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 Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:00 am
A child's game had never been so harrowing. Jabari had barely restrained from jumping each time he heard a sound as he placed the stones in a certain order, casually tossing them with a flick of his wrist so that they were in the right pattern. White and brown stones side by side to represent him, the white on the left of the brown. Then a water smoothed stone to the right, placed higher.
It was something they had learned as children, a silent way of leaving messages that no one would notice. Each of them had their own stone code, each placement of the stone had a meaning. He had thought it silly when he was little, since they all lived together, but he knew why they did it now. His mother had been planning this since the start.
He didn't glance at the stones again, having executed their placement in a brief second before walking away. He would wait on top of the weeping lion for the rest of the day, hoping that no one messed up his message accidentally before his mother saw it.
He had to warn her about Sahen. He had to ask her what he should do.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 6:14 pm
The Mwanasheria had earned herself a reputation for being prepared. She was a cautious lady, and did not do anything without thinking it over carefully first. These were qualities that she had tried to instil in her sons. Mothers were sometimes blind when it came to their children. Indira was know exception. She hoped that she had taught them well, and liked to think that they had learned.
"Hello, Jabari," she greeted her second son with a smile and strolled, casually, into their secret meeting place. It seemed almost as though Indira expected him to comment about the weather. But there was an unmistakable sharpness in those red eyes.
She was on the alert.
"We do not spend enough time together, anymore."
Since becoming Ligi and full grown lions, Indira's Boys had had to leave the shelter of the Eye. If only because there wasn't enough room for all five of them up there all of the time. She missed them.
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Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 6:42 pm
"Which is why I wish this were in better circumstances," he said with a hint of formality, sniffing the air. There was no one near. "Mother, I think I'm out of my depths," he said bluntly. "The Shatkona had a little... conversation with me about you picking your successor. He says it'll be me. But if he's thinking of your successor--"
He gritted his teeth, not liking the conclusion he had come to. "I think he was threatening your life, Mother. What happens if--"
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 5:00 pm
Most of the time it was impossible to tell what Indira was thinking behind the stony mask of her face. But around her boys she was different. While she would never be the most expressive lioness, around her boys she was more… open.
They had dedicated their lives to her, and deserved more than the icy front she shared with the rest of the world. At Jabari's news something unnameable altered in Indira's expression. She sat slowly, with a great sigh, and fixed her second son with that fiery stare.
"What happens if I die?"
Indira cocked an eyebrow.
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 5:11 pm
"What happens if you die... Tasso loses his temper, goes into a rage, attacking as many of the ligi as he can, and possibly innocent bystanders. Kay sobs with heartbreak and I... I claim your position as Mwanasheria. Until, that is, they catch me poisoning the Shatkona's food or trying to rip his throat out in the middle of the night," Jabari decided.
He looked at her. "But that's just my theory. You see, we owe you our lives. You are the reason we're doing what we're doing, Mother. You are the reason I'm willing to do the things I do, and no other. I would find your death a betrayal." His eyes were those of a child, faced with something he didn't want to comprehend, but his words weren't. "Don't die on us, Mother. Please."
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 6:36 pm
Tasso would lose his temper. Kayin's heart would break. Jabari would sink even further into himself.
Ah, she was such a fortunate lady. How many mothers were gifted with such selfless sons? Not enough, surely. Indira's heart swelled to eight times its normal size. They were her shining stars. She was honoured to know that they loved her so.
"Jabari," his mother's voice was softer than usually, but retained all of it's characteristic steel. Indira hoped that he would find it reassuring, "If I were easy to kill, I would be dead already."
It was the truth.
Indira had no proof that anyone had ever tried, but she was careful, and rightly suspicious. She never ate anything that she hadn't personally killed. She never went anywhere at night, and stayed close to The Eye during the day.
"Sahen thinks I will choose you, then?" Indira sounded thoughtful. "To replace me?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 6:43 pm
Hope lit his eyes and he smiled, relieved at her reassurance, because it was so straight-forward and honest that he knew she wasn't just saying it to make him feel better. "He says that while my brothers might be stronger, I'm the one that thinks things through," he said. "But hell, maybe he's just buttering me up with compliments to try and get me on his side."
He sighed, shaking his head slightly. "I try to watch myself, Mother. I try to be the exact image of the Ligi, but I don't want to do this for much longer. Every day I play this part is a day I feel more like one of them. It's disgusting. But what's more disgusting is that I'm good at it."
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 7:23 pm
When Jabari relaxed, Indira could tell. Relief was visible in everything from his eyes to his posture. It was not in her to lie to any of her boys for the sake of their nerves. She had prepared them, since the first day that they had come to belong to her, for situations not unlike this one. While she'd fed them and kept them safe from harm, Indira had done nothing to hide the truth about life in Ashnai'le.
It was cut throat. Kill or be killed. Jabari knew this. All four of her sons did.
"I wonder if he was trying to butter you up," she mused, glancing towards the sky, and seemed to be thinking very hard. But Jabari's next words drew her out of her reverie. She looked at him sharply.
"It is good, that it disgusts you," this was possibly not what Jabari wanted to hear, but it was what Indira said, "If it didn't repulse you, I would be worried."
