Behitha was in a sour mood. A lesson with the Young Chief often did that to her. He was infuriating. She burst through a set of large wooden doors into the main hall of the Siwa Tribe. The hall was large and cavernous. The walls were rough and untamed. The stones had been laid atop one another crudely pressing against its brother next to it. Forced to fit against one another without asking permission. They looked as if they were rolled over and over until they meshed. Quanah had the throne room made after he took over the Siwa Tribe from his father Ammon.
Ammon had been a pacifist during the Disappearance. Ehecatl had disappeared for a year and without his guidance the tribes had settled into in fighting. Quanah took the place of his father and as a boy he watched closely at the failings of his father. So when the Lesser Siwa Tribe revolted he squashed it forcefully and callously. Sending great fear to the Ubari and Timia, who had just began to grow their tribes again in the North and the east of Croqowei. The creamy marble floor were commissioned by Alo the 5th chief of the Siwa who was enamored with Ehecatl. He was the only Chief since Ehecatl returned from his Disappearance to try to broker peace with the Ubari and Timia. No one was able to find out if it would work or not because he died in his sleep five days after becoming Chief, the only change he achieved was the throne rooms floor in the Iowa. He was then proceeded by his younger brother Kasa, who had no interest in being Chief. He was more interested in hunting along the planes and getting drunk with the no name tribes that roamed the planes in between the three Tribes.
Enol had carved windows into the stones himself, in an attempt to add light to the room. When he brought his new wife to their home she said that it was to damp and gloomy. Though he would deny it, that was the real reason for the windows. The added bonus was that he could watch her walk through the gardens. It was common for the Ghigau, wife to the chief, to look after the garden and lead the servants in housekeeping.
"Enol!" Behitha roared as Enol didn't turn as she entered. She knew he knew it was her. The amount of disrespect that he dolled out to her was an unnecessary reminder that she was apart of the Lesser Siwa Tribe.
"What is it?" Enol continued to stare out the window. Enol never joined his family when they took walks or laid out a quilt for a picnic. They had invited him many times but he insisted he was too busy.
"Your son is holding back. I can feel the Glow around his body. It wants to be embraced by him but he rejects it." She sat down in one of the velvet red couches that sat across from one another in front of Enol's throne. She moved around in it uncomfortably. She didn't like soft things and got up and plopped down cross legged.
"What of his senses?" He turned his head slightly still not fully looking at Behitha.
"Incredible." She could see the corners of a smirk cross Enol's face. It hadn't been the first time she praised Truzari's senses but each and every time a touch of pride could be seen in Enol's eyes. "He keeps claiming, I cant do this and I can't do that." She squealed like a pig imitating Truzari's whining.
Enol turned finally to her rattling his jewels around his neck but his smirk was gone. He would not have anyone make light of the Siwa Tribe. Behitha stopped mid snort and cast her eyes downwards. "Maybe you are not the teacher Truzari needs. Seeing you haven't been able to draw out his potential."
Behitha raised her head and bore her eyes right into Enol's. "I have tried everything. When I think I have made an impression and moved him closer, he is coddled by his mother and my hard work is undone in a night."
Enol turned to the garden again. "I have been told by you and his mother how remarkable his senses are but when I am around him he retreats. He barely talks to me. I am his Chief. I can't confirm whether this untapped potential is just maternal fondness for the boy."
"Fondness." Behitha almost spat at the thought. "I'd sooner entrust the Siwa Tribe to the Ubari or the Timia."
"You'll have to show me." He looked out onto the garden at his wife and children laughing under a tree. "How about a test. Come over here."
Behitha rose and rambled up beside him. "What am I looking at?"
Enol pointed to a cliff so far away, Behitha had to squint. "You are one of the Siwa's strongest warriors, right?" She nodded confidently as if there was no need to ask. "Right. So, do you think you could throw a pebble from that cliff, through this window and hit me with it?"
"I would never do that Chief Enol." She dropped down to her knee.
"Not me. Get to that cliff. I will send my children back to their rooms to study. When Truzari is studying I want you to do just that with the intent to kill him. That must be present." He said as casually as asking for the weather.
