The invisible speaker replied, 'I'm Drohita. Remember me?'
Of course I remembered Drohita. He came from a village near Osicedi and he joined the army at the same time as I did. In fact, we marched south together to sign up. When he served with Sharma and me in the same basic training squad, I got to know him well as a quiet, studious young man who seemed out of place as a soldier. In fact, he had probably only survived this long because of his wry sense of humour. When I last spoke to him, a few months ago, he told me that he was hoping to leave the army soon to train as a priest.
Looking towards where the voice came from, I asked, 'Drohita! What are you doing here?'
He replied dryly, 'I'm taking a census of the prisoners, comrade. The problem is, just when I finish counting, they throw someone else in and I have to start again.'
Another voice said, 'Greetings, my brother.'
'Abozi! Are you also here?'
'So it seems.'
'What have you done, to be here?'
'Well, my brother, it seems that my crime is the same as yours, and the same as all the others here -- namely, to be who I am.'
Someone called out irritably, 'I don't mind you having a family reunion but if you move another step to the right, you'll tramp on my leg. That will annoy me so I advise you to be careful where you put your feet.'
I asked, 'Is that you, Anagina?'
'Right first time, comrade Deputy Commander Jina. And don’t ask me what I’m doing here.' There was cynical laughter from all over the room. Anagina continued, 'Because only Zabrazal and Vaxili know the answer and neither of them is saying.'
A voice said sardonically, 'He lived in Asjolorm, didn't he? He's guilty of consorting with the enemy.'
Anagina said quietly, 'That might be so. But maybe my crime is compounded by the fact that I'm also from Lower Keirine.'
'Are you? I didn't know that.'
'Yes. I was born there.'
Someone said dryly, ‘Welcome to the club, Anagina.’
I backed against the wall and looked around. Now that my eyes were getting accustomed to the gloom, I could make out that there were dark shapes huddled all over the floor. I asked, 'How many of us are in here?'
Someone snorted, 'Ask Drohita. He's the census-taker.'
Drohita called out, 'Forty-three, if no on has escaped or died since the last time I counted.'
I asked, 'How long have you men been here?'
Abozi replied, 'The first four were put in here three days ago. Since then, they've been throwing us in at regular intervals.'
I asked, 'What's the charge?'
Once again, there was cynical laughter from all over the room. Different voices said:
'Charge? No one told me about a charge.'
'We're here at Vaxili's pleasure.'
'Wise up, comrade, his royal highness Vaxili doesn't think he has to keep to the law. If he takes a dislike to you, that's it – it’s curtains for you!'
Someone burst out vehemently, 'Law? Vaxili is the law -- at least, that's what he thinks.'
There was a deep silence, gloomier than the dusk itself, before Abozi called out, 'Hey, Anagina, change places with me. That way I can sit next to my brother.'
There was the sound of shuffling and I felt the weight of a body against my right leg. A hand grasped my knee and Abozi's voice said, 'All right, Jina, there's room here. You can sit down.'
Below me to my left, a voice said, 'Do it carefully, man. I don't want you sitting on my head.'
I slid down the wall into a sitting position, shifted around to get as comfortable as possible on the hard-packed earthen floor, and asked, 'So not one of you knows what he's supposed to be guilty of?
There was a deep silence -- so deep that I could hear the sound of the guards stamping their feet against the chill of the evening. After a while, Abozi said, 'Oh, we reckon we know what we're here for.'
'Well, let's hear it then.'
Abozi cleared his throat and said, 'It's not difficult to work out what we all have in common. Firstly, we're all from Lower Keirine. Secondly, we all have a connection with Sharma.'
‘Yes? And --?’
‘And nothing!’
I whistled. 'You mean, that's it?'
'Yes. That's it.'
'But so what? Those aren't crimes. There must be something else as well.'
There was more cynical laughter by way of reply.
Abozi muttered, 'Vaxili! I despise the man. He's not a good enough soldier to defeat the Dornites so he turns on his own men instead.'
