Chapter 33

Kessa was standing at the water’s edge. The waves kissing her feet.

“What would it take for you not to do that?”

“How far do you think I would make it, my king?”

“Your upper body strength would get you half way there.”

“And then?”

Kol sighed. “With your leg hurt, I don’t think you have the ability to make it all the way to that land mass.” It hurt him to say that. “If you want to try, can I ask you to wait until tomorrow?” She said nothing. “Mother said the room that was prepared for you was untouched last night.”

“True.”

“Where did you sleep?”

She started walking away. He followed her around the beach. The cane wasn’t working very well in the sand. But she didn’t complain. They came to a cave where candles were burning. With great difficulty she set down to start a fire. Kol looked around, last night wasn’t the first night she had slept here.

“Is this where you slept when we came here before?”

“When not on duty.” He started to speak. She stopped him. “Sit, please.” He did. “Close your eyes and listen.” To his ears came the crackling of the fire. The rolling of the waves. Water crashing against the rocks. A slight breeze was blowing. Drops of water were trickling down on rocks. When he opened his eyes, she was staring at him.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Not that I don’t appreciate the room or the company; I feel like I need this right now.” She put her hands on top of the cane, “there is a lot here for me to process.”

“Why can’t we help you?”

She took a deep breath, “I don’t know how.”

He got up and set down beside of her. “Does this mean that you have stopped wrestling with God?”

She blushed, “I knew you read that.”

“Kessa, let me help you.” He pleaded. “We can figure this out together.”

“What do we do first, my king?”

“First,” he stood, holding out his hands to her: “while this is nice and I understand the reasoning, you are going to a real bed under a real roof?” He put out the fire and blew out the candles.

“You do realize it is going to take me all night to make it up to the house?”

He stopped. Dear God, this was the problem. She was afraid. He kissed her. She didn’t have the strength to or the want to – to protest.

All she really wanted to do was cry. He scooped her up in his arms, “this is how.” He felt her tense up. She accidently scratched him when she went to put her arm around his neck. “Kessa, you’re still hurting. I could tell it was hurting you to walk but to the touch?” She didn’t answer him, couldn’t. There was a ball of pain lodged in her throat. If she would have spoken, it would have been a scream.

He sat her on the edge of the bed in the room that was prepared for her. Then knelt in front of her. “Are you okay?” She shook her head yes. But tears streamed down her face. He gently wiped them away. “I’m sorry.”

Through gritted teeth she finally spoke, “thank you. I’ll be okay, my king.”

“If you need anything, please let me know.”

“Of course.”

He kissed the top of her hand and left. “See you at breakfast.”

Chapter 32

Frego and Max were fighting on the beach. Kessa sat just in the distance watching them. Kol sat down beside her. “What did you do with the Behemoth?”

“God told me to take it to the North Woods.”

“Max met us on the trail so he didn’t go with you.”

“No, my king.”

“So you took a Behemoth to the North Woods by yourself. I guess God told you to do that?”

“Yes.”

“Did God tell you not to tell me? You always tell me. Or did I forget that too?” He hissed.

“No.”

“God didn’t tell you not to tell me.” He was upset.

“I guess I was embarrassed. I didn’t figure out what killed those people.”

“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”

“With every step we took, my king.” They watched the fighting for a moment. Frego tried to call a break but Max wouldn’t let him. “Remember those two women that were fighting over the baby?”

“How can I forget?”

“I have had them watched.” Kol raised an eyebrow.

“More than Pai?”

“No, I was curious how one of them got hold of explosives.”

“What have you learned?”

“The grand duke has been seen with both of them. He alternates between the two.”

“What does it mean?”

“It could mean any number of things. The explosives were meant for him not you. The baby is his. This was his way of getting rid of it. The grand duke was just a distraction from the real point.”

Kol thought for a while; “what is that white liquid Rajaf keeps anointing you with?”

She smirked, “anointing?”

“What else would you call it?”

“Certainly not anointing. Medicine. I have no idea what it is.”

“Oh, let me guess; God told him how to make it.

“You will have to ask him. And I’m sure that is what he’s going to say.” Max finally let Frego take a break. They both sat in the sand. “What happened to your faith? You used to have such strong faith?”

“I guess that’s something else I forgot.” He said in a hateful tone and left.

Chapter 31

Part 2

“What did you learn?”

There was that grin; it was distracting her so, “let’s walk.”

She and Kol walked through the garden. She told him all that she had learned. After the report, he was quiet as they continued their walk. When they had reached the market he asked, “what are you thinking?”

“Small group, five men.”

He took off his medallion, putting it around her neck. “If, God forbid you should get hurt, you know what to do.”

“Thank you my king.”

She and her hand-picked five men set out for the Forest of Shadows.

The same gruff man was to greet them when they got to the camp, “well you really did come back.” He looked around, “where is your army? What do you plan on doing with this sorry lot?”

King Brum appeared from the tent, “what is your plan?”

“What do you do with your criminals?” Kessa asked.

The gruff man laughed, “we are all criminals.”

King Brum smiled, “when they are convicted, we kill them.”

Kessa clicked her tongue, “what a pity.”

The assembly looked on in disbelief. Kessa pointed to the sky and they climbed the trees that their horses were tied to. For days they hunted. Rumblings started in the camp that they would fail or that they had been killed.

Rajaf pounded on Kol’s door.

“What?!” He shouted before he saw who it was.

“I’ve had a horrible dream my king. I am afraid something has happened.”

“Then let us go.”

They gathered what was left of Kessa’s loyal twenty and rode off to the Forest of Shadows.

Night had fallen on the camp when the tribe noticed torches coming from the forest toward them. One of the Bejhar was carrying Kessa.

