Maliha
Chapter 17: Roots

Maliha sat inside the room, fingers twiddling as she waited for the council to hear Tanzim’s plea. To hear her story and to judge accordingly. Her knowledge of their process for judging was bare minimal, making it exceedingly clear to Maliha that she knew hardy anything about this tribe.

She knew the foundation of their beliefs, but she did not know how they judged or even if they did.

How could she be a guardian to young Namali if she did not know the way of the tribe? Her lack of knowledge was only one more thing added to her list of worry.

Even worse was perhaps the way Ujarak had treated her. Maybe it had been her imagination, her mind was still recovering from the ordeal she had gone through and She hadn’t even processed all the emotions of the day. She hadn’t come to terms with what she had done. Who she was.

These things and their implications hadn’t registered in her mind right away, but what did, was Ujarak’s cold behaviour and his dismissive attitude.

He had practically dumped her in this room, storming from it with not even a backward glance let alone some consoling words. She understood that as the Razi of the tribe, there was a lot for him to do and maybe he even blamed himself for some of the events of the days. He was an important man amongst the tribe, so she could understand how he may become preoccupied, but Maliha needed his comfort. She needed soft words and soft arms, not a cold demeanour and isolation.

How long would they have her sitting in this bleak and sterile room while they deliberated on her and Tanzim’s future?

She could not take this listless waiting. Her mind ran amuck as she reclined on the soft bed in this barely furnished room.

“What happens now?” She murmured listlessly to the plain walls. Not even an echo responded to her words.

She wanted to leave this room, to storm down the corridor and into that assembly where they listened to Tanzim’s words, and demand she be allowed to stay but Her head pounded her. She felt weak and jittery, her teeth clattering with a sudden chill that climbed over her.

She lay there for what seemed like hours, the house creaking and the soft call of children lulling her into a restless sleep.

Sweat glided down her skin as she tossed and turned. Scorching flames scoring at her skin as the raging inferno soared and engulfed whole villages. Gut wrenching screams reverberated in her mind.

All she could see was red. Aggressive, flickering flames roaring to the sky and engulfing all with its fury. The fire climbed heavenwards until there in the middle stood a woman with red flaming hair and eyes the colour of a grey so pale they almost seemed white. Her eyes flashed and then the plumes engulfed her until there lay nothing in the flickering remnants of that aggressive fire, but her ashes and a gold medallion that glistened so bright it was as if the sun was harnessed within it. the medallion shimmered with such opulent light bright, the sharp gleam burned at the back of Maliha’s skull and scalded her mind with a painful white light.

“Maliha.”

Breath gasped through Maliha’s lips as her eyes shot open, her body jerking awake as she wheezed for breath. Her hands shook as she pushed the short, slick strands of her hair from her face. The dream slipping from Maliha’s mind as consciousness forced her awake. Her fingers subconsciously clenched at her neck, tickling along the bare skin and not replaceing the heavy weight that should be nestled there.

Sweat glided down her skin as she tried to make sense of the remnants of her dream that kept flashing in her mind.

“Maliha.”

she nearly jumped out of her skin as a pair of eager eyes stared back at her.

“Enzo.” She huffed. “You scared me” her shaky hands clenching at her thudding heart.

“Sorry, I heard you crying.” He mumbled, stepping further into the room.

“I wasn’t-” but her rejection was quickly halted at the feel of her damp cheeks.

She hadn’t realized that as the smell of smoke and burning flesh floated through her dreaming mind, she had been weeping for the horrific loss of life.

“Uja, said to keep you company whilst he sits in the council.”

He smiled hesitantly as he stepped closer and closer to the bed. He motioned for her to take the plate of food that consisted of bread vegetables, lamb and cheese. Maliha hadn’t realised how hungry She was until Enzo brought food for her.

“Thank you.”

Patting the blanket, she ushered Enzo to sit on the bed with her. They sat in silence for some time before Maliha tentatively broke the stilted silence.

“Do you know what happens next?” She questioned, placing her half-eaten food to the side.

Enzo stared at her quizzically, unsure of what she was asking until Maliha clarified for him.

“After hearing Tanzim’s version the council will split into sides. Those who believe your story and those who believe Tanzim’s.”