I replied, 'Save your feelings for later when you're free to do something about it. Meanwhile, stay calm. That's the best you can do under the circumstances.' I remembered Zaliek's injunction: 'Forget about revenge. Forget about resentment. They get in the way of clear thinking.' His words were appropriate here as well, except that they applied to a situation in which the enemy was our own supreme commander and king. I repeated to myself, 'Forget about revenge. Forget about resentment. They get in the way of clear thinking.'
There was a long period of brooding silence before someone muttered, 'It's going to be cold tonight. They should give us more than one blanket each, the bastards.' His words were answered by a resentful mumble of agreement.
Anagina said in a low voice, 'We should try to get out of here. Why wait to find out what they intend to do with us? By then, it'll be too late.'
Someone responded, 'We could probably get out through the roof without much trouble. This isn't a proper prison; it's just a derelict building.'
I replied, 'Don't be a fool, man. Where would we go? They'd have us in no time.'
Someone said gloomily, 'I know where I'd go, for sure. I'd go straight home. I've had enough of this damn-fool king and his damn-fool army. You give good service, you risk your life, and what do you get? I’ll tell you -- you get this! You get locked up for nothing, treated like a common criminal!’ He spat out the last words and followed them with a disgusted, ‘Pha!'
I said, 'Presuming you reached home, which is not very likely, they would find you there in no time.'
Anagina asked gloomily, 'What do you suggest? Got any plans?'
I responded, 'Give me a chance. I've just arrived. But my advice is that no one should try to escape. For all we know, it could provide them with just the excuse they want.'
Someone asked, 'Excuse for what?'
I replied, 'An excuse to dispose of us.'
The silence that followed merged with the darkness that covered the room.
Abozi asked me quietly, ‘How are you brother?’
‘I’m fine.’
‘I visited you in hospital two days ago. It looked like you were going to die. I got those lazy female attendants to wash you, for what that was worth. Then, before I could go back to see how you were, they grabbed me and threw me into this place.’
‘Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.’
Abozi squeezed my knee, which was about the only part of me that he could reach in our cramped positions, and muttered gruffly, ‘Good to see you, brother!’ Then he chuckled ironically and said, ‘You should be able to get all the rest that you need in here, eh?’
It was only about an hour after sunset and already the chill was beginning to seep into my limbs. I asked, 'Has anyone got a blanket?'
Someone said, 'Ask Denga. He's got two. Isn't that so, Denga?'
There was a muttered curse before a voice said resentfully, 'All right, here it is. Pass it to Jina.'
I wrapped the blanket around myself and wriggled my way down the wall, pushing my legs forward to find out how much space I had. The answer was: not much. I had to lie with my legs bent at the knees and with my shoulders hunched. The floor was hard and cold. It was going to be a long, restless, uncomfortable night. Worse still, there were likely to be many more nights like this. My thoughts were as cheerless as the darkness that covered the room.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE WASTELAND
Three months later, I was standing at the mouth of a ca
ve in the mountains that overlook the desert that fringes the northern parts of Lower Keirine. I took a drink from a water flask and laid out my breakfast on a flat rock. Bread, cheese and figs -- it wasn't much, but, in the words of the proverb, bread and cheese in freedom are much better than a four-course meal in a prison cell. I cut a piece of cheese, laid it on a slice of bread, and sat back to watch the sunlight seep across the plain. As always, I marveled at how the harsh contours of the wasteland soften with the hues and shadows that come with the rising sun.
Sharma joined me. I nodded towards the plain and said, 'The desert has two seasons.'
'Yes, my friend, I know -- sunrise and sunset.' He grinned at me companionably.
I said, 'Bread, cheese and figs again. Isn't it time we had a change of menu? How about beefsteak with dumplings, gravy, and fresh vegetables for dinner?'
Sharma replied, 'Some new recruits should be arriving today. I hope they'll bring supplies with them.'
'Beefsteak and fresh vegetables?'
'I can't promise that. Maybe they'll only bring some more cheese and bread flour.' Sharma laid a hand on my shoulder. 'Enjoy your breakfast, comrade. I'll see you later.'
