When they turned in for the night, Tamura enjoyed that moment of tranquillity where he drifted off time and time again to that happy moment where only he and Leona existed. A bubble of sheer joy and contentment mesmerised by her beauty and cheeky laugh. He loved it when she teased him. He thought of the first time he laid eyes on her and felt a tug at his heart, which skipped a beat then and is skipping a few beats now, just at the thought of her.
He also felt a chill down his spine and shuddered with anticipation of seeing her again soon. He fell asleep a long time afterwards and for the first time he noticed he was the only one awake and the creatures of the night singing a symphony in the woods, with the owls simultaneously hooting to the rhythm.
Chapter 3
Meanwhile at the king’s compound, the men were turning all their livestock and the king’s into their barns for the night, while the women were preparing supper. In the king’s palace, Queen Eleaza was talking to the king about doing a summer festival once the dry season would return and the king seemed pleased with the idea.
She added, “It’s a good time to get to know all our distant neighbours and see if we can exchange goods and produce to sample something different to what we have here year after year.”
The king nodded in agreement but said nothing. The queen continued, “It’s also a good time to check whether or not we have any enemies around us, look at how Tamura turned up out of the blue! We didn’t even know other humans existed around our borders, we could have been sitting ducks, if he was an enemy.”
“Don’t talk daft, woman, we don’t make trouble with anyone, so why should anyone want to fight us? I should hope not!” said the king with passion.
Leona walked in on them and said, “Father, are we in danger of a war breaking out on us?”
They both said, “No.”
The king added, “Your mother and I are thinking of doing a summer festival here and invite all our distant neighbours, so we know who are for us and who are foes among the folk, that’s all.”
“Ooh, that’s great news, Mother, you should start preparing me a gown for the day and I am going to invite Tamura and his family to come along too.” Leona jumped up and down and fled out of the room to tell the others.
Queen Eleaza shook her head and added, “That’s all she ever talks and thinks about these days, that boy!”
The king interjected, “Don’t you think she is putting too much into this fallacy of hers in her head, what makes her think that he is interested in her, what if his family has already betrothed him to some village girl where he comes from?”
The queen shrugged and said, “Well, we won’t know for sure, unless we do what she asks that we invite the boy and his family, surely then we will know the truth.” The king mumbled something under his breath with discontent. At that instance, the maid, Mona, told them that food was ready and they went into the dining hall to eat supper.
They ate in silence, until Leona asked to be excused from the table. Her father said as if he continued with the earlier conversation in his mind, "I agree with your mother that we should invite Tamura and his family back for the summer festival, it would be nice to meet his people.
“If that’s what you want, then at least you can see some sense when you get to meet his kind.” Leona frowned with frustration as if she was about to burst with fury, but one glance at her mother’s face told her exactly what not to do.
She got the message and left the room without saying a word. “What’s wrong with her?” said Tyza who ate like he was running a race for the fastest-eater competition.
He took advantage of the fact that his parents were preoccupied tonight to notice his unorthodox behaviour at the king’s table, where he was constantly reminded to eat like a prince not like a vagabond. Earlier in the day, the little imp had chased the birds in the woods and tried to shoot them with his homemade catapult, which Grandpa Kaku had assisted him to make.
In the heat of the moment, he had found a grouse scampering into the thicket of the forest and he had followed it to try and catch it. He ended up inside a cave where he lost his bearings and couldn’t find a way out.
He cried out for help and no one heard him. He was starving, hungry and thirsty after five hours of being ‘trapped’ in a cave until the same grouse he had followed in the cave ran out of nowhere and made a speedy exit towards the entrance of the cave, when he followed it, he suddenly found himself outside where he had started off.
He quickly abandoned the chase and headed straight home in time for tea but went for a bath first before anyone knew what had happened. He kept his little adventure to himself in case he would either be banned from going in the bush alone or maybe he would have to face the ultimate humiliation of being laughed at and scorned for losing his way and being led out of trouble by a bird.
However, he vowed never to kill a grouse if ever he came across one in