Maliha should have felt assured in the fact that the council was mostly on her side, but she wasn’t. She knew what Tanzim was as like and she could only hope that the weren’t swayed by whatever story she fed them.

“Will Ujarak get to choose?”

“No, he isn’t allowed to.”

So perhaps his cold shoulder was due to the fact that Ujarak was trying to remain impartial or to at least seem that way, in order to stop the opposition from undermining any decisions he had to make. Maliha didn’t want to make excuses for him but that was the only way she could rationally explain his behaviour, and she so badly wanted to understand him.

“Once they are divided, the whole tribe heads to The Ishanu, where the two sides argue against each other and the tribe can ask questions and reach a decision.”

“What is The Ishanu?”

It was yet another thing that Maliha did not know about this tribe and it was becoming increasingly clear that her lack of knowledge would be her downfall. Why would the tribe speak in her favour when it was very clear that she was not one of them?

“Well its-”

“Enzo, scatter” growled Ujarak.

His eyes were whirling with amber flecks as he held the door open for Enzo. As the boy passed under his arms, Ujarak lightly patted his shoulder to soften his harsh words.

The air around Maliha became suffocating as Ujarak stalked into the room. The atmosphere vibrated with his anger and frustration. The currents churning around him and clinging around her throat.

“Maliha” he husked, slowly approaching her side.

Her green eyes were full of so much hurt and longing, he was almost drowning in her emotions.

“I suppose you have come to collect me” she muttered despondently, hiding her eyes from him as she peered down at her clasped fingers.

“I guess as Razi it is your place to deliver me to my fate.” A fate that she did not see ending in her favour.

She was not dumb enough to believe that the tribe would voluntarily vote for Tanzim, not when the woman was cruel but at the same time, they did not know Maliha so well. There were only a few people who had actually taken time to speak to her. She did not see how they could pick her over her own.

“Maliha” he hummed softly, sinking down into the bed beside her.

“I am here when I probably shouldn’t be, to make sure that you are okay.”

“Oh” she whispered, “I’m fine.” She shrugged dismissively.

Ujarak tutted his teeth as he shifted on the bed and wrapped his thick arms around her.

“I did not want to leave you, but if I lingered too long my judgement would be questioned.”

It was as she thought but still, his explanation did not explain why he had left her without even a word of comfort. Nothing. He had given her nothing and the fact that his dismissal had impacted her so greatly was extremely disturbing to Maliha. Yet, she couldn’t control her reaction and she acknowledged that she was reluctant to try and control it.

“Ujarak, I understand there is a lot expected of you from everyone, but I can’t help but feel that- ” Her teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she contemplated the emotion.

“I felt that I didn’t matter.”

“Silly female.” He growled, tightening his arms around her.

Ujarak felt the pressure of all that was demanded from him. All of their expectations weighed heavily on his shoulders. He didn’t want to let the council or his tribe down but in the same breath, he didn’t want to neglect Maliha when she needed his support the most. Especially not to prove his position to his tribe.

“Are you hungry?” Maliha asked.

She tentatively pulled out of his arms and stared up at his knotted rows. The skin under his eyes were discoloured in deep purples. Ujarak merely grunted his response, clinging to Maliha and easing her nerves with his calm breathing.

They lay there for what seemed like hours until one loud singular drum beat roused Ujarak from his relaxed position.

With his hand outstretched, he beckoned her from the bed.

“Come. The lunch hour is over. It is time to go.”

Clasping her smaller palm in his, he lightly stroked the back of her hand, and gave her a gentle squeeze when he felt her digits shaking. They headed down the corridor until they stepped outside of the house.

The air was almost silent, nothing but natures songs filling the dwindling day, as opposed to the usual bustling of the Der Surjaz daily life. The quiet was unnerving and was afraid settling into Maliha’s bones.

“I’m scared.” She admitted.

“Don’t be. This isn’t your judgement; this is Tanzim’s. The council have heard her story and have made their decision, now it is time for the tribe to decide.”

When she remained silent, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled them to a halt. His thumb lifted her chin, so she could look directly into his eyes.

“You are safe Maliha, I promise you that.”

