The Legend of Hombarume (Legends Series, #1)

15.

The villagers were on their way to the palace, mobilized by Ushe to demand justice for their fellow friend and companion who had been arrested the previous day. For some, this was just a follow-the-leader exercise while for others, it was passion that solely drove them to their actions. Simbarashe’s parents were among the crowd of people headed to the palace. The disappearance of their son had caused them great pain and they were yet to recover from their loss. Hombarume’s parents were also there, still confused about what was happening but eager to know what the future held for their only son. Among the angry mob was the man who owned the little inn that housed the village visitors, he too wanted to know the outcome of this and what better way to know than to be part of it. He didn’t know that the visitors at his inn were seething with rage and hounding him like wild dogs.

The crowd moved through the village market, drawing the attention of those who had not heard of the hunter’s arrest, the market women and men, not slow to curiosity, joined the group before they even asked questions about what was taking place. Those in their compounds, came out after they heard the noises from the chatter that was ever increasing along the path to Chief Banga’s palace. By the time they had left the village market and the compounds that fell into that area, the crowd had grown considerably and Ushe, Dererai and his friends had garnered the attention of as many people as they needed to confront the royals about what was taking place in their village right under their noses.

The Chief’s compound was quiet as usual, all you could see from a distance was the maids and the guards moving up and down constantly. They must’ve been alerted about the approaching crowd, for when the crowd finally reached the palace gate, the number of guards you could see from afar had tripled. They just stood at the entrance, barring it so that no one could enter, brandishing their sharp blades as if they would slay anyone who dared to move any further. Revai was approaching the gate and he finally arrived, casually walking like he had no care in the world and all the time to waste.

‘Ushe, what in the gods is going on here?’

His voice boomed from across the barrier, he wasn’t a stranger to addressing a crowd.

‘How dare you address me from there? Am I not human enough for you?’

Revai signalled the guards that manned the gate to open it for him so he could heed his fellow man’s request. He walked out and stood right in front of Ushe, his tall and muscular build besting the farmer’s.

‘I ask you again, what is this? Is there a situation I was never notified about?’

‘No, my friend, but I guarantee you, there are a few I can think of that we weren’t notified of, we’re here for answers,’ Ushe replied, defying Revai’s superior stature.

‘And what are those?’ Revai asked.

Ushe laughed.

‘Come on, my friend. Why don’t you stop treating me like a child? You and I both know what I’m referring to. The prince went missing and you arrested Hombarume without notifying either the dare or the public.’

‘And don’t you think if there was anything to notify, we would actually do so?’

Revai was trying to hide his increasing uneasiness but Ushe was like an eagle.

‘It’s been three days since Pomerai disappeared, Revai.’

‘According to who?’

‘So you think we didn’t know about the search you went on two days ago?’

‘If you know so much, then why do you need notifying, my friend?’

The murmurs from the crowd escalated after Revai’s remark but Ushe maintained his composure.

‘How long were you hoping to keep Hombarume captive? Did you think we would not notice your unlawful arrest?’

‘And what do you know about the law?’

‘I know that the dare must be informed prior to an arrest and after, I for one am part of the dare, if you have forgotten, the youngest member at that. I was not informed about anything yesterday, the day before that or today.’

‘Should we applaud you for being the youngest member?’

The other guards burst into raucous laughter and at that moment, Ushe realized what was going on. He had underestimated the long-service head of the guard gravely. The man was trying to cleverly wear them down before they even started making demands by intimidation.

‘Well, that is neither here nor there, what we need right now is an audience with the Chief, since he is the man who approves of all the arrests that you make,’ Ushe said.

‘The man who is going to tell you what I just did in half the words?’ Revai asked, raising his eyebrows.

‘Yes, we want to see him, lest you forget, you don’t really speak for him.’

The crowd cheered for Ushe and started demanding entry into the compound. Revai saw a disastrous situation about to occur and he decided to finally open the gate and let them in. Denying these people what they wanted now would just thwart the effort he had put in wearing them down. It would give them all the power they needed to retaliate.

The large crowd of disgruntled villagers waited at the centre of the compound while Revai went away for a ridiculous amount of time to “search for the chief” who was obviously in his chambers like he would be on any other day. Ushe waited and implored his already heating crowd to exercise a little more patience before doing anything rash. The crowd complied for the most part, but when Revai did not return as quickly as he left them, they became uneasy and threatened to storm into the chambers, an action that would be extremely regrettable judging by the number of men that patrolled the compound and the weapons they wielded.

‘My friend, these people are not taking us seriously, I don’t see anything coming out of this,’ said Dererai whose patience was thinning very fast.

‘Wait just a little longer, Dererai, we don’t want to take any premature action.’

Soon enough, as Ushe had promised his people, the Chief’s advisor finally showed his face and tottered out of the chambers to address the seething crowd.

‘My elder, why have you graced us in such a manner?’ the man asked.

‘We have questions, sir, and we want answers.’

‘I’m sure your questions are more than valid but why not raise them through the proper channels?’ the advisor said in-between a smile and seriousness.

‘With all due respect, sir, it seems like the royal house hasn’t been taking matters through proper channels either,’ Ushe replied.

‘What matters are those?’

‘That of the prince’s disappearance and that of Hombarume’s sudden arrest.’

The Chief’s advisor paused while looking for the best possible excuse for the very factual error that had been highlighted.

‘I assure you that everything that has been done is in the best interest of everyone,’ he finally said.

‘How can it be in the best interest of everyone, when they don’t have information about the issue at hand?’

The crowd hummed and nodded in agreement with Ushe’s sentiments.

‘Very well, your concerns have been noted and they shall be dealt with.’

‘Dealt with? We want to know why a fellow member of the crowd that is being kept in the dark about what is happening in the village has been arrested. We want to know why the dare hasn’t been informed of this arrest.’

The crowd went up in frenzy in support of Ushe.

‘My elder, can I speak to you in private?’