The Legend of Hombarume (Legends Series, #1)

68.

'Hama, why did you bring me all the way here when we could have talked anywhere else in this large compound?'

Batanai was walking down the path between two of Ushe's fields while Hamandishe was a short distance in front of him.

'We need to act Bati, time is not on our side and that fool Pasipanodya is not of any help at all because this will never fall on him. Whatever this plan of yours is, we have to do it now so that all this can be over, so that we can leave this godforsaken village,' Hamandishe said.

'Why have you become panicked all of a sudden, my friend?'

'In case you haven't noticed, people are dying in this village. Strangely. I will not die here, Bati, I rebuke that fate. Anesu has been at our side for a long enough time, we owe it to him to find him, but we have to be safe as well,' he replied.

'I lied,' Batanai said.

'What?' Hamandishe asked.

'I lied. There is no plan. We are out of options, Hama, I'm out of options. I've never felt this helpless since we started this. It has never been like this. I know I have been with him for longer, doing this for longer but never have I once encountered a problem like this.'

'Then we leave. Right now so that no one knows where we went,' Hamandishe said.

'You do not know his parents like I do; they will hunt us to the ends of the kingdom. They treat that boy like a king,' Batanai said.

'The more reason for us to leave. If they find us here and realize we lost him, they will have our heads,' Hamandishe replied.

'But where would we even go? Makura is our home and we surely cannot return without Anesu,' Batanai said.

'We will ride far south, past the sugarcane fields, out of the kingdom to the Nomadlands. I know people there. I have people I can trust.'

'Are you ready to leave the young master behind? Are you ready to give up on him?' Batanai asked.

'In all honesty, I am not. But with Pasi breathing down our necks and the existing tensions in this village, we will not get far here. And if Anesu makes it out alive, there may be a way for us to reach out to him,' Hamandishe said.

'And what way is that?'

'The Nomads have travelled far and wide, to nameless lands, countless kingdoms, to places that you will never know or see, but they have ways of making sure they return to each other, to know that their people are safe, they are a powerful people,' Hamandishe assured.

'And what about Ushe?'

'He will urge us to stay or judge us for leaving, it is better that we just leave quietly in the night. You have to make a choice now, if we are to do this, we have to be in it together,' Hamandishe said.

Batanai was silent for quite a long while, thinking about everything he had done as a trader, everything he had achieved with Anesu, the lands they had travelled to, the memories they had shared and he felt like all of it had been in vain since it had let them here, to a hopeless moment, to choosing between staying or fleeing.

He remembered the day he had officially met Anesu. By that time, he had just come of age, yet he was already revered as one of the most promising tradesmen in Makura village. Word had already traveled as far as Chikuni, which was Batanai's home village, that there was a wealthy man in Makura, with rare items that Chiefs and Lords envied, he had recently revealed an arsenal of weaponry that was forged in the olden days with pure ore that was worked by the ancestors long gone, with blades so sharp, they pierced swiftly and precisely.

Batanai was older and wiser; therefore he bested the young man in spotting frauds and looters. When he came for an audience with Anesu, the young trader was in the midst of one his trades which was about to fail dismally, therefore he risked his appointment with him, to save him from the bad deal. The man who had come to acquire the weaponry was someone Batanai was familiar with and had encountered before. He was known for being able to deceive rich men and fake his own wealth, but never someone as rich as Anesu was.

The young trader took an immediate liking to him after this and in no time at all they were working together, first provisionally and soon enough they were traveling far and wide together, village after village creating a respectable life for themselves.

Batanai wondered why and how he had come to this, why it had to be Anesu who disappeared, why they had found themselves in the strange village at the worst of times. If it were up to him, they would have passed by and headed to the plantations without giving Rujeko a second glance. He was smart enough to know that Hamandishe was right; they had to disappear, to leave it all behind. It was the only way for them to not face the wrath that awaited them in Makura.

'I agree, it is time for us to go, leave it all behind,' Batanai replied.

'We leave Ushe a parting gift, the golden head,' Hama said.

'Are you sure? It is what we had come here to trade in the first place.'

'It has caused us more harm than good, it is what led us to this mess, so we leave it here,' Hama said.