Welcome to my seemingly endless journey.
A trip that will take you to places I might have visited many moons ago.
It´s a tale that came back to me when I meditated on one of my past lives. A life I told you about in my unbelievable true story.
As promised in that story I will now share this story with you.
Chapter 69
“I don't dare tell you. Deep down, the man is a good person with a difficult past. He carries that with him and allows him to do things in his daily life that do not suit him. However, I do not expect a man, whom I consider sensible, to allow himself to be pacified by a woman who is also his prisoner."
"That's to be expected from those asses of soldiers, but he has to see through that facade. I can't imagine that I misjudged him so much. No, he plays along, uses it to temporarily dispel the loneliness that resides within him. He will throw her away as soon as he gets an answer from his messenger."
"Hopefully, this will buy her enough time to give us our freedom back. After all, we are out of the mountains and could attempt an escape. Although four against thirty is a situation that I would rather see differently, it is an opportunity. And I don't expect to get a better opportunity. I expect the messenger to reach Rash soon and estimate that we still have about four days, if we are lucky five.”
No matter how I try the gates of the dream world do not open for me tonight. My thoughts are with Cabilah, what is this young woman planning, and how much of her plan does Reiko realize? It surprises me that I've rated both of them higher than playing a game where the outcome is already determined in advance.
But carnal lust is a deciding factor, one that both might have indulged.
Reiko is a handsome man, broad-shouldered, tall, with a good face, dark eyes, and medium-length hair with a light wave. Any young woman would fall for this type of man. If not for the appearance, then for the sadness that lies beneath the surface and tries to emerge somewhere in his gaze, while his raised defenses try to prevent it.
I let go of the thought. I can't make sense of it, except that the seclusion game, and now this romance with Cabilah, is definitely throwing me off.
In that respect, I have to hand it to the man that he manages to play the game very refined and well thought out. I can only say that the cunning with which we're slowly driven apart and pitted against each other is on a level that I have not encountered many times before. I close my eyes for the umpteenth time this night and this time finally succeed.
We leave the mountains further and further behind us, after first crossing a sandy plains with some dry crops for a while, we now end up in a beautiful area.
The terrain is somewhat hilly, with gray boulders here and there, overgrown with holm oaks and grasses I have never seen before. Long grass, but not dry. Trees with small green fruits rise to the sky to the left and right of us and are accompanied by bushes with beautiful white blossoms.
As we travel further, the grassland becomes more and more decorated with deciduous trees, which increasingly fill the landscape in increasingly larger groups. Could we soon be approaching a village or a settlement? I am curious about what society would be like here. Since I expect that if the Sikh has already stretched his claws beyond the mountains, then this area must have belonged to him for quite some time.
What would a world under his leadership look like, it's a question I have no answer to. But my curiosity has already suggested many possibilities. But none of these options come close to the freedom and equality I am used to at home.
Home, it seems so far away and so long ago. None of my tribe has ever traveled so far, and if I return, my stories will warm the ears of the campfire for many winters to come. If I return.
I let go without wanting to think about it. I have always had in the back of my mind the idea of returning one day. But now I start to doubt whether I will see my village again. Apparently, Numico notices that I am no longer in my strength, he whispers just one word 'Core'.
He is right, there is no point in wallowing in misery and thoughts of things that are unchangeable. We were sent by guides and ancestors, we have a task. This has to be fulfilled, and they would not have sent us if we were not able to fulfill it.
There has to be a twist somewhere, I've had enough of this situation. It's time to stop being carried away and take control again. That's what I stand for and that will happen. My will to bend these circumstances to our advantage takes control of me. Anyone who has looked into the depths of my eyes at this moment might have seen something burning.
I don't know how it happened, but for some reason, or possibly due to coincidence or lack of space, our cage was placed next to Retsj's.
This could mean that Reiko knew what he wanted to know and was no longer concerned about possibly short-circuiting our story. It could also just be a coincidence if it weren't for the fact that I don't believe in that.
But what would he know to dare to take this step?
The messenger couldn't be back yet and he wouldn't trust Cabilah enough to accept her story as truth.
It surprises me. The man who played such a wise game did not make these kinds of mistakes by accident. That was one thing for sure. Yes, there is no point in thinking further about things you don't know for sure, so I turn necessity into a virtue.
The forest man is still well-gagged, but his mouth is open. When night falls and the soldiers have gathered again at the campfire, the time has finally come to inform my great friend and possibly be treated to new information from his side.
The sound coming from the campfire is louder than any night before. Apparently, the wine and beer are flowing this night. That could only mean that the reserves could be used because the home port or the final destination of this journey is in sight.
