The Cinders of Dezu

15th: Daybreak (5)

He turned around and paced away from her. Up close, Raina noticed Cosh was not only dressed more stylistically than the rest but on his back she saw he had a round metal plate set rather strangely in place. It was to the left of the wavy sword strapped to him and just above his shoulder blade. It had the mark of a sun etched into it.

"She's here to spy," he said, as he looked into the crowd of men who were gradually beginning to grow attentive to the conversation.

"It's not enough that we are under his thumb. He wants into our minds. Our private thoughts."

He was speaking loudly now to get everyone's attention. It worked. All eyes were on him. He turned back to her a few feet away now.

"You want something to take back to your king? If you can understand what I say then hear this, girl! The ruler of The Nom is a king of smoke. At his flaming hand we lost father's, mother's, daughters, and sons. They went up in that smoke, both during and after the war. Our grieving ceremonies were endless! For this reason he is known to us as The Pyre King. He is a king of death, so we will never belong to him until our dying breath."

The shine of metal flashed before them. With a loud thunk, the massive double edged blade of a battle axe blocked Raina's view of Cosh. A sound like a strong wind introduced General Dai into her field of vision, reaching for the giant hilt.

"Cosh! You will be silent!"

He spoke in Fujanai as he swiftly pulled the axe up. The thirty-five foot general dwarfed the angry warrior.

"This small wicked child speaks our tongue!" Cosh said, "This is not innocent! It's an affront to-"

"You will be speaking out of turn no longer. If I-"

"Raina?"

It was the voice of Orion. She turned around to see him walking up the pathway into the camp. He looked surprised.

"Is everything okay?" he said.

"Of course, my king," said Dai, "Simply a wild misunderstanding."

Orion frowned.

"I'm glad I got here before it got too out of hand."

He looked at Cosh who wore a stone cold expression.

"I hope one day your right hand will learn something other than his mother tongue. I trust then we'll have a much better rapport."

"I'm sure he will," Dai said, "He's been going to the markets a bit more. He'll get there."

"Sure," Orion said with a nod.

He looked to Raina.

"Ready to go?"

She nodded her head with nervous enthusiasm. As they left, Raina looked back quickly to try and leave the camp with a polite smile. The Fuja leader stood with his axe head down on the ground, resting his hands on its hilt surrounded by the solemn expressions of his troops. Cosh stepped out from behind the giant and his blade to glare at her. She whipped her head back, following Orion quickly on his heels.

They were a ways away before Orion cleared his throat to speak.

"So how were they?"

Raina presses her lips together.

"Nice! They were nice..."

"What did they talk to you about?"

The question hung in the air for a moment.

"Mostly just... breakfast," she said.

"Ah... well the Fuja do do it right."

They walked for a bit longer.

"Hey, what was it you said last night? The thing you said you liked about hippos," he asked.

Raina thought for a moment.

"Umm... that they know how to put bullies in their place?"

"Yeah that was it," said the king with a smile, "Yeah... I think I like that too."