The Tribes of K'haren - Completed

Chapter 3.2

As soon as they were out of the Leader's family's earshot, her mother said: 'Pull yourself together, you can't just make up an excuse tonight!' She continued scolding her while they were walking through the tent rows but Nume didn't even listen. The fresh air made her feel better but it also made her realise how bad her situation really was. If she really did run away she'd leave her whole family in shame. And if Kran came with her, he'd be banished, they both would. No one had ever left the phraio, at least no one Nume knew of. And such a sin committed by the Great Leader's first grandson himself would certainly not go unnoticed nor would the tribe be able to forgive it easily. Could she really ask that from him?

Well, she didn't ask for it, he'd offered to come with her. And after all, the woman had told her to gather her friends. The woman, Nume thought. She'd completely forgotten about the incident in the forest. Now the memory hit her hard and she stopped walking. Her mother walked on for a few steps before she turned around to ask what was going on.

'Nothing...' Nume mumbled.

'Then come on, no time to waste. We have to get back, they'll be worrying by now.' her mother replied.

'Do you love father?'

'I'm sorry?'

'You heard me.' Nume said.

'We have a good marriage.' her mother answered.

'But do you love him?'

Her mother hesitated. 'Yes.' she finally managed to say.

'And did you love him when you married him?'

'I didn't know him when I married him. I married up, just like you will now. My family was poor, their business didn't run well. But your father was interested in me anyway and so we got married. Since then we've had a lot of time to get to know each other.' she explained.

'Exactly, you had time...' Nume mumbled.

'But you don't need any time, my dear. You know Kran, he's your friend!'

'And again, you're right. He is my friend. That's all he ever has been to me and all he ever will be. But he also is an ascendant of the Great Leader so he's expected to have a son as soon as possible...' Nume didn't manage to finish the thought.

'Oh, don't worry about that, my dear, listen...' her mother started.

'No, please, just don't, don't...' Nume interrupted her with raised hands. 'I don't want to hear it.'

'Alright. I will not say anything about it if we return now.' her mother said coldly. Nume sighed and obeyed.

By the time they arrived at the tent again, the others had finished eating and were talking loudly.

'Ah, welcome back!' the Great Leader cheered. They bowed to him again.

'Are you feeling better?' Kran asked. Nume knew he only meant well but still she desired to kick him for asking. Instead she nodded and sat down next to him again. Exhaustion caught up on her as soon as she was seated and she would have liked to lean on her friend's shoulder to take a nap but of course she couldn't do that now.

When the evening finally came to an end, the Great Leader announced that they would tell all phraio about the engagement the next morning. The wedding itself would be planned by the Great Leader's wife and they would travel to a new place first so it would be something very special. He continued by stating that Kran and Nume were not to meet before the ceremonies and should only communicate through their parents.

That was too much for Nume. She jumped up and shouted: 'No!'

Everybody fell silent and stared at her in disbelief. Had she really just spoken up to, even shouted at the Great Leader?

'You can do anything to me, you can even force me into this marriage but I will not allow you to keep me from the only reasonable person in all of K'haren!' Nume continued. The thought of having to go through all that lay ahead of her without ever meeting Kran was just too much to bear. She had no idea what she was causing with her outburst. 'Please, I beg you, don't do this to me.' Only two other people in the room realised she was now talking about the wedding as well as the ritual of not meeting.

Had the Great Leader understood what Nume was really asking for, he would have had to banish or hang her immediately. Begging him not to have to marry his grandson got very close to treason and Nume was old enough to know that. But luckily, the old man was too gullible to fully understand the situation. He first smiled and then laughed. His laughter was so hearty that the others felt like they had to laugh as well. When silence once again filled the room, Nume looked up to him desperately.

'I'm sorry my dear, not even I may change the old traditions. They must be honoured. Anything else would be a disappointment to our ancestors. I understand your rude outburst comes from a passion for my grandson and so I may this once forgive you and maybe even forget. But I must warn you not to chance your luck again.' he spoke slowly. The colour that had left Nume's mother's face slowly returned as the shock let go of her.

Desperation filled Nume's heart again. The hope that had come to her for a moment was shattered. Had she just made everything even worse? She glanced over to Kran. He'd turned his face away. He was ashamed. The gesture, as small as it may have been, hurt Nume more than anything before in her life. She'd made a mistake, a huge one, and the one person who was usually there to cheer her up with a smile and a joke was now too ashamed to even look at her.

The pain made her gain control again and so she kept her head low and sat back down on her pillow. She was glad that the evening was nearly over, and she didn't look into anybody's eyes anymore. She would leave in the morning and she would leave alone.

It was pitch black when Nume crawled out of her family's tent. She had all the things she needed in a backpack that belonged to her father. Now it belonged to her, she thought. Clouds covered the sky but Nume knew that the red moon was hiding somewhere behind them. She could feel its light trying to reach her eyes.

A soft wind blew and Nume walked as soundlessly as possible through the rows of tents. She found the field with the gseirut without any trouble. Luckily, the phraio always organised their tent cities the same way wherever they landed. The tents of the Great Leader's family were arranged in the middle, the more honourable families' like Nume's formed a ring around them and the other tents stood around it with a fence built around the whole city. It could easily be climbed but an animal or a careless phraio would ring bells on strings on the fence, which would then alarm the tribe. All of this was just so familiar to Nume, she could hardly imagine it being gone so very soon.

As Nume had thought already, the breeder had somebody stand guard but this time, it was just one man with a torch that probably blinded him more than it shed light on everything around him. Nume walked closer and slipped into the maze again. She didn't really see much but she remembered the gseirut she was looking for being very fluffy. As usual, she walked through the maze running her hands along the bodies next to her, focusing on their fluffiness.

Soon the first light started appearing in the sky. It would be another half an hour before the sun would rise. Nume still couldn't find the young male she was looking for and became more and more nervous. Then she suddenly heard somebody whisper her name. Nume nearly jumped and turned around quickly.

// There you go, cliffhanger for you, hope you like it ;)