Fonjam
Fonjam could not understand why, but his best friend was acting very strangely. By other standards, his behavior was not strange, but since King Greda had become King, he had begun to treat Fonjam like every other servant in the palace. On one occasion, King Greda had called him ‘slave’, when he had spoken to him informally, as a friend. When a servant was referred to as ‘slave’, it was more of an insult than it was a beckon. Fonjam tried to accept it in good faith, but he could not stop it from haunting him, because he was a regular servant in the palace, and King Greda would call on him sometimes, not even by his name, as though he did not even know his name, and give him tasks without considering that it was inappropriate to give him difficult tasks because of their friendship. Kanaka seemed a lot withdrawn over the past few months since King Greda was crowned, so most of the work was pushed to Fonjam. Maybe he expected too much from the new King and the position he had to live up to.
He also found it worrying that King Greda fell asleep at odd times.
Once, when King Greda was asleep, his crown by his bedside, Fonjam tried to wake him up to remove his beads before he continued his sleep, but he did not shift a muscle. It was like he was dead, but he was breathing. The man was completely oblivious.
Rubinto came looking for Fonjam in the palace, but because he had been sent away and removed from his duties, he was very careful who he exposed himself to. He had worn the servants’ uniform to make himself look casual. As soon as he got Fonjam somewhere outside the palace where they could talk in secret, he felt safe to call for Edongo and Tandoop, who had hidden close by.
When they had spoken to Fonjam about everything, explaining and expatiating on how King Mogg had rusticated Rubinto from duty, to the death of Bantaik and King Mogg’s involvement, then to the green powder for reversing the curse, Fonjam was furious.
He took their plan and was willing to see it to its fulfillment, let King Mogg be exposed. Since it had to do with King Greda, he was eager, no understanding why he had been acting strange. He was truthfully relieved that King Greda’s strange behavior was indeed only because he was not himself. He was suddenly angry at the old fool, King Mogg.
Let alone, Fonjam would head straight for the palace and put a blunt knife through King Mogg’s heart and feed him with his own blood from that heart till his eyes would close in death.
As soon as they left, he rubbed his palms and looked around the palace; everyone was at his post and the afternoon seemed to run by unnoticed. He avoided Kanaka and took another turn away from the entrance to the throne room as Kanaka walked outside the palace. When he had gone out, Fonjam walked back through the front to the throne room, hailing the Kings and Queen who had gathered for lunch. He avoided the stare of the guard on duty at the front door and walked to the hallway towards King Greda’s room, but he stopped just at the door and tip-toed back to peep and see if the other guard had yet exceeded his duty time. Just as expected, the next guard walked in and as they did the exchange of duty at the front, Fonjam jumped across the opening at the hallway facing the entrance to the throne room, down the hallway and into King Mogg’s room. He opened the door and took a quick glance around the room to see if he could find any trace of the “green powder” Edongo had asked him to look round for. He found none. He heard footsteps approaching, but he wanted to be sure he had checked properly, so in the few seconds he had, he peeped behind the door and saw a very small trace of a green substance at the bottom of the cupboard beside King Mogg’s bed.
He bolted out of the room and shut the door silently and with precision. Rushing to the other end of the hallway, he stopped, peeping through one end of the opening to the hallway and when he saw the new guard on duty staring absent mindedly at the slowly approaching Queen Shere, he jumped across and into King Greda’s room before the guard noticed. When the Queen raised her head, everything looked normal again, so she kept walking, through the hallway, into her room. Fonjam shook the bed here and raised the carpet of goatskin there, sounding busy so as to divert the attention of anyone watching. When he was sure he was not being watched, he gently walked out of the palace like nothing happened; just another day of personal service to King Greda.
He also found it worrying that King Greda fell asleep at odd times.
Once, when King Greda was asleep, his crown by his bedside, Fonjam tried to wake him up to remove his beads before he continued his sleep, but he did not shift a muscle. It was like he was dead, but he was breathing. The man was completely oblivious.
Rubinto came looking for Fonjam in the palace, but because he had been sent away and removed from his duties, he was very careful who he exposed himself to. He had worn the servants’ uniform to make himself look casual. As soon as he got Fonjam somewhere outside the palace where they could talk in secret, he felt safe to call for Edongo and Tandoop, who had hidden close by.
When they had spoken to Fonjam about everything, explaining and expatiating on how King Mogg had rusticated Rubinto from duty, to the death of Bantaik and King Mogg’s involvement, then to the green powder for reversing the curse, Fonjam was furious.
