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 28
The Gateway

Ikken missed the city wall that would have separated Tamegroute from the surrounding countryside like any other city.  He missed the city gate that would have prevented strangers from entering Tamegroute. Tamegroute was open to the wind from the mountains, to the wind from the desert, to the Jinns who dwelled in the caves, to Kel Essuf who came from nowhere and yet saw everything. "Is this a city father, KeYnNamM-baba? Look, the sandy path on which we come down from the mountains suddenly ends between houses, houses like cuboids, cuboids without windows, cuboids without doors, without entrances! I can’t see lights anywhere. Do people live here father? Do dead people live there? Father what is Tamegroute?"

"Yes KeYnNamM-baba, are there people living in the buildings, are there animals in the stables? Horses, donkeys, cattle? Not even a cat roams the darkness! Where are the moths, the nightjars?" Aylal asked Amestan, "KeYnNamM-baba, I am afraid! Not even owls prowl around the houses! Where are the bats?"

There was a great silence among the houses. They rode on down the winding sand-blown path that seemed to lead from the edge of the settlement to its center. They did not turn into any of the intersection, which all ended in darkness. Everything was silent. There was only the dull thud of the hooves of their horses in the sand. The blob, blob, blob was the only thing that broke the silence.

"Do you know where the tomb of the kings of No-One's-Land is, KeYnNamM-baba? One block of houses looks like another!"

"It's been so long since I've been here, Aylal. I don't know if this way or another leads to the tombs, the Qubba with the tombs of the kings of No-One's-Land! Aylal, at that time I was half as old as I am now and when my father brought me here, I was afraid like you, my son! But you and Ikken, you do not need to be afraid!"

"I don't get it KeYnNamM-baba. You don't know where the Qubba is, where the Marabout lives, what do you know? It's almost midnight and we have to find the stone old man when the round moon is at its highest. Who can we ask for directions? Do only dead people live here or also living people?"

"I don't know Ikken, but look, the horses know the way! Look, they run straight and how fast! They smell the target! Have no fear, my sons, we will be at the Marabout when the moon is highest!"

The horses carried them on along the sandy path toward the center of the city, across the square in the center with the stone benches around the dried-up fountain, on through the darkness to the south.

When they reached the southern edge of the city, their eyes fell on a square building, a qubba, a special one, a qubba without a dome, a building where the high moon could illuminate the inner courtyard. All three, KeYnNamM, Ikken and Aylal, knew it was the Qubba they was were searching for. The tombs of the kings of the Draa needed no protection from wind and weather, they themselves were as indomitable as wind and weather.

The Qubba stood on a small rise, at the foot of which dry scrub made access to the burrow difficult. The horses suddenly sped up, took the path to the rise, and stopped at the edge of the brush.

Wordlessly, the Amestan dismounted from his horse, pushing aside brushwood that obscured the path, to a draw well. At the edge of the well stood a leather bucket hanging from the rope of a winch. He threw the bucket into the dark well shaft, while Aylal immediately ran up the narrow path to the qubba. The bucket needed a small eternity in the depth. Only when the rope was almost unwound, they heard the bucket hit the water surface.

KeYnNamM and Ikken jacked the full bucket up with difficulty, poured the cold water into the trough where the horses were already waiting. They fetched three more buckets of water from the depths and filled the trough to the brim. When the horses had quenched their first thirst, KeYnNamM ordered, "Undress Ikken, all the way, get into the trough and kneel down!" Then he poured the water of the fourth bucket over Ikken's head. "The marabout awaits you pure, Ikken. You too Aylal." The younger of the brothers, who had just returned from his trip to the Qubba, quickly pulled the sweaty shirt over his head, stepped out of his pants and jumped naked into the trough, asking, "Do you have to clean yourself too, KeYnNamM-baba?" "Yes. We are not allowed to enter the sanctuary unless we are clean." “But there was no entrance in the wall of the Qubba, KeYnNamM-baba. I went around the whole building. I saw neither doors nor windows. Its walls seem impenetrable. They are high and forbidding; nowhere does light penetrate out into the night!"

Naked, KeYnNamM led the two up the hill to the dark Qubba. In the night chill, goosebumps were running ran down Ikken's back and Aylal's teeth chattered. "Are you afraid, little brother, little brother bird? Are you afraid, are you afraid, like when we freed KeYnNamM-baba?" "Never!" was Aylal’s reply, "Not today, not then. When the Amestan is there, I am never afraid!"

