The Bride of the Rain God

..--..

The Bride’s Secret

..--..

The court maidens looked on in bewilderment; such was the sight for them.

Clarique sat on his throne, looking fairly perturbed with his brows creased. He held his hand out where a fluffy, little, dark cloud floated on his open palm. His youngest child, the little rain cloud, mumbled softly to him- mimicking chirpy little sounds. It spoke, it convulsed and when it came to the infuriating part of its story, it rumbled and let loose a small spark of lightning from its tiny folds. On a normal day, he would have been amused if it weren’t for the gravity of the circumstance.

Clarique let out a string of ‘hmm’s and ‘ah’s and finally, let his misty child wiggle out of his hold. The cloud twittered like a bird. Crossing the court, it passed the form of the minister on the way. Being the playful toddler it was, it burst and shed its water on him, relieving itself happily. Turning a brighter shade of white, it ignored the curses from the lord’s most humble servant and moved upwards gently to join the rest of its fluffy brethren.

The minister took out a handkerchief and dried himself grudgingly. Still squeezing the water out from the ends of his coat-tails, he turned to his Lord who sat high on a pedestal, looking more resentful than he had been since The Great Flood of 1156 AD.

The minister cleared his throat, garnering the courage to broach the subject.

“I assume that it wasn’t the good news you had hoped to hear, sire? What did your little spy say?”

His eyes the color of water and his hair- the shade of ice capped mountains, Clarique grunted in reply and a distant thunder rumbled through the land of the mortals below.

His minister let out a wistful sigh. His lord’s anger always had such extreme repercussions.

At this rate, the world would feel the worst of his temper, he told himself. I won’t be surprised if his anger unleashes another great flood.

Clarique clenched his fists, looking into the far distance.

“It appears she has run to the capital. First, she sets fire to my holy oracle and then, she flees from the altar. Apparently, my little sacrificial lambkin doesn’t know how to act like one.”

“And it is unlikely that she’ll be missed by anybody. She seems to have caused a lot of trouble to your priest,” added the minister. “Is it wise to pursue a girl who has been forsaken by her own family?”

“It’s not a question of wisdom, chap. This girl has refuted my command and so has her people. This is the first time that what ought to be mine has been denied to me,” Clarique reasoned, rubbing his chin. “What must I do to claim her? I need thy sound advice, minister. This ought to be the time for thee to prove thy worth. Unless you wish for another century spent in the dark hollow of my cellars.”

The minister cringed. Been there, done that. He indeed had a bitter memory of it.

“My lord, I understand completely. Give one word and we’ll claim your right. The girl cannot malinger more than she already has. Just one word from you and we’ll force her-”

“Force is a word of the past, didn’t you know? This is a new age. She is my betrothed and I wish for her love, not her loathe,” Clarique answered, stepping down from his throne. “Go, watch her. Persuade her to stop running. Tell her, it’s all a futile attempt. For I’m the Rain God and where there is water in any form, I shall be.”

..--..

Still chewing on a straw, the old rider tipped his hat and bid the odd couple a silent farewell. The horse grunted and started its slow trample down the gravel road, its hooves sounding loud and dry on a sunny afternoon. Lori waved at them enthusiastically until the horse took a turn and went completely out of sight. Silence fell between the two as they were now left to each other’s company. While Lori looked at the sky and cast it a worried glance, Ruwa watched her curiously as he sat on top of a large rock, lugging an old sack on his left shoulder. They were stranded amidst a vast green plain of rice crops, where scare crows stood motionless, little red flags blew with the intrusive wind and white cranes wandered along the edges of a passing river.

Lori turned to him and pouted.

“Why did you insist that we stop here? We were only a couple of hours from the capital.”

Letting out a painful sigh, inwardly wondering why he had to explain every little thing to her, Ruwa pointed to the river flowing along the edge of the field and then, to his crumpled, dusty clothes that had twigs and straws sticking out from odd nooks and corners. “Well, we can’t be going into the city all dirty, silly girl. So, I thought we could take a dip and then head for the capital. There is a chance that we may come across royalty and we must keep up appearances.”

“But we’ll be losing time!” Lori whined, making frantic motions with her hands.

“Why are we in such a hurry? Are… Are you meeting someone?” Ruwa asked, looking at her with his eyes narrowed.

