'Have you been here all the time, commander?'
Zaliek snorted. 'Here? All the time? You think I have nothing better to do than sit next to your bed day and night? Ha! You flatter yourself, Deputy Commander Jina!'
I was feeling a little better so I propped myself up against the wall and muttered, 'It's good to see you, commander.'
'I was just passing by so I thought I would drop in and see how things were.' Zaliek waggled a finger at me and said, 'A good commander cares about his men. Remember that.'
'And a good commander never expects his men to do anything that he won't do himself.'
Zaliek gave a short laugh and said, 'Ha! That's true. But nothing will induce me to get into that bed with you. That's something that you can do on your own without your commander.'
The pain in my head was subsiding, my mind was clearer, and my senses were keener than they were a few minutes earlier. I looked down at the bedclothes, sniffed, and said, 'Oh, man, I stink.'
'You said it, my friend, not me.'
'It's disgusting. I've got to get out of here.'
'Stay calm, deputy commander, stay calm. You're not well yet.' Zaliek put a hand on my forehead. His touch was surprisingly light, even tender.
I felt faint again and flopped back to a prone position. As I did so, I muttered, 'I've got to get out of here.'
Zaliek said, 'Don't try to move. I'll get someone to help you.'
After a few minutes, he came back with an elderly woman with a slatternly appearance. She picked her nose and looked at me with indifference until Zaliek roared at her in frustration, telling her that he would kick her backside if I hadn’t been fed and washed by the time he returned. As the woman shuffled away muttering to herself, Zaliek said, ‘After she’s seen to you, you can sleep for a few hours. I'll call again this afternoon.' I muttered something in reply and Zaliek said quietly, 'There's something that I need to discuss with you.' He looked at me meaningfully as if he wanted to impart a message to me but didn't know how to speak the words. Then, still looking at me in the same way, he nodded and walked away.
I slept through the middle of the day and when I awoke in early afternoon, I was ravenous. The woman brought me a bowl of stew, which I wolfed down. She brought me another one and I finished it nearly as quickly. Then I lay back and dropped into a state between sleeping and waking while my thoughts drifted amongst a host of impressions and memories. I had distant recollections of a battle field and someone supporting me on my horse. I dreamt of Dana lying back to receive me as her lover. I remembered how while I suffered from the fever, I woke in pitch darkness, screaming and flaying my arms about. I imagined myself running towards Dana, but never reaching her. Zaliek was talking to me, or so I thought … Finally I fell into a deep, dark, and dreamless sleep.
Zaliek shook my shoulder to wake me. I mumbled something and tried to turn over and go back to sleep but Zaliek shook me again, insistently. I rolled onto my back and opened my eyes. Zaliek was leaning over me, his face sombre. He asked, 'How are you?'
'Much better, I think.' I shook my head and propped myself up on my elbows. I said, 'My head doesn't hurt so much.'
'You feel better now that you've had something to eat, eh?'
'I was ravenous. I had some stew about an hour ago.'
'An hour ago? They told me that you ate about five hours ago.'
I looked around and saw that the room was already growing gloomy with the approach of evening. I said, 'Five hours ago? It doesn't seem like it.'
Zaliek said, 'Sorry to have to wake you.' He looked around and asked in a low voice, 'Can you walk?'
'Ever since I was a year old, commander.'
'Good. Then you should still be able to do it now.' He looked towards the door at the end of the room and said, 'I have something to discuss with you – confidentially.'
As I stood by the side of my bed getting dressed, Zaliek reached up to the windowsill and handed me something, saying, ‘Don’t forget this, deputy commander.’ It was the belt that Sharma had given me. As I buckled it around my waist and hitched it into a more comfortable position, running my fingers over its patterned surface, I wondered where Sharma was. I would have thought that he would have been amongst the first to see me. I said this to Zaliek, who looked uncomfortable and replied that he would tell me about Sharma once we got outside.
Zaliek supported me as I walked unsteadily down the passage between the beds. I was shaky but it felt good to be out of that bent-backed, stinking, soiled bed and on my feet again. As I made my way down the room, I looked around. By Zabrazal, this was no place to be spending time! Faces gaunt with pain and illness stared at me vacantly. The air was fetid, not only with the stench of wounds and unwashed bodies but also with an atmosphere of listless hopelessness. It was as if the place had sapped the will, energy, and self-belief of its inhabitants. I muttered to Zaliek, 'I've got to get out of here.'
