodiles congregate here in anticipation of them crossing.”

  “Thank you for the warning.”

  Soon after Kaathi’s warning, Pauli spotted the first croc lying on the bank of the river. Not long afterward he saw several others on the banks and in the water. Up ahead he saw a large one slip into the water and angle its way toward them.

  “We have one coming right at us,” he warned the others.

  Sharika spotted him. “I will try to discourage him.”

  Fortunately, for Sharika the animal did not submerge. The tactic puzzled her, and she took advantage of its stupidity.

  “Stop your rowing,” she sternly commanded.

  The croc came nearer at a steady and frightening pace.

  Both men obeyed her and the boat slowed and stopped. Before it was caught by the river current Sharika took advantage of the lull in movement. She timed its approach and fired off her first arrow. The croc’s reaction was proof of the arrow hitting its mark, which was its right eye. It snapped at the air. Its jaws a menacing sight to those in the dugout. The croc thrashed in the water and swam at them full speed. It opened its jaw wanting to snap at the canoe, and she sent another into its mouth. Its jaw clamped down on the dugout. Sharika and Kaathi were splattered with water from the monster croc’s rush. They leaned away from the open jaws to avoid being grabbed. Out of the corner of her eye, Sharika saw a blur of action. Pauli’s arm rushed past her with a hatchet. He drove it into the croc’s good eye. The croc reacted to the blow by bringing its tail to action. Its tail rose out of the water and swiped at Pauli. It fell short and he drove his hatchet into the croc’s eye again. This time the croc released the dugout and drove against the canoe with its snot. It rocked the dugout.

  “Paddle,” yelled Pauli.

  Sharika grabbed hers and stuck it in on the opposite side and frantically paddled. Sandor quickly drove his paddle into the water. They left the sightless croc thrashing about in the water searching for them. Other crocs sensing the old one was in trouble circled it, waiting for the opportunity to strike a death blow.

  They put every ounce of energy they had into their strokes to get away from the menacing crocs. The crocs did not pay much attention to them. They were more interested in the old croc bleeding and fighting for its life. Nervous sweat ran down the paddler’s bodies as they rowed furiously to safety. They cleared the danger zone and resumed paddling normally.

  Kaathi was the first to speak, “I think we need to take a break to rest and eat.”

  “I agree,” said Pauli and found a suitable place to make temporary camp. They drove the dugout aground, got out and pulled it further ashore. No one spoke until they had consumed fruit and dried meat.

  “Jacob told us you were an excellent shot,” said Sandor. “Putting an arrow in a moving croc’s eye is quite a feat. Thank goodness you and Pauli were able to hurt the huge croc enough for us to escape. We were fortunate we did not capsize. Those teeth marks on our dugout will verify our stories of our close call.”

  Sharika smiled. “I am glad I am a good shot. It has saved my life and the lives of friends during altercations with baboons.”

  “Were you afraid?”

  “I would be lying, if I said no. What about you?”

  Sandor grinned. “Let me check my shorts and I can tell you.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Days later Kaathi pointed to a clearing indicating she wanted to stop. They landed the canoe and pulled it ashore and unloaded what they needed for the stay. The men gathered firewood, returned and allowed Sharika to ignite the fire with her tools. They settled down and the inquisitive one, Ashlee, asked Kaathi, “The men usually choose where to stop. Why did you want us to camp here?”

  “This is where Jacob and I had our encounter with Leah and Isaac.”

  As they busied themselves making camp, Ashlee approached Kaathi, “Were you excited or scared when you met them?”

  “I was excited. It was my first encounter with a human, other than the Ancients, who could communicate mentally. I had to contain myself and not confuse or scare them.”

  “It had to have been staggering for Jacob to accept mutants were intelligent.”

  “He did have a hard time.” Kaathi smiled as she remembered the event.

  “Jacob was assigned to protect you, I cannot imagine what was going through his mind.”

  “Oh, he definitely had his defenses up. Even when they showed themselves he was distrustful. I could not blame him. Mutants and the Kahalis had been enemies for centuries. You have to remember these were Searchers not Wanderer mutants. We Normals, or non-mutants, never knew the difference between them. The Searchers never raided Kahali. They were a peaceful clan trying to survive the wars between the mutants and Normals. They kept being drawn into the fray because they were mutants. Isaac and Leah had recently lost their son in a battle and fled their homeland to seek a peaceful existence. They were the last of their tribe and knew they had to procreate to keep their clan alive.