She turned to him sharply. “No… no, of course not. I just wanted to get there before dusk.”

“Why?” he asked, wondering whether she harbored a curse of some sort just like those princesses in fairy tales.

“Because… I’m a girl, you see-”

“Not really,” Ruwa snorted in disagreement.

She didn’t quite hear his remark. “-and it’s not safe for a young, innocent, fair lady like me to be traveling in the dark, you do realize. Who knows what could be out there? Bandits, wolves-”

Ruwa rolled his eyes at her. “I doubt bandits and wolves would want to put their own lives at a horrible risk by attacking you.” He ignored her sullen pout and looked at the river again, “Anyway, a dip won’t take long. Stay here and take care of our belongings. Pray, don’t lose them.”

He got up, dropped the sack at her feet. Turning around, he started walking towards the river, shedding his coat along the way. He rummaged through his pockets and searched for his father’s heirloom. He pulled the knife out and looked at it, feeling forlorn and bitter. It glinted against the sunlight, his palm fitting its ornate handle like a glove it was meant to be. Reaching the riverside, he set his knife aside in a safe enclosure of stones and started taking off his boots. He remembered her when he started unbuttoning his in-shirt.

He turned back and found her missing. Afraid that the quasi cat-woman had betrayed his trust and absconded, his eyes searched the field frantically. He finally found her hiding in the scarecrow’s shadow, watching him keenly.

He let out a sigh of relief.

“Oye. Don’t peep now.”

“I wasn’t!” she replied, indignantly and turned away.

He smiled and finished undressing.

He took a ginger step into the water.

The river was warm at this time of the day. He trudged away from the shallow bank to the deep end. Taking a lungful of air, he took a dip and spent a long moment under water, flapping his arms around at the spool of fish swimming past him.

This was good. The water felt very refreshing after being stuck riding on a cart under the hot sun for two whole days. He scrubbed his arms and arched his neck.

When he ran out of air, he emerged from the water with a loud splash. Filling his lungs again like a whale, he took another dip and spent a longer moment immersed in the clear, blue water.

It was at that moment when he started hearing them.

Soft voices echoed around him as if he were surrounded by nymphs of lore.

Yet, when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing but the vast blue emptiness of the river. The only creatures that could have spoken to him would have been the planktons and the fish… which was utterly impossible.

The voices drew closer until he could hear them clearly.

Leave the girl… She’s been promised to our lord.

‘Girl? Who is that? What in the world- Am I imagining it?’ Ruwa wondered. He wished he could speak out aloud but he was afraid of drowning.

If you fear your life, leave before you feel his wrath.

The voice died as abruptly as it had come. Ruwa surfaced, breathing hard. He stared at the water, eyes wide and mouth agape. His heart thumped wildly in his chest. Water dripping from his brown hair, he wiped his mouth and frowned.

“MASTER Ruuuuuwwwaaa!” a voice bellowed from the bank.

He turned to see Lori waving at him from the riverside. “Are you ALRIGHT, Master Ruwa?” she yelled, looking sick with worry.

He turned from the redhead to the water and then, back to her.

After a long pause where he soothed his racing heart, he nodded hesitantly.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he looked up the river plain and noticed a crane nipping at a familiar looking sack.

“Whoa! Look out! It’s stealing our-” he began to shout.

But it was already too late as the white bird took off with all his worldly possessions.

..--..

He trampled down the road, steps behind her. He was frowning at her back and wondering how in the world she ever persuaded him to go on this ill-fated journey.

“It’s your fault,” he mumbled.

“I thought you were drowning,” she insisted and kept walking.

“I told you to guard it with your life.”

“But I thought you were drowning, for goodness sake. How was I supposed to know that a stupid bird would steal all our belongings? We should just forget about it and go to the capital. We’ve already wasted a lot of time, Master Ruwa.”

“We? I love how you throw these plural pronouns around. There is no ‘we’ here. It’s either you or me. Never we. And that sack had nothing of yours. Only mine.”

“Alright, alright. Your belongings, Master Ruwa. Happy?”

Ruwa scowled and kicked a pebble.

“No. And stop calling me that,” he mumbled, watching it roll.

They reached the city gates just as the sun started to set in the distant valley. They skipped past the line of carriages and presented themselves before the guards.