Another Bejhar mounted his horse and rode away.

As the sun rose for the day, a group of men brought a monster into camp. Everyone fell to their knees. “Behemoth” (Job 40: 14 – 24) someone spoke up.

They tied it with all the rope they could find, even wrapping its mouth.

Kol found Kessa by the fire. Her left side was a mess but it wasn’t as bad as the little girls had been. He whispered in her ear, “Kessa, we are here.”

“My king.” She hissed.

He fought hard not to cry.

Rajaf produced a pouch of the white liquid. With a stick, he collected a drop of her blood covering it with the white liquid. Nothing happened. He motioned for two of the Bejhar to come to him.

“King Brum, will you help?”

“What can we do?” He asked.

They knelt on the other side of her body, “hold out your hands.” Rajaf bathed their hands with liquid from the pouch. “I want you two: you, put your hands under her hip. You, put your hands here, under her arm. When I tell you, you are going to lift her off the ground.” He turned to Kol, “my king, hold her hands, both of them.” He was more than happy to comply. “Lift.” The Bejhar lifted her body, she moaned. Rajaf cut off as much of her top garment as he could. “You may rest.” They lowered her. “Good King Brum,” he handed the pouch to him. “Do a slow pour and please stop when I ask you to.” Brum nodded.

He looked at Kessa, “my baby girl, God have mercy.”

King Brum asked, “she’s your daughter?”

“Yes.” He prayed over the pouch before handing it to Brum. “Begin.” Brum gave the pouch a gentle squeeze. The liquid began to run down her side. She screamed. All of the Bejhar fell to their knees.

A girl jumped to her feet, “no, no, no.” The gruff man hugged her up.

The monster that was tied to the trees struggled against the ropes. Making all manner of noises. The Shadow People gasped moving away from it.

Kol raised his head off hers, “stop.” Rajaf stopped. Kol lowered his head back to hers. “Kessa,” he whispered where only she could hear him. “I love you.” She squeezed his hand. He nodded and Rajaf continued. The two Bejhar lifted her again as Rajaf wrapped her up.

When they were finished, he left her to rest.

Kol whispered in her ear, “Kessa.”

She whispered, “Don’t kill. Baby. Need. Don’t kill. Don’t let make noise. Need, baby.”

Kol looked at the creature tied to the trees. Already the Shadow People had started to anger it by poking at it.

Kol found his voice, “she says not to kill it. That it’s a baby and we need it to kill the mother. Don’t make it cry or the mother will come looking for it.”

The gruff man pointed his hatchet at it, “that thing’s a baby.” It was three times taller than the tallest man at the camp. At least six men wide and was covered with brown fur.

They kept Kessa by the fire, as warm as they could get her. Kol was never far from her. She began to shake. “Rajaf,” Kol called to him.

“Take her hands. Max hold her feet.” She was shaking so badly that Kol could barely hold her. Rajaf heated his dagger over the fire, then poured his white liquid over it. He chanted an old prayer as he cut the coverings that he had put around her. There was a long white scar where a once a wound had been. He rubbed his hand over her side until he found what he was looking for. Then, with one swift thrust, he plunged the dagger to the hilt inside her. She screamed a blood curling scream before passing out. “Roll her over.” Max and Kol did. Rajaf placed the covering under her catching what poured out. It was white, pink, and yellow.

She was still shaking. King Brum appeared with animal skins.

Kol wrapped her up. “Thank you.” He wouldn’t leave her.

Brum sat down beside him. “This one is a strong one. The will of your God is strong in her.”

“What do you know of our God?” Kol asked politely.

“You know those prisoners that you exile.” Kol nodded. “Most of them are here. They have committed no crime against us. So they can stay until they do. All of them talk about your God. Some call him stupid for the person you exiled was bad and may have deserved to die. While others praise him for giving them a second chance; whatever the reason, people talk. I listen.” He stopped looking at Kol as he held Kessa. “Some say our women are our downfall.”

“Then I would tell those people, they don’t know this one.”

Brum smiled, “do you think she has a plan to dispose of this beast?”

“I’m sure God has given her one.”

A young lady handed him a plate of food over his shoulder. “Please eat.” She sat it down next to him as she and Brum left.

He woke to find Kessa gone. She was standing on the back of her horse in front of the beast watching it.

The gruff man spoke to Brum, whom was standing behind Kol. “What do you make of this? She has been like that for hours.”

The three of them walked over to her horse. Everyone at the assembly was staring at her.

“Nice shirt,” Kol finally spoke.

She smiled, “it’s much too big but at least it covers.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Where is the sun in the sky?”

Brum answered, “just risen.”

“Max and I will lead this baby away. It will only attract its mother and we don’t need that.” She looked at Kol, will you allow the Bejhar to take you home?”

“Of course.”

She and Brum went into his tent after several minutes, they came back out. She mounted her horse with Max close beside her. Rajaf, Kol, and the Bejhar went in the opposite direction.

Kol was knocked from his dream by the rocking of the ship. He found her at the front of the ship watching something. “I just had a dream beyond belief.”

“You are welcome to tell me all about it my king.” She completely turned around to face him.

He could tell that it took great effort. “That you and I were out riding one day and we found a girl in the water. You took her to the Shadow People and chased a Behemoth out of the forest. You got hurt. I woke up with you and Max leading the Behemoth out of King Brum’s camp.” She didn’t say a word. “Tell me that was a dream.” He got a wild look in his eyes.

She lifted her shirt. Her side was streaked with white ribbon marks.

“Are those scars?” Frego called from behind his dad.

“Yes, my prince, they are.”

“You didn’t call me young prince,” he marveled.

Kol walked away.