21. Zumo's Offer
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| "Moon Dancer" by RoxRio |
“Zumo,” he said hoarsely. His mouth tasted of blood and dust.
“I’ll
escort you out of the tribehold, cousin,” Zumo said evenly. He snapped
his fingers. Several other Tavaedis, all Zumo’s hangers- on, formed a
defensive square around Kavio and Zumo.
The
crowd jeered at Kavio as they passed, and a few of the braver ones
hurled rocks or mud at him. He felt the shame of his nakedness strongly,
not because of the attire itself, but because of the ashes smeared over
his chest and thighs. He tried to hold his head up proudly rather than
hunch over and shield himself from the taunting mob. He wondered which
was worse, to need the protection of his enemy to walk the streets of
the tribehold, or to wonder at its price.
“I
thought you cast your stone on the black mat. Why are you suddenly so
eager to keep me alive now when you wanted me dead this afternoon?”
“Ah, the stone. Mother suggested it would look more believable. But the fact is, I’ve got what I wanted,” Zumo said.
Kavio pressed his lips together.
“This doesn’t have to be forever, Kavio.”
“What?”
Zumo gestured to Kavio’s bloody, ash-smeared body.
“This doesn’t have to be forever, Kavio.”
“What?”
Zumo gestured to Kavio’s bloody, ash-smeared body.
“This. Your exile.”
“That’s not the judgment I heard.”
“There
is a way that an exile may be allowed to return—if he is pardoned by a
War Chief or a Vaedi. Your father can never pardon you, because his
impartiality would be called into question. But I could.”
“You?”
“After
your father steps down, a new War Chief will have to be appointed,”
Zumo went on. “It would have been you before. Now it will be me.”
Kavio felt sick. “Congratulations.”
They
had arrived at the large wooden gates at the entrance of the tribehold.
There were too many warriors on guard at the gate for the mob to
follow. Muttering, the crowd dispersed.
“If
you would agree to serve me loyally, I would let you back into the
Labyrinth as a Zavaedi again,” Zumo said. He sounded as though he
thought he was truly doing Kavio a favor. “I mean it.”
Kavio laughed. He looked his cousin up and down in contempt. “Never forget, I know what you really are, Zumo.”
Hatred boiled in Zumo’s face. And fear. “No one would believe you.”
“Don’t worry.” Kavio’s lips twitched in a self-mocking smile. “I know that. That’s not the point. The
point is, I know what you are. And I would rather live in exile the
rest of my days than serve a man who lives a lie every day of his life.”
“Be careful, Kavio. Death might still find you.”
“It finds us all in the end, doesn’t it? Goodbye Zumo.”
“It finds us all in the end, doesn’t it? Goodbye Zumo.”
***
TO BE CONTINUED
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