The Legend of Hombarume (Legends Series, #1)

55.

When the horn started blowing, Ushe had already been woken from his slumber by his pertinent thoughts about Hombarume and the trial. He sat on his mat for a while and let the loud noise carry on before he finally he acted. Everyday seemed to bring about a new problem nowadays.

By the time the sun had already started casting its beautiful glow unto the village, he was halfway to the palace and when he arrived, he found that less guards than usual were at their posts.

Up until he arrived, he hadn’t really stopped to ponder about what had happened, his mind was stuck on discussing with Hombarume that he and Dererai had planned the previous day. This could very well be his only chance of finding out the order of events from the hunter’s point of view while the Chief and everyone else were distracted by whatever disaster had caused the sounding of the alarm.

The atmosphere was tense everywhere around the palace premises, even more so than when Hombarume had been captured the first time. The other members of the dare were yet to arrive, so Ushe decided to keep his feet busy and make himself warm by walking around the compound.

He was surprised that the omnipresent head of the guard had not yet shown his face, with all the commotion the alarm had caused. This to him was strange, but it also meant better chances of talking to Hombarume with little to no hindrance.

As he was a member of the dare, he was well aware of where his friend would be kept, near the grain reserves in a place that would be well guarded from all directions. There was no way he would see Hombarume without encountering a few abrasive forces, some of which passed him, headed in the direction of the guard quarters.

He followed behind them then took his own route towards the grain reserves in the foggy distance. It was strangely quiet and unguarded. The hut where the prisoner would normally be kept was deserted and all that was left were burnt out torches and empty shackles. The room was dark, save for tiny opening that let in a sliver of sunlight. He heard light footsteps approaching.

‘Councilman, you are not supposed to be here,’ a guard said on seeing him.

‘Where is the prisoner, where have you taken him?’ Ushe asked

‘All will be answered, vakuru, just come with me.’

‘With all due repect, you cannot move the prisoner without the dare’s consent. Take me to him,’ he demanded.

‘With all due respect, I cannot do that. If only you could be patie-‘

‘Perhaps you want me to inform the head of the guard that you are being difficult. Do as I have instructed or your work here will be over!’

‘I cannot take you to him because he is not here,’ he finally burst out of frustration.

Could they have killed him in the night out of anger or fear that he would somehow be exonerated again? Could they have exiled him, perhaps?

‘What in the name of the gods do you mean?’

When Usher returned to the usual rendezvous where every member of the dare had convened and the chief’s advisor had already started the conversation.

‘He escaped?’ Ushe bellowed, immediately grabbing all the attention.

The elders kept their silence but the expressions on their faces were telling a far much greater story than they were trying to let on, a tale of confusion and bewilderment. There was a long pause before words were uttered, until the Chief himself responded.

‘Yes indeed, Hombarume has escaped.’
The murmurs grew and gradually transformed into full on discourse about the mysterious hunter.

‘You expect us to believe that a man bound by chains, guarded day and night conveniently escaped a night before his trial?’ Ushe’s voice bellowed, cutting through the confused babbling within the room.

‘He was aided by Revai, we believe. There is no telling exactly when this was plotted. I am utterly disappointed in the head of the guard, I was under the impression that I had taught him better.’

Ushe was puzzled. There was no correlation at all between Revai and Hombarume that he could think of. In fact, they both openly and clearly despised each other. There was no reason at all for Revai to aid in the escape, so why would he have done it?

‘In what world is that even remotely a possibility?’ Ushe asked.

‘In a world where seers and healers are murdered, sons of the land go missing and our men go above and beyond to defend and free a killer,’ the Chief said with a glint in his eye that shot straight at Ushe.

‘I trust that some of the men have already commenced the search. What are we to do if the fugitives are long gone?’ Tavagwisa, another one the councilmen asked.

‘Searching for these fugitives is of extreme importance, no matter where they go,’ the Chief replied.

‘That is something that us as the dare will have to decide. There is a hierarchy of issues at hand here. Like you have already said, the healer is dead, the seer is dead and frankly, your own son is missing.’

‘Young councilman, as we have already established, your ties to the subject of the matter bring your capabilities of objectivity to question. The fact that we are not excusing you from this comes out of sheer luck and the respect we have for you,’ said the Chief.

There was no more subtlety in his voice. If Ushe kept pushing him, there was no doubt that he was going to move.

‘With all due respect, Chief, I am merely the voice of the people. Ever since the demise of Vhudzijena, they have not stopped asking questions. Going forward with the sparring contest which turned awry, a decision that was not unanimous, is something else that was frowned upon. The question here is not of my objectivity, but of urgency when it comes to dealing with these delicate matters.’

The murmurs began again, but this time , they weren’t about the hunter, but the heating argument that was about to peak. One of the Chief’s two advisors whispered something in his ear, either telling him no to engage with the young councilman or giving him grounds to do so.

‘Are we then to believe that you are not saying all this only for us to overlook your companion who now undoubtedly has a bigger part in this murderous spree?’ Banga asked.

‘Yet we’re still to be informed on how this companion of mine escaped from a heavily guarded compound without anyone noticing. Please, by all means, enlighten us,’ Ushe replied.

There was no doubt the Chief was enraged by this, but he would be damned if he showed it.

‘If I had all the answers we would not be here and we would have arrived at the root of the problem by now instead of bickering like mere children. It is clear to me that we have traitors in our midst, weak men who side with murderers, abductors and the worst of all, the sympathizers. Slowly but surely, we will rid our village of these evildoers.’

‘And what are we to do about the aforementioned problems, surely the young man has made a few relevant points in the words that he has spoken?’ another councilman asked.

The Chief had to be feeling the pressure. He had to give a plausible answer or else the only thing in question would be his capabilities as a leader.