CHAPTER 4: VILLAGE OF HAPPINESS AND PROSPERITY
“Come Kiara, run faster.” An old man with short white hair was running.
Behind him was a small, slender figure wearing cloak running slower. The old men waited for the figure to come closer and took one hand and dragged her.
“Hurry, Kiara.” He said again.
“I’m afraid, Grandpa.” A soft little voice came from the cloaked figure.
“I know, I’m scared too. That’s why we have to run. Come take my hand. We must go towards the Green Forest.”
“Green Forest? Why Grandpa? Isn’t it dangerous? You said there’s a monster living there.” Kiara said protesting.
“Silent, Kiara. Just keep running.”
Both ran as fast as their feet could take them. The old man’s name was Kartadrya, 75 years of age. He was a small town healer who earned his living from treating villagers. Sometimes when Gods were generous the villagers paid him with a lot of money to express their gratitude. Sometimes when luck wasn’t on his side he only received thank-yous and handshakes. However, Kartadrya lived his life happily from day to day, from village to village.
Running beside him was his granddaughter Kiara, a girl of 11 years old. In fact, Kiara was not his biological granddaughter. He had found her by the river Kiara that ran near a village outside of Kandaka capital city. She had been wrapped in a blanket, wearing nothing. It had been her cries that lured him to the riverside. Thus he had taken the baby girl and named her Kiara, after the river’s name. At first he had taken her by pity, but later on he raised her as if she had been his own daughter and he had grown to love her. Kiara was a special girl. She might not be pretty. She might not look like any other girl at all. Her skin was greenish and covered with scales like a fish. Her hair was long and of greenish color too. Her eyes were bright green, like the color of the field of grass. Some said that she looked hideous. And Kartadrya was sure that the moment she was born, her parents threw her away because of her physical appearance. However he knew that the Gods created every creature with purpose. He had known since the day he had found her, that she must have had some talents. And he had been right, all along.
Kiara might be slow when running, but she was a magnificent swimmer. It seemed like she belonged in the water. She could dive deeper than any grown up men and held her breath much longer than them. She had found various kinds of underwater seeds, weeds and plants from the deep and brought them to old Kartadrya. Amazingly, everything that she had found he could use as medicine. Many times Kartadrya thought that Kiara was not only a mere blessing in disguise. He had thought that she was a Goddess sent down to Earth for a higher purpose.
They reached the border of the village and went through the darkness of the night towards the Green Forest. Kartadrya had to carry Kiara on his back to make the journey faster. Kiara had told him to go out of the village before sunrise. And although he didn’t know the reason, he followed her suggestion.
“What an arrogant name for a poor village.” He mumbled.
Kiara heard him, “Do you mean Langgeng Swantosa? It means Forever in Happiness and Prosperity, doesn’t it Grandpa?”
Kartadrya snorted, “There’s nothing happy and prosperous about that place, my child.”
As he ran, he remembered his arrival in the village. He had left Kiara at the border of the village, near a small river. Kiara was used to be left alone outside a town or a village while Kartadrya worked. He would make her a small tent for her to sleep and rest. As long as there was a river near by, she would be safe. It had been the same with this village of the slaves. Kartadrya had arrived and had been shocked to see the conditions of the people living in this village. They were mostly old and sick. He had tried to help them the best he could. He had learned that once they were all slaves. When they were old, their masters didn’t use them anymore and sent them away from their homes. The first settlement of these old slaves had begun 10 years ago. Since then the place had been known from mouth to mouth. Thus every slave who had been kicked out of the service came to this place to stay, and wait for death to come, because most of them were very ill. Kartadrya could almost smell death when he had entered this place the first time. These people although old and sick had to go to the river to fish and dug the ground to plant vegetables. In short they had to work hard to be able to eat.
After a few days of treating this helpless people, an incident had happened. One of the villagers who had been fishing in the river spotted Kiara. He had been shocked and afraid and started calling his friends. No less than 5 people came to hunt her. Kiara who hardly met and spoke with people got panicked. She defended herself and injured one of the villagers. The others took some stones and started to throw them at her. She was soon cornered and had to shield her head with her two hands. At first she had managed to evade the stones. Yet after sometimes she began to fear them and merely sat there with her head down. It was fortunate that Kartadrya had come on time to save her, although she had been badly injured.
Despite of what he had done to help the people with their illness, they insisted that he left the village at once. Kartadriya had to beg them not to kill Kiara, whom they believed was an evil creature brought by him for ill purposes. Due to her injuries, Kartadriya had no other options but to bargain with them. In the end, the villagers had considered his deeds and given him 3 days and 3 nights to stay by the river outside the village. If they found them still after the given time, they had threatened to kill her.
