KeYnNamM
The Man-with-No-Name,
the King of No-One’s-Land
By:
Ruwen Rouhs
(© 2022 by the author)
The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's
consent. Comments are appreciated at...
RRouhs@tickiestories.us
Chapter 11
King
Gaya's Hat
Two days after the penal camp break, KeYnNamM, Ikken, and the Amestan’s friends, Idir, Ochuko and Amaynu from the concentration camp crossed the invisible border between the Empire and the Border-Land. Most of the time Amaynu had to be carried. Therefore they needed much more time than expected for the short distance through the mountainous country to the first market town.
While Amaynu, Ochuko, Idir took shelter in an abandoned shed on the outskirts of the market place, KeYnNamM and Ikken walked to the souk, which was just closing down. As they entered, they heard a disgruntled merchant cursing the day, "No business all day! Not a single shirt sold, not one! If business isn't better tomorrow, I may as well go begging!" She puffed indignantly and threw a thick bundle of old clothes on her cart. As KeYnNamM stepped closer and began, "Maybe..." the hunchbacked old woman snapped indignantly at him, "Even you peasants are only buying new stuff these days, yet my used ones are as good as new but already worn in and soft. None of my shirts chafe your skin on your neck like a new one!"
KeYnNamM tried to do business with her again, "Surely we can do business good woman. I need a shirt that fits a guy, a guy like a giant. A fella that loves soft shirts, a fella that just gambled away his last shirt to the soldiers and now he's afraid his woman will beat him up when he gets home." He looked at the hunchbacked merchant with a contrite expression and added, "What woman loves it when her spouse has gambled away not only his money, but his shirt as well!" "I'd beat him up too, such a good-for-nothing! And you want to help him? Go on then! But only because it's you!" She pulled the bundle of old clothes from the cart again "Here search yourself, but each shirt will cost you three small crystals!"
In the bundle KeYnNamM found five shirts of different sizes. "Much too expensive, dear lady. I'll take them all! Here you have two fat and two small crystals, I won't pay more. Take the money or go home without it!" KeYnNamM had judged the old hag correctly. She tossed him the shirts and then began to eye Ikken from head to toe. Suddenly her face shone like the sun, she smiled at Ikken returned to her cart and rummaged feverishly through the old clothes. Finally, she found what she was looking for, an old, high cap. She lined up in front of Ikken beaming with joy, "I am sure my boy, you will like this old red tukumbut. You wouldn't be a boy if you didn't feel like King Gaya himself in it!" Then however she fell silent. She straightened up, her crooked back straightened, and suddenly she towered over the tallest man in the market by a head. She spoke loudly so that all who were still in the market had to hear her voice, "This hat I got from my great ancestor and she got it from her great ancestor and she got it again from hers. This red tukumbut has wandered through the ages, from one wise woman to the other. Yes, I tell you, this hat was given by King Gaya to a wise woman long, long ago with these words; Give my hat to the one who has the power to unite the clans of the desert sons as I have united them. You, or one of your descendants, will get to see the one who is chosen to be my successor. Until he is found, you and your descendants will wander restlessly over the land, through the deserts, the river plains, the mountains. Only when the last of you finds the one to whom this hat is duel you will find peace." Suddenly exhausted, her body suddenly collapsed and she was again the old, hunchbacked merchant, but her eyes shone like those of a young girl. She placed the red tukumbut on Ikken's head, "I am lucky, I the childless Ultafa have found him, the one to whom Gaya's hat belongs!"
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When Ikken came back to the dilapidated shed, he showed the hat to Amaynu, Ochuko, Idir and told them about the encounter. Neither the smuggler from the south, nor the farmer from the Draa Valley, nor KeYnNamM had ever heard of this prophecy. Only Amaynu, the goldsmith of the desert king, remembered that his grandmother had told him about the miraculous hat when he was a child. But she had always insisted that no one had ever seen the hat and that it had surely already turned to dust. He thought about telling the others about the legend, but decided not to, firstly because he thought the tale was one of the stories often told at campfires, and secondly because he didn't want to put any nonsense into Ikken's head.
