Chapter 19 – The Chief and his Son
Kohza plucked his glasses back from the girls who were playing with them.
And when he put them on, he concluded that they were broken.
Because he knew he was not seeing this.
Vivi was clinging to some guy like moss on a rock and asking, "What are you doing here? How did you get here?"
Then Pell swooped in from somewhere and led the man and Vivi away. Kohza tried to follow but the press of girls around him was too tight and the crowd swallowed them before he could get by.
A hand snaked out; Kohza was blind again.
Pell is here. So that must have been someone Vivi knew from the palace.
Though how Vivi knew someone that well when she hadn't been at the palace for the past couple of years was beyond him. Reason jumped in before he could take that thought much further. Igaram disappeared with Vivi. Maybe there were others.
The girls around him blurred together, flashing smiles and flashes of skin between veils. There was too much perfume in the air; it reminded him of Nanohana and the days when he'd had to venture into the city hidden in robes, in the company of dancers. The girls had served their purpose then, taking the attention away from him and his companions. No one could resist a pretty girl in little clothing.
Not Eric certainly. Kohza glanced over his shoulder. His friend was happy to allow a young woman to play with the collection of medals decorating his chest. Kohza thought he caught a glimpse of Falafra smiling broadly in the midst of another flock of girls.
His friends must have been too preoccupied with the pretty faces in front of them to have seen Vivi leave.
Suddenly Kohza's glasses were slipped into his hand and the girls melted into the edges of the silent crowd.
A way was cleared for Chief Urgano and a small honor guard. Panchai was standing beside his father. A smug smile told Kohza all he needed to know.
Eric and Falafra were at his side, abandoned by their admirers. Panchai motioned sharply and the honor guard fell in around the three of them.
"Where's Vivi?" Eric whispered.
"With Pell."
A guard brushed his cloak. It was the guy from Rainbase, the one who had been so determined to send him off - permanently. The boy flashed a grin and laid his hand on the hilt of the knife stuffed in his belt. Kohza smiled back with his teeth, a wordless challenge.
"Kohza of Yuba." Each syllable dripped with venom. Urgano stepped forward; his simple robes were a reassuring shade of blood red. This was not the genteel man who had eaten dinner at the palace but a man prepared for war.
"This is not surprising. A rebel leader and his friends show up just as we are attacked by enemies of the kingdom."
Kohza knew bait when he saw it; he ignored it. "We have information about the man leading them. There's a girl too that Vivi knows - "
Urgano's eyes narrowed. "You are too dangerous by half to be walking free, but the princess is as maudlin as her father is. You've pulled the wool over her eyes well and good."
Falafra started to speak but Urgano silenced him with a look. "Remember your place here, Falafra. While you're on tribal grounds, you are beholden to only one chief. And that is me."
His eyes flicked back to Kohza. "The presence of the princess is the only thing that has kept you alive this long. You bear the burden now; why should I let you live?"
Eric was coiled on his left and Falafra, for all his appearance of slowness, was drawn like a bowstring. But Kohza waited for Urgano to continue.
Then the air ripped apart. The report echoed in the canyon and it did not fade away. Rocks ran down the cliff side like water and nomads began flowing away as fast as they could, taking only camels and horses with them.
Urgano held fast and shouted orders while the rest of his people ran to safety. The chief threw the three rebels a final poisonous glance then was swept away with his guards.
Panchai and three of the guards were in front of them. "Father says you are to stay with me."
Then, ignoring the organized chaos around them, he began to converse. "So you are the Leader? From how Falafra described you, I'd thought you'd be - "
"Taller?" Kohza knew he could be into the crowd before the son could stop him. But what about Falafra and Eric?
Panchai smiled. "I see what you're thinking. You wish to leave and without my father's permission. That's very rude."
"It didn't even cross my mind," Kohza replied.
The son stared. Then he shrugged. "Pity. I was hoping for a dramatic fight."
Kohza wondered if Panchai having a problem with his second language - because he wasn't making any sense.
The son smiled. "The stories! I can't become chief of the nomads without one. I am in desperate need of a good story to tell."
Panchai crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, Mr. Leader of Yuba, are you going to explain how we may assist you? Or do I have to hit myself in the face and make you escape?"