The First Kingdom (The Bolaji Kingdoms Prequel)

CHAPTER 2

SANEE'S FATHER PACED THE ROOM, waving his arms around in excitement over the arranged marriage set for two years from now.

Sanee slouched in his seat with one hand on his chin and his eyes on the floor as his father described the girl he'd chosen for him.

"She's a nice girl, lively, and easy to talk to. I found her family to be suitable people. They're hardworking and have often supported the community."

Sanee rolled his eyes. It didn't matter if Masoandro Perendi himself had sent her. He wanted nothing to do with her. How could his father even think him ready to marry anyone, least of all her? He had stronger feelings for his weapons and shield than for this girl. They'd grown up together. He knew her from their days in school. He also knew they weren't compatible.

"Father, I must protest."

"No, you must not." His father barked back. Then he squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. He looked down his narrow nose at Sanee as he spoke. "You must understand your duty to your people. I won't live for an eternity. You'll replace me someday and I want you to be ready. Leading our people requires more than just hunting skills. Even those as superior as yours."

Sanee couldn't take any more of this talk of his father's death and his inevitable marriage to a girl he only tolerated. He stood up and went to the door.

"Where are you going? We need to go over the current tribal war situation. We've discovered spies in the trees. The greenies again. I need your help to dissuade them from watching us."

"You've already decided what you will do. You'll beat them into submission like you do everything else. I'm not interested. Their advanced technology doesn't scare me the way it does you."

"You won't be so cavalier when they're watching your every move and the moves of those you care about."

"I need to be alone." Sanee stomped off.

"Come back here." His father's roar faded as he marched on. He passed his mother and younger brother working outside in her garden. They looked up in question as he passed, but he kept going.

Sanee reached the beach, but it wasn't enough this time. As a boy, he'd obeyed his father's warnings to avoid the open sea. Today, he pulled one of the fishermen's boats out and paddled out into the ocean without looking back. 

The blue waves called to him again. A tune he couldn't quite remember seemed clearer as he floated on the water. No one stopped him, they were too busy with the daily hunting, gathering, and chopping needed for survival. 

As the chieftain's son and heir to the throne, he should have been more focused on the future of his people. Hadn't he done that his whole life? How could he become chieftain if he wasn't allowed to make the most important decision of his life for himself?

Even simple pleasures like Thelion's rays on his back while drifting aimless in the sea would come to an end once he married and became the new chieftain. His father's words about duty rattled around in his head as he pulled his paddle inside the boat and sat bathing in the sun. 

Only here, with the beach a thin sliver on the horizon, did he feel free of the cage they'd made for him. With his eyes closed, he didn't notice the subtle churning of the water until it was too late.

Waves reached up and over the sides, filling the small vessel. Sanee looked up into a bright blue and gold sky. The sun still shone overhead. This was no storm.

He tried everything but couldn't keep the boat still. As it spun and rocked out of control, he gripped the sides. After several turns, he lost his grip launched out of the boat by the spinning and into the air. He hit the water on his back. 

At first, the stinging distracted him from how fast the waves overtook him. He couldn't seem to get a breath as his mouth filled with more seawater, gagging him. Panic rose inside of him when he reached out and grasped only air. 

Sanee reached up again to grab onto the edge of the boat, but this time it swung around too fast and hit him in the head. The black came quick, as did the hands that grabbed him around the waist.

Sanee woke up choking on seawater and gasping for breath. He leaned over on his side to spit out the rest of the water that gagged him.

A soft hand reached out and touched his shoulder. The outstretched hand belonged to a turquoise arm that sparkled in the sun. The arm attached to a delicate shoulder and the body of a Majiwa. She looked up at him through the longest eyelashes he'd ever seen and blinked her violet eyes at him.

A melodious tune reached his plugged ears. He shook his head so he could make out the words. The sounds came from the mouth of a Majiwa. He scampered back and lifted his hands in front of him in defense.

"What do you want?"

The girl's face dropped in disappointment. She lifted her wrist and showed him a leather bracelet before she vanished under the surface of the water. The realization of who she was hit him like a two-ton tuskin in the chest. He started after her, but the guards arrived too soon.

****

I still go back and forth about creating Majiwa jewelry. I miss the days of friendship bracelets. Yeah, I know I'm aging myself, but they were so cute and a pure symbol of innocence. Is there someone out there who still has one of mine? Probably not, but it was a cool trend when I was a kid and it could be again, I'm just saying.