The Tribes of K'haren - Completed

Chapter 19.1

'You did what?!' Nume shouted with wide opened eyes.

'I asked him to officially crown me the Great Leader of our own tribe.' Kran calmly repeated. He'd done it without asking for Nume's opinion but he knew it could only benefit them. In K'haren, you had to be accepted by at least one other tribe as an own tribe, otherwise, you'd be regarded as runaways with no rights or laws.

Now Kran waited for the message to truly sink into Nume's consciousness. He looked over at Raf and saw a slight smile on the man's lips. How would they react once he told them the rest of the story?

'So you are now officially a Great Leader?' Nume processed. 'Of our tribe of three people?'

'Three?' Raf interrupted her. 'Who said I was in?'

'You aren't?' both Kran and Nume asked nearly simultaneously.

'I'm not a Phraio.'

'Yes, you are. You said it yourself, half-Phraio.' Nume reminded him, not that it was actually necessary.

'But also half-Dretho. When has anybody from another species ever been accepted in a Phraio tribe?' Raf said angrily but also with a hint of sadness in his voice.

'Never.' Kran confirmed. 'But it's time for things to change, don't you think?'

'So you want me to join your tribe, for what exactly? It's not going to change anything, is it?'

'Actually, it is.' Kran explained calmly. 'I have managed to convince Zurem that it's best for our tribe to be open for anyone. That includes you and anybody from any other species. Even Bay and Luthi could join, if they could tell us they wanted to.'

Upon hearing her name, Bay opened one eye, stared at Kran for a while and then closed it again. Luthi on the other hand didn't react at all, he was busy trying to figure out a way to rub his back against a poor old tree without hurting his wings.

'And,' Kran started again. 'I've also asked him to include you' he looked at Nume. 'in the ceremony. He turned that down, though. He said you'd have to be present and he couldn't let his tribe know he'd crowned the first female Leader of all times...' Before Nume had a chance to even react, he went on to say: 'However, I did convince him to give me a second sash and since I am the Great Leader of my own tribe now, I'm free to crown whoever I want. Usually, that is only used for newly forming tribes, but, since nobody ever even considered adding a second Great Leader to his own tribe, there is no actual rule against it...'

'Are you telling me...?' Nume asked, still looking very confused but Kran recognized a certain glowing in her eyes: She liked the idea. 'But didn't you say you wanted to end the system with Leaders and such?'

Kran remembered his words well, yes, he did want to end the system, but it had to be replaced by something. 'I figured having two Leaders instead of one was a good start. And, after all, anybody is free to join us, so they practically choose to listen to us. And they're also free to leave any time. Also,' he said, turning to Raf. 'If you want to join us, I have an offer, you can be part of the high council I have also introduced earlier today. That way, you gain status and any Phraio joining couldn't even dare to criticise you based on your blood.'

Kran stood by the fire waiting impatiently. Neither of his friends said anything. It stroke him as slightly odd that he considered Raf to be a friend of his, but that's exactly how he felt about the man. When Nume finally said something, he still didn't get the answer he was waiting for.

'But why would Zurem help you with all of that?' Nume asked. Of course, she had to notice it. Could he tell her? It was actually a rather personal decision of the other Leader, but Kran couldn't resist telling her for very long anyway. He was just about to say it when he looked at Raf. Maybe telling him was a bit too much, though. But then again Raf was old, very old, he'd certainly met some people like Zurem before, Kran thought to himself.

'Well, as you know, Zurem is a married man, he has to be in order to become a Great Leader...' Kran started. 'But his marriage includes a contract that is hidden from his people.' He paused trying to find a way to explain the situation. 'Informally, his wife is actually married to his younger brother. After all, the tribe will need a future Leader with his family's blood...' Nume looked at him, she had not yet understood, but Kran could tell that Raf had. With great effort, Kran finally said the words feeling just so heavy to him. 'Zurem himself has never been interested in any woman. He's actually more into men...'

Kran waited anxiously for Nume's reaction. Even if it was Zurem he was talking about, her opinion meant a lot to him. After all, maybe one day, he'd manage to tell her he felt much the same way as Zurem did.

'Oh, alright.'

That was it. Nume's reply was short and without judgement. Kran couldn't help smiling at her. Raf didn't even bother to say anything about it in the first place. If they didn't have the tendency to make each other angry, Kran would have asked him for his opinion and whether he'd met other Phraio like that before. Secretly, he wanted to know as much as possible, were there maybe even other species where that occurred? But then he remembered he didn't yet have an answer from neither Nume or Raf.

'So,' he started once more. 'Nume, do you want to be the Great Leader by my side?' Kran asked with a gentle smile. He took a second sash out of a pocked in his pants, presenting it to her.

'Actually, I do. It doesn't sound like much fun, though...' she said with an even bigger smile. Kran raised an eyebrow, stood up and walked over to her. Nume rolled her eyes, obviously bothered by the fact that she'd have to get up, too, just so he could put the sash on her. But he quietly insisted on it, the traditions had to be honoured, he thought, at least some of them. With an overly dramatic gesture, he put the sash on her and then bowed to her. She then proceeded to bow to him, supressing a laugh.

'Is that it now?' Raf asked sounding bored.

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