"Hush, hush, let me think!" KeYnNamM scanned the adobe wall of the structure. "Here it was, here must be the entrance. Help me search!" Ikken scanned the wall to KeYnNamM's left, Aylal to his right. Nothing. They returned to KeYnNamM, who was squatting on the ground, his back pressed against the wall. Freezing and shivering slightly, they squatted beside him, each on one side. As he put his arms around their shoulders to comfort them, he knew that a new bond was now being formed, a bond that would hold even if doubts arose. "Let's go around the Qubba together. The night is dark and the moon has yet to rise. Six eyes see more than two."

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They were freezing, tired, and the path around the Qubba was rocky. When they reached the first corner, they hadn’t discovered a irregularity in the wall indicating an entrance. The back side of the square building also rose smoothly to the night sky, as did the right side. They circled the structure a second time. Nothing, no entrance. When they reached the middle of the back side of the Qubba for the third time, there was a rustling in the bushes below the wall and a small animal fled down the slope into the desert. It was just a gray shadow in the night. Neither the Amestan nor little King Gaya could tell what kind of animal it was. Only Aylal saw the small animal's big eyes reflecting the starlight, he saw the long ears and the long tail. "A fennec, a desert fox." he whispered, "Maybe he fed the marabout, maybe he told him of our arrival and asked him to wait, to wait for us."

"Desert foxes do not become tame. Desert foxes do not serve humans. They are independent and free! Surely he has only his den there!" tried KeYnNamM to destroy the illusion of Ayla.

"Let's go and see KeYnNamM-baba. Please! Come!" With that, Aylal pulled the Amestan down to where the Desert Fox had left the shrubbery.

Ikken was faster than both of them. As he bent aside the brush below, he saw a dark hole in the hillside. It was much higher and wider than the entrance to a fox den. It was almost man-high and led horizontally into the hillside. Ikken scanned the walls with his hand, then pushed aside the loose sand that lay on the ground with his foot. "The passage was built by humans. It has smooth walls and its floor is covered with stone slabs, smooth and square slabs that are only found in houses. It is the passage into the Qubba. Come quickly, it will lead us inside."

"We have no light, we can't just go in without a torch or lantern. We don't know if it's passable or where it leads to!"

"I'm going, KeYnNamM, you said yourself we must enter the Tomb of the Kings before the round moon is at its highest and talk to the marabout before it sinks behind the dunes. Midnight has already passed, look at the position of the stars! We're running out of time."

Ikken slipped into the hallway first. Aylal followed him and then, still hesitantly KeYnNamM. The corridor became no narrower, no lower, and led slightly uphill. After about fifty steps it ended at a wooden door, as Ikken could feel with his hands. By now his eyes had become so accustomed to the darkness that he perceived the glimmer of light that crept from under the door. He felt for a lock or latch. Finding nothing, he pushed against the wooden door, it swung back and the light from the stars blinded him.

Now the three stood in the empty courtyard. KeYnNamM had put his arms over his sons' shoulders again, like a father trying to protect his sons. They stared at the dark walls, trying to guess what was behind them. Scanning the moonlit walls, I they could find neither a door, nor a window opening, only smooth walls that abutted the night sky.

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"Is it you Vixen?" suddenly asked a brittle voice. "Is it you little vVixen? I told you not to bring me any more food. You know, Vixen, it's my last night. I will wait one more night, after this night, if they don't come, the reign of the kings will end, the kings of No-One's-Land, the kings of the Desert."

KeYnNamM and Ikken were still considering the situation, when Aylal broke away, rushed to where the voice came from, "Father, Ancient One, we are here. You no longer need to wait for the light of the full moon, for we are here, Aylal, Ikken and Draa, whom you have christened KeYnNamM."

"Yes Father, Ancient One we are here, Aylal the little bird, Ikken with the red cap of King Gaya and KeYnNamM whose destiny you hid from the people!" cried Ikken into the darkness.

"Yes Father, Ancient One, we are here at last, my sons Aylal and Ikken, and I, Draa, who may now bear again the name his mother gave him, the one which all the rulers of No-One's-Land bear and the name which I pass on to my youngest son. We Aylal, Ikken and KeYnNamM, whom his mother called Draa, will protect and defend the people of No-One's-Land and the Desert, and no one will demand tribute from them!"

