Love's Joy

by Emil Toth

  Pauli’s wife screamed at Caleb, “I want vengeance. I want them to pay for what they did. My son needs his father and I need my husband.”

  “I know both of you want retribution for the loss of your husbands. We feel the additional loss of lives would be senseless. I am going to call a special council meeting to discuss the violent act and hope they will agree with us.”

  “They took the life of my husband. I want to take their lives,” sobbed Pauli’s wife.

  “I know you do,” said Caleb softly. “It is in the hands of the council. You can make your plea to them.”

  Sharika listened intently to what Caleb told the widows and felt their misery. If she ever had the chance to rectify what happened she swore she would deal harshly with the man responsible.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  The council met the next day in the meeting lodge. The perimeter was packed with villagers wanting to know what direction it would take concerning the deaths of the Warrior Hunter apprentices.

  Caleb raised his hands for quiet and waited for the crowd to stop talking.

  “This meeting is the second looking at whether we are going to go to war. I was an apprentice to Morgan, during the last such meeting. King Edmund invaded us with his armada and wanted to destroy us. We avoided a war because Kaathi talked to Edmund. Had she not many of us would not be here.

  “The assembly of Nubilon is not present to represent themselves. Nevertheless, we did have the opportunity to speak with Zafir, the chief of their assembly. He was apologetic and prayed we would not go to war over the tragic incidence.

  “Kaathi told Zafir she saw he would be instrumental in changing the attitude of the men in his village. The change would come about by them gathering in small groups to discuss injustices their women were suffering. She saw the change slowly happening.

  “Is this enough for us to forgive them for what they did? It is up to you to determine. Remember you are the voice of our people. You have to be discerning, insightful, discriminating and just. Nothing short of this will be acceptable.”

  Caleb went on to give his version of the violence and fall out. Kaathi reported her involvement and Ashlee told the council her version. Caleb opened the floor to the assembly members.

  Jacob moved his hand and spoke, “I have never lost an apprentice in my lifetime. I cannot tell you how angry and sad I am. Pauli and Sandor were my friends and to think a tragic set of circumstances together with old and antiquated traditions and laws allowed the men of Nubilon to take their lives is unimaginable.

  “My first reaction was to mobilize an army and retaliate. It took a long time for me to take control of my emotions and see by doing it we would lose a great many more lives and more of our women would become widows. I thought I would go to Nubilon and challenge each man, who took part in killing my friends, to a duel of their choice. I felt sure I would survive and come back victorious. The longer I thought of this solution the more I saw how stupid it was. They would not stand by and let their men die at my hands. They would attack me, overpower me and kill me. It would have been my wives grieving. It was something I could not live with.

  “So there had to be a better solution and I gradually came to wonder how Kaathi would handle the situation. It took a while, before I saw she had already taken the right path. She saw the senseless killing of Sandor and Pauli was the beginning of the end of an era of religious and traditional suppression of women. The tragedy would highlight the need for women to be respected, held in esteem and given the same rights and privileges as men. If it all takes place in Nubilon, the loss of my friends must be looked at as a sacrifice to better a whole society. In essence they are heroes.”

  The crowd waited for Jacob to continue, when he did not they mildly applauded his speech.

  Logan, the eldest on the council and now graying, spoke next. “I have talked to many of you standing outside the lodge. I know how thankful you were when Kaathi spoke to King Edmund and we averted a war with Homar. As we grow older we have a greater aversion to the tragedy of war. We see more of the gray and less of the black and white of circumstances and situations. Idealism runs through the blood of our young and the hearts of Pauli and Sandor’s wives. Since I see more gray now, I am inclined to say what took place in Nubilon was a brutal act and the cause of it was outdated traditions and laws. I was opposed to Taja, Batu and Kaathi and the changes they sought to alter our own traditions. It took me a long time before I saw our traditions were antiquated. If the Nubilon are on the path to equality perhaps we should let time take its course and let them live with their consciences.”

  Logan shook his gray head. “Did any of you ever think you would live long enough to hear me say that? I guess I have heard so many of Kaathi’s talks they have sunk into my consciousness.”

  The crowd applauded.

  Coloma stood and addressed the council and throng outside the meeting lodge.

  “Fellow Kahali, it was not long ago we were a little barbaric ourselves. As a teen, I saw how rigid our council and I were when we elected to eject Batu from our village. We felt she had no worth due to her having no husband or child and because she was a troublemaker. Thank goodness Taja went after her and made her worthy by making her his apprentice.

  “Can any of you imagine where we would be as a people without Batu’s fire and search for justice? Because of Batu, women now can claim their independence. Each and every freedom women can claim now is due to the courage and efforts of Batu. We have Batu to thank women are respected. We have another wise woman among us. Kaathi has picked up where Batu left off and continued to improve our philosophy and understanding of the religious life by introducing us to a loving Creator. All of us have not accepted this new society. It is a process. It will be the same for the people of Nubilon.

  “If Kaathi says the men of Nubilon are on the path to release their women from suppression and present them with equality and justice. I believe her. We do not need to lose more lives to prove anything.”

  He sat down and received a thunderous ovation.

