“What’s that?” asked Lekan.
“Your word, my will,” intoned Aren.
“By the Goddess,” said Lekan, turning on his heel and striding into the keep, the visibly relieved guards in tow.
The gate clanged shut and the noise seemed to cut the invisible strings holding Nkiru aloft. The man collapsed to the dirt.
Tau felt hollow. Nkiru was a good man. True, Anya could be a pain, but that was as bad as she got. There was no chance she had tried to seduce Lekan.
“I’ll talk to my mother,” said Jabari.
“It’s done,” said Aren. “Lekan won’t stop if Nkiru or his family stays in Kerem. He was out for blood tonight.”
“Lekan is an oversized—”
“Nkosi…,” said Aren, shifting his eyes toward the gathered crowd, drawing the Petty Noble’s attention to the listening Lessers.
Jabari pressed his fingers against his temples, massaging them. “As you say. I won’t try to stop the banishing, if that’s what you wish, Aren.”
“Nkosi Jabari,” Aren said, “I thank you for your help. It’s frightening to think what could have happened if you hadn’t come.” Aren put a hand on Nkiru’s back. He was still on the ground. “We Lessers will do what must now be done.” Aren helped Nkiru to his feet, Zuri stayed by Anya’s side, and the crowd dispersed.
The rest of the night was longer than Tau’s day. He went to Nkiru’s hut with his father, Zuri, and Anya. Several Ihagu were waiting when they arrived, and everyone gave a hand in the packing. Nkiru’s wife, still suckling Nkiru’s youngest, acted brave but couldn’t hide her fear, not really.
It was near morning when they saw the family off. They would travel east to Dakur. The borderland fief suffered many raids, but that meant there’d be a place for a competent Ihagu.
Aren gave Nkiru a few names to call on, and then there was nothing left to say or do. Zuri hugged Anya, holding her tight, reluctant to let her go. Anya looked numb, and Zuri cried for both of them when the family trudged away.
Aren began the walk back to the keep. He had more to do. It was a new day.
Tau stood next to Zuri, and they watched the rising sun turn their friends into silhouettes that became hazy with the morning’s heat and then vanished as the mountain swallowed them behind its curves. She slipped her hand into his and leaned her head on his shoulder. They stood like that, silent but together, for a span. She was still crying.
MEN
The days that followed were hard. Zuri made it a point to spend as much time with Tau as their duties allowed, but Anya’s fate weighed on her. It hurt Tau to see Zuri so melancholy, and it didn’t help that his nightmares about the raid hadn’t stopped. Still, they found quiet moments to sit and talk, to laugh, sometimes for Zuri to cry.
Tau tried to be her mountain and found that she helped him more than he could her. She was everything he hadn’t known was missing. She was his first thought in the morning and his last at night. He had trouble considering anything but her smile, her eyes, her voice… her.
Still, he did what he could to remain focused. He promised himself he’d repay Jabari for helping protect Nkiru’s family and for being willing to help him make a better life for himself with Zuri. The thing Jabari needed most was training for the upcoming Indlovu testing. So Tau spent every day sparring with his friend until they both collapsed. It was in this way that the final days of Grow ended, the early days of Harvest flitted by, and the ceremony for manhood arrived.
The male Lessers born in the same cycle as Tau were to be made men. The local Sah priest attended the ceremony, reeking of olu. He spoke of the tests facing all women and men of the Chosen. He encouraged the newly made men to be righteous and hoped their deeds would bring pride to their families, as they served the Omehi people, the queen, and the Goddess.
Then the new men were given gaum. It was Tau’s first time tasting the yellowish sludge, distilled from scorpion poison. He downed his cup and the drink blazed its way across his throat, burned his nostrils, and seared a path up and over the back of his scalp. He gasped and gagged, to the enjoyment of everyone come to see him and the others made into men.
Tau couldn’t understand why anyone would choose to drink something so vile, though once the taste had passed, he did notice that the following feast of boiled cabbage, sea-salted potatoes, and long beans tasted more flavorful than usual. Also, jokes were funnier, he couldn’t feel his teeth (had he ever been able to feel them?), and every woman he saw was almost as beautiful as Zuri.
He celebrated into the night with the other new men, and sometime during it all, Jabari had shown up and gifted Tau a brand-new pair of boots. Tau hugged him for a long time and invited the Petty Noble to join him for the best drink in all the peninsula. Jabari smiled, waving off the proffered cup.
The rest of the evening raced, then crawled, in turns. Tau’s father congratulated him and even sat with him for a time before leaving for some duty or other. Zuri came and he told her she was the Goddess on earth. She looked at him, an eyebrow arched, hands on hips. He thought this made her more lovely and wanted to kiss her, but people were around. He tried anyway. She didn’t let him and said she was there to take him home.
Tau was not ready and tried asking Zuri to dance, but his tongue felt fat. No matter; he took her by the hand and guided her to the dancing circle. They danced and it was marvelous, until Tau’s stomach began to heave. He excused himself, pointing to his stomach and mouth before stumbling off to the nearest brush, where he returned his dinner to the earth.
He stood like that for a while, amazed so much could come out of him. When he was done, he looked for Zuri, so they could continue dancing. She thought it best they head home. Tau thought that nonsense, but Zuri impressed him with her strength when she pulled him away from the party.
Tau yelled he had to get his new boots, and Zuri pointed out he was holding them. He said she was the Goddess on earth and was told he’d already said that.
Aren was at the door waiting, and he helped Tau to bed. Tau didn’t need help. He could take off his own trousers. He pulled one leg free and tumbled to the ground. He should get his other leg free, he thought, closing his eyes.
It was the shouting that woke him. His mouth tasted like he’d swallowed a fistful of sand, his stomach rolled, and his head boomed like the inside of a beaten drum.
“Where is he now? I’ll kill him!” It was Aren.
Tau jumped to his feet and fell over. He had just one leg of his trousers on.
He heard his father storming away, the footsteps heavy, angry. Tau jerked the trousers the rest of the way on, snatched his tunic from the night before, and saw it was filthied with vomit. He found another shirt, torn but serviceable, pulled on his new boots, grabbed his practice sword, and dashed out of the hut into a painfully bright new day.
Aren was with Ekon, the tall and wiry fighter he’d made his second-in-command after Nkiru’s banishment, and Aren was furious.
“Father? What’s going on?” Tau asked, squinting against the sun.
“Go back inside.”
“What’s going on?” Tau demanded. He’d never seen his father like this.
“He had them killed!”
“What? Who?”