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 27
The way to Tamegroute

When are you coming back, Ikken?" He heard Hiyya's shouts from the distance only faintly. Even fainter were the high-pitched voices of the twins, Anirt and Amimt, calling out "Aylal, Aylal, when are you coming back? Come soon, the dog is having kittens next week!"

It was still very early and the sun had not yet licked off the dew of the night when they crossed the ford of the Draa on horseback. The horses were allowed to drink their fill once more before KeYnNamM and his sons rode up the valley slope to the junction on the boundary between the gallery forest and the steppe. All day long they stayed on the trail to the south in direction of the ancient town of Tamegroute. Late in the afternoon, they took a path through dense forest down to the Draa, reaching a small village around dusk.

In the heat of the late afternoon, the dusty village street lay deserted and Ikken whined, "Is there no inn in this town where we can stop? My stomach is growling since this morning." He looked back at KeYnNamM, whose horse was lingering a bit, "You kicked me out of bed too late and I had to leave without eating!"

"Sure KeYnNamM-baba had to kick you out. You overslept! Serves you right! You think we didn't notice you sneaking off with Hiyya and not coming back until dawn?"  "I had to pee!" snapped back Ikken, his face crimson. "Half the night?" asked KeYnNamM. "And Hiyya had to help you do it?" teased Aylal, "Did she have to hold your little weenie?" Ikken's face grew even redder and he quickly spurred his horse on. In his haste, he almost missed the small inn whose front door was open.

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The low parlor of the inn was cool and dark.  It was tiny compared to the one in the Thirsty Camel Inn in Tinghir and neither a guest nor the landlord could be seen. Only after a while the fat innkeeper stepped out of the back-room with a grumpy face. He moved breathing laboriously toward the three without looking up, muttering something about disturbance. Only when he stood directly in front of KeYnNamM did he raise his head. He stared at the Amestan, wiped his eyes once, twice, and suddenly his fatigue was wiped away "Woman! Woman!" he suddenly roared, "Woman, Tamayyurt, Tamayyurt (full moon)! Do you know who just entered? Quick! Come!" Then he fell to his knees, "Amestan! My Amestan! At last you are back!" and he took KeYnNamM's hands and began kissing one after the other. "Amestan, we missed you!" he stammered between kisses. "We missed you so much, King of No-One's-Land! The news from Tinghir said you were dead!"

His wife came in. Round as the full moon, radiant as the sun. She fell on her knees before the Amestan and cried out once and again, "Oh, that I should live to see this! Oh, that I should live to see this!" But then she jumped up, was out of the door faster than a weasel, and called up and down the street, "The Amestan is here! The Amestan is here! He's back! Really!"

The market town suddenly came to life. People poured out from all the houses, tall, people, short people, old people, young people! The guest room filled up in no time. Everyone crowded around KeYnNamM, some kissed his hands and others congratulated each other because the Amestan had suddenly reappeared out of nowhere.

Meanwhile, no one paid attention to Aylal and Ikken. They had been pushed into a corner, squatting there on a bench, hungry the one, tired, worn out and hungry the other. They hoped that the commotion would soon end and someone would take care of them.

After a long time, a little girl called the attention of an old hunchbacked hag to Ikken and Ayla, "Look auntie, the Amestan has not come alone. He has ...!" She got no further. The old woman, crooked and barn-eyed as she was, just stared at the two of them for a long time, at Ikken with his red tukumbut on his head and Aylal who had a blue scarf wrapped around his head against the sun. She stared at the two as if to assure herself that she was really seeing what she was seeing. At first, she thought she could not trust her eyes and thought she was not hallucinating. Then she turned around, poked with her thick cane at the hard ground till everyone looked to her Then she announced in a shrill voice, "Yes, this is a special day! The Amestan is back, the Amestan and the boy wearing the red hat of King Gaya and the boy wearing the blue turban of the Kings of No-One's-Land! Don't you see that we must celebrate! Three kings! Three who will bring peace to us people of the Draa, to the people of the Border-Lands, and to people of the desert! That's what I'm telling you! I, the old Ultasila, the old woman who came from the dusty plain to find those three whom my sister from the mountains, Ultafa, had announced." Those present looked at the old woman in amazement. To some she was considered a fool, to others a witch, to others she was simply an old limping, cross-eyed woman. No one knew how to interpret her words.

Therefore, they began to push KeYnNamM out of the inn. "Up, up!" they yelled in confusion, "Up to the castle! In the courtyard of the venerable Tighremt we want to hold a feast for our Amestan. Up! Up!" KeYnNamM shrugged helplessly as the villagers hustled him out of the inn and carried him in triumph on their shoulders to the Tighremt. After the old woman's words, he hoped that some would take care of Ikken and Aylal.

