They sat inside a room with a large window overlooking the land lit with clear, blue skies, with only the sparkling sun and a few birds in sight.
This large home turned out to be Camille's, who was sitting by her spinner, weaving. Salīa panicked when she realized, but Camille wavered her hand, gesturing a screen shielding it so that none could see what was being made.
This home was shared with the chiefess, Mami Mamba.
A legend like Camille, she too had an age unknown with origins unknown. While she looked to be somewhere in her third decade, there had been rumors that she had possibly reached her sixth decade, like Chief Raino.
She, too, has three names.
The title of Chiefess is one she received years after Chief Raino. How they met, no one knows, but he was so impressed with her combat ability that he somewhat adopted her as a sister and trained her to be one of the best amongst all zazi.
While Chief Raino holds down the land, she has similar authority on outside missions.
She also trained other highly-ranked and merited zazi, such as Bazil's distant cousin, Mikayla, making her something of one of the most loved leaders of the land.
Mami Mamba was a name that came about as she was something of a mother to the zazi and had a long body like that of a mamba.
It was also a self-made title as she was irrefutably vain and loved being worshipped, both qualities that could hinder many but certainly ones she earned to keep.
Both strong and pleasant to the eye, she had no desire to be self-effacing or meek, for she worked hard to rise the ranks and took great care to nurture her appearance.
If anything, young Salīa was always in awe when seeing this friend of her mother's. Especially because seeing them was already striking to look at, but seeing them sit together was like watching deities spin magic.
Camille, Nomusa, and Aunt Lizaenhle were beauties too and completed their group of five, yet they naturally welcomed their aging in grace without fettering themselves with matters they don't care much for.
Yet Mami Mamba has always praised and revered them deeply. That could easily be discerned from the small paintings and carvings she kept in this room of them.
The last name she carries is one representing her ancestral animal. But also speaks to the gravity of her martial ability in battle, known for her carrying a calm countenance, yet the moment a threat dared, she'd whip them with unrelenting, rapid strikes that rendered them motionless.
The same can be said—although those that say it are sure to only do so when they're ages away from her earshot, and even then, they whisper warily—about her ability to seduce and indulge anyone she desires.
She'd always been extremely picky, but when she does find one she likes out of a lot, she'll strike him so fiercely and tirelessly that he's lucky to even have breath the next day. But those suitors certainly flavored the rumors by keeping tight-lipped, revealing only that it was worth every moment.
And for this, she is also best known as, "Black Mamba."
With how sedately she laid back into her seat, stretching out her long legs beside Bazil's seat, Salīa couldn't help but feel a prickling at the back of her neck.
While she admired Mami Mamba greatly and spent as much time with her as a child, just as Chief Raino's children had. Having grown, she felt a slight feeling stirring in her that she wasn't overly familiar with. And feeling Mami Mamba's observant stare through her fringe was somewhat unnerving.
Nagapie appeared with treats for the rounded table, eliciting a growl from Salīa's stomach. Bazil had already foreseen this, pushing a bowl of chickpea-muriwo stew and rice to her.
She grabbed a spoon, about to dig in, when Nagapie slapped her hand away.
"Ay!" Salīa barked.
Tawanda chuckled and tried to stifle it. Having witnessed Salīa's appetite before and having one as high as hers, he found this extremely amusing.
Sibu pushed a similar bowl to Tawanda and nodded for him to go ahead.
Meanwhile, Nagapie had pushed the other bowl back to Bazil and said, "That's for you to recover your strength and aid your healing. This one gets…"
A bowl of cold, watery soup was slid over, and Nagapie smiled brightly. Salīa stared at it, blinking.
I've never wanted to throttle a child more in my life.
"It's for your throat," Camille gestured. "To bring down the bruising and heal."
It was true that Salīa was speaking somewhat hoarsely, but she hoped it would just go unnoticed. Having no say in the matter, she started slurping her soup, feeling a slight ache as she swallowed.
Bazil was staring at her, not saying a word, his expression unreadable. Nagapie shoved a spoon in his hand and pointed at the bowl.
"You can ogle her later. But even perverts need to eat."
Tawanda choked on his food, having a laughing Sibu pat on his back until he steadied. Even Mami Mamba and Camille were chuckling.
All while Salīa hid her face in the soup, not daring to see Bazil's expression.
"Come here," Camille beckoned Nagapie, who skipped over, helping her with whatever was being made behind the screen. "Mamba, you should get to it."