There were not many things he could promise her, but her safety was one of them. Placing a gentle kiss on her lips, he stroked her hair before releasing her from his embrace.

They walked a few paces further but when they reached the line of the forest he released her hand.

“From this point onwards, I have to resume my duty as Razi of the tribe, but do not doubt that I will look out for you at any cost.”

She nodded lightly at his ardent stare, replaceing a small medium of comfort in the emotion behind his words.

Their journey was quiet and tense, conversation stilted and non-existent as they traipsed through the trees. A quarter of a mile away from the tribe’s tents, they met Abazz. His dark skin glowing in the dimming orange hues of the sky.

“Is this The Ishanu?” Her disappointment obvious to both men.

“No.” Chuckled Ujarak. “When you reach The Ishanu you will know.”

He smiled softly down at her, pecking her lips gently before signalling something to Abazz and disappearing into the foliage. When Maliha tried to follow him, her body was abruptly halted by the light but firm grip of Abazz large hand.

“Everyone in the tribe knows he favours you. Let us not give them more reason to doubt his impartiality, by arriving with you.”

His reasoning couldn’t be faulted but perhaps the tribe had a valid reason to doubt Ujarak’s stance, especially as she knew that he was on her side regardless of what was decided.

“Is his part in this so important that being seen with me could undermine his position.”

If his position was so pivotal to this process, why would he risk his tribe’s dissension by laying with her when he should have been eating with them to reduce suspicion.

“It’s not that his role is important. It is more so that he needs to not take sides in case the tribe is split and the decision falls to him.”

Maliha reluctantly accepted that as much as she wanted Ujarak by her side during this new and uncertain process, she had no right to him. Instead she would take his behaviour as a sign that if it came to down to choosing, he would pick her.

She hoped he would pick her.

“We are here.”

Maliha’s face scrunched up in disgruntlement at what appeared to be more bushes.

“This is the-”

Words halted in her throat as the foliage was parted by Abazz’s large hands and the beauty that was The Ishanu was revealed to her.

“What is this place?” She gasped in awe, stepping through the pathway hidden by the bushes.

The Ishanu was like nothing she had ever seen. The floor was covered in thick mats of grass that shone in luminous waves. Vines twined around the trees of the forest, intertwining and connecting like the twigs that made up a bird’s nest. Vines and leaves coiled together in an intricate web that covered half the sky in its green vibrant splendour. They were like veins. A delicate system of detailed insect and fauna that brought life to and from the centre of the tribe.

Flowers that glowed in blues, pinks and yellows were nestled deep within the greener. They flowed in time to the earths strumming pulse. The air charged with the vibrations of the earth.

Maliha’s heart felt full. She felt at peace like she had never before. It was as if all her ancestors were reaching out to her. Filling her with their love and wisdom.

“Welcome to The Ishanu. This is our sacred ancestral place, where our ancestors may visit us in spirit or physical form to give us guidance and wisdom.” Abazz grinned, arms spread wide in pride.

“This is the root that anchors us.”

His words echoed in her ears as the soft grass tickled at her feet the further she stepped into The Ishanu. Her heart beat with such joy and wonder as her fingers glided against the blossoming fauna in awe. She felt natures sublime energy thrumming through her. Each plant and insect vibrating on a level that melded deep into her soul.

Each step she made pulled her further and further into The Ishanu, her body walking without direction. She felt incorporeal, as if her soul was hovering outside of her body.

The earths song pulling her.

Calling her

There was a chant that quaked in her heart.

Songs hummed into the living plants. They sucked her in. Moving her and moving her until the vibrations crashed over her.

Her feet collapsed beneath her. Fingers caked in brown and luminous green as nature clung to her skin. As the pulsing earth began to release its hold on her, the trance slipped, and her position became clear.

Dark brown bark covered in dark green moss danced beneath her fingers. The withered life full of so much energy and wisdom.

Tears lined her eyes as she followed the roots that were deeply imbedded into this land, up to the tree that hung with such majestic opulence, there was no ignoring its importance.

The branches swooped low and wide as if it were inviting the tribe into its embrace. The arms swaying and creaking in the gentle breeze, creating a song that lived in the hearts of the Der Surjaz.