Soon Aylal and Ikken were sitting alone again in the empty inn. Just as Ikken was about to start ranting, children streamed in, headed by a boy with red hair. At first, they surrounded the two curiously, but then the red-haired one took heart, "Are you hungry, you with the blue turban?" When Aylal nodded, he pulled him up from his seat, "Come on! Come with me!" and took off with him and his gaggle of peers.

Ikken felt left out. But before he could decide to go after Aylal, or better yet, to look for the Tighremt, a boy of somewhat the same age stepped in front of him, eyeing him from head to toe, "You with the red tukumbut, are you really King Gaya?" then scratched his head, "He's been dead a long time, hasn't he!" "Yes! You're right! But that's his hat and because it was given to me, I'm now the new King Gaya!" then he took heart, "But even kings are hungry and thirsty! Do you have something for me to eat?"

"Come, come with me! I am Saden and the one who took your brother is Idder my brother. Our house is the one at the end of the village, there where nobody lives anymore, just old Ultasila and us." When Ikken looked questioningly, "Yes, we live in the witch's house, because everyone thinks Ultasila is a witch, but she's good at cooking. Today, today you are lucky King Gaya. Today there was a big fish in the weir and with it we will have flatbread."

The witch's house was really small. It housed only the kitchen, where Saden and Idder also slept, and Ultasila's room. When they arrived, the other children had scattered. Aylal was sitting by the fire helping Idder to toast flatbread on a hot stone. "We are already waiting for you, you must fry the fish!" greeted Idder his brother and his guest.

The fish and flatbread were not ready done until dusk was already descending. While they were eating figures turn up in the doorway. In the flickering of firelight Ikken recognized young the faces boys. He was right. Immediately one of them asked, "Are you really King Gaya, the King of the Sons of the Dessert? The true King Gaya, as the old witch claimed?" and a second asked with mocking voice. "Are you still the one, if you take of your hat?" and a third said, "Prove it to us! King Gaya could hit a lion's eye in the dark. Do you your bow and arrow with you, to prove it!" Ikken was caught off guard and tried to find way out. "Then get me a lion! I haven't tried that yet, but I can. Bring me a lion!"

Now the boys had to react. They whispered, then the bravest one said, "Well, we don't have lions here at the river. But the eyes of owls shine even at night, and there are plenty of them here!" "Owls? Owls are mysterious creatures. If you harm an owl, you anger Kel Essuf, the desert spirit. I don't shoot at owls!"

"Scaredy-cat, scaredy-cat!" the boys now began to mock. But Ikken had an idea. "Here!" he pointed to a tallow candle, "Here! I take light the tallow candle as target and the bravest of you will hold it. I'll aim at the flickering light. If it goes out, it's as good as if I hit the lion's eye. If I hit the hand of the one holding the tallow light, he's out of luck and you know I'm not Gaya." The boys began to whisper again. Then one stepped forward. "It is much too dark. You can't aim in the dark, so you won't hit accurately, and none of us want an arrow in our hands!"

So Saden stood up, lit the tallow light, walked 20 paces into the darkness and shouted, "Come Ikken, come King Gaya, shoot! I know you will hit!"

Ikken took his best arrow, put it on the bow, tightened the string, put it on and before any of the boys had grasped the situation, the arrow buzzed through the night, the flame of the tallow light flickered briefly and went out.

The lads departed in shame. Ikken, however, embraced Saden, "You have courage my friend. I will need friends like you when I go into the desert and I come into my inheritance." "I will come with you. I will come with you wherever you go King Gaya!" "Not now, first we must go to Tamegroute, the Marabout waits in this holly place and he alone knows our fate."

Aylal bent to Idder who stood beside him, "Will you be my friend, Idder. I will not go into the desert. You heard what Ultasila said. I must guard the river, the river that comes from the cold mountains, disappears in the sand, emerges from the sand, disappears again, emerges again, and finally finds its way to infinity."

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The whinnying of horses woke Ikken. Half asleep, he turned his head toward the door of the small hut through which the first light of the morning was filtering. The dark mop of hair that obscured his view from the open door belonged to Idder. Only now did he remember the previous evening. He was proud that with one arrow he killed the flame of the tallow candle that Saden had held over his head with his arm outstretched as a target. Ikken did not attribute this success to his marksmanship, rather to luck, for it had been far too dark to aim accurately. Perhaps it was just the night wind or, who knows, Kel Essuf or one of his jinns. But what were the desert spirits doing here on the shore of the river Draa?

As he stretched to get up, his feet bumped against another warm body. Was it Aylal or Saden? The two were lying close together at the foot of the narrow couch, which was actually just big enough for two. Of necessity, he had made himself comfortable in the evening with Idder at the head end, while Saden and Aylal had to sleep at the foot end. Well, he thought, comfortable was different. But at least he had slept.

