The Gainans: Servant Princess

Chapter 13

Taros' house was not much, but it quickly became the headquarters of their scheming. The old man, Bratan, and Don now sat there in silence, each thinking of a way out of the mess they were in. The facts were simple; they could no longer sit around waiting in the hope that Lano would come back to himself. Gandon's death had taught them as much. It was up to them to act.

The old man finally clicked his tongue in frustration. "This is impossible," he moaned. "How do you inspire a people with no hope?"

"We'd need a king for that," Bratan spat out, still very bitter about Lano.

Don hesitated before she spoke up.

"We could make the Chief Warrior our king."

The suggestion hung in the air for a moment, each of them flirting with the possibility. Finally Taros shook his head. He knew the young man better than that.

"He would never agree to that," he concluded. "Not like this."

"It wouldn't hurt to ask him, though, would it?" Bratan insisted, liking the idea more and more. He frowned. "Where is he, anyway?"

***

Jumu was on a secret mission of his own. He crossed the Outer Plains under the guise of hunting for food, but in reality, his prey was no animal. It was Vuma. If there was one thing Jumu knew about his protégé, it was that he was a creature of habit. When it came to free time, Vuma always went to the same place: The Dry Woods.

The Chief Warrior wasn't sure if Vuma experienced any free time with Kaana as his leader, but he was willing to bet that he would find him at his usual spot. With all the craziness of the past few months, the man had quite a bit to think about.

The conflict in the young warrior's heart was evident to Jumu. Though he did his best to mask it under the veil of indifference, Jumu saw that Vuma was a good man trapped under the leadership of a crook. It surprised and disappointed Jumu that when push came to shove, Vuma had chosen self-preservation over loyalty, but oh well. One had his reasons, he supposed. Either way, he was going to find out what was going on through the man's mind.

Once in the forest, Jumu slowed his pace. He carefully picked his way through the trees, making as little noise as possible. He knew that being there was a risk, for the Dry River was as far as a pauper was allowed, but he had to do this; he had to know if he could count on his protégé to be an ally. Make no mistake, encountering an enemy warrior wasn't of concern to him, but he preferred not having to fight them.

Jumu heard it before he saw it. He leaned back as a dagger whizzed past his ear and lodged itself into a tree. He looked in the direction it came from and saw another headed straight for his face. He stepped back, caught it by the handle, and fluidly threw it back to its source. It also landed in a tree, inches from Vuma's frowning face.

"So unlike Gaina's Chief Warrior to break the rules," he growled. "I should kill you right now for stepping outside the bounds."

Vuma couldn't hide it. He was angry, positively infuriated that his pursuit of isolation and precious solitude was thwarted yet again. No matter how hard he tried to mind his own business and sail his way through this new Gaina, things kept happening to drag him back into the fracas. One day; he just wanted one day to unwind and not have to think about Kaana and his ridiculous reign. But no, Jumu just had to break the rules...exactly where he was. Now he had to act and sink deeper into this Kaana-mess.

"You look mad," Jumu noted.

Vuma gritted his teeth.

"It is people like you who make my job harder than it has to be."

"And what is your job, exactly?" Jumu demanded. "Carrying out Kaana's dirty work?"

Vuma's eyes darkened.

"You know nothing," he hissed.

"I know you're not the warrior I trained," Jumu retorted, his baby blues hard with truth. "The warrior I trained and called protégé would never stand by and let innocent people suffer when he can do something about it."

Growling, Vuma swiftly pulled out another dagger from his belt and hurled it at Jumu. The Chief Warrior spun to the side, and pulled out the dagger that was lodged in the tree behind him. When he looked back at his protégé, he found him charging at breakneck speed, thin, shiny daggers firmly gripped in his hands. Jumu sprinted forward, then threw himself to the ground on his side and slid, to throw his opponent off balance. Vuma leaped into the air, avoiding Jumu's legs just in time and summersaulted over him, landing on his feet a few feet away. He spun around and swung his right arm. Jumu blocked the attack and countered with his.

Swooshing and clanging filled the air, along with grunts as the two warriors fought in the still of the mid-morning. Finally, a loud groan sounded as Vuma flew through the air and landed in a heap a few feet away. His daggers lay on opposite sides of him, beyond his reach.

Jumu straightened and slipped his daggers back into their sheaths before walking over to the panting warrior. He crossed his arms.

"Why are you helping Kaana?"

Vuma scowled as he met his gaze.

"Who says I'm helping him?" he snapped.

"You are no coward, Vuma," Jumu went on. "And you are a good man. That means your indifference stems from something else. What is it?"

"That is none of your concern," Vuma responded bitterly.

Jumu got down and grabbed the protégé's collar, gritting his teeth.

"I have seen you frown your way through Kaana's antics as if you would kill him yourself. Several times already you have stood by and watched him be attacked and done nothing about it." He tightened his grip. "So unless your obvious hatred for Kaana's rule is a guise to fool us all, do not tell me it is no concern of mine."

Vuma roughly brushed Jumu's hands away and looked to the side, fuming. The Chief Warrior tutted and stood.

"Whatever your reasons are, Gaina is our kingdom, and you are a part of it," he scolded. "Now more than ever we need people like you to stand and fight."

He turned and began to walk away, disappointed that his best warrior was further gone than he had thought.

"Is it worth fighting for?"

Jumu stopped.

"When a people brutally kill an innocent woman, and then blindly betray their king on a whim to follow an even worse king, are they worth fighting for?" Vuma puffed.

Jumu briefly shut his eyes and sighed in relief. That was it; that was the reason. He turned.

"Do not lose faith in humanity. We make mistakes, but we also learn from them and move on." He nodded his head. "The kingdom lost its way, and is suffering greatly for it. But together, we can help it back on the right path." He tapped the symbol of fire hanging on his chest. "Truth and justice."

Vuma looked at the symbol embroidered on his own chest and felt a spark of purpose ignite in him.

"Truth and justice," he echoed quietly.

Jumu strode to his protégé and offered his hand.

"Warrior of Gaina, will you help me?"

Vuma looked at the hand for a moment before clasping it. He rose to his feet and looked at his teacher with a new light in his eyes.

"What would you have me do?"