Mighty Brahmuhn

‘Your worries should not be placed on her, my chief. Only a man with a death wish shall wish to harm her, and if they do harm her, I shall die as many times as the bruises they inflict upon her.’

Brahmuhn nodded and beat his chest with his fist.

Tortoise responded with the same action.

This was their way of showing gratitude and respect. This was their way of showing how much they meant to each other. This… was a way of saying goodbye.

‘Forgive me, Your Greatness but…where are we going?’ Cheetah asked him after they had walked for quite a distance.

‘I don’t know.’

He stared at him, confused, ‘But, Your Greatness…’

‘Where did Shiri go?’ Brahmuhn interrupted him.

‘As soon as he resigned, we never heard from him again.’

He began to ponder to himself. Cheetah was walking two paces behind him.

‘Your Greatness, where exactly did you say we were going?’ Cheetah asked him again thinking that perhaps the mbanje had made Brahmuhn misinterpret the question the first time.

‘I said I don’t know,’ he gave the same answer as before. ‘As of now, I’m only going where the wind takes me.’

They walked on in silence.

‘How was Buhlebenkosi when you left her?’ Brahmuhn asked him after a strict moment of silence.

‘When we left, the Elders were in suspicion that it is possible that she could now be with child. But it has not been proven yet, that is why they went to consult the diviners.’

Brahmuhn’s eyes widened but it could not be determined if they had widened in shock. ‘But how was she?’

‘Knowing the true nature of the Elders, Your Greatness, they could start giving her a hard time, especially because of the hatred they obviously bore for you since you were fourteen. If you had not told Tortoise and Shumba to return to the village, it is possible to assume that she would have suffered the same fate as you.’

‘Just when I thought those two couldn’t be anymore wicked!’

They walked for a further distance before Brahmuhn sat himself on a boulder.

Cheetah sat cross-legged on the ground beside him.

Brahmuhn placed his knuckles under his chin and submerged deep in thought.

‘What bothers you, my chief?’ Cheetah looked deeply concerned. He sat at Brahmuhn’s feet.

‘What kind of chief do you think I am, Cheetah?’ he asked him in a low and gentle tone. It was as though he was asking a small and innocent child.

He now looked vexed. ‘I think you’re a great chief, Your Greatness.’

He put up his hand as a sign to halt his tongue, shaking his head at the same time. ‘It is time you stopped speaking to me like I am above you. I eat, breathe and bleed just as you do. I’m only…’

‘My chief…You are a god. Your proficiency on the battlefield cannot be matched. No warrior alive has strength that rivals yours.’

‘And look where that “strength” and “proficiency” got me, Cheetah.’ He put up his hands hopelessly. ‘I failed to keep the most important promise I made to my father. My people are at the mercy of those…those bearded baboons!’

‘My chief, no promise is broken until the one who made it is dead.’

‘And how can I fulfill that promise when by law I can never return to Chaponda Village?’

‘That is a good question…but was it not you, my chief, who once said, “morality conquers culture”? I believe that that saying also applies to your situation as well.’

He placed a firm but gentle hand on Cheetah’s shoulder. ‘You are a great man, Cheetah, and I guess…you might be right. Morality conquers culture indeed.’ He got up and began gathering leaves from nearby trees.

Cheetah also got up and began helping him. Without even asking, he knew they were going to spend the night in that very place and therefore they had to build temporary shelter. This was very risky though as it made them open targets for wild animals like leopards, lions or even, the Ndebele. Neither one of them was worried though. Brahmuhn was a fearless warrior and Cheetah always felt much safer and more confident around him.

If the moment came, Cheetah felt that he would even be willing to die by Brahmuhn’s side, as did Tortoise and Shumba. But even though Brahmuhn and Cheetah valued each other greatly, none of them made this confession to the other. It was an open secret which never reached the depth of even a faint whisper but was known by both and was guarded behind their teeth like a prisoner of war. Both of them understood. They understood too well how much the ten years they had fought side-by-side in the battlefield had brought them closer together.

As soon as it was dark, Brahmuhn dozed off in his temporary home made of leaves and sticks.