Suddenly the moon rose above the southern wall of the Qubba and its light flooded into the narrow courtyard. Aylal, Ikken and Draa, called KeYnNamM, stared at the spot on the wall from which the voice of the marabout had sounded. But they did not see him. The wall was smooth and without a single opening. All the walls of the courtyard were perfect and smooth, only where the passage that the fennec had shown them ended was an opening in the wall. They bowed to the wall from which the voice of the ancient, invisible marabout had sounded. Turned and strode through the tunnel back into the world, Aylal first, then Ikken and finally Draa, called KeYnNamM. The Amestan pulled the heavy wooden door closed with a calm conscience, for the Desert Fox knew how to open it.

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The walk back from the qubba without a dome at the south end of Tamegroute through the square in the center to the last houses seemed much shorter to the three than the journey to the mysterious place. In the bright moonlight, characters and arabesques now shone on the walls of the cuboid buildings to the left and right of the sandy path. The water in the trough next to the fountain sparkled in the moonlight. Bats hunted moths and giant beetles in the cool night air. Owls slithered silently from their hiding places in the domes of the tombs, picking off mice that scurried across the moonlit path. Cats prowled around the structures, lying in wait for the first bird the sun would wake. Even the side paths that seemed to lead to nowhere at nightfall now ended in rose gardens. People, however, were not to be seen.

As the three with Ikken in the lead turned into the stony path leading to the first climb of the mountain ridge, riders appeared on the pass leading down to Tamegroute. One of them broke away from the group and came toward them at a stilted gallop. He did not come alone, but was leading a white horse on the reins. Even from the distance Ikken heard him shouting. He could not understand the shouts, but recognized the voice immediately. He spurred his horse to a gallop with heels and rode toward the approaching man. When the two were only within shouting distance of each other, Ikken understood the shouts, "Ikken, Ikken, my friend, my brother, my dearest comrade, Ikken! King Gaya, greetings!" Ikken stood up in the saddle, waving his left arm, "Yufayyur, my brother, my friend, my heart! You are even more beautiful than the moon today! Brother, brother, brother!" When they met halfway up the mountain, they both jumped off their horses and lay in each other's arms as if they had not seen each other for years.

As soon as KeYnNamM and Aylal had caught up with the two, Yufayyur took the reins of the white horse, placed them in Ikken's hands and spoke solemnly, "Little King Gaya, the Amenokal, the king of all the clans that inhabiting the desert, sends you his greetings. Here, take his favorite horse, the white horse that has never failed him, neither in peace nor in battle. This white horse will be yours from now on. Accept the gift, for you will be the next leader of the desert sons." Yufayyur waited a moment, "The Amenokal has fallen ill and asks you to hasten to him like the wind. He has called the great assembly of all the clans for seven days from today. There you will be presented to the clan chiefs, the marabouts, and the wise women, and they will swear allegiance to you."

Ikken did not understand anything at first. What did the Amenokal intend? Why him? Why should he take his place? He, who came from a foreign land? He shook his head! "This cannot be! I am just a simple boy from Tinghir! Does the red hat make me a king? Tarit has earned that honor! You, my brother Yufayyur have earned this honor! Many of the mighty sons of the desert have earned this honor! Why me?"

KeYnNamM took his hand. "You are chosen Ikken! Do not doubt the foresight of wise women. As you brought freedom to me, so you will bring freedom to the desert sons. The old Amenokal is wise. Mount his white horse it will bring to him like the wind."

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Aylal saw them first, the rider on a large horse and many horse-lengths behind him a boy and a half-grown man on a gray donkey. "KeYnNamM-baba, Baba, look, the first horsemen we have met since Ikken turned east with Yufayyur and the desert riders. Do you think they want to go to Tamegroute? Do they know there are no people live in this enchanted town?" The Amestan, who had not been paying attention to the surroundings, startled out of his thoughts. The sudden departure of Ikken had changed his life plans. He had to admit, he missed Ikken. He should have realized much earlier that they were destined to go their separate ways. He should have known it from the moment the old used cloth dealer had put the red hat on Ikken. He still remembered clearly what she had said then. "I got this hat from my great grandmother and she had it from her great grandmother and she had it again from hers. This red tukumbut has wandered through the ages, from one Wise Woman to another. Yes, this hat was given by King Gaya to a Wise Woman a long, long time ago with the words: Give my hat to the one who has the power to unite the clans of the desert sons as I have united them."