The old clothes were welcome. Even before Amaynu, Idir and Ochuko went to sleep in the dilapidated shelter on the outskirts of town, they slipped into the newly acquired shirts. Amaynu found even the smallest shirt too big, and on Ochuko even the largest was too small, only Idir found one that fit him just right. But that was not so important, much more important was that they could throw away the shirts with the emperor's embleme. And that's what they did. They tied a bundle of them, weighted it down with a big stone, and sank it into the nearest cesspool.
The next morning Ochuko walked into the souk with Ikken by the hand, the dark-skinned merchant in his new old shirt and Ikken with the high red cap on his head. They headed immediately for the part of the souk where donkeys were being sold. Ikken became quite excited at the piercing trumpeting of the donkeys themselves. He knew this from the souk of Tinghir. "Ochuko, the stallions smell a donkey mare! She is in heat and every stallion wants to mate her! Come, I want to see this spectacle!" The dark-skinned trader grinned, "It's not for you, kid!" and pushed the cap over Ikken’s eyes. Ikken pushed it back up, boxed Ochuko in the side and tried to drag him to where a large, almost white donkey stallion was courting a small mare. Her owner beat the stallion with a club. However, the stubborn stallion had bitten into the mare's mane crest and would not let go. The stallion won and rode up. When Ikken and Ochuko finally got there, the little mare was already standing there with her hind legs spread and her back pushed through, spraying urine into the sand. Ikken was disappointed. He looked at Ochuko reproachfully, especially as the stallion's cock shrank more and more until it disappeared completely into the sheath. "Why have we been so slow too?"
Ikken only pouted, but the farmer who owned the pretty light gray donkey mare was really indignant, "That beast! That devil raped Tadefi. My sweetie Tadefi, my dearest little donkey, with whom I had so much fun! Who will compensate me for the damage?" "Hey farmer, you're crying as if your daughter had been deflowered!" Ochuko mocked, "Who were you going to sell the sweetie to? To the soldiers of the emperor? Your Tadefi may not be a maiden anymore, but we wanted her for riding, not for humping!" When the farmer gave him a nasty look, he just grinned, "I'll offer you this for it." With that, he shook two large crystals out of his pouch and held them out to him. This reconciled the man and he relented. While walking away he pouted and scolded the stallion's owner, "If I catch your devil stallion, I'll castrate you!"
Ochuko put Ikken in front of him on the unwilling Tadefi and tried to persuade her with blows to take the way to the gate of the souk. When she stubbornly stopped, he dismounted and began to tug her forward by the rope. Ochuko wanted to leave the souk as quick as possible because a commotion that suddenly spread among the merchants and souk visitors made him suspicious.
The reason were soldiers pushing their way through the crowd together with market guards. While the guards collected fees from the merchants, the soldiers began checking out market visitors. Anyone who caught their eye had to stop and was frisked. Among their targets of course was Ochuko, because of high height and the color of his skin and Ikken because of the red tukumbut. "Hey big one, we haven't seen you around here before! You look like a runaway criminal, black, big, fat! I think the emperor wants to see you again!"
They were both startled. Ikken caught himself faster than Ochuko. He straightened up, sat bolt upright on the donkey’s back, looked down at the young officer from his seat and askedin his bright boyish voice, "You dare to stop King Gaya, him and his faithful servant? Don't you recognize me by my royal hat!" Pointing to his cap, he added, "I let cut down your head officer! Let us leave the souk immediately!"
The soldiers surrounding them burst out laughing and the young officer felt compelled to laugh along. "Go your way Your Highness, King Gaya. You can't keep your harem women waiting too long!" With these words, he scratched his crotch and gave them way. KeYnNamM, standing not far away, had already wanted to intervene. Now, however, he was glad that the incident had ended so smoothly. He decided to leave for No-One's-Land that very afternoon.