  “We were together for several days and became friends. After I heard their story, I asked them to live with us in Kahali. They were skeptical. My promise to stand by their side and protect them had little effect. I had them stay behind at the campsite, while we went
on to Homar to bring Prince Zach back with us.”

  “Why did you not let Jacob fight Kaleez for the right to bring back the prince?”

  “I had promised Keri, Jacob would not shed a drop of blood on the trip. I did get a scratch as I dropped the shield and dripped blood onto the ground.”

  “The story is Kaleez was a giant and could have easily killed you. How did you prevent him from killing you?”

  “I was fortunate he was open to my love.”

  “All you did was love him?”

  “It was.”

  The group had gathered around and had listened to the women. Sandor spoke, “I am curious, was your mother like you? Did anything significant happen in her life? Did she encourage you in your endeavors?”

  Kaathi smiled. “She was similar to most of the girls and women in Kahali and was unlike me. She did give me free reign to wander my own path. It was my grandmother, Attar, who was out of the ordinary. Attar had quit going to the services the High Priests performed. Mother told me Attar’s parents, sister and brothers were praying for her to come back to the services and salvation. Her sister, Angelina, was praying for her to realize God. To Angelina, it did not matter how Attar attained realization. Do you see the difference in the two prayers?”

  “I think I do. The first prayer concerns peoples’ limiting beliefs. The second frees her to realize God or Creator. What little I know of the High Priests, they did not offer any hope of realizing God.”

  “You are right.

  Sandor’s mind switched to the current. “We know Homar is at peace with us, hopefully, we will be received peacefully in Nubilon.”

  “It is uncharted area we are entering after we leave Homar. We will need to be cautious,” advised Pauli. He stretched sleepily. “I suggest we all get to our berths in the trees and get some sleep for our next day’s journey.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Days later Kaathi recognized some landmarks and knew they were near Homar. She looked forward to seeing Renee and catch up on pertinent news. She had brought Sharika along to re-introduce her to Prince Zach. After how well she and Janos were getting along, she was not sure what was going to happen at the meeting.

  The lone drum announced their entrance into the patrolled area of Homar. The travelers showed their hands briefly and continued rowing. A short time later they came upon the throng awaiting them. The travelers drew near the crowd and recognized Renee and the other Kahali women and the lone man who left to marry a Homarian.

  The moment King Edmund’s warriors saw Kaathi they lowered their weapons. Some smiled and called her name, remembering she had saved their lives by talking to the king.

  Kaathi was greeted warmly by King Edmund, Queen Monika, secondary Queen Angela and her son Prince Zach as well as all the other secondary queens and children. Prince Lawrence was noticeably absent.

  “Kaathi, it is pleasant to see you again,” pronounced King Edmund. “You remember my family and my military leaders. We on the other hand do not recognize anyone, except for Jacob’s apprentice, whose name escapes me.”

  “Let me introduce my friends,” suggested Kaathi. She walked Edmund, Monika, Angela, Zach and the other royal family past each member of her party and introduced each one. King Edmund was hard pressed to release Ashlee’s hand, during the introductions. He had never seen any woman so breathtakingly lovely. He was sorry to hear she was Jacob’s wife. Had she not been, he would have instantly wooed her. Edmund lingered in front of Ashlee and gave her his best smile.

  Regaining his composure, he was again in front of Kaathi. He waved his servant, Edgar, over. “I presume you remember Edgar. He is now a free man and is a servant of mine.”

  “Of course I recall Edgar, he treated us with great respect.”

  Edgar smiled at the praise.

  “Edgar, would you make the arrangements for a sumptuous meal for the family and our guests? We will be dining in the lodge.”

  “It shall be done royally, King Edmund.”

  Edgar left and the king took Kaathi’s arm and led her to the meeting lodge where they could lounge and talk until the meal was prepared. He specifically selected the lodge so his subjects could see and hear what transpired. They arrived at the hall and Edmund directed the family to one side of the largest table and the Kahali party on the other side.

  Caleb waited for the king’s attention. “Edmund, I heard you also had a son, Lawrence. Is he on a trip?”

  “He is on a forced trip. I banished him from my kingdom. He and four of my military leaders attempted a coup.”

  Caleb’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. “Was anyone killed?”

  “Thankfully, no one. My daughter, Viola, saw Lawrence conspiring with one of my lieutenants and felt something was wrong and talked to Zach who confirmed it, and he asked Kaathi to confirm the coup. Armed with this information I confronted Lawrence and the four leaders. They confessed and I banned them and offered their families the choice to go with their husbands or stay. All of them stayed.”