Ikken crawled out of bed over Idder, but before he had stumbled across the dim room to the door, Idder had caught up with him. "Look at the horses," he cried, "the horses! They're decked out, decked out like for a king!"

Idder was right. Ikken almost didn't recognize his little Arabian stallion. The gray saddle blanket had been replaced by a colorful carpet with tassels and bells, and instead of the leather straps of the bridle, a wide, beaded band served as reins. Only the saddle was the old, the scraped saddle that generations of desert warriors had used. Even his small stallion seemed to feel the difference. Today it did not behave as petulant and ill-tempered as usual in the morning, but proud as a warhorse. The decoration had transformed Aylal's big gelding as well. He held his head high and proudly breathed in the fresh morning air through his wide-open nostrils.

Ikken had no time to recover from the surprise, for KeYnNamM, who had been hiding behind the hut, came riding out, jumped from his horse, and greeted the four, who by now were crowding between the doorposts.

"Come on, let's go! We still have a long way to go to Tamegroute, and we must be there in six days. The old marabout can't wait much longer, Ultasila is saying! He is waiting for us. He awaits the return of the Amestan and he awaits the future kings!"

"We'll come with you!" cried Saden, as Ikken and Aylal mounted their horses. "We will follow! We are friends! Don't forget that!" shouted Idder as the cavalcade moved off without them.

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In the evening, a tired KeYnNamM and his sons reached the next village. Already at the first houses they were greeted by the people. They had erected a triumphal arch at the entrance to the village, a frame made of poles and bundles of reeds. It was decorated with flowers and fruits and with colored ribbons fluttering in the wind. The village elders greeted the three with deep bows. Food and drink had been provided and a wide camp of reed bundles had been prepared for the night. When KeYnNamM thanked them and expressed his amazement at the reception, the village elder told them that Ultasila had already come by at noon to spread the news of the arrival of Amestan and his royal sons.

The following days passed like this. When they came to a village they were received at the entrance, the speeches of thanks were followed by a feast, where everything was brought up that the villagers could spare. They were given the best room in the village to spend the night and not only they, but also the horses were taken care of in the best way.

Of course, the sudden appearance of the two sons of Amestan caused the special attention of the women and young girls. Never before anybody had known of the Amestan's marriage. No one knew of a wife and certainly nothing about his sons. Had the two, Ikken, the heir of King Gaya, and Aylal, the next Amestan, been given to the KeYnNamM by the Great Mother, by Mother Meryem? Had he found them at the source of Meryem, or on the Draa, or in the desert? Questions upon questions that could not be answered. And how did these reasonings fit in with the story of the first meeting of the three in Tinghir? Even Ultasila, the old woman from the dust-covered plain and Ultafa, the old woman from the stony mountains as well as all their wise sisters didn’t know !

Something else surprised the people of the villages through which KeYnNamM, Ikken and Aylal rode  to the south. Their coming was announced by old women, wise women, who looked so much alike that no one knew whether it was the one from the plain, the one from the mountains, the one from the desert or the one from the river. Even more irritating was that on the day after the three had passed through, young people came riding, boys like Idder, young boys like Saden or like Tanan, little girls like Anirt and Amimt or already blossoming girls like Hiyya. They all passed by, asked for the Three, and rode hurriedly after them.

On the fifth morning, KeYnNamM left the valley of the Draa. "If we continue along the Draa, we will come to one of the places where the Draa seeps into the sand and does not reappear until far, far to the west. We therefore leave the river at this point!" He jumped off his horse, "Water the horses my sons, fill the water hoses! We take the road through the desert to Tamegroute. There we must find the marabout who guards the graves of the Amestan. Only he knows the path that you and I will take in the future. It is ancient, and we must find it before the full moon sinks behind the dunes to the south."

From then on, they took the road southeast, through sandy deserts, stony deserts, high mountains, dry valleys, dead forests. Toward evening, from a pass, they caught sight of a cluster of flat buildings in the distance. Because of the arising darkness, they could not count the houses. But there were many. They lay scattered in the sandy desert, like wooden blocks left by children in a playground in the evening.

"Where among all these buildings shall we find the Amestan’s burial chapel? Where? Say it, KeYnNamM-baba. You've already been here! Do you see the house of the dead, the mausoleum of the kings of the Draa?"

"Aylal, don't be impatient. Even I cannot tell from up here which of the many houses harbors the coffins of the kings of No-One's-Land. It has been too long, my son, since I have been to Tamegroute!"

"Father, KeYnNamM-baba, you will guide us properly. I know it!" Ikken exclaimed, spurring his horse. "You will take us to the marabout, and he will foretell our future, as the wise women prophesied."

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To be continued...

Posted 11/04/2022