The Blood-stained Belt (15 page)

He was holding
Dana. With her head pulled back and the knife at her throat, she
squinted at me in confused terror. I moved forward but the man
jerked Dana’s head further backwards and shouted, ‘One more step
and she’ll be dead.’

There was an
impasse for just a moment. Then Sharma and one of our comrades
appeared behind the man, about ten paces from him. Sharma said, ‘If
you kill her, we’ll kill you for certain. Give yourself up before
there’s further harm.’

The Usserdite
looked around, looked back at me, and then cut Dana’s throat.
Perhaps he thought that he could escape if he caused a diversion,
perhaps he had a death wish – I don’t know.

I rushed
forward to Dana while Sharma cut the Usserdite down. Dana was lying
face down. I turned her over. She was dead with her throat gashed
and still with the look of terror on her face. I held her to me and
wept while her blood oozed over my chest, over my stomach, and over
my belt. That was the first blood-stain on the belt. Unfortunately
it wasn’t the last.

CHAPTER NINE:
COMRADES

That was the
last time that I ever cried. Looking back on the incident, I knew
that I betrayed my professional calling. By allowing myself the
indulgence of weeping over Dana, I had disabled myself and had
diverted my comrades’ attention. Later, still flushed with shame, I
remembered again what Zaliek taught us during basic training. He
drummed it into us that we should bury emotions such as grief,
anger, vengefulness, and personal ambition. He taught us that these
emotions distract a soldier from his task. I never again forgot
Zaliek’s teaching. In any case, in the last analysis, isn’t death
one of the commonplaces of a soldier’s trade? What does one more
death matter when a soldier is serving in the line of duty?

It was also the
last time that I allowed myself to get close to a woman. At the
time, I convinced myself that a relationship with a woman prevented
me from focusing on my task as a soldier. But, looking back on it
down the years, I have to admit that I never again wanted to tempt
fate by offering it a target through which it could strike at me.
Fate? Was it fate or was it Zabrazal, settling with me by wiping a
batch of minuses off my scorecard all in one great scoop? I didn't
know – but if it was Zabrazal, then in future he could settle with
me directly and not through other parties.

Of course, in
the intensity of my grief I forgot that there were other targets at
which Zabrazal could strike to discomfort me if that was his
intention. For instance, there were my parents and there was my
brother, Abozi. Even Sharma could have been a target.

While I
succumbed to a bout of unsoldierly weeping, Sharma and the rest of
our comrades secured the Usserdites and released the captives.
Mecolo’s eyes sparkled with pleasure when she saw Sharma and she
held out her arms to him. But in a moment she recalled where she
was and who she was, dropped her arms, and said formally, ‘I thank
you all for your bravery. I thank you on behalf of everyone here.’
Mecolo wept when she kneeled next to Dana's dead body and she wept
again when she offered me her condolences. However, within a few
minutes she composed herself and began to discuss the situation
with Sharma. I got hold of myself, dried my eyes, and walked over
to join them. As deputy commander of the expedition, I had my
duties to attend to.

Sharma said to
me, ‘I’ve told lady Mecolo that we have to move right now.’ He
jerked his thumb towards the western bank of the river. ‘We don’t
know what might come at us from over there.’

Mecolo pointed
to the captives who were standing linked by a rope with their hands
bound behind their backs. She asked, ‘What about them?’

Sharma replied,
‘My orders are to take as many prisoners as possible and to deliver
them safely to Koraina.’

Mecolo’s mouth
tightened and her eyes went hard. She said, 'They’ll delay us on
our journey. We should hang them now.’

‘Of course they
deserve to be hung, my lady. Probably they will be hung. But that's
not our decision. We have been ordered to take them to
Koraina.’

‘And what if I
order you to hang them now?’

Sharma said
steadily, ‘My lady, our orders come from your father, the
king.’

Mecolo said in
a hard-edged voice, ‘That’s a pity! They deserve to be hung for
what they did, not to mention for what they would have done with
us.’ Mecolo walked over to the nearest prisoner, spat in his face,
and said, ‘Pha! My father will deal with you. You’ll learn what it
means to interfere with the daughter of Vaxili of Keirine.’ She
pointed two fingers close to the man’s face as if she was going to
poke out his eyes. When the man winced and averted his face, Mecolo
gave a short laugh and said, ‘If it was up to me, you wouldn't
leave this place alive.’ She spat at him again and walked away.