They had still one more day and night to stay, but Kiara had insisted him to leave the village. She had not explained the reason, she had merely said “I see Death” over and over. She kept pushing him to leave the village before dawn. Kartadriya had never questioned her further, for he knew of her ability to see things that others could not see. Since childhood she admitted to be able to see Death or Death’s messengers. And Kartadriya believed her.
“Grandpa, it’s all right. You do not have to run anymore.” She suddenly said.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Grandpa. I don’t see them anymore. The Messengers have all gone South.”
Kartadriya put her down and he sat beside her, resting.
“South, you said? Towards the capital city?”
Kiara nodded but said no words.
“Back there you looked very afraid, my dear child. How many of Death’s Messengers did you see?”
“Many, Grandpa. Hundreds… no thousands of them. A handful went into the village, but the rest went south. They were like black clouds sweeping the ground. It was frightening. I know they’re not coming for us, but I’m afraid.”
Kartadriya looked at her more seriously. “Thousands you say?”
Kiara nodded again, “What bad thing results in so many deaths, Grandpa?”
Kartadriya sighed, he looked at her and caressed her greenish hair, “Only two things, my dear. It can be either the act of angry Gods punishing us for our lack of respect to the nature. Or the act of humans themselves destroying others in dispute. I suspect the later, my child. I think the war is upon us.”
“I do not understand, Grandpa. Why would people kill each other?”
Kartadriya smiled and kissed her forehead. “Never mind, my child. You will understand about it someday. Let’s go.”
“Do we have to go to the Green Forest?”
“Yes, Kiara. If indeed the war has started, there is the best place for us. Do not worry about the monster story. All right?”
Kiara nodded, although her heart was filled with doubts. If her grandfather said it was safe, than it must be so. She knew where the Green Forest was, so she knew they would travel long and with the invasion already begun, they might pass dangerous area.
The healer and his granddaughter continued their long journey.
The dawn was almost breaking when Black Canary reached the village of the slaves. She traveled for almost 3 days. Every now and then she had to stop and hide from the Ghowa soldiers. She stopped running now and walked slowly. On her back, she was carrying Princess Kemala. She was beginning to stir. She had to carry her at night because the Princess needed sleep and rest more than she did. It was strange that during the journey they had become closer, almost like a friend. She checked her surroundings. The village seemed empty, but she knew this place. She had been here before. She went into the nearest house and kicked the door open. She heard screams from inside and saw two elderly women trembled in fear before her. She put the Princess down on a simple bamboo bench.
“Do not fear me. I will not hurt you. Please help me with her.” She removed her veil.
The two women saw a face of a beautiful lady and although they had some fear left in their hearts still, they helped her anyway. They immediately saw that the woman on their bench was no ordinary people. Her clothes were of expensive materials and her bracelets bore the marks of the royals.
The Princess woke up slowly, hearing people’s voices around her. She sat on the bench and looked around her in confusion. Once her eyes locked on Black Canary, the memories came rushing back to her. Her face turned sad, however as a Princess she realized the presence of two commoners in front of her. So she composed herself and asked gracefully to Black Canary.
“Where are we?”
“We are in a village called Langgeng Swantosa, Your Highness. These two people are…..”
Princess Kemala waved her hand, “What did you talked about just now?”
When she was unconscious, Black Canary had exchanged information with the two old women. From them she knew that there were two other royals in hiding in the village, one of them was injured. Although she wanted so much to meet them, she had to wait until Princess Kemala was strong enough to walk. She had no intention of leaving her in the care of these two elderly.
“I will take you to see two of our friends.”
Kemala was surprised, “Who?”
“I do not know yet, Your Highness. But from the description that these women gave me, I suspect one or both of them are from Genta Bhuwana. Are you strong enough to walk?”
“Yes, I think.” She said, getting down from the bamboo bench.
Black Canary faced the women, “Thank you very much for your help. Can you show me where our two friends are?”
“Yes, My Lady. I will show you.” One of them said and hurriedly walked before them to show the way.
The sun had set now and some people stared at them while they passed a barren field. Some people were working, planting vegetables. Black Canary saw that the crops were thin and they were not enough to feed the whole village. These people must be very poor, she thought.
“My neighbor found them by the river when he was going fishing. He helped them and they stayed in his house. They must have arrived just before you came to my house, My Lady. Ah, here’s the house.”
Kemala frowned hearing her words. This was not something she would call a house. This was even worse than the old women’s hut. It was small, and the walls were made of cheap wooden materials instead of bricks.
The owner of the house came out when he heard his name was called. The two people exchanged words and the owner of the house nodded, letting them all inside his small hut.
Kemala held her breath as she went in. The house smelled very badly. She wanted to get out but then her eyes saw the two men.
“Your Highness.” Black Canary bowed her head slightly to salute them.
“You are…..” One of them looked at her, frowning.
“I am Black Canary, Prince Wesi Bhuwana. And this is Princess Kemala Chandra Puspita. Princess, this is Prince Wesi and his brother, your fiancé Prince Banyu.”