'You can leave tomorrow, so they say.'
We were at the door. I stepped outside, leaned against the door-post and breathed deeply. I felt as if a part of my soul returned to me with every inhalation of fresh air. I said, 'Commander, I'm leaving right now. The only way they'll stop me is if they take me back by force.'
Zaliek looked me up and down and said sympathetically, 'Well, you might as well move out now. I guess it doesn't matter where you sleep tonight now that you're on the mend.' He cocked a thumb towards the interior of the hut and wrinkled his nose in distaste. 'At least you'll be out of that putrid atmosphere.'
When we sat down on a bench near the door, Zaliek reached into his tunic, took out a piece of cloth from which he unwrapped a medal on a ribbon. He held it up and said, 'This belongs to you.'
'What is it?'
'It's the Order of the Defenders of Keirine. Vaxili awarded it to you.'
I took the medal, saying, 'Did he? I know nothing about it.' As I inspected it, I asked, 'How did you get it, commander?'
Zaliek replied, 'The parade was held yesterday. You weren't available so I received the medal on your behalf.'
'Thank you, commander. I appreciate it. But, nevertheless, I would have thought that if it was so important, Vaxili would have found time to award it to me personally. Or maybe Jainar could have handed it to me. No offence meant, you understand?'
Zaliek shifted uncomfortably and said in a low voice, 'There's something that you should know -- Jainar isn't the commander of the army any longer.'
'He isn't? Why?'
Still in a low voice, Zaliek said, 'Jainar has been demoted to the level of a unit commander. It seems that he and the other senior commanders had a disagreement with Vaxili over the tactics to be used in the battle. That's why Jainar was in command while Vaxili stayed behind in Koraina.'
'What? Vaxili wasn't in command of the army?'
Zaliek shook his head. 'Like I said, he stayed behind in Koraina.'
I whistled. This was news indeed. I asked, 'And now Vaxili has struck back by demoting Jainar?' Zaliek nodded grimly. I asked, 'Who's the new commander?'
Zaliek said, 'No one. It looks like Vaxili is going to do the job himself.'
I began to feel light-headed again and leaned back against the wall. Zaliek leaned over me and asked, 'Are you all right?' I nodded. He looked at me closely as if checking that I was alert enough to go on with the conversation before he said, 'We can talk about these things tomorrow, when you're stronger.'
I replied, 'Commander, I have the feeling that you want to tell me something. I don't want to wait until tomorrow. I'm strong enough now.'
Zaliek nodded, leaned forward, and said in a low voice, 'I'm telling you this in confidence. Keep out of Vaxili's way.'
'What have I done to annoy him?'
Still speaking in a low voice, Zaliek said, 'It has to do with Sharma.'
'Well, commander, that doesn't surprise me. I've often warned Sharma to stop playing around with Mecolo but he won't listen to me. Anyway, what does that have to do with me?'
Zaliek smiled tigh
tly. 'This time, Sharma has done a lot more than just play around with Mecolo.'
I groaned. Damn Sharma! Why didn't he take my advice and go fishing in some other part of the sea? I asked, 'What has he been up to now?'
Zaliek replied in a whispered hiss, 'Sharma has eloped with Mecolo.'
'What? Is he crazy?’ I sat there scratching my head. The effects of the fever combined with this news made me feel so faint that I could have been knocked over with a fly-whisk. I got a hold of myself and asked, 'When did this happen?'
'The day before yesterday.'
'The day that the army arrived in Koraina?'
Zaliek nodded and asked, 'Did you know that Sharma was planning this?'
'No. I had no idea – no idea at all! He never said a thing to me.'
Zaliek said grimly, 'That's not what Vaxili thinks.'
'He's wrong. I had nothing to do with it. On the contrary, I warned Sharma to break off with Mecolo. I warned him plenty of times. I told him that he was playing with fire.'
'Well, Sharma's going to get badly burned now. In fact, he'll be lucky to escape with burns. Vaxili will hunt him down and destroy him.' Zaliek paused and then said bleakly, 'I might have to watch my back as well.'