“Let us through,” Lori said to one buff looking, old gatekeeper.

“Where are you from?” the man asked her, giving her a quick once-over.

“A town far south. We’ve traveled for long so let us through.”

The guard turned his attention to the young man next to her. Ruwa was looking at the towering gates with a look of awe and amazement. For someone who’d spent a good part of his life living in his late father’s den in the small valley town of Wingding, he was blown away by the sheer size of the capital’s monstrous gates. The guard frowned at the glazed look in his eyes. “And who is this gentleman here? He looks rather suspicious,” the guard mumbled to Lori, scratching his stub.

“Suspicious?” Ruwa echoed, turning to him with a snap and looking mortally offended.

“Oh, don’t worry ‘bout him. He is…” Lori said, searching for a suitable word. A brilliant idea flashed through her mind; she hooked her arms with her companion’s and patted his head affectionately. “Ruwa, here, is my distant cousin. He is a slight bit touched in the head…” she continued, ignoring the outraged look from Ruwa. “Keeps saying how he hears things, sees things and all…” she leaned towards the guard and whispered, “They say it could be an evil spirit possessing him. So I’ve brought him here to get a cure.”

Ruwa looked at her, mouth agape. He wanted to laugh at the irony of it all.

“Touched in the head?” he repeated out loud. Lori kicked his shins and he grimaced, barely keeping quiet. “Why yes, I am… Not really surprising since I am traveling with her.”

“That’s because no one in the family was responsible enough to bring you all the way here, dear.”

“And you think you’re responsible? Says the girl who can’t even take care of a piece of rug sack.”

“See?” Lori asked the guard, pointing to her companion emphatically. “Like I said.”

The gatekeeper peered over them curiously and sighed. “Alright, alright. Get in.”

Lori remained attached to his arm the rest of the way. Ruwa tried to not notice it too much but it distracted him. The girl was so utterly childish that she didn’t even realize. When she did let go of him, he felt relieved but a small part of him felt a little disappointed. Though he’d never admit it aloud.

He watched her grouchily, still sore about the story she’d invented to the guard.

The redhead was taking in the sights of the city with her wide green eyes.

The capital was indeed a sight to beckon with. Colorful banners hung on high beams, announcing the name of the shop and its trade. Children stuck their messy heads out of the windows, pouring pails of water on any innocent bystander who happened to pass by. The voices of fish merchants were hoarse in the air and so was the stink of their wares.

“Fresh Fish! Fresh mackerel for sale, people! Today’s special, yo- One baby sardine free with the adult! Come get ’em while you can!”

“Isn’t this amazing?” Lori yelled over the loud crowd bustling through the town-square.

“Yes, amazing,” Ruwa repeated sarcastically. “Absolutely spiffing! Can’t believe I lived all these years, missing out on this beautiful view,” he said, scrunching his nose at the stale fishes, which were beginning to reek under the glare of the sun.

“Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport, Master Ruwa,” she said, hooking her arms with his. “Come now. You know what they say… When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

“We’re not in Rome.”

“Well, pretend we are. When opportunity comes knocking, we must open the door and let it in. This is our adventure, don’t forget. Let’s go sight-seeing and have a taste of the local delicacies. It’s not everyday-”

Ruwa stopped in his tracks and pulled away from her. “Of course, why not?! Our only problem being the lousy fact that we don’t have ANY money. What do you suggest we do? Beg?”

“But you do have two quints in the bottom right pocket of your coat.”

He blinked at the elaborate answer.

“Wait. How do you know? And they’re strictly out of the question. You do realize that those are for the return journey and I intend to conserve them.”

“Oh, but it’s the CAPITAL. Do you honestly want to return to Wingding without trying out their mackerel special?” Lori insisted, pointing to the stall in front of them. The shopkeeper nodded enthusiastically, rubbing his hands at the prospect of new customers.

Ruwa eyed the rotten fish laid out on display.

“Honestly, yes.”

Lori crossed her arms and pouted.

“I’m hungry!”

“Too bad,” he said, shrugging indifferently.

“Please?”

“No! And don’t give me that look. I’m not going to cave. Don’t forget I’m the son of an ironsmith and the Armadas are known to be strong willed men. I’m much too virile for such womanly tricks.”

