6 Chapter Five

Wentose- White colony

"What will we do now that Yellow country has fallen?" A man asked Aroon- the commander of the rebel forces in white colony. Aroon touched the man's shoulder and asked what happened to Afri. "He was taken to the mines in Emtor" the man answered. "Emtor? Do we have anyone there?" Aroon asked. "Yes, we do. There are three there" the man answered. "Send a code to the most trusted one and ask him to give Afri to know what's next" Aroon explained and watched them leave. He knew things were in disarray. The only one who really gave all the rebels hope was Afri. His capture and fall of the Yellow country hit all of them badly. It was hard to accept. " Dae, are you there? " Aroon asked. Dae entered and said "Yes, my Lord". I need you to travel fast under the cover of the night to Yoovim. I need you to check how Afri's family is doing. Send this message to his wife" Aroon said and gave Dae a letter. Dae nodded and left secretly.

Emtor:

"Be discrete. Do not let anyone see you." The messenger from Aroon told the spy. " what's in the letter" the spy asked. "Just give the letter to commander Afri" the messenger said. "I will wait here for two days for his reply" the messenger added. The spy looked around and left.

Mine:

"Sir, I have a message for you" the spy said patting Afri on the shoulder. "Who are you? Who has the message for me" Afri asked silently. "From Aroon" the spy answered. Afri collected the letter and hid it. Aroon was trustworthy. They fought together before. Afri continued with his work and saw Baptiste looking at him. " he could have seen him collect the letter". In case he did, the spy won't talk. They all had an oath to keep" Afri thought. He watched Baptiste who looked away as his wife approached. "Should you not be resting? What are you doing here?" Baptiste asked his wife who gave him one of the twins. "I cannot stay at home alone. You know warriors never stay idle". Baptiste smiled and stroked his boy's hair. " Where is Afri? Your archenemy?" Abella asked her husband. "He is not my archenemy. I respect him and I am sure he respects me also" Baptiste answered. Abella shook her head. "Your sympathy was what cost you the war and your crown" she said. She stared at Afri for a while and left.

Yoovim:

"My lady, you have a visitor" a young girl said as she entered the house. "Who is it?" Bosede (Afri's wife) asked. "She said she is from Aroon" the girl replied. Bosede nodded and Dae came in. "I hope you have been well. Master Aroon sends his regards and a letter" Dae said. "Thank the gods who spared me but did not spare my husband" Bosede said. "Show me the letter" she added. Dae gave the letter to her and she read the contents. She stood up and threw the letter into the fire. " I understand all of these. Tell Aroon to give us time. We are still healing and I just had a baby" Bosede said and Dae nodded. "Rest till tomorrow and return. We will prepare a room for you" she added and Dae left the room.

Emtor:

"What's his reply?" The messenger asked the spy. "Afri said we should stand out ground and be patient. Also, he said his son should be recruited into the rebel army when he is due and serve Aroon in Wentose" The spy added. The messenger left Emtor to Wentose.

Wentose:

"I am back" the messenger said as he drew closer to Aroon. "Welcome. How was it? Aroon asked. " Afri said we should stand our ground and be patient. He also said his son should join the rebel army when he is old enough" the messenger said. Aroon kept silent for a while and said "send a letter to Maxeen(Red capital). Tell them to get ready for war". The messenger was stunned. " war? We were told to wait " he said. ". Just send the letter" Aroon orders and the messenger left. He sat down and thought of Bosede. He knew the yellow won't be able to join the fight. He knew the war was dependent on the whites and the reds. Also, Afri has a girl and not a boy. "How can he recruit a young girl into the army? " all these thoughts bothered him.