  Elgar, Caleb’s apprentice, rose to say his piece. His eyes settled on the widows and then the crowd.

  “I want to take this moment to say how sorry I am for your loss. Sandor and Pauli were men I looked up to and we became friends. I was a bit envious of them and the others making the trip to Homar and Nubilon. I wanted to experience the excitement of traveling and seeing different places and people. If I had gone on the trip instead of Caleb, it may have been me not returning.

  “With the death of Pauli and Sandor, I have come to see how tenuous life is. I shall not take life for granted any more. I know the loss of their lives has affected many of us. I do not want to cast ourselves into a war because of what happened.

  “It was encouraging to hear Zafir was saddened by the tragedy, and he was sincerely apologetic. If the Nubilon men who committed this crime have any decency in them, they will regret what they have done.

  “I think we would be better served if we pray our wounds heal quickly and Pauli and Sandor find peace in the afterlife.”

  The crowd applauded in appreciation of Elgar’s words. The moment it died down Marka, Logan’s second apprentice, stood.

  “What I am going to say is due mainly to the Relationship Sessions and the Spiritual Awakening Services I have attended given by Kaathi and her wonderful group of instructors. I, like Logan and Burk, went among you to get a feel for how you felt about the senseless killing of Sandor and Pauli. It has offended many of you and you want an eye for an eye. What astonished me was the number of you whose philosophy has embraced forgiveness for the horrible action of the men of Nubilon. Years ago there would have been only a few handfuls of you willing to forgive them. We have changed much in a short time. It is amazing and speaks highly for the people directing us. We can be thankful we are not barbaric like the mutants and Nubilons. We have raised our consciousness and we can thank Taja, Batu and Kaathi for spearheading the movement.

  “I hope and
pray those of you demanding justice will ponder what we have talked about and use your hearts to forgive them. We may never forget what they have done to our men. We surely can forgive them.”

  The crowd responded well with their applause.

  Caleb waited to see if another member of the assembly wanted to speak. No one did.

  “Since no one else on the council wants to speak, we will take a vote on whether to go to war or not.”

  “What about listening to us?” yelled a man in the crowd.

  Caleb recognized him as the younger brother of Sandor.

  “My brother took over the responsibilities of our deceased father. He basically was my father, and he is gone. I did not tell him enough times how much I loved and admired him. I for one am ready to revenge his death and go to war. Take it into consideration when you vote.”

  Dozens in the crowd offered vocal support and applauded.

  Caleb stood. His voice was filled with emotion. “We will. We know you and many families are suffering. The council has to decide what direction is the best for the village and what affect it will have on all of us.”

  “You damn right.” yelled Sandor’s brother. “You do not know how I am suffering. They killed a brave and wonderful man. Perhaps you have forgotten my brother and Pauli were Warrior Hunters. They went along with you to protect you and the others and they gave up their lives. Would you be complacent if it was your brother who was killed? Would all of you say we must forgive them? I suspect not. So, we should honor them by fighting for them.”

  Before Caleb had a chance to answer, Jacob stood and responded, “You are right most of us would respond differently. Had I been there, I would have responded with my emotion and likely would have killed several of them and lost my life in turn. I was not there, and it is why I am reacting differently. I am going to tell you right now, if I had a brother, I could not have been closer to him than I was to Pauli. We knew each other since we could walk and talk. I loved him as if he were my brother. My grief will be with me a long time. I can see what took place in Nubilon was not an act of war. It was an act perpetuated by stupid men believing in some stupid tradition or misunderstood religion. As I waited for sleep to come last night my thoughts were on what happened to my friends. I wanted to go there and have my revenge. After my emotions calmed I could see the error in my desire. If what Kaathi sees is to become a reality, the sacrifice of my two friend’s lives was worth it. I shall grieve a long time for my friends and I shall never forget their friendship and love.”

  Jacob sat and received a generous round of applause.

  Outside the lodge another man shouted, “Two of our High Priests were there. I want to know what their feelings are about this tragedy.”

  Kaathi looked at Ashlee and got a nod from her. Kaathi knew the man by name. She stood, spoke and slowly turned and directed her reply to everyone outside the lodge.

  “Charles, I am not sure if I ever shared this with you. My feelings are different from yours most of the time. I am usually in a state of love. When I saw Pauli dead on the ground and Sandor nearly dead, I was shocked. This emotion passed quickly and sorrow engulfed me. It also quickly left me and I was again in a state of love and I tried to save their lives. The reason those other emotions do not linger with me is because I can see the good, which will come from tragedy. In the case of their deaths, I saw how greatly it affected Zafir and he would be part of the group Ashlee’s uncle, Ravi, was in. The group is discussing many of the things we do in our Relationship Sessions and in our Spiritual Awakening Services. I see Zafir quickly expanding his consciousness and influencing others to be part of their group. The group will expand and divide into smaller and more intimate discussion groups. The assimilation of these new thoughts will gradually reach a point where more than half of the Nubilon village will have been influenced by the original group’s emerging philosophy.”