Two weeks earlier, we had still been prisoners in Koraina. Then, one day, we were hustled out of our cells and were marched northwards under heavy guard. Along the way, three more groups of prisoners joined us. They were all soldiers, they had all been imprisoned at about the same time as we had been, and they were all from Lower Keirine. When the last group joined us, there were more than five hundred men in the column.
At mid-day on the second day, we reached a small town that lay close to the southernmost part of Lower Keirine. There we were herded into the town square and ordered to sit down. After about two hours, a messenger arrived from the south and the guard commander and a detachment of men moved to the northern edge of the square. Then, suddenly, Sharma appeared, accompanied by some armed men. We set up a shout, greeting Sharma, complaining about our plight, and demanding to be released. Sharma waved at us, as if telling us to be patient. He talked to the commander of the guard, nodded, and then gestured to the lane behind him. Mecolo appeared, riding a horse and dressed resplendently in a travelling cape and a flowing gown.
The guards freed a group of about thirty prisoners, separating them from the rest of us like a flock of sheep and driving them down the lane behind Sharma. Soon the same men returned, carrying arms, to stand at Sharma's side. Sharma nodded to Mecolo, who shook her head vehemently and drew away from him. He took hold of her horse's rein and talked to her quietly while she continued to protest. Mecolo looked as unhappy as Sharma was insistent but finally she yielded to Sharma's persuasion and they walked forward to meet the commander of the guard. He took the reins and led Mecolo around the side of the square and back down the road by which we had entered the town. Mecolo sat on her horse rigidly, staring straight ahead, with her face hard-set in unhappy resentment. She didn't even look back at Sharma.
After a few minutes, someone shouted an order and the guards withdrew. Sharma shouted, 'Comrades, you are free! You can go home!'
Once the excitement died down and we were on our way home, Sharma told me the story. After he and Mecolo eloped from Koraina, they tried to live together in a hamlet near Osicedi. This arrangement didn't last for long because when the town elders heard that a detachment of soldiers was on its way to capture Sharma and Mecolo, they requested them to move on. The elders didn't like the fact that Vaxili had outlawed Sharma and they didn't like the vendetta against soldiers from Lower Keirine but they also didn't want to provoke royal anger.
Sharma and Mecolo fled over the border to seek refuge with Durgenu, the ruler of a Dornite city-state that had good relations with a number of towns in Lower Keirine and that steadfastly refused to join the Dornite military alliance. When Vaxili demanded that Durgenu should hand over Mecolo, Durgenu just laughed and asked whether Vaxili thought that he, Durgenu, was a vassal of Keirine. Vaxili then changed tack and sent messengers to negotiate directly with Sharma. Finally, an agreement was reached: Mecolo would be returned to her father if Vaxili released all of his prisoners who came from Lower Keirine. The result was that we were on our way home as free men while a reluctant Mecolo was being returned to her father.
While Sharma was telling me the story of how he made a deal with Vaxili and why he felt compelled to do so, his face looked as if it was covered by a thundercloud. He finished by crying in an agonised voice, ‘She's carrying our child.' What could I say? I laid a hand on Sharma's arm. He said bitterly, 'I will never forgive Vaxili for this! Never!'
Within a few weeks, Sharma had even more cause to be bitter. Vaxili announced that Mecolo's marriage to Sharma had been dissolved and that Mecolo was going marry someone called Thuxto. In so doing, Vaxili piled insult upon insult. Firstly, Vaxili had no right to annul a marriage. Only the high priest could do that. Secondly, Thuxto was a disreputable non-entity, an elderly widower who worked in the forge at Koraina by day and was a notorious frequenter of taverns for the rest of his waking hours.
After hearing Sharma’s story, surrounded by the chatter of men who were free at last and were excited at the prospect of seeing their homes for the first time in many months, I thought somberly that probably not one of them knew the real extent of the price that had been paid for their freedom.
Abozi joined us and observed grimly, 'They won't leave us alone, comrades. We will be hunted like outlaws in our own land.'
Sharma said quietly, 'You're right, comrade. Vaxili will never leave us in peace. We'll have to defend ourselves.' He nodded grimly and said, 'The kingdom is dead. Vaxili has killed it.'