“But I’m really hungry.”

“Good for you. Hold on to that thought for the next two days. It’s your entire fault for losing the money, believe me. Father was right. Women are the snares of devil. That’s what he used to tell me.”

Lori wasn’t listening and eyed the wares of a fruit seller with a longing look.

“I see. You just pretend to be nice but you’re cold and heartless underneath. After all that I’ve done for you, Master Ruwa-”

Ruwa frowned. “Remind me again what you’ve done for me except for kidnapping me into the country, getting me robbed and posing me as a possible lunatic to everyone else?”

She ignored him promptly. She took out a handkerchief and blew into it, sniffling loudly. Her lower lip trembling, she looked longingly at the food on sale. She closed her eyes and stifled a sob.

Oh no, not the waterworks…

Ruwa’s shoulders slumped and he searched his coat pocket. Taking one quint out, he tossed it over to his red-haired companion and turned away to sulk. He really needed to work on that strong will of his.

..--..

The tavern keeper eyed them gingerly as they walked into his inn. He seemed least bothered by their shabby appearance but he could guess in the odds of three-to-one that they were outsiders. Most likely, a bunch of naïve country yodels.

Lori waved to him enthusiastically, only to be scoffed at by the others in the tavern. Ruwa caught her wrist and pulled it down.

“Do you even know anyone here?” he asked, looking around wildly at the folks there. They looked like shady people. Not as bad as the female specimen next to him but yes, indeed shady. Along the lines of thugs, hoodlums and petty scoundrels. Just the perfect place for Lori to bring him. Why was he even surprised?

“No,” she answered, scooting over to a lone table in the middle and settling down in a chair.

“And yet, you greet people like you’ve known them all your life. You really are a strange one,” he told her with a rueful smile, shaking his head regretfully.

“What’s wrong with that?”

Ruwa shrugged and sat down across her. Everybody seemed to be breathing down his neck. He could feel all pairs of eyes boring into his back. Shadows shifted in the corners, people gave him long glances over the rim of their glasses and he’d seen the glint of a sword in one man’s cloak. Scheming, that’s what they seemed to be doing. Everyone except for the good, gracious tavern keeper who kept cleaning his glassware resolutely. Lori remained… oblivious.

“Why’re we even here?” he asked her in a low voice.

“No reason,” she replied absent-mindedly, her eyes scanning the crowd.

She turned to a man at the next table and tapped him on the shoulder. The man shifted in his seat. His head a mop of wild, rabid hair and bushy eyebrows, he looked positively dodgy in Ruwa’s opinion. After serving years as a bootboy to his father, he’d come across all sorts of his father’s clientele. This man was exactly the kind one should never acquaint with.

“Yeah? Whatcha want?” the man growled back.

“Do you know how to get to the castle, sir?” Lori asked politely.

‘Castle?’ Ruwa wondered. So, she did come here on a secret mission. The little, devious-

“You two… New here?” the man akin to Goliath enquired, his dark-lidded eyes twitching as he glanced over the two of them.

“Well, yes.”

“Castle, hn? I do know the way.”

“Really?”

“I could show you-” he said, licking his lips at the prospect.

Ruwa cut into the conversation, thumping his fist on the table.

“That won’t be necessary. We’ll find our own way, thank you very much.”

Lori shot him a glare. “Master Ruwa, we should atleast try to be friendly.”

“Friendly, yes! But not with his sort of people!”

The man’s face ticked.

“What do you mean by ‘my sort of people’?”

“Ah, well, you know…”

“No really. Enlighten me.”

It was funny how one moment, he’d been sitting in his rightful seat and the next, he was hanging limp several feet above the ground. A roar went up in the air and everyone shuffled into a circle, cheering the fight on. The man held him by the lapel of his collar and shoved him against the wall. Ruwa winced as he felt his ribs crack under the undue force. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Lori ducking under a table and watching him from there.

She gave him an encouraging wave. Go for it, she mouthed.

He winced. She was always the source of all trouble.

The thug wiped his mouth and caught Ruwa’s collar again, lifting him off the ground.

“You don’t put up much of a fight, wimp,” ‘Goliath’ spat out with a condescending laugh.

