The Tribes of K'haren - Completed

Chapter 18.2

The next day, they reached a phraio tribe. It was one that travelled with gseirut, too, wherefore Luthi had to land at a distance in order to not provoke the leading male. Raf decided it was better to leave Bay with him so she wouldn't upset the herd and therefore the three walked the rest of the path to the many rows of tents.

They were already noticed long before they arrived there so once they did, the tribe's Great Leader himself was waiting for them. He'd sent some servants to them and these servants now quickly led them into his tent as if they wanted to prevent them from talking to anybody other than the Great Leader first.

Kran and Nume didn't need to be reminded of the rules, they bowed to the Great Leader just like they had done to their own for all their lives. Even the Leader's grandson had to obey those rules of behaviour and show his respect. Raf on the other hand wasn't accustomed to that and his bow came with a noticeable delay. But the Great Leader didn't seem to mind.

'Welcome!' He greeted them joyfully. To their surprise, the relatively young man even got up and walked over to them, taking Kran's hand. 'You are Kran Torein, aren't you? I remember you well, we once had a very interesting conversation about dragons while our fathers were discussing something.'

'Yes, indeed, Zurem S'faa, isn't it?' Kran replied with an honest smile.

Nume couldn't remember the tribe at all. But then again, most of the time when they had met other tribes and traded with them, women were supposed to stay out of sight so they wouldn't catch anybody's attention. Turning down a marriage offer from the wrong guy in another tribe could cause way too much trouble. Nume should know, she'd done it twice.

'And that must then be your wife?' Zurem asked, eying Nume up curiously.

'Oh, no, we're not married.' Kran tried to explain.

'I understand, such ceremonies take their time.' The Great Leader just seemed to assume they had to at least be engaged. Nume felt the strong urge to correct him but she knew it was better not to. There would be too many questions.

'She's Nume and this is Raf'ney-krush, a friend.' Kran said. Nume could tell it wasn't easy for Kran to pronounce that last word but she was sure the others wouldn't notice.

'Raf'ney-krush, the half-dretho, of course, I should have known! But tell me, how come you befriend an outsider and man-hunter like him?' The Great Leader said, not caring about how rude he sounded. Nume could tell Raf's body tensed up but he didn't say anything and she decided to thank him for that later on.

'He has saved our lives.' Kran replied. 'But, if I may ask, what happened to your father?'

'He joined the battle and his life was lost along with those of all his men.' Zurem spoke steadily but grief echoed in his words.

'Battle? What battle?' Kran asked, completely forgetting about the words of condolence he was expected to speak.

'You don't know about that? We're at war, the western tribes have declared it.' Looking around the tent, Nume now noticed that most of the servants hiding in dark corners were female and armed to the teeth. She also noticed Raf's hand grabbing the hilt of his sword.

'But why?' Kran said.

'Oh, war has many reasons, let us not talk about this now, but if you haven't come to offer me help in these hard times then why have you come here? And where's the rest of your tribe?' Zurem asked in an even more serious tone now.

'Well, we have parted from our tribe. Not in war, though!' Kran reassured him. 'As you know, new tribes must form from time to time for all phraio to gain freedom and wealth.' The phrase sounded horribly wrong out of Kran's mouth and yet Nume felt the convincing tone's virtue. He went on to say: 'We have decided to change some things and we want those who agree with us to be free to join us.'

'And what exactly are these things you want to change?' Zurem asked curiously but slightly warily.

Kran looked at Nume before he answered. 'We want all phraio to engage in trade with other species. There is no point in denying the potential that lies in new trading partners.' Nume hated it when he talked so professionally but it was exactly what he'd been trained to do all his life. She knew there were many more points Kran wanted to explain but he was wise enough to start with something that sounded convincing and let that sink in before he got to more delicate topics.

'Well, that sounds reasonable...' Zurem admitted after some consideration.

'After all, the times of fear are over and we are under no threat from any other species. Even the dragons stay away these days and sightings are getting ever rarer.' Kran went on before Zurem could come up with a downside.

'That is not fully correct.' The Great Leader stated. 'They may not show here but we have reason to believe that they somehow engage with our enemies both in the west and east.'

'Well, if those are your enemies then I feel it is my duty to admit something to you: We have witnessed some form of trade between dragons and a phraio tribe a few days to the east. Unfortunately we have not been able to figure out which tribe this was and thus we also don't know just how strong this connection between them and the dragons may be.'

'This is no news to me. But how come you allege dragons were keeping away if you know about this?' Zurem snapped.

'Because I believed this to be a unique occasion. But tell me, have the dragons themselves attacked you in any way?' Kran now asked.

'No but if they trade with our enemies then they are our enemies, too!'

'Surely, yet I will not allow the fear of some invisible threat to hinder us proud phraio from moving on and living the best way possible. But tell me, I must know, why are you at war with these other tribes?' Kran spoke, sounding just like his father and grandfather. Zurem glanced over Kran's shoulder at Nume and Raf. He said those things had to be discussed between Leaders' only and so Nume and Raf were sent outside, accompanied by a group of four servants.

Their guards didn't allow them to go very far, they were taken to an open tent meant for public gatherings and there they waited. Nume curiously eyed every phraio she saw up and noticed that most of them were women wearing blue, the colour of grief. She didn't spot a single child and assumed their mothers must be hiding them from the strangers.

Feeling the piercing glances on her skin, Nume suddenly realised how badly she herself looked. Her clothes were dirty and smelly and her hair was a total mess. Raf didn't look any better, his shirt was torn apart, he himself had done this in the cart. Now he was hiding it underneath his jacket but it didn't really help. Thinking about it, Nume remembered Kran's shirt looking equally bad. Not the best way to introduce yourself as the Leader of a new tribe...

One of the servants offered them some hot soup and they gladly took it. The tribe treated them like guests and prisoners at the same time, its code of honour demanded the former, its fear the latter. Nume was glad they didn't have to buy anything for all their money had been lost together with their backpacks. At least she thought so until she saw Raf pull out a small bag from one of his boots and offer a silver coin to the servant in return for the soup. The poor man looked shocked, of course it was his duty to cater for them for free.

'Oh, no, please, just take it...' he stammered.

Raf shrugged and hid his money again. But Nume pulled his shirt and gave him a meaningful look. At first, he looked startled, but then he got it.

'If you don't take my money for the soup, will you take it for some decent clothing? We have been on the road for a while so...' Raf started. The servant interrupted him with a hasty nod.

'Oh, of course, follow me, I'll show you were you can chose something and we shall then discuss the price with our Great Leader.' The servant excitedly spoke. He sent one of his fellow servants to go to the Great Leader and inform him of their plans while the other two followed him and their guests to their dressmaker.

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