Kemala looked at Banyu, who was sitting, leaning against the wooden wall. From his expression, the Princess knew he was in pain. Black Canary hurriedly came to his side. She quickly checked on his wound.
“Who pulled the arrow?” She asked after checking the wound.
“I did.” Wesi answered. “Is there a problem?”
“You shouldn’t have done it. Now the wound becomes much larger and I think there are some shreds of the wooden arrows that remained inside his flesh.”
Banyu looked at her, “Oh please, humor me. Am I gonna die over this small wound? Are you a healer or what?”
“Please, brother Banyu. I think she’s right. You need medication.”
Black Canary looked at the Princess, than back at Prince Banyu. She seemed hesitated. She didn’t say anything though.
“Ghowa troops always use poisonous arrows in battle.” The Princess finally said.
Wesi closed his eyes. “Just tell me where to look for medicine and I will go.” He told her.
Black Canary shook her head. “There are several herbs that might help him, but I don’t think you know where to look or how the leaves look like. I will have to go.”
“Go then. I will guard your Princess.” Wesi answered quickly.
“Please trust me, I will not let anything happen to her. Besides, she is my brother’s fiancée. Please go now. Please help my brother.”
Wesi almost begged her. Black Canary had never met any royalties talking the way this man just did. He must have been desperate, she thought.
She nodded her head.
“Don’t you dare leave me, Black Canary.”
“But… Your Highness, he will die if I don’t go.”
“Your duty is to protect me, not saving his life.” Kemala said.
Wesi couldn’t believe his ears, “What?!! He’s your fiancé, for Gods’ sake. And I can protect you even better than your body guard here.”
“What fiancé? The deal is off! It was my father who promised me to your kingdom. Well, my father is dead now, and there’s no more Kandaka Kingdom. So, what deal? What fiancé?”
She went out of the hut. “Come Canary, what are you waiting for?”
Canary was hesitated for a moment. She glanced at Banyu who smiled at her weakly.
“Your Princess is calling you, body guard.” Wesi said.
Canary didn’t answer, she was still hesitating.
“I am not leaving here Your Highness.” She finally said.
Kemala was surprised, to hear her answer and quickly came in again. But before she could say anything, Canary quickly apologized.
“I am sorry, Your Highness. This man will die if I don’t help him. I know you don’t care about him, but I think it is the right thing to do.”
“What?” Kemala hardly believed her.
“Your Highness, we have nowhere to go, nowhere to run. As you said, Kandaka Kingdom is no more. Where should we go? I would stay here for awhile and help Prince Banyu.”
Wesi stepped in between them. “You both may return to Genta Bhuwana with us. We will protect you from the Ghowa, even if you do not want to marry my brother. Trust me, there’s no obligation. As you have said, the deal is off.”
Banyu cleared his throat and spoke weakly, “Of course you have to help me first with this little wound……”
Wesi glanced at his brother and then back to Canary and the Princess, “Yes, that first. What do you say?”
Kemala sighed. She knew they were right. She didn’t have any choice. And although she hated to admit she was wrong, this time she had no other option.
“All right. Canary, help him. We will leave this rotten village as soon as he can walk.”
She turned her face to Wesi, “We will go with you to Genta Bhuwana, so you better keep your promise.”
Wesi smiled. The Princess’ eyes did not miss his handsome face. It was kind of hard for her to keep a straight face when facing with a guy as handsome and as polite as Wesi. So she smiled too and offered him her hand. He took it and kissed it.
“I have to warn you that the journey will not be easy.” He said.
“I’m not a paper doll, Prince Wesi. If your wounded brother can make it, I will too.” She said arrogantly.
While they were conversing, Black Canary had changed the bandage of Banyu’s shoulder.
“I have to go now, Your Highness. I will be back in a couple of hours.” She asked permission to the Princess.
“Go.” Kemala answered briefly.
“Prince Wesi, listen to me carefully. Please change the bandage after one hour and keep him awake. Do not let him fall asleep. He had lost too much blood and in half an hour he will feel tired and sleepy. Just put your hand against his chest and press it gently. It will help to stop the flow of blood. If you have inner force, it might help to keep him warm and awake. You can channel a current of warm energy into his wound through your inner force. Just make sure it won’t be too hot ‘cause it will be painful for him. You think you can do that?”
Wesi nodded, “Yes. You are right. Inner force will help, how come I had not thought about it earlier?”
“You were panicking. Anyone would forget it easily too. Well, I go now.” She said and left the house.
The Princess sat on a bamboo stool watching Wesi treating his brother. She couldn’t help but wonder about her own brother Rashtu. If only he had been here, things might have not been so bad. She pushed the thought away when she felt the warmth of tears filled her eyes.
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The Tale of the Three Princes – Chapter 5