“What can I say… I’m… a… pacifist,” Ruwa stuttered, out of breath. He coughed and closed his eyes, waiting for the blow. It came not a moment too late as he found himself being hurled across a table. He rolled over the booth, landing roughly on the floor. He hit his jaw hard and found himself spitting blood and a broken tooth.

Ruwa cringed inwardly.

How did he get himself into this mess?

“Sock him in the guts, master!” he heard her yell.

Ruwa stood up gingerly, with his fists raised. He turned to her wildly.

“S-Sock this gentleman where?” he stuttered, eyes wide.

“In the guts! In the guts! Look out before he- owww,” she winced, closing her eyes. “That must have hurt,” Lori said, watching him topple again. She grimaced. Ruwa’s legs now dangled over the aisle of the tavern keeper who continued polishing his dirty glasses perseveringly.

Ruwa bounced back up and shot her a dirty look. “You could have warned me sooner, you-”

The man took hold of Ruwa by the lapel again, cutting him short. “No chitchat. How about I beat you down black and blue until you can’t even get up, huh?”

The man stared at the bloodied face of the young traveler and smirked.

Obstinate himself, Ruwa laughed at him in reply… though he ended up spitting more blood.

He wouldn’t have lived to see another day if it weren’t for the lanky looking chap who burst through the twin doors. Breathing hard, he relayed the news to them.

“Storm’s brewing! The elders say it’s coming from the direction of Wingding!”

A dull silence hung in the air as everyone consumed those words.

‘Goliath’ dropped Ruwa on the floor and his eyes widened. “Wingding? The town that drowned?”

“W-what?” Ruwa exclaimed from the floor, his eyes wide.

No one stuck around long to answer him. Everybody picked up their cloaks, goods and bid each other short goodbyes, scuttling outside the tavern as soon as possible. All except for the innkeeper. He continued polishing his glasses and spared him a glance.

“Didn’t you know? Wingding got flooded two days ago. It’s the wrath of the gods, I say.”

Lori whimpered from under the table.

..--..

He let out a string of curses and slid against the tiled fence of some house.

Lori made him sit on a barrel and kneeled on the dusty ground of the alley. She pulled a handkerchief out from the depths of her pockets and ripped it into halves. While she tucked one part of it back into her pocket, she pressed the other one on his cheek, tending to his wounds.

Ruwa stared, watching her as she nursed his bleeding cuts.

“Wingding is gone,” he mumbled out aloud, unable to accept it. His town, his home, his father’s memory, everything.

Lori didn’t answer him and didn’t even meet his eye.

“You…” he trailed. “Why did you want to go to the castle? Why did we even come to the capital? You had a reason, didn’t you?”

She remained silent.

“Lori?” he said, calling her name for the first time.

The voice that answered sounded small. “I came looking for Sir Knight…” she said in a whisper.

“Sir Knight?” he echoed.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Never mind, Ruwa. I don’t think he is here, anymore. And he probably would hate me if we met.”

She sounded dismal and so unlike the cheerful redhead he had grown to like.

“Why is that?” he asked, wincing when she tended to his bleeding mouth.

“Because I keep causing trouble to everyone. Look what I’ve done to you,” she said, pointing to his bruises.

Ruwa smiled.

“These cuts are insignificant. They will heal in a day or two! Don’t forget I’m an Armada and we’re made of stronger will,” he started saying and then let out a small laugh. “But you should take care of yourself more. Don’t go looking around for trouble. Besides, how will I ever write a story if I don’t go on an adventure? Isn’t that what you taught me?”

She saw his smiling face, feeling warm all of a sudden. She’d been repudiated by her family, thrown to the gallows as a sacrifice to a merciless god and yet, the one person she was receiving all this warmth from was the one she had been deceiving all along, endangering him in her own troubles. Guilt was something she was not used to.

She tugged at his sleeve.

He looked down to meet her emerald green eyes.

“Ruwa, I am sorry,” she said, looking away.

He never got the chance to ask her why.

A wind bristled past them, rustling through the leaves lying forlorn on the ground. Ruwa got up and looked up at the sky. He watched it getting darker with every passing moment. A flash of lightning flickered in the distance and thunder rumbled through the land. He closed his eyes for the briefest second.

“We should look for shelter-” he started to say, turning around.

He found her missing.

(Part-2/3)