  At this point, Kaathi stopped talking and walked closer to Charles and looked only at him and continued,

  “I saw how entrenched they were in their outdated traditions and twisted religious beliefs and forgave them their insanity and embraced them in love. When our children do something they did not know was wrong, how can we blame or punish them? The men of Nubilon are like those children. It was not too long ago we were similarly influenced by our own traditions and religion. I know nothing is permanent. Everything changes. The Nubilons are not any different. It will be many years before they are at the point where we currently are in our philosophy.

  “I cannot condemn them, for I see each and every one of them are aspects of the Creator. They are participating in this play of life as all of us are. We are in this play to learn how to love more fully and lovingly create the situations, circumstances and relationships to promote our understanding of love and life.

  “Seeing the Nubilons as my younger brothers and sisters makes it much easier to forgive them and forget their actions for they are learning at a slower pace than we.”

  She bowed her head to Charles and sat down to rousing applause.

  Ashlee rose and addressed Charles, “I have led a different life than you. I lived the horror of seeing my parents slaughtered and beheaded by the mutants, and I was made a slave by them. It took a long time to forgive them. I might never have forgiven them, had I not had Kaathi’s help. I know what my resentment did to me and I wish I could have forgiven them sooner. Kaathi has shown me how anger and revenge serves no good; it only perpetuates the insanity.

  “Before I arrived in Nubilon, I had envisioned them to be virtuous, grand and glorious. This dream kept me alive, as did the visions I had of Kaathi, when I was a slave. My dream of who the Nubilons were was dramatically shattered. What I did see was a glimmer of hope in my uncle’s discussion group. Like Kaathi, I am choosing to see the small group as the salvation of Nubilon, and I am doing my best at sending them love.

  “Going to war with them is not going to solve anything; it will only bring about more deaths and sorrow to us and to them.”

  Ashlee sat and was applauded. Caleb looked at the crowd. “If there are no more questions, I declare we take a vote on whether to retaliate the deaths of Sandor and Pauli by going to war with the Nubilons.” He waited an appropriate time and continued, “It is for me to cast the first vote and I vote, no. Council how are you voting?”

  Each assemblyperson cast their vote and Caleb instructed the apprentices to vote. The votes were cast and tabulated by Logan. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of not going to war. The crowd outside the lodge applauded the outcome and disbursed.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  The possibility of going to war was averted, and the village of Kahali slowly took on its natural way of living. When he thought it appropriate, Janos paid a visit to Kaathi’s home where Sharika was staying.

  Sharika was sitting outside enjoying the early morning weather.

  “I am glad I caught you.”

  “Hello, Janos.”

  “Hi, would you take a walk with me?”

  “I would. Let me get my bow.”

  “We are not going far,” he assured her. He smiled at her cautious nature and watched her gather her bow and quiver.

  They walked out to the plains and continued to walk around the perimeter. He smiled. “I am happy you have returned. I heard you did not go on with the others to Nubilon.”

  “Actually, I wish I had gone. Had I, the dynamics of events might have been changed and we would not have had to lose Pauli and Sandor. They were good men.”

  “They were indeed. So, what kept you from going?”

  Sharika teasingly smiled. “I had many suitors in Homar, and I could not pry myself away from them.”

  “I can half believe it.”

  “Only half? Have I lost so much of my beauty since you last saw me?”

  He did not join her in her lightheartedness. “You seem to be ignoring my question. Why?”

  She became serious. “If you must know, I stayed behind to get to know Prince Za
ch better.”

  “Prince Zach? He was the one Kaathi brought back from Homar and nearly caused a war.”

  “Is he going to cause a war between us?”

  Janos made a face saying, “No. I can understand you wanting to check him out, if he had an interest in you. You must have been interested in him otherwise you would not have stayed back.”

  “What do you want me to say, Janos? I like him as a friend and it is why I came back to you. You are my love.”

  Janos beamed. “Really? It is what I wanted to hear. Now I am happy.”

  “It is good to see you smile. You are like a little boy easily content once he gets his honey.”

  “And you are my honey. It is a good thing you are behaving, because I was ready to put you over my lap and spank your bottom.”

  “It seems my being a problem for you would still give you much pleasure.”

  He smiled. “I win either way. All joking aside my dear, you give me great pleasure and joy.”

  “It is also why I left Zach, my love. You give me great joy as well.”

  He opened his arms. “Come here and give me some physical joy.”

  She stepped into his arms and kissed him resoundingly. She playfully forced her tongue past his lips. He immediately pulled back saying, “You are now being a temptress.” He drew her to him. “And it gives me much happiness.”

  Sharika made a face. “It is the burden I have on my shoulders. I have so many men to make happy, it is tiresome.”

  “May I suggest you forget about all the rest and concentrate on me?”

  She smiled coyly. “Perhaps you are right. This way I can devote myself to teasing you to tears.”

  Both of them caught the movement out of the corner of their eyes and looked at what it was. Two cheetahs had been hiding in the tall grass and were now standing eyeing them. Janos and Sharika looked at them without moving. The cheetahs initiated their crouching and stalking walk. Janos reached for an arrow in his quiver only to find it was not on his shoulder. He had not bothered to bring his weapon thinking a walk around the village would present no danger.