As proud as Mami Mamba was, one thing she never did was let that surpass Camille's orders. She nodded obediently and proceeded.
"As you know, the zazi stationed before Oggl were taken out."
"All of them?"
"I thought that was strange too. One zazi is equal to a hundred soldiers, and yet instead of holding like trees, we're torn down like parchment. No doubt, whoever planned all this has had other forces at play."
Demons? Or threats using stuff to have demon-enhanced powers? Or something else?
"There were ostensible motives regarding our land's attack. I can only speak as the Chiefess, however."
She looked to Salīa, who gave a small nod for her to continue.
"Our military has always acted as a hegemon. Even when forfeiting the title as the crown of Khī, our forces stayed unconquerable."
Bazil, Sibu, and Tawanda nodded firmly, all their faces deep and serious.
"The last threat we ever faced was with discovering demons reappearing all those years ago. But we quickly ended them and reinforced our barriers.
Not once have we had direct conflict with another land in that time nor have we heard of demons reappearing in Khī. But we were still attacked by people, demons, and preta – or those who've primed themselves into a state open to demon possession."
Mami Mamba left that part there and spoke on the next thing.
"The renegades were formed of three garrisons of zazi. They had been building unions with non-zazi renegades. Mostly those from disadvantaged backgrounds who weren't fully pleased with the changes made or the reformation training they went through."
"From the little Rakire told me of the reformation training he went through, I'm surprised they didn't come out angrier," Sibu said casually, stretched back.
Salīa looked down, knowing Bazil was watching her.
"That Judge is no joke," Mami Mamba said. "Mambas attack in quick strikes, but that Prince Kian is quicker. As soon as word of what happened, our zazi near Oggl reached Salazā, he sent Mikayla's troop to cut down any potential renegade. And just as quickly, his zazi did the same to each one in Salazā."
"Potential renegade?" Salīa furrowed her brows. "Do you mean…"
"Every remaining disbanded Lahle member except for the ones under his watch. He even had those reformed members be the ones to execute the rest."
Bazil gritted his teeth.
"What about those related to Lahle members who never did anything?"
None answered her. Eventually, she thought back to the little girl she met when investigating who feared to mention her brother was once a Lahle member.
One thing she remembered clearly was that Prince Kian would always say, "Rotten roots bear rotten fruit."
Salīa hoisted up her bag and shook out all she needed to forge a letter. The first she personally wrote to him in a while, declaring that imprisonment or execution of family related to Lahle members is forbidden until she returns and makes a judgment.
Once completed, she whistled for Hawking but paused.
"Let me first hear if there's anything else I should add."
Mami Mamba tossed her springy hair behind her and said, "The renegades you met had been broken off from two of the garrisons, with just stealing as they couldn't overpower the zazi. But the third garrison leader, Commander Guardian Banda, had a gentler nature, and the leader of those members managed to kill him."
Salīa and Bazil winced.
"Bazilani's did have last words before he decided to take his peaceful slumber in the woods so that his big brother could carry him," Sibu goaded, then spoke seriously. "He asked us to bury those people, and we always were going to. We might be sxvages, but we're not monsters…somehow."
"But that boy is the only one we buried here," Tawanda said.
"Yes, we gathered from how you held him that you'd prefer that."
Salīa nodded in thanks.
Camille shifted her chair to face them and said, "We need to find my mask-maker, Nyau."
"She's alive?" Salīa and Bazil said hopefully.
Camille touched the chain on Nagapie's neck. Someone made her links, too?
From Nagapie's quivering lip that she stubbornly kept trying to flatten, it was clear that Nagapie and Nyau must have had some kind of sisterly bond.
"She is. But we suspect she was taken, like the rest of our missing children. We only know her because Banda would leave his daughter with us on missions.
But one day, she said she wanted to watch over a friend while her father was away, and we couldn't stop her. I guess it was that little demon."
"Mkango," Salīa said, clicking her jaw. "His name was Mkango."
Other matters were spoken on, but Salīa couldn't help but remember all the answers she'd been waiting for. Really trying to master her patience as much as she could.
Then, finally, she cut through the chatter.
"You said you had more to tell me and mentioned some things before resting. I'm going to ask about them now," she said decidedly.
Bazil faced her, letting his eyes meet hers at a leisured pace. He hid any feeling about the matter behind a blank expression and nodded for her to go on.
Finally. Some answers.
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