The Dance Of Shadows by Rogba Payne

Author:Rogba Payne [Payne, Rogba]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Maraya21, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2024-04-18T00:00:00+00:00

33

Griff

RUMI

The wheels beneath the sliding door groaned as it was pushed aside. The man who opened it was close to fifty, with reddish-brown eyes and a thick beard that covered his chin and neck. He was tall, his shoulders broad, arms thick with muscle.

He glanced at Mandla, then Rumi. His eyes stayed with Rumi.

‘Griff, this is your son,’ Mandla said.

He looked just like Rumi, only with a full beard and thirty more years of life. The same broad shoulders, the same sharp lines and arched brow with slim slits for eyes.

Without thinking, Rumi slapped the man across the face. Perhaps because he was confused, probably because he hated him, but almost certainly because he already felt he might come to love him in a way he did not deserve. Where was this well-groomed man when his mother fought tax collectors in the open market? Was he shaving his beard while Morire and Rumi scrubbed floors for cowries?

‘I suppose I deserve that,’ Griff said, massaging his cheek.

Rumi frowned at the sound of his voice. Godsblood, how did I get my voice from this man?

He stepped aside. ‘Please, come in.’

The room had a large bookshelf at the far wall and a domed, painted ceiling. A small round table surrounded by carved wooden chairs took up space at the corner of the room. There were paintings on the wall and clear glass bowls with fish swimming in them. On the walls were paintings of ancient Odu tribes; on the floor, the wide, sprawling coat of a vanquished lion. Rumi’s stomach churned as he looked around. He forced back tears.

‘Cry if you must. It is human,’ said Mandla. ‘To be supple and tender is to live. Even the great iroko must have its sway, lest it challenge the wind and fall. Let the pain have its way; there is no strength in denial.’

‘Lord Mandla, your words are rain,’ Griff said, bowing, ‘but perhaps it would suffice to say, “it is okay to cry, Rumi”.’

Mandla raised an eyebrow. ‘It is okay to cry, Rumi.’

Rumi struggled to stop sniffing.

‘I would imagine you want to know where I have been all your life,’ Griff said.

Rumi set his jaw, unable to speak.

Griff sighed deeply. ‘When I met your mother, she was training to be a priestess. She had gone through her isolation in the forest and was under the care of the diviners. I was a … a—’

‘He was a plantain hawker,’ Mandla said. ‘Say it as it is.’

‘I was a plantain hawker in what was then Oduland. This was before the Palmaine came.’

Rumi retained his silence, drumming his thigh as Griff spoke.

‘We met in the market. She came for the plantain, but came back for my story. Every time she came, I would tell her the sliver of a story, just enough for her to return for more. She would listen as her plantain roasted and I would stretch the story out to hold her attention for as long as I could manage.’

Rumi bunched his hand into a fist.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.