BEAUTY IN EXILE

||CHAPTER 3

Gitahi walked through the compound and entered his father's hut. He was still lying on his makeshift bed of sheep and goatskin. He wasn't getting any better. Gitahi muttered a few curses to himself before he excused the guards for privacy. They gladly obliged. He then settled on his father's bedside and helped him sit up. He first watched him.

His ailment had made him vulnerable. This wasn't the tough, overly protective and somewhat caring father he knew. Let alone the vicious man he had just learned about. He was nothing but a helpless slave to the diseases ailing him. The fact made Gitahi decide to push his confused emotions to the back of his head and tend to him like a good son.

"My son," the old chief called in a hoarse voice.

"Father," he responded.

"When do you plan on heading out to see your potential bride?" he asked.

It took Gitahi by surprise. He wondered why he was rushing it. Perhaps the old man's doom was near. The young lad hated it and liked it as well. What he had learnt made the beast inside him wake a little. It wanted him gone for what he had done to the family of his best friend. It was not excusable. But his humane side wanted him to stay as he was the only parent he had.

"In a few days, my father. As you know, the chiefdom is under jeopardy and I would not like to leave it untended. Your condition wouldn't help you govern it the way you should," he responded sensibly.

The old man smiled at his elder son's wisdom and concern for the chiefdom. He knew he would make a great chief. But what he had learnt from a guard made him doubt it. He had already been informed that Gitahi was seeing Ndegwa. Something that dismayed him. He believed Ndegwa was like poison to his son. He could easily brainwash a very adventurous Gitahi. So he did what he should have done a while back.

"Your brother will take over while you're away," his father assured him. "He will make sure that the village is safe."

"But father, I have to inspect the warriors and make sure they are fit for dispatch tomorrow. They need to be at the borders with everything that they will require. Danger is looming and we all have to be ready when it rains upon us," he argued. His father smiled as he raised his hand to ruffle it on his locks.

"I know the situation at hand is crucial. But you need to look for a wife and sire, my son. Your brother will gladly take over. When you're back, you'll resume the duties," he told him.

"You make it hard to disobey your orders," he joked making the old man smile again.

"Set out tomorrow as early as possible before the situation at hand gets worse," he instructed.

"Alright, father. But I have a request," his father listened with keen interest.

"Which is?" he asked.

"I wish to take the prisoner Ndegwa as my slave for the journey," he said.

His father furrowed his brows. He was wise. He knew he wasn't taking him as a slave but as a friend. He was glad to have learnt about their acquaintances and immediately done what was necessary. He hypocritically smiled at his son. Gitahi didn't settle that for a sincere smile.

"He is a prisoner for getting involved with a woman who defiled the most important rule in the chiefdom. He is not good company," his father tried to reason with him.

He hoped his son wasn't going to be stubborn as he already knew it. But he on the other hand felt like laughing. The prisoner was exactly the kind of company he needed.

"I do know that father. I am not taking him as an acquaintance but as my slave," he insisted. "Besides, you know well, father. I will not entertain anyone who tries to lure his ideas into my head. Especially those that are against our rules and beliefs."