The Thuyena celebrations were nearing with barely a moon remaining till the festivities began. The streets were already becoming colourful with vendors and shops putting up ribbons that symbolized the king's family. The walls of almost every house were painted with different shades of soil. Drawings of the victorious Kasuhi were all over, as so were those of the defeated Amathu. People were already buying animals to slaughter for the festivities, flour and fruits vendors selling more than usual. Tailors too were busy with women buying beautiful garments to wear during the festivities. The market was busy and loud which annoyed Muma as he walked through the market with Kashili who was buying supplies.
'Is it that you won't or you can't?' Muma asked her as he desperately tried to convince her to help him.
'I won't,' she said to him. 'What you are asking of me isn't something am okay with.'
'But you are a prostitute, it's what you do.' Muma argued and she glared at him before walking away. Muma not knowing why she was getting angry at him followed her.
'Kashili,' he called after her but she wouldn't stop walking away. He hastened his steps and caught up with her. He wasn't used to dealing with an angry Kashili and could only blame it on her monthly female bleeds. Muma even though smart was a fool when it came to matters of women, especially Kasuhi women. Most of what he knew about women was from those who had surrounded him when he grew up. Amathu women were simple as they spent most of their lives working in the fields and the only thing they wanted was to sleep and eat. Even their choice of husbands wasn't complex as just as Amathu women were simple, the men were much more simpler. Since the Amathu lived in a communal way, no man was richer and with most of married life being spent in the farm, any man who could perform the ritual of love and was kind enough was a good choice for a spouse.
Kasuhi women however demanded more and their emotions and opinions mattered, something Muma was coming to despise. He was one of the few people who lived in both sides and as a man, he preferred when women were simple, quiet and obedient even though it wasn't right.
'Kashili,' Muma called her again, this time holding her hand which made her stop walking.
'I hate that word,' Kashili said to him angrily. She then moved to a small alley as the streets were full with people who would be interfering with their conversation that she was sure would end up in an argument.
'What word? Kashili? But isn't it your name?' A clueless Muma asked.
'Prostitute.' She said the word with the shame that came with it. Muma not knowing what to say said nothing as he looked at Kashili. She was still beautiful even with no jewellery and make-up that she wore every night. He wondered why she felt shame about something she was, something she was good at.
'I don't know what to say,' Muma honestly said and she sighed, her face showing the shame she felt because of her being a prostitute.
'Lately, I have been hating every moment I spend in the cold night with men who use me and don't care about me and leave when they are done with me. I feel worse with every man emptying his seed in me. Now you are asking me to do it for you.' Kashili told Muma and when she finally spoke those words out loud for the first time, she knew that she hated being a prostitute.
'I'm sorry, it was wrong for me to ask you to do something you hate,' Muma apologized as he held her free hand in a comforting way. He hated how he genuinely felt sorry and bad for Kashili as that meant he was slowly caring about her. From his past experiences, caring for someone meant heartbreak and pain and he was at a point he couldn't withstand any more pain.
'You didn't know that I hated it, it wasn't your fault,' she told him with a sad smile as she pressed her hand against his before looking at him. 'Muma, I hate the idea that you see me as a prostitute and I want you to see me as more than that.' She paused as she closed her eyes and let her bag fall freeing her other hand which she used to hold Muma's other hand. Muma just stood there in surprise not knowing what to do or what was happening.
'You are more than a client to me,' she paused as she opened her eyes and then continued, 'And I will do it.'
'You don't have...' He stopped when she placed her finger on his lips and shushed him.
'I want to help with whatever you are doing. All I have to do is sleep with one man and I have slept with many so one more won't do any harm.' Kashili then leaned closer to him and her lips touched his in a way they had never touched before. She then kissed him, a passionate kiss that was nothing close to what the other kisses the two shared before were. As the two separated, both of them knew that things had changed between them.
'It will be my last job as a prostitute,' she said as she picked up her bag. Muma was already thinking what she meant by it being her last job and how their relationship would change after the kiss.
'I would wish to one day see what you think,' Kashili said drawing Muma back to reality as he had zoned out and gotten lost in his thoughts. Muma chuckled at someone deliberately torturing themselves by seeing what was in his mind.
'You wouldn't like it,' he told her as she walked out of the alley.
'Maybe I would, you never know.' She winked at him and Muma walked towards her and decided to ask the question that had been bothering his mind.
'What will you do now?' He asked and a genuine smile appeared on her lips. She felt fluttered by the thought of Muma being concerned about her.
'My aunt is a tailor and she would be delighted if I would join her,' she said and turned to walk away, her back towards him. But she didn't walk away. Instead, she turned with a smile. 'By the way, you being concerned about me warms my heart, and wets other places.' She winked before walking away. This made Muma blush, though he tried hiding it as well as he could.
He walked out a moment after, a sad smile on his face. He felt happy that he would soon have details of every top administrator and judge in the city, but he felt a little bit bad that for that to happen, Kashili had to sleep with the judge who was responsible for storing information of the higher Kasuhi classes. If he got the information, his father would be proud of him and wouldn't kill him, but he also wanted the Kasuhi to pay for the pain they had caused his people.
Muma walked to school with his mind distracted with what could be a possible way into the city for the rebels. The city was surrounded by a wall that rebels had been trying to find ways into the city with no avail. He would to do what thousands before him had failed and find a way, or make one as his father had suggested. The rebel attack had to happen and he would do everything he could to make it possible.
He was already late when he arrived in the school with students in their classes. He hated being late as that meant he would be the centre of attention when he walked into the class. He also would have to explain why he was late to his teacher and apologize which meant he would have to lie as he simply couldn't tell the truth. What if he would tell the truth? He thought and smiled as he imagined his classmates except Ranadi freaking out. After rejecting her offer of going to the gardens of Sutri together, Ranadi didn't try to approach him. It gave Muma time to think what to do with her but had no clue on what it was. What did he even want to do with her? How would she help if he didn't even know who her father was.
The nobles were a huge extended family and just like the rest of the Kasuhi, their family had ranks. Theirs was different as each member of the family was said to have the blood of the gods in them. The more pure the blood, the higher you were and the highest was the heir of the throne. So families of uncles and aunts of the heir were seen to be less than the others and with a family that had began this over hundreds of generations before, the family was huge. Most of them were said to have little blood in them that they were treated like the normal Kasuhi. If Muma knew where she stood in the family tree, he would know if she was useful or not.