As the market-goers and merchants made their way home in the afternoon, the five travelers mingled with the homeward-bound crowd. They did not stay together but separated into two groups so as not to attract attention. They were right to do so, for the soldiers were on the lookout for escaped prisoners at every crossroads and turnoff. Amaynu on the little donkey and Idir formed one group, Ikken, who walked between KeYnNamM and Ochuko, the other. They entered the surrounding countryside unchecked. After dark, they left the wide main street leading along the grassland between the Border-Land and the No-One's-Land. In the light of the stars, they struck a narrow, overgrown path that led straight through No-One's Land to the Wadi Draa.
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When KeYnNamM, Ikken and the three friends had finally passed the dense forest and approached Ennan’s farmhouse they were greeted by the fierce barking of the big yard dog guarding the homestead. Next Ennan’s male donkey got the scent of Tadefi, the young mare, and answered excitedly with his asthmatic heehaw, heehaw and finally the joyful whoop of Hiyya sounded through the night, "Ikken, Ikken!" He replied "Hiyya! Hiyya, I'm coming!" KeYnNamM couldn’t hold him back anymore. In the dark he stumbled down the dark hollow-way, along the pen for the goats and sheep to meet Ennan’s eldest daughter just as she turned into steeply rising path. The two fell into each other's arms. "You've been gone so long! We were afraid for you and KeYnNamM! You've been gone so long and the Emperor's soldiers have been at our house almost every day looking for you!"
Ennand, coming also to welcome the late guests, hugged Ikken, "They weren't looking for you! Don't worry!" When he saw KeYnNamM, he let go of the boy and rushed to him, whooping "Brother, brother!" The two fell into each other's arms, "Geez, Amestan!" he took a deep breath, "At first I thought they were looking for you! But then they told me that the convicts had escaped, the convicts of the crystal mine! This assured me. Come, Ayri and the twins are waiting and Aylal!"
Hiyya thrusting herself between her father and KeYnNamM shouted, "Aylal is fine, but he has been asking for you every morning and evening! You will be amazed. In the few days he has grown like a string bean in the spring and got much stronger. He, Anirt and Amimt are inseparable!" As Hiyya took Ikken by the arm and pulled him into the darkness, Ennand called after him, "I'm glad you're back Ikken, what do you think we had to endure. Hiyya was unbearable without you!"
Only now did Ennand notice Amaynu riding the donkey and Ochuko and Idir. "Your friends?" he asked. "Yes, do you remember Idir, the farmer.” Pointing at the others. “This is Amaynu, the goldsmith of the Amenokal, and Ochuko. He is trader! He can get you everything you need from the south as well as north!" Then KeYnNamM paused, "We can't stay, though, because the Empire's soldiers are looking for us. We're on their wanted list. These escaped from the concentration cam. I and Ikken are want for burning down fence of the concentration camp!"
During the late meal they discussed what exciting things had happened in the last few days. The whole time, Aylal cuddled with KeYnNamM and Hiyya did not letting go of Ikken's hand. The most important information of Ennan was, "They are not only looking for the escaped and you. At the market I was told that the Emperor has died and Governor Gwasila wants to avenge the theft of the crystals. During the last days the governor is recruiting young men all over the country to form an expeditionary corps to attack the Amenokal and get the crystals back."
KeYnNamM groaned in disappointment. "That’s a reason more we don't can spend any more time and must leave as soon as possible. We have to, because our presence would endanger your family as well as Amaynu, Ochuko and Idir. They must be brought to safety. We leave tomorrow at the crack of dawn." With regret n his voice he turned to Aylal "I have to take you along too. You and Ikken, you must come with me, it's too dangerous here, not only for you two, but for Ennan and his whole family."
"You can't take Ikken with you!" protested Hiyya with whiny voice, "Please leave him here, Amestan. He is safe with us. Please Ikken, you must stay with me. I will defend you! Amestan really, I'll defend Ikken, I swear!" Her mother tried to comfort her, but she didn’t stop crying. Then ran out of the house and hid in the shed.
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To be continued...
Posted 07/15/2022