Say Walah

27: Some Bonds...

The sizzle of meat on hot stones filled the evening air, mixing with the smoke that curled lazily upward. Rimi stood chopping vegetables, though her eyes kept drifting to the darkening pathway. Her knife's rhythm would falter each time she looked up, earning a barely audible sigh from Mairo.

"If you miss him so much," Mairo said flatly, not looking up from where she was methodically turning the suya, "you can go into the forest to look for him."

Rimi's knife stilled. "I'm worried, Mairo. He should have returned by now."

"He's a grown man. I'm sure he can find his way home." Mairo's voice was carefully neutral as she sprinkled more ground peppers over the meat.

"I... I overheard something." Rimi set her knife down, wiping her hands on her wrapper. "Before he left with that other man. I think the Igwe summoned him. Because of us."

"Who is an Igwe?"

"Perhaps the ruler of these lands."

The suya tongs paused almost imperceptibly in Mairo's hand before continuing their work. "And?"

"The man who took you reported the farmer. Said the farmer made threats. Because he's harboring strangers." Rimi's voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "Us."

Mairo's shoulders tensed slightly, but her hands kept working. "So now we're causing him trouble with his king." Her laugh was sharp, brittle. "Perfect. Just perfect."

"Mairo—"

"First I nearly die in that forest because we just had to find those special herbs. Then he saves my life, and won't let me forget it—"

"He didn't say anything about—"

"He didn't have to!" Mairo jabbed at the meat with more force than necessary. "You saw how he looked at me. Like I was some foolish child who needed rescuing. And now?" She gestured sharply with the tongs. "Now we might get him beheaded for trying to help us."

Rimi was quiet for a moment, then said softly, "You know that's not fair. He's never treated us like a burden."

"No?" Mairo finally turned to look at Rimi, her eyes bright with something that might have been anger, or might have been tears. "Then why did you run away and leave me hanging there? Because you knew he would know what to do, didn't you? Because we're always depending on him, always needing him to save us, to protect us, to—" She broke off, turning back to the suya.

The crackling of the fire filled the silence between them.

"You're right," Rimi said finally. "I did run to him. Because I trust him. Because he's given us no reason not to." She picked up her knife again, resuming her chopping. "And if you weren't so busy being angry about needing help, you might notice you trust him too."

Mairo didn't respond, but her movements became less sharp, more measured. The silence that followed was different – still tense, but somehow softer around the edges.

As the sun dipped lower and the compound's shadows lengthened, both women continued their work, each lost in their own thoughts. If Mairo felt any guilt about being partially responsible for their protector's current predicament, her face didn't show it. But when she divided the suya portions, she put the largest, most perfectly spiced pieces on the leaf she set aside – the one meant for him.

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The moon was beginning to peek through the clouds when they heard footsteps on the pathway. Rimi's head jerked up immediately, but Mairo kept arranging the vegetables around the suya, though her movements slowed ever so slightly.