'You, commander? What have you done?'
'You remember your mission to rescue Mecolo and the others from the Usserdite bandits?' Zaliek cleared his throat and said sympathetically, 'I'm sorry, but I have to refer to it. Well, I have a feeling that Vaxili thinks that I arranged things so that Sharma could have an opportunity to get together with Mecolo.'
'Did you, commander?'
'Don't be a fool, man! I didn't even know that there was anything between them. The adjutant ordered me to select the best men for the purpose and that's what I did.' He cleared his throat again and concluded morosely, 'That's what comes from just following orders, eh?'
I leaned back and thought about the matter. God, it was a mess! Vaxili, jealous of his own commanders, had struck back at them. Sharma and Mecolo were on the run, ablaze with lovers’ passion while her father was after them, ablaze with passion of a different kind. Vaxili suspected that I was involved – in fact, the tentacles of his suspicions even reached as far as Zaliek … Where would I find a path through this wilderness of intrigue and suspicion?
Looking ill at ease, Zaliek said, ‘It gets worse. Vaxili has declared Sharma an outlaw.'
'What!? He can't do that!'
'Maybe he can’t. But that's what he's done.'
'Only a tribal council can do that – and then there has to be a proper hearing.'
Zaliek said grimly, 'If Vaxili bothered about it at all, he would probably say that he's above all the tribal councils so he can exercise all their functions.'
'Without a hearing?' Zaliek just shrugged despondently. I said, 'He can't do this! Even the king isn't above the law.'
Zaliek sat back and fiddled with his girdle. He started to say something, checked himself, and then coughed. He leaned forward, scratched the tip of his nose, and coughed again. I wasn't used to seeing the phlegmatic, down-to-earth Zaliek in such a hesitant state. Finally, he said, 'The fact is that Vaxili feels that he's threatened.'
'Threatened? But, commander, that's ridiculous! He's just won the biggest victory that any Keirineian force ever won over the Dornites. How can he feel threatened?'
Zaliek said, 'That wasn't Vaxili's victory. It was Jainar's victory.'
'But Vaxili is the commander in chief, and –' Zaliek was looking at me so intently that I broke off and asked, 'What's going on, commander?'
Zaliek said, 'It wasn't just that Vaxili wasn't present at the battle. The fact is that Jainar and the senior commanders took over all the planning for the campaign – tactics, strategies, logistics, everything. They excluded Vaxili completely.' Zaliek sat back and looked at me closely. He said, 'You and Sharma helped to move it along.'
'Sharma and me? What did we have to do with it?'
'You remember when the two of you met with Vaxili and Jainar, that you suggested a strategy for defeating the Dornites?'
'Yes, I remember. In fact, I saw the result just the other day, at the battle.'
Zaliek nodded. 'That's because Jainar liked what you suggested. In fact, he liked it a lot. But Vaxili didn't like it.'
'He seemed to be interested when we met with him.'
Zaliek shrugged. 'Maybe he was. But Vaxili can change his mind faster than the weather changes in autumn. That's the way he is. What's more, he doesn't accept other people's ideas easily and he doesn't like to give credit to others.' Zaliek lowered his voice and said cautiously, 'The problem is, he's insecure.'
'Insecure? I can agree with that assessment but I can’t understand it. After all, he's the king!'
'That's true. But he's never felt secure in that position.' Zaliek pursed his lips. 'For instance, who elected him to be king? Everyone knows that Izebol engineered the whole thing once he saw that he couldn't refuse the demand for a king. And now Izebol isn't happy with Vaxili. So where is Vaxili's support base? The answer is that he hardly has one at all, except maybe with his own clan. The only way he can build up wider support is by being successful. And what happens in his first battle against the Dornites? Disaster, that's what!'
I said, 'But if Vaxili had any sense, he would –'
Zaliek interrupted me. 'Hold it, deputy commander! Let me finish. If Vaxili was a big man, he'd know how to go out and win support. Unfortunately, he's not a big man. He's a small man who feels threatened at every turn. For example, let's consider his relationship with you and Sharma. Who gets a measure of victory out of the disaster of defeat by killing Drunuk? The two of you do. Who rescues Vaxili's daughter from the Usserdite bandits? The two of you do. Who has the idea for the attack on Asjolorm? The same, not so? Who suggests the tactics that win the second battle of Gandonda? The same again.'
