She ran. And did not stop until she could not hear a sound but her own breath.
The sun had sweated out, and the moon, adorned with trickles of stars, became the only guide lighting her path.
She should've just run home, not past it. But she couldn't help but swing and climb through the trees until she found herself hovering above the Chief's home.
On the flattened garden side reserved for training, she could see some of his sons sparring and laughing as they did. Yet closer inside the home she saw Nomusa laying out beads and bones as she spoke with a guest.
Nomusa was large with a hearty and rounded face. Her skin was soft despite becoming more creased and her eyes as solemn as her husband, the Chief's.
She was one of the most favorable healers of Salazā and many came to her for spiritual council.
Assisting her was her only daughter, Lilitha. She, too, was somewhat short with warm bronze skin and a face as soft as her mother's, yet her frame was slender, save for her bosom. She stayed kneeling on a pillow as she threaded through some garments.
"Haibo," Nomusa laughed with the guest as they spoke on.
They continued to speak in their tribal tongue. Salīa, despite growing up around this family and many others who spoke it, had only really understood some words and could hardly repeat it with all the clicks she had to mimic.
It was true that her own bloodline descended from a tribe that also used clicks, but the old Salazāhn tongue had long lost any speakers of it.
She watched them talk while Nomusa hugged her daughter. Salīa couldn't help but smile, as she lay back in the tree. Her breathing had somewhat eased.
Lilitha's face turned slightly, and then she excused herself. Soon, she was out in the front garden, practicing her stances in battle. It was only fitting that the only daughter of the Chief was as much of a zazi in spirit as the rest of his kin.
While she couldn't care less for battle, she took great joy in sparring with Salīa.
Her movements were almost like a dance, agile and adept. And it truly seemed as if she were just battling the air. Until she suddenly sprang up on a tree and jumped up until she was sitting across from Salīa, her sweet, rounded brown eyes staring inquisitively. Both stayed quiet as Nomusa called for her daughter.
Nomusa looked outside, then paused. Salīa couldn't be sure if she picked up her presence, yet if she did, she acted otherwise and returned, closing the door.
"Sister," Lilitha jumped over and hugged Salīa tightly.
Salīa quickly grabbed her before she fell.
"Lulu, come on now."
Lulu smiled giddily at her pet name.
"I just missed you…but—" she sniffed Salīa's clothes, furrowed her brows, and went off in her tribal tongue, no doubt scolding her. Yet she was a year younger than Salīa, so even her scolding was as tender as her soft nature, despite her feisty spirit.
Salīa wavered her hand.
"The smoke isn't me. I just went out."
"Again?" Lulu nearly yelled. "I thought you were still being confined to home after you went to…oh, wait, don't tell me you went to that brothel again."
Salīa stifled a burst of giggles. She was in such an unsettled and angered state before racing through here, yet just seeing Lulu's animated gestures and pouting face lit her up.
"I didn't. But it's not like I even intended to last time. I didn't know it was a brothel.
I just heard two men going on about how they frequent that place because of how good the cake is…and it was, but obviously they were jesting because it wasn't the only reason, but I swear I was just there for the cake. You know how I can't resist sweet things.
How was I supposed to know that I'd be greeted with resting ladies as your elder brother, Tau, happened to walk by? Also, why was—"
Lulu covered Salīa's mouth, shaking her head at her friend.
"Sister," she sighed, then smiled. "I already know you have a way of finding trouble. So let me rather ask, what trouble is it that you found yourself in that you had to sneak all the way here?"
To this, Salīa quieted.
"I just thought you might want to go swimming."
It was clear to her that Salīa didn't intend to say more. As much as she wanted to pry, she knew it might just send her away. So, she nodded, and they snuck off. All the way to a quieter part of the Senai seas, away from the harbor.
A cool gush of wind swept through, along with the salted and ripened smell of the ocean.
Specks of sand gently grazed past them as their naked feet sank into the ground. The glow of candle lights from homes nearby and the emanating stars shed enough light as they crept through.
Soon they were splashing about in the sea.
Fortunately, the water had luminescence this night, so they could easily talk and float. There weren't any others except for two who were so far away, they couldn't even tell the shape of their faces.
"Will your mother be mad that you're here right now?" Lulu dared ask, her face downcast.
Salīa smiled and squished Lulu's cheeks.
"Don't worry. She might just shackle me to my room for a month or two, nothing too wild."
Lulu sighed. She knew that once Salīa returned, her guards would probably be doubled to watch over her, and they'd be apart for longer. Yet even if she asked her friend to take better care, it would fall on deaf ears.
If Salīa chose seclusion, then that's what she would take to, even if that meant months of just amusing herself or obtaining some level of cultivation. So, it was not a matter of her dreading being alone.
Lulu knew better than anyone that Salīa often preferred her solitude more than anything.
Yet if Salīa chose socialization, then she would take to that just as eagerly. Despite some unkind words said about her here and there, she had quite a fondness for people. And how could she not? Salazā was a land of unity.
As their heir, it only made sense that she was drawn to such. Yet Lulu couldn't help but feel sad when she witnessed Salīa occasionally being rejected or insulted by those she'd been kind to.