She hesitated, but only for a moment, "Jabari, how much do you trust me?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 7:55 pm
He hesitated. "I trust you enough to take this job on, Mother," he said. "But I also understand why I'm doing it." He felt torn, and admitted what he was thinking.
"Sometimes, though, I hate the fact that I trust you. If I didn't trust you I would be miles away, chasing pretty females with the same stupid self-assured idiocy that Tasso proclaims on a daily basis. I would like to be free to dedicate all my time to chasing a pretty tail." He pulled a wry face. "But I trust you to do what's right."
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Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:18 pm
Indira had asked for so much from her boys. They had given her everything, and then more. It wasn't fair of her to put such responsibility on their shoulders. What might their lives have been like, if she'd never taken them in?
It was impossible to know. Any speculation would only be torture.
"Jabari," compassion shone in those crimson eyes. For a moment, Indira ceased to be the Mwanasheria. She was only a lioness, concerned for her son. She pushed everything else aside, and focused on him-- on them.
"Your whole life, I have trained you for this. I've done my best to prepare you, and your brothers, and taught you everything that I know. But I never gave any of you a choice."
"I can't do this without you," she murmured, voice low, and was thinking of all of her sons when she continued, "But, I want to give you the opportunity now, to choose. You are strong. You know these lands. You could escape, if you liked."
Sahen would probably even be happy to see him go. Or any of Indira's Boys, for that matter. They were not favourites of the King, simply for belonging to her. He was suspicious of them.
Because of course he was.
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Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 9:15 pm
"And wander the land wondering what had happened to you? To my brothers? A coward who turned tail and ran, knowing that without his help Tasso and Kay would start to stick out as really bad Ligi? And they are bad, Mother. They have the strength and training, but are far too honest and kind to pull it off. No, I won't run. I won't be the chosen one, either."
He turned his back on her, starting to pace. "I realized this before becoming a Ligi, Mother, I am not the child of prophecy. When this is over, the people will still hate me as much as they hate the others. But it's what I have to do to arrange for someone kind, for someone honest, to be the next Shatkona." He looked at her. "You know that, too, don't you. Once this is over, once peace reigns again, I will leave so they can keep their beliefs of right and wrong. But not until then."
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 6:16 pm
"I don't think it would be cowardly, if you were to go," Indira argued softly, though her heart swelled with pride and relief to know that Jabari intended to stay. He was her son. She would have missed him terribly and worried, always, if he was safe. This was, perhaps, a little silly. The rogue lands couldn't possibly be worse than this, could they?
She didn't know.
"It would be very selfish of you, though," Indira never coddled her sons. Honesty was always her first choice. "As a family, we depend on one another. Without you… we could not be whole, Jabari."
Thoughtful, the Mwanasheria sat while her son paced, and watched him.
"I don't know," she admitted after a moment, "I don't know who the Chosen One is, Jabari. But I know you, and I know your brothers. You aren't perfect. None of you are, but any one of you would make a better King than Sahen."
The Shatkona's name from her lips was a venomous hiss. It was treason that she spoke. Lions had been killed for less, in Ashnai'le.
"Mahabala has taken too long to rescue us. I am tired of waiting."
Indira caught Jabari's eye.
"I quit looking for the Chosen One a long time ago."
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 6:25 pm
Jabari looked at her, then looked away. "I wanted to believe in him," he said quietly. "I wanted to, especially when I was a cub. The miracle lion that rose from the ashes and destroyed everything evil in his path... or some line like that. But I couldn't. Not really. Murder, I suspect, is never honorable. Even if there's a good reason for it."
He took a deep breath and shrugged it off. "So maybe we can make a Chosen One," he said, looking at her with a crooked smile. "We'll pick a decent fellow, one that will make the people confident and happy, sure that he's the one that's going to make life better, and do what we have to do when they aren't looking."
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:24 pm
Ah, so he was catching on. Indira sympathized with her son's disappointment in Mahabala, and his failure to deliver to them the Chosen One. She had believed it once. Sahen himself had dreaded (and feared) it with such conviction that he'd slain children. And Indira had watched through gritted teeth as he set fire to the traditional peace of Ashnai'le. She had waited, like a fool, for the prophecy to come true.
But it was a childish notion.
"I already know who it is that we will put on the throne in Sahen's stead," Indira, it was clear, meant business. When she spoke, her voice was very low, so as not to be overheard, "but there are things that need doing first. "
"Jabari," she caught her son's gaze with that steely crimson stare, and held it, "I want Sahen's trust. You are going to get it for me."
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:33 pm
He looked her straight in the eyes. "Seriously Mother, do I have to?" he finally said when it became clear that she wasn't going to be the one to back down. "I know what you're asking of me, but Kay and Tasso--do you really think they'll understand when I abruptly start taking that raving lun--er--the Shatkona's side? And even if I gain his trust, who knows how much he'll put into it? He might trust me one moment then get the sudden feeling that I'm looking at him or that idio--beautiful granddaughter--a bit too closely, and next thing I know I'm dead and he's mourning me, but it's too late--"
He sighed, stopping himself. "I'll do as you say," he said. "But why don't we pick out my burial plot now, just to be safe? Ah, if there's nothing left of me to bury, you can use the stones--"
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