As we
approached Koraina, a crowd met us and accompanied us home with
singing and ululation. We had won only a small victory over a
disorganised band of thieves but after the disaster of Gandonda the
people of Keirine welcomed any and every cause for celebration, no
matter how insignificant. In the midst of the jubilation, no one
took any notice of the dead bodies that were draped over the
donkeys that trudged in our wake. Only family members and friends
mourned the dead and they were a small minority amongst the people
who thronged around us, singing our praises and assailing the
prisoners with curses, blows, and threats. Keirine needed a
military victory and if the real thing wasn’t available then these
miserable bandits, bound for death either in Keirine or Usserd,
would have to do instead.

Mecolo had the
good sense not to lead the celebration. In fact, she had been
subdued ever since we rescued her. Probably her close contact with
danger and terror had sobered her spirit, for the moment, at least.
During the journey, she only brightened up on the occasions when
Sharma walked next to her holding her donkey’s bridle and
conversing with her in a low voice. I warned Sharma to avoid
Mecolo’s company because their feelings for each other were so
plain to see when they were together but he just grunted in
annoyance and replied, ‘She’s the king’s daughter and I’m the
commander of this unit. Do you expect me to ignore her?’

When we reached
Koraina, Vaxili, his commanders, and Izebol received us in front of
the temple. Izebol blessed us, made a short speech of welcome,
pronounced the benediction, and then disappeared into the temple.
Vaxili congratulated us, paying tribute to our courage and
initiative. Then he dismissed the parade and came down from the
platform with his arm around Mecolo. He said to Sharma and me, ‘You
have done both Keirine and me a great service.’

Sharma replied,
‘It is our duty, your majesty.’

Vaxili looked
at us speculatively and asked, ‘Sharma and Jina, eh? First you were
the scourge of the Dornites and now it’s the turn of the
Usserdites.’

I replied,
‘Your majesty, we are at the service of Keirine and the king.’

Vaxili's eyes
narrowed as he asked us, 'You're both from Osicedi, eh?'

'Yes, your
majesty.'

Vaxili frowned.
'Hmm! Who would have thought that even the north would render me
good service?' It was a strange remark, one that I forgot within a
few seconds and only understood a few months later. Still looking
at us closely as if he wanted to imprint our features on his
memory, Vaxili said, ‘You will expect to be rewarded for your
services, no doubt?’

Sharma and I
exchanged puzzled glances. Sharma replied, 'Only if it pleases your
majesty to do so.'

There was an
awkward silence. Mecolo broke the tension by moving forward quickly
and embracing me formally. She said, ‘I thank you on behalf of my
father and on behalf of Keirine. I also thank you on my own
behalf.’ Then, holding my hands, she said, ‘I will not forget Dana.
She was my good friend and I loved her dearly.’ Mecolo embraced
Sharma next, lingering just enough to whisper something to him.
Sharma’s face brightened for a few seconds before he straightened
his features.

I sneaked a
look at Vaxili, who was looking at Mecolo and Sharma darkly. As he
watched Mecolo whispering to Sharma, he shook his head slightly as
if relegating the impression to the deep reaches of his memory.
Then he straightened, snapped his fingers as if recalling himself
to duty, pointed to the prisoners, and asked Sharma, ‘How many of
them did you kill?’

‘Ten, your
majesty.’

‘Was that
necessary? Couldn’t you have taken more prisoners?’

‘Your majesty,
we did what the situation called for.’

Vaxili asked
tersely, 'But ten? Surely you could have killed fewer of them?'

'Your majesty,
we did what we had to do. We obeyed your orders in every
respect.'

Vaxili stroked
his chin and looked from us to the prisoners and then back again.
He gave a sceptical nod and said, ‘No matter. We have enough
prisoners, whether we want to bargain with them or make an example
of them.’ He nodded brusquely and turned on his heel.