Behitha looked up at Enol surprised. "It would kill him. Do you want him dead?"
"If everything I've heard is true, this should be something he can overcome. He's my son. If you should kill him, Carausi is a bit too passive but already on his way to be the leader of the Siwa Tribe." Enol snorted.
"You would just gamble with his life?"
"Life is a gamble. Death lurks around every corner and the Chief of the Siwa Tribe can't afford to shrink away from adversity and unfair circumstances. Now go."
Without another word she got up and stormed out of the room.
Enol did as he said he would. When they were done eating he strode through the garden and chided Carausi and Truzari. Claiming they were falling behind in their studies and they were to go study at once. With a grumble they left their mother and separated into their rooms.
"What are you up to Enol?" Yara asked surveying him intently.
Enol refused to acknowledge that she had said anything. She was always reading him and at this time what he planned couldn't be interfered with. "Nothing, enjoy your garden."
As he said this a cold wind different from the warm stagnant air that was hanging around the garden, swept across her and she felt chilly. She watched Enol's back as he stomped away. She didn't know what, but he was up to something and she had a sneaking feeling it was about Truzari. Was he in danger. She shook the thought from her mind. It was absurd, Enol was a rigid eternally angry man but that was just how it seemed to others. She knew of his strong, passionate love for his boys. Then a thought crept into her mind. He was also the worst gambler she had ever known.
It was mid day and Truzari had been scrambling to scribble down something that would make sense to Behitha. She knew he couldn't write but insisted that he try as best he could. So he made a mess of the ink and tried his hand at quill work.
Behitha was on the cliff looking down towards Truzari. He was actually attempting to write. She was ever impressed by him. Though she was sure he wasn't writing anything that any one could read. His ability to attempt against all odds was the wild energy he never let anyone see. His silent attempts to please and to be worth noticing. Behitha was waiting for a moment when Truzari might be focusing on the sounds of the garden so she could give him a fighting chance of survival.
He just plodded along probably entranced by the sound of the quill roughly scratching away at the parchment. Though she didn't want to play a part in the assassination of her Young Chief, Enol was not the kind of man that tolerated a refusal of a command.
Enol had been waiting for a long time at this point and was growing impatient. It had to have been about two hours he had been waiting by Truzari's window. What was Behitha thinking. From what he had heard from his wife and Behitha, it was only a matter of time before his son figured out he was there. If he moved now he would have to be more discrete when he returned and surely wouldn't be able to come back the same day. He slowly peered over his shoulder towards the hill top. In that moment he felt it. The unmistakable bone freezing thirst.
When he turned back, Truzari's blinded white eyes stared straight at the hill top. To his surprise he was already standing. Peering out of his room at the same spot he had just felt the aura of Behitha. Enol's mind was racing with so many questions. Not only was it true, his son did possess an incredible awareness, but he was far more advanced than he could have ever imagined. It wasn't only sounds and smells, he could also feel a presence that far away and its intent.
Before he could finish grasping the immense capabilities of his eldest son, Truzari jumped to the side narrowly avoiding a pebble. The pebble flew past his face and tore through the walls of the ancestral home of the Siwa Tribe. The wall that took most of the hit exploded, spraying stone and wood chips throughout the room. Truzari was still in the air and when the pressure and debris hit him he was ejected from the room.
Enol whirled around incensed with a burning curiosity.
"Father?"
Enol held his breath and stood incredibly still.
"Father? Are you still there? Father help me. Someone is out there. Father where are you?"
Enol slowly twisted his head to the sight of his son kneeling down clutching his arm. The debris had lodged themselves in his arm that was bleeding through his shirt and between his fingers. His eyes scanned the tree line. He scanned the area that Enol was in but not exactly where he was. It was incredible. Had he known the whole time that he was stalking him from the tree line. He had no choice, he had to come out.
Before he took a breath, Yara burst out of the top of the roof, gliding down to Truzari's side. "Truzari!" She knelt down at his side and gently removed the debris. She turned to the destroyed room and then straight to Enol who was peaking from behind a tree. Their eyes met and he jumped high up and away without a word.