  “What prompted the coup?”

  “The four leaders did not like the changes taking place due to the Relationship Sessions. Lawrence fancied himself as king after Zach and I were killed. Slavery was going to be reestablished upon my death, and the lieutenants were to get more land, wives and slaves.”

  Ashlee was curious. “How did you feel about your leaders and your son’s betrayal?”

  “Before my transformation, I would have been filled with rage and felt justified in having them whipped to death in the square for all to see. My feelings were much different. It broke my heart to know Lawrence was conspiring to kill me and Zach. It made me sad he and the others could not accept honoring women and give them justice, rights and equalities. They did not attend the sessions thus they did not know how to change. I am still trying to recover from the shock of it all. Having someone hate you to the point they want to kill you is sobering.”

  “I am glad to see you and the rest of your family are well and survived the coup,” added Ashlee.

  Edmund looked at Ashlee as she spoke and marveled at her beauty. It was a rarity to have a woman with her startling looks and ego free personality. There had to be a reason she had such concern and compassion.

  He waved his hand as if warding off a fly and directed his words to Kaathi. “We have talked enough about the coup. Ashlee is a beautiful woman and I surely would have remembered her had I seen her in Kahali. I assume there is a story connected to why I did not?”

  “You are correct. Ashlee escaped from the Wanderers two years ago. She had spent eighteen years there as a slave to a mutant named, Ezra. Jacob and I found her outside of Sumati near death.”

  A pang of shame hit Edmund. He easily imagined what the beastly mutants had done to her over the years. His heart went out to her. He wanted to smash Ezra’s face to a pulp for the atrocities and humiliation he had inflicted on her. He recognized his feelings and wondered if he would have felt the same were she a gangly, old, wrinkled woman. He shook his head at himself, knowing the answer.

  It was only a few years ago he had emancipated the slaves of Homar. All of his servants had been slaves. They had been relegated to slavery as a punishment for being the offspring of the combined dark and light races of Homar. Actually, he had to give the credit to Kaathi. She had transformed him, and he freed the slaves. He and the kings before him had caused much pain and grief, and he still felt guilty at times. He pushed the shame aside knowing he had taken the correct action.

  Edmund was cognizant of what mutant slaves looked like. They were all filthy, skinny and disheveled. This woman cleaned up astoundingly well. He was certain he had never seen a vision as lovely as Ashlee. Knowing the mutants never took children under the age of seven he calculated her age to be close to thirty. A remarkable thirty for she looked in the prime of her life, which for most women was somewhere between twenty and twenty-five.

  “Do you remember what village you came from?”

  “I do. I lived in
Nubilon with my parents. It is where our party is going after our stay with you.”

  “I hope you stay here long enough for us to get to know all of you,” remarked Queen Monika.

  “Well spoken my dear. We shall not let you run off until you tire of us,” insisted Edmund.

  Secondary Queen Angela’s first sight of Ashlee had her hoping she was near twenty. She would be a magnificent wife for Zach. She cast her eyes toward her son and saw he was keenly aware of Ashlee’s breathtaking beauty. Perhaps her age would not be a hindrance to their romance. The dagger was driven into her heart and her son’s with Ashley’s words.

  “I almost did not come,” she announced. “I am a recent bride of Jacob, our Warrior Hunter.”

  “What?” exclaimed the king. “The rascal already had a wife and she took Scarlet into their home. I was this moment thinking of him.”

  “It is true and he took her as his second wife.”

  The king laughed. “Well, we did exchange something. We have multiple wives, now you have multiple wives.”

  Edmund’s eyes drifted over to Sharika. “I recall you stayed with us for a few days and you left in a hurry.”

  “I did.”

  “Neither I nor anyone I talked to knows why you left. Was there a good reason?”

  “Yes, I found too many of your men boorish and lacked respect for women.”

  “I am sorry you had a bad experience. We are working on instructing our men how to respect women and treat them as equals.”

  “I understand, unfortunately, I found it difficult to contain my temper after experiencing their horrible behavior.”

  “Once again, I apologize. We have around nine hundred men attending our Relationship Sessions, and more are attending every day. At some point we hope all of them will be attending.”

  Edmund turned to his son, Zach, and smiled. “My son is one of two dozen instructors and he has always had the utmost respect for his mother, Angela, and women. It used to upset me he was what I considered unmanly. Since my conversion, I can see the goodness in him. Perhaps it would do you good to have a conversation with him and learn what we are trying to accomplish.”