There have never been secrets between Iano and his twin brother, Miano. But that changes when his brother marries an heir of the most powerful fief of the village. With such power comes the right to see the face of the Goddess. Only, Iano's twin mus...
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The rest of the settlers were coming back to their gatherings as Iano ran away from the tents, shouting in their harsh foreign language. Amid all the cacophony, the only word Iano could make out was Kairou.
Once he was outside the perimeter of the camping ground, Iano glanced to the side and caught the sight of an old man looking in the distance. Dressed in white clothes as pale as his hair, he stared at Iano serenely, as if fascinated. Beside him stood three men dressed in heavy red clothing from head to toe, armed with rifles and keeping angry dogs immobile by their leash with a stronghold.
Iano felt like his life was hanging by a thin thread right now. Just the shot of a rifle, one of the men letting go of the dogs and it would be over for him.
To make sure those dogs didn't have a piece of him at least, Iano jumped to the nearest branch he saw and swiftly climbed the tree. And he advanced by jumping from branch to branch, calloused palms being stabbed by twigs as he held onto leaf-charged branches, always keeping his free hand ready to snatch his bow and fire an arrow if necessary. He looked back only when he was far enough from the settlements of the barelanders. He wasn't being followed.
When all signs of the Gomeka had faded from view and even the dog barks didn't reach his ears anymore, Iano finally thought of Mito. He whistled, called, and searched. But Iano couldn't find him. He didn't start seriously worrying about Mito's health before searching incessantly in the southeastern fourth of the forest, where abounded fig trees and oily nuts that the capuchin couldn't resist. Still, Mito was nowhere to be found.
The realization of the extent of his mistake made him fear even returning home. So, he stalled, sitting on a stout branch of a Mbaka tree, looking down at the canopy and still half-hoping Mito would show up at any moment. To no avail.
He gathered the courage enough to own to his mistake when nightfall was imminent. But when he arrived in the village, with the moon already high in the sky and fires burning bright around the grand doors of the enclosure, Mito had been waiting for him next to the watchers of the forest path that led inside the village. Iano was so joyous he ran first to the monkey before saluting any of them, stirring his fur with rough pats, and being glad to feel his tail around his waist. He had feared the worst, but he wouldn't voice that in front of these people.