During the
weeks that followed, Sharma and Mecolo saw a lot of each other.
Although they tried to be discreet, it was impossible for the
king’s daughter to conceal a relationship like this one. First they
met at the stables where Mecolo pretended to be showing Sharma how
to care for a horse. When that attracted a crowd of gawkers, they
tried to meet out in the countryside. Mecolo went for a ride on her
favourite horse while Sharma pretended to be going on a
cross-country run. Their plan didn’t succeed, because, by order of
her father, Mecolo always had to be accompanied by at least one
lady-in-waiting and two bodyguards. Although she managed to outrun
her entourage, she and Sharma hardly had time to begin a
conversation before the first guard appeared, cursing and bumping
on his mount and complaining that he would have to report Mecolo to
her father.

Next, Sharma
and Mecolo gave up their attempts to meet during the daytime and
began to meet under cover of darkness. Although this wasn’t
difficult for Sharma because he could slip in and out of the camp
easily, it was more difficult for Mecolo to get away without being
noticed. The palace was just a small compound that had been formed
by putting a wall around three of the more comfortable houses in
the town and security was tight all over the complex. Mecolo
devised the stratagem of disguising herself as a serving-woman and
told Sharma that in this guise she was able to come and go without
being observed. In my opinion, this was merely self-deception,
especially when I remembered the dark look on Vaxili's face and
felt more certain than ever that Mecolo would be watched day and
night. Whatever she thought, this was a hazardous and foolish
business. When I said this to Sharma, his eyelid twitched, the
flecks in his eyes glowed and he poked his finger at me while
asking belligerently, ‘What business is it of yours?’ However, in
spite of his anger, he had a half--defiant, half--troubled look as
if he wasn’t as certain about things as he liked to sound.

I said, ‘All
right, since you ask, I’ll tell you. Firstly, we’re age mates and
comrades. Do you think that you live only for yourself? Do you
think that you’re Sharma the lone agent, making your way in
splendid isolation?’

‘What I do in
private –‘

‘Let me finish,
damn it! I’m saying that what you do affects me whether you like it
or not. Do you understand that? Good! Secondly, Sharma, you have
the ability to climb to the high places. You've already had your
first command even if it was only temporary. Where could you be in
five or ten years' time? Stop and think, man! You have the ability
to go places where a lot of people can’t. Consider other people and
consider your future!’ Sharma put up a hand to stop me but I
brushed him aside, saying, ‘Oh, sure, what does it matter what your
age mate and comrade, good old Jina, thinks about you, eh? But have
a care for Keirine and for what you can do for the nation. I don’t
want to see that wasted.’

Sharma bit his
lip. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and said, ‘I’ll think about
it.’

I said, ‘Yes,
you do that.’

Vaxili honoured
his promise to reward us for our services. Within a week, Sharma
and I were promoted to deputy commanders. However, typically, while
Vaxili gave with one hand he took away with the other. Our unit was
ordered to an isolated spot on the eastern escarpment near to where
the battle of Gandonda took place. In future, Deputy Commander
Sharma and Princess Mecolo would not be able to meet each other so
easily, if at all.

The move didn’t
matter to me. With Dana gone, there was a chasm in my soul and a
hard resolve in my mind. I loved my family and, yes, I loved
Sharma. They were the only personal relationships that claimed my
affections and that was because they already had places there when
Dana was destroyed. For the rest, I would live and die for the
cause of Keirine.

CHAPTER TEN:
A WORTHY INSTRUMENT

Gandonda
occupied a strategic position on Keirine’s south-eastern flank,
sited as it was on the last range of hills before the escarpment
sloped away to the coastal plane. Traffic from the coast had to
funnel through the pass at Gandonda to reach the highland plains
that lay beyond, stretching westwards towards the Great River and
northwards towards Koraina. More importantly, from Gandonda the
roads fanned out towards the rich wheat fields, mines, and forests
of the distant countries to the south-west of Keirine.

Our unit was
based to the north of Gandonda in a position from which we
overlooked both the coastal plain and the approach to the pass.
From our vantage point, the walls and buildings of the Dornite city
of Asjolorm were clearly visible, glinting on the plain about a
half-day’s journey away. Three of the Dornite coastal cities were
visible as well, appearing as light-coloured smudges against the
green of the plain, backed up by the turquoise, white-flecked
expanse of the Endless Ocean.