The Legend of Hombarume (Legends Series, #1)

19.

Hombarume leaned against the wall and thought about how he had ended up captive in the Chief's palace. That one moment when he pulled at his bow and sent the arrow flying towards the anomaly that was in front of him had brought him here. Would he be exonerated or would he spend his entire life in shackles? Was Pomerai dead?

That was something that he very much wanted to know. He had shot him, yes, it wasn't a deadly shot but who knew if he bled to death, the forest of Gomoguru was far away from anyone's aid. What of the fellow who had also been arrested for killing his father, how did it all connect? He thought long and hard about it until he realised that he wasn't helping himself by fixating on that.

Tomorrow his story would be told before the dare. No doubt they would embellish it with all sort of non-existent detail to make it far more appealing and convincing than it would to anyone. The way Revai dismissed his explanation spoke volumes, either he had already heard what happened before and was told not to believe it or he was just someone who was quick to dismiss all things that couldn't be explained through reason. Hombarume too had never encountered something as strange as this before, if he were asked a week back if he believed in spirits and demons he would've been quick to say no. Right now, he was uncertain of what he believed. All he knew for sure was that something highly unnatural was going on in the village, perhaps the gods were angry, but angry at what exactly? What could Hombarume have done to anger the high spirits?

He had heard of people who accidentally wandered too far from home and ended up desecrating sacred, holy ground. Those people had really ill luck and payed for sins they didn't know about. Was he now one of those people? What if what he saw before he shot the Chief's son was only a spiritually induced illusion of the angered beings aimed at confusing him and making him commit an unspeakable sin, murder? He heard his father tell a story of how he was wandering in the forests way before the villages were divided and he was a victim of chadzimira.

Hombarume thought about his parents and how this news must've affected them. They were obviously worried about him and desperate to know what happened to him. He thought of his mother and how the women at the market would talk if the trial didn't go in his favour, which he was almost entirely sure it wouldn't. He thought of Nakai, she was probably confused right now about what was going on. Would he ever see her again? Even if he were to be released at some point, her mother would never want to see him anywhere near her. She would never allow him, especially now that he was a murderer.

They would marry her off to some rich man from Makura, she would go away and live her new life there and never for a second think of him ever again. The mere thought of that wounded Hombarume, the thought of Nakai was the only thing keeping him sane, keeping him from giving up completely on himself. He wanted to blame himself for everything that happened but it didn't make enough sense in his head, he needed answers before he could assign blame on anyone.

One of the guards came to the hut where Hombarume was being kept before his trial the following day with food and water. At least they were still feeding him. Considering how angered the Chief was about his son who was in the wind and probably dead somewhere. He would be angry to if it were his only son who was shot in the forest with no witnesses to what happened. He'd be angry too if he was left without an heir, for tradition demanded that the chieftainship move to another worthy man of the village if the present chief died without an heir. It would be quite tragic if Pomerai wasn't found alive, for the Chief was far too old to father another heir.

'Your food and water.'

'Thank you, may the gods be kind to you,' Hombarume said.

Just as the man was about to head out, he stopped at the door and looked back at the hunter.

'I believe you, Hombarume, you're a good man,' he said.

'Thank you.'

'I believe what the healer's son too, what he said Pomerai did to his father, that fellow has always been errati-'

'What did he say?' Hombarume asked.

'Have a nice meal,' the guard said on realising that he had probably said too much.

***

'This is good beer, my friend,' Batanai said while he took another swill of the potent mixture.

'It was left over from the party I had a few nights ago, those men usually never leave any behind,' Ushe said with a soft chuckle.

'So that was you? We heard the drums on our way out of the village,' Hamandishe said.

'Why didn't you leave then? I believe you only got robbed yesterday,' Ushe asked.

'We had hopes that if we stay a little longer, we might still get our audience with the Chief, but that doesn't seem so,' Anesu lied effortlessly.

'No one knew the prince would go missing,' Ushe said in-between full gulps.

'So there's a trial tomorrow for your friend, I presume?' Anesu asked.

Ushe stared into the fire, for the first time since he met the stranger at the square he remembered that his friend, Hombarume was somewhere within the palace, shackled and tortured.

'Yes, yes there is,' he replied.

'Do you think he did it, kill the prince?' Anesu asked bluntly.

Ushe sighed and thought long and hard about the answer he would give for the question, not only today but tomorrow. They would surely ask him because he was close companions with the accused. They would also ask him why if he said no and he needed a really good answer for that. He needed a very convincing argument.

'To be honest with you, he could have done it, he could've murdered the prince for unknown reasons but I know that if he had for sure killed the prince, they wouldn't be keeping him in the palace like a guest. Something doesn't add up.'

'You're right there, in my village if you kill someone of the royal family you'll be fed to the lions,' Anesu said, shocking everyone.

'I am pulling your legs,' he said breaking into laughter and almost toppling the beer pot that was beside him.

'The beer is slowly enslaving your friend,' Ushe said to the two advisors.

They drank and told more stories about the past and the present before they all retired to rest. The night was not far gone but Ushe had to be early to the palace the next morning.

Just before dawn, Anesu woke up to someone shaking him violently.

'Ushe, is that you?'

'You were having a bad dream,' Ushe replied, lifting the lamp to his face.

'I don't think it was a dream at all.'

Glossary.
Chadzimira - a spiritually induced confusion that occurs when someone wanders into a sacred place.