But he was left with Aylal, and he remembered clearly what he had promised in the Qubba, "We Aylal, Ikken and KeYnNamM, whom his mother called Draa, will protect and defend the people of the No-One's Land and the Desert." But to whom had he made this promise? Where had the ancient one been? None of them had been able to discover him, neither Aylal, nor Ikken, nor he himself. Had the Qubba spoken to us? Had the dead kings of No-One's-Land behind the thick walls spoken to us? Had the voice been present only in their minds? But all three had heard it, had heard the same words, "You know it vixen, it is my last night. I will not wait one more night more, this night only, if they do not come, the reign of the kings will end, the kings of No-One's-Land, the kings of the Desert."

KeYnNamM startled out of his thoughts, followed with glances the outstretched hand of Aylal and saw man on the big horse and behind it the small gray donkey with two riders, which could keep pace with the horse only with difficulty.

The three rode up the valley from the Draa. He and Aylal came over the pass road from Tamegroute and just crossed a scree slope that led into the valley. It took KeYnNamM only the blink of an eye to realize who the rider on the big horse was. He gave his tired horse an encouraging pat. It began galloping down the steep slope while he waved his arms and shouted at the top of his voice, "Anir, Anir!" His voice rolled over with excitement, "Anir, friend, are you looking for me? Have you ventured into the unknown for my sake? Did you want to find me?"

"Draa! Draa! It is you! At last! I have good news!" Anir stopped his horse and watched KeYnNamM closely as his horse began to slide down the boulder field on its hindquarters. At the bottom of the valley, the two horses almost collided. At the last moment, Anir was able to avoid the collision, jumping off the horse and catching KeYnNamM, who slid out of the saddle.

The two men embraced and began to hug each other like children. "I bring you good news, Amestan!" gushed Anir as he finally caught his breath. "Really good news, my KeYnNamM. The old emperor has died and the new one, his young son, wants to make peace with all his neighbors. He is coming to Tinghir to officially install the new governor in office and he is inviting you to the celebration, you the king of No-One's- Land. He wants to turn the tribute agreement into a treaty of friendship!"

"Call me Draa, just Draa, my friend, because I am no longer KeYnNamM, no longer the Amestan!" when Anir looked incredulous and already had a question on his lips, Draa laughed, "Call me Draa! Look there!" and he pointed to Aylal, who in the meantime had greeted the two riders with joyful shouts. The boys on the donkey’s back were Aylal’s friends, the brothers Idder and Saden. "Look Prosecuter, there stands the new Amestan! It is Aylal, Aylal, the little bird! Aylal will always be Aylal. He will never have to bear the name KeYnNamM, but will inherit the name Draa. There will be peace between the kingdom in No-One's-Land and the Empire. He is still a boy, but brave, courageous and clever. If we help him, you Anir, the prosecutor, and I, who may now call myself Draa again, and also Ikken, the successor of the Amenokal, eternal peace and everlasting friendship will reign in the No-One's-Land, the Kingdom of the Desert Sons and the Empire!"

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Epilogue

Ikken and Yufayyur remained friends;

Ikken, Yufayyur and Tanan became friends;

Draa, called KeYnNamM and Tarit remained friends;

Draa, Tarit and Anir became friends.

Their friendship soon included the young emperor and Yattuy, the new governor and the city captain, but also Ennand, whom KeYnNamM had known since childhood. It included Enan’s wife Ayri, the twins Anirt and Amimt, even Hiyya. Especially Hiyya, of course, who taught Ikken what neither Yufayyur nor Tanan were able to teach him.

The circle of friends also included Amaynu, Ochuko and Idir, who KeYnNamM had freed together with Ikken and Tarits help from the penal camp. The circle also included Yufayyur's mother, the clan elder and his sisters.

Something special connected the three sisters Tamimt, Lunja and Dihya with Tarit and KeYnNamM. They were allowed to give birth to the sons of the friends, their blue-eyed and black-eyed sons, their light-haired and curly-haired sons.

We should not we forget Tirizi, Tanan's mother and owner of the Thirsty Camel Inn, and the Wise Women, the old market woman who gave Ikken Gaya's hat, but also Ultasila, the one from the dusty plains, and Ultafa, her sister from the mountains, who could see more clearly with their dull eyes than people with healthy eyes.

Many more people appear in this story, citizens of the Empire, of No-One's-Land, of the desert, bad and good, young and old, rich and poor. They all have to live together. Living together means living in peace and friendship. But can peace between people last through time, despite all the differences? Yes! Peace and friendship can survive, but only if everyone tries the hardest.

End

Posted 11/11/2022