'But, damn it, those were his victories as well not to mention the fact that they were victories for the whole of Keirine.'
Zaliek shook his head morosely. 'That’s how a big man would see it. But a small man like Vaxili – no.' Zaliek shook his head again and said, 'And then, on top of all that, who wins the affections of his beloved daughter?'
'Well, commander, at least I'm not guilty on the last count.'
'Ha! Tell that to Vaxili. He thinks that you're in league with Sharma. Anyway, never mind the finer details -- you see what I'm getting at, eh?' Zaliek shrugged fatalistically. 'Vaxili is hurting and he's looking for scapegoats.' He looked around cautiously, leaned forward, and said in a low voice, 'Like I said, the real problem is that Vaxili is a small man. And the big problem with small men is that they can't give credit to others. What's worse, they end up surrounding themselves with small men so that they only ever hear the arse-licking opinions that suit them.'
We sat there for a while in glum silence, busy with our thoughts. Then I asked, 'Where is Sharma?'
Zaliek gave a short laugh. 'He's with Mecolo somewhere in Lower Keirine, I would think.'
'Osicedi?'
Zaliek shrugged. 'I doubt it. Sharma would be clever enough to stay off the beaten track, at least until things cool down.'
I stood up and stretched, trying to get the ache out of my bones. Suddenly I felt faint and sat down in a hurry. I leaned forward, shook my head to clear it, and asked, 'What about me, commander?'
'That's a good question.' Zaliek pulled at an ear and looked at me speculatively. 'You're not on the top of Vaxili's popularity list but you're probably not in any danger. Vaxili wants Sharma, not you. My advice to you is: keep a low profile, recover your strength, and see how the wind is blowing.' Zaliek stood up and said gruffly, 'Look after yourself, deputy commander. You're a good soldier and I wouldn't want anything to happen to you. Remember – keep your head down.' He squeezed my shoulder, nodded, and left.
I walked into the hut, picked up my bag, and left without anybody noticing. Then I found a bungalow with a spare bed, dumped my kit, washed, and walked over to the mess hall. I wa
s hungry as I had ever been.
I was halfway through my second plate of food when someone tapped me on my shoulder. Two men wearing light armour were standing there looking at me as if I was a rag fit only to be thrown onto the garbage heap. One of them said dourly, 'Deputy Commander Jina, you will come with us.'
Thinking that Zaliek or someone higher had summoned me, I replied, 'Certainly, my friend. Just let me finish my food. Why don't you sit down? I won't be more than a few minutes.'
The man put his hand on my shoulder, none too gently, and said, 'Our orders are that you are to come with us immediately.'
'What's the hurry, comrades. Surely --?'
'We said immediately!' They hauled me to my feet and turned me towards the door. I tried to shrug them off, saying, 'All right, comrades, I don't need your help. I might have been in the sick bay but I can walk on my own.' At that they let go of me but still shepherded me towards the door. I asked, 'What's going on?'
One of them growled, 'It's not our business to ask. We're just following orders.'
The men marched me to the headquarters building where Vaxili's new adjutant, a pock-faced man who I had never met before, was waiting for me in the antechamber. He ignored my salute and said tersely, 'Deputy Commander Jina, you are under arrest.'
I was flabbergasted. 'Under arrest? For what?'
'For colluding with the outlaw, Sharma.'
This took the wind out of my sails. I didn't know whether to protest first about the matter of collusion – whatever he meant by that – or about the unlawfulness of declaring Sharma an outlaw. As it happened, I didn't get a chance to protest about either matter. Before I could say anything, the adjutant made a dismissive gesture, as if waving away a troublesome insect, and the two men seized me. They marched me to a building on the outskirts of the town where the guards opened the door and thrust me inside. The door thudded shut and I was left trying to adjust to the turn of events – from mess hall to imprisonment within five minutes – as well as to the gloom inside the building.
A voice asked warily, 'Is that you, Jina?'
I looked around, trying to see who was speaking. It was so gloomy in the room that I could hardly see the walls let alone any other details. I replied cautiously, 'Yes, I'm Jina. Who are you?'
The Blood-stained Belt Page 18