Abozi cursed and said, 'Whatever the future holds, one thing is for sure -- I'm not going back into one of Vaxili's prison cells. I'll die before I allow that to happen.'
Sharma burst out, 'Damn Vaxili! He could have had the whole of Keirine behind him. Now it's much worse than it was before. Damn him!'
I said, 'He's a small man'
'Then curse him for taking on a task that he can't handle!'
Sharma addressed the men before they dispersed to their home towns. He told them that Vaxili would never leave them in peace and invited them to join him in the mountains of the wilderness where they could defend themselves. Some of the men responded to Sharma's invitation while others were reluctant to do so. They thought naively that Vaxili would forget about them now that they were free. It wasn't long before they learned that they were wrong.
On the day after we reached Osicedi, the town elders asked Sharma, Abozi and me to meet with them. It was a sombre gathering. In the first place, the elders were enraged at the fact that Vaxili had insulted Lower Keirine by imprisoning so many of its sons. They said frankly that Vaxili had destroyed the dream of the united Kingdom of Keirine. Furthermore, they agreed that Vaxili would soon be hunting for his former prisoners. Everyone at the meeting, including Sharma and me, knew what had to be done, namely that the former prisoners had to leave Osicedi as soon as possible.
Next day, before we left town, one of the elders quietly gave us a wallet. He said, 'Sons, don't let anyone know who gave this to you and don't ask where it comes from. It's better that no one should know.' Later, we learned that the money came from the town treasury. Much later, when we were established in Orihedrin, we were able to repay the money as unobtrusively as we received it.
As soon as we found a base in the mountains, we used the money to buy arms from Durgenu. At first, there were only about twenty-five of us, all from Osicedi, hiding out in the mountains. However, during the days that followed our numbers swelled as former prisoners streamed in from towns all over Lower Keirine. The elders' councils had been talking to each other and most of them agreed that their towns would be targets for Vaxili's vengeance as long as they harboured his former prisoners. Some of the councils shrugged off the threat, thinking that the danger was exaggerated. However, soon enough, when Vaxili's men began raiding the towns and villages of Lower Keirine, the
y regretted that they had done so.
When a messenger from Vaxili arrived a few days later, demanding that Sharma and I should be handed over, the elders of Osicedi could say truthfully that they didn't know where we were. The messenger replied ominously that they would soon be hearing from Vaxili. Five days later, a detachment of about two hundred troops arrived in Osicedi. They set up a cordon around the town and began a house-to-house search. When they found no one, they assembled all the inhabitants in the town square and demanded to know where we were. Finding that no one would give them any information, they dragged Sharma's father onto a table and, in front of the whole town -- men, women and children -- they stripped him naked. This was an insult so terrible that it was almost unimaginable. However, Vaxili's men weren't content with that. With sword points pressed into the old man's back, they ordered him to stand motionless facing his fellow townspeople. Next they ordered everyone -- once again, every man, woman and child -- to walk past him and to spit at his genitals. When Sharma's mother and brothers refused, they seized Sharma's youngest brother and threatened to pull out his fingernails at the rate of one fingernail for every refusal. When the family again refused, the soldiers pulled out the first fingernail. Sharma's mother rushed at the sword of the nearest soldier and threw herself forward with such force that the sword passed right through her body. Mercifully, she died instantly. Sharma's father collapsed in a coma, falling off the table and striking his head on the cobbles. He died two days later without regaining consciousness.
Sharma nearly went mad when he heard the news. His grief was so acute that we had to hold him down to prevent him from dashing his forehead against a rock. Later, when he calmed down a little -- more from nervous exhaustion than from any other cause -- I made him walk with me in the desert, which was silver and luminous under the full moon. Zaliek's words kept running through my head: 'Forget about revenge. Forget about resentment. They get in the way of clear thinking.’ However, I couldn't speak those words to Sharma. True as the words were, profound as they were, they were small and hopeless when set against what Sharma was suffering. And so we just walked and walked, our boots crunching in the soft gravel of the plain, our shapes tiny against the darkly mercurial expanse of the wasteland.
The Blood-stained Belt Page 19