Of course, such people could be punished if told on, but the princess was never one to be petty or bothered over such things. At least that's what she'd say. Yet Lulu couldn't help but study each sorrowful expression Salīa so naturally masked under her ceaseless grins.
Lulu woke from her daze as water splashed her face.
"Watch it," she splashed back.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Not much," Lulu let herself float. "You saw the woman my mother had over?"
"Hmm-mm."
"It's another one worrying about a tokoloshe."
"Huh?" Salīa's eyes swept up. "That's becoming too frequent, isn't it? What does auntie Nomusa say?"
"She says it's probably a rogue healer summoning them for profit. Poking at the envious or unsatiated who don't mind risking the blood of their kin for an advantage."
The thought of it made Salīa's skin itch. There was nothing more unsightly than those little vicious, hairy, and hunched creatures. Their blinding red eyes were the stuff of nightmares.
Of course, none of them had ever seen one outside of drawings. And most people of Salazā have only really passed on tales of it through word. Yet it was enough to make sure that all the land elevated their beds above ground to avoid its wrath.
"Yet mother's a bit tired from dealing with all this darkness."
"It's not like she's the only sangoma. Can't others help?"
"All the sangomas seem to think this is the work of a particular rogue healer, and none really want to counter him.
It's supposedly someone who learned from my grandfather. So, mother thought I should help this woman whose children keep getting paralyzed in their sleep.
I'm meant to go over and perform a cleansing ritual tonight."
"So you're becoming a—"
"No," Lulu splashed about. "You know I have no interest in being any kind of healer or guardian. Even you know you'd be better at performing that cleansing ritual than I am."
They swam for a while longer in silence.
"Your mother must know that…"
"Yes," Lulu nodded, and now Salīa understood why she was bringing this all up.
"I'm guessing this rogue healer used to be close to her?"
"They were like brother and sister. But he poisoned her one time so he could…well, she never told me why, but you know."
Salīa knew all too well.
While Lulu explained the sentiments her mother had of this rogue healer's one kind heart and how he came from a pitiful childhood of torment and loss, Salīa's sentiments did not grow.
Seeing this, Lulu stopped explaining and said, "My father obviously doesn't know who he is."
"Then I'll make sure that my mother does," Salīa said, certainly. "One tokoloshe is already too daring to summon, but several, knowing just how many innocents may pay the price in blood for such a thing…hmm.
It's not a solely personal matter if it's our people who are continuously suffering for it for a bag of coin. I love auntie Nomusa, and she's never been foolish. But she must know that stopping that which is summoned won't stop the summoner."
Lulu already determined as much.
"This rogue healer seems to be a preta," Salīa concluded, watching Lulu's eyes widen.
Preta was just what the realm referred to as those that are not quite demons but have become open vessels that can easily be possessed by them.
They've often developed such a deep suppression or depression within themselves that it clings to them like an unyielding abscess. As time passes, they trudge around as withered spirits affected by their relentless hunger and ceaseless indulgences of the ruins of none until they implode.
Salīa had a gift, as some healers and most magi do, which is to notice the darkened aura around those who have been reduced to such unfortunate circumstances. Often, through poverty and distress that lured them into some form of depravity.
It is long believed that demons can only really enter this realm through those who are lost to their own vices.
It's also been recorded that some stronger demons seek out beings that aren't fully in the clutches of duress, since preta are just hollowed out vessels. No more than the walking dead to them.
Salazā has long become a spiritual haven for many due to its barriers against such evils. And its taxation laws and systems are always leaning into the favor of helping those in need, not only through charity but in helping them help themselves and others.
Those who have become enslaved to their indulgences, whether to spirits, smoke, or others, are often rehabilitated.
Many had taken to offering their ear to listen to one's woes and wishes, for sometimes that's all it takes for an emerging preta to expel themselves of ruin and wash themselves in purification.
Yet that never meant that everyone was attended to or that everyone found the path to freeing themselves as simple. No nation is perfect in its protection of its people. Yet who do these words seek to soothe? Salīa wondered.
How's one distinguished as someone of a darker or lighter nature when both reside within us all?
While this rogue healer is clearly of a darker will, what of the soldiers in that inn who just spoke about the thought of enjoying my body regardless of my will?
Do they not also need to be purified? They may not be as mournful as preta but certainly exude a more demonic nature, is it not? Is their way of being human not as criminal?
"You don't need to do anything," Lulu raised her pruned fingers to her lips. "I just worried, you know?"
"Rightfully so. Our mothers are longtime friends, Lulu. Yet my mother is still the Queen. She'll obviously never bring harm to your family, but she'd have no choice but to exact some form of punishment if your mother hides such things."
She comforted a shaking Lulu.
"Don't worry. It'll never come to that."
"Of course not," Lulu suddenly smiled. "We're longtime friends, too. Even when you become Queen, I don't think you'd ever hurt me."
To this, Salīa lay back, letting the water brush over her.
"Who knows for sure?" she looked deeply into her friend's eyes. "I might be the ruler that shatters this very realm."
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