Chapter 23: The Scheming Chiefs

Varius knew there were tribal chiefs who had accepted the authority of Hammer by force. They had to admit it to protect their own interests. He knew there were those chiefs present among the allies, but after his confrontation with Hojo, his doubt got even deeper. He wondered if there were chiefs who acted to submit to Hammer's authority, but they saw an opportunity for their personal gains.

He knew if something happened to his king, the allies would rebel and there would be a bloodbath to gain power. Hammer not only was the messiah, but the supreme commander of the wild tribes as well.

While he thought deeper about getting out of this mess, someone approached him.

"Are you worried about him?" they said to Varius upon their arrival.

Varius looked at the person and discovered it was the new chief of the Venus tribe.

"Do you want something?" he asked.

"You seemed worried about your king," she said. "I thought I should check on you."

Her name was Lolofiya. She was a young, brown-skinned woman in her late twenties. She had short hair in a boy-cut. There were three parallel pink stripes on each of her cheeks. She wore a brown woven tunic, woven pants, and high boots. She carried a medium-sized scimitar on her waist, fit for her small build and monstrous agility.

"How nice of you," Varius responded sarcastically. "Are you really this nice, or are you just pretending?"

"Whatever you think," she said with a shrug. "There was something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it?"

"You are very loyal to your king, are you not?" she asked.

"Of course, I am," Varius replied. "What about it?"

"What made you so committed to him? Earlier I saw your eyes when Chief Hojo badmouthed him. They were not ordinary eyes. They were fueled with rage," the female chief said. "It only happens when someone abuses a person very close to you."

"Why do you want to know?" wondered Varius and gave her a doubtful look. "Why are so interested? Do I even know you? "

"Do not get me wrong. You do not seem like one of us. You look like a foreigner. I wonder how you ended up here and became so close to King Hammer."

"Like I said, I do not want to tell you," Varius responded with a frown. "Now just leave me alone and mind your own business."

"Ah, so rude." Lolofiya touched his right cheek and pushed back his long hair behind his ear. She brought her face close to his ear, which made Varius uncomfortable.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he could not comprehend her behaviour.

She whispered into his ear. "I thought we could get to know each other better." She kissed his cheek and walked away. "Maybe, next time."

Varius just stood aghast, staring at her back going away from him. He could not comprehend what had just happened. He knew all about politics and wars, but there was one area he knew nothing about - Women.

He just kept his hand on his cheek where he had received the divine gift.

"What is this feeling?" he uttered.

There was something inside him growing, but he did not know what it was.

"I can see you are enjoying your time here," someone said to him from behind.

It flustered him, making him turn back weirdly in embarrassment. "Wha-what?" he reacted. He saw it was old man Hojo whom he had an argument with earlier. His expression got tensed all of a sudden. "It is you."

Chief Hojo pointed towards Lolofiya. "She is young and beautiful, and also the chief of her tribe. Quite a nice catch you have got there."

Varius felt embarrassed at his words. "What? Sh-shut up, old man! It is nothing like you imagine."

"Oh, really?" the old man smirked. "Then why did she do that?"

His words embarrassed Varius more. "Do what? Do not say a word!" He shouted. "Just go away!" He realized that his shouting had attracted the attention of the people around him. He felt embarrassed by their gazes and just fled away in reflex.

"Oh, boy," Chielf Hojo reacted while scratching his chin. "It seems like he had never encountered a woman. It is going to be difficult for him." He stared in the direction Chief Lolofiya had gone and muttered, "What are you scheming?"

When Lolofiya walked away, she had a grin on her face. "Got you."

***

Colt waited outside the healing tent with a disturbed face. He worried about his brother, who was being treated inside. Kyte walked to him.

"My prince, he is still unconscious," he said. "I do not know if he would…" As he was speaking, Colt interrupted with a disturbed face.

"He would survive. He has survived countless battles like this. He has even survived deadly wounds in those battles. These wounds are not enough to kill him."

Kyte nodded at his words. "Yeah, you are right. I am also sure he would survive."

Colt noticed there was something which disturbed Kyte. "What is it, Kyte?"

"My prince, I do not know how long it would take for your brother to wake up," responded Kyte with a concerned face. "He wanted you to take charge in his absence."

"I am not fit to lead you," Colt said. "It would be better to wait for my brother to regain consciousness. He would decide our next course of action."

"My prince, pardon me, but I think the best course of action would be someone to temporarily take up the leadership position until prince Rozerd regains consciousness," Kyte suggested. "Waiting without a leading head might disturb the discipline among our soldiers."

Colt nodded as he understood Kyte was correct on this matter. He sighed. "Fine. I would take the position temporarily."

"My prince, we have an advantage over the enemy, as we do not have alliances with self-centered tribal chiefs," Kyte said. "King Hammer was the tying force to bring them all together. There is always a greed for more power among the powerful. There would surely be someone who would want to snatch all the king's power to himself."

"You are saying that if brother Hammer does not wake up, the opposite side would be torn apart eventually," Colt said with a quizzical expression.

"Right, my prince. I do not think they had gathered under his flag with no personal gains. Some might have been forced to join them. They would want to get their share of might." Kyte's lips twisted to form a smile. "Do you understand what I am saying?"

Colt smiled as well. "Yeah. As expected of the closest man of brother Rozerd. It is high time we break their unity and create chaos among them."