He took their plan and was willing to see it to its fulfillment, let King Mogg be exposed. Since it had to do with King Greda, he was eager, no understanding why he had been acting strange. He was truthfully relieved that King Greda’s strange behavior was indeed only because he was not himself. He was suddenly angry at the old fool, King Mogg.
Let alone, Fonjam would head straight for the palace and put a blunt knife through King Mogg’s heart and feed him with his own blood from that heart till his eyes would close in death.
As soon as they left, he rubbed his palms and looked around the palace; everyone was at his post and the afternoon seemed to run by unnoticed. He avoided Kanaka and took another turn away from the entrance to the throne room as Kanaka walked outside the palace. When he had gone out, Fonjam walked back through the front to the throne room, hailing the Kings and Queen who had gathered for lunch. He avoided the stare of the guard on duty at the front door and walked to the hallway towards King Greda’s room, but he stopped just at the door and tip-toed back to peep and see if the other guard had yet exceeded his duty time. Just as expected, the next guard walked in and as they did the exchange of duty at the front, Fonjam jumped across the opening at the hallway facing the entrance to the throne room, down the hallway and into King Mogg’s room. He opened the door and took a quick glance around the room to see if he could find any trace of the “green powder” Edongo had asked him to look round for. He found none. He heard footsteps approaching, but he wanted to be sure he had checked properly, so in the few seconds he had, he peeped behind the door and saw a very small trace of a green substance at the bottom of the cupboard beside King Mogg’s bed.
He bolted out of the room and shut the door silently and with precision. Rushing to the other end of the hallway, he stopped, peeping through one end of the opening to the hallway and when he saw the new guard on duty staring absent mindedly at the slowly approaching Queen Shere, he jumped across and into King Greda’s room before the guard noticed. When the Queen raised her head, everything looked normal again, so she kept walking, through the hallway, into her room. Fonjam shook the bed here and raised the carpet of goatskin there, sounding busy so as to divert the attention of anyone watching. When he was sure he was not being watched, he gently walked out of the palace like nothing happened; just another day of personal service to King Greda.
Tandoop
“You would have just grabbed the thing and brought it here!” Tandoop yelled.
“But you said I should look around the room for any traces of the green thing, and that’s what I did!” Fonjam retorted.
“We had expected that you would peep through a window or something, instead you actually even entered the room and still did not get it…” Tandoop reasoned with regret.
“Tandoop, just leave it as it is, at least we know where it is…” Edongo urged.
“Do you know what I had to put myself through to get you this information? If I had stayed at the window, the guards would have seen me spying and the girls are loud-mouth gossipers, besides, Kanaka has had a crow’s eye on me since I began serving King Greda!” Fonjam nagged. He was not done yet, “I found it easier to go through the inside because I have access to as far as King Greda’s room, so the hallway was not a problem!” As he spoke, Tandoop realized that Fonjam would do them a lot of good during their operation at night. Since it was still part of their big plan to visit the palace at night, he forgave Fonjam giving him a set of specific instructions and sent him to go and keep watch, and they began looking over the map one more time as evening slowly showed its blue face.
“But you said I should look around the room for any traces of the green thing, and that’s what I did!” Fonjam retorted.
“We had expected that you would peep through a window or something, instead you actually even entered the room and still did not get it…” Tandoop reasoned with regret.
“Tandoop, just leave it as it is, at least we know where it is…” Edongo urged.
“Do you know what I had to put myself through to get you this information? If I had stayed at the window, the guards would have seen me spying and the girls are loud-mouth gossipers, besides, Kanaka has had a crow’s eye on me since I began serving King Greda!” Fonjam nagged. He was not done yet, “I found it easier to go through the inside because I have access to as far as King Greda’s room, so the hallway was not a problem!” As he spoke, Tandoop realized that Fonjam would do them a lot of good during their operation at night. Since it was still part of their big plan to visit the palace at night, he forgave Fonjam giving him a set of specific instructions and sent him to go and keep watch, and they began looking over the map one more time as evening slowly showed its blue face.
Fonjam
The evening aged and became dark, and as most of the servants retreated to the quarters, Fonjam loitered. He was not on duty today and it was only a matter of time before someone began asking why he was idle. If the worst came, it was Kanaka, but he did not count on it completely, because the man was standing behind the palace. And before long, before royalty began retreating to their rooms for the night, Kanaka would hand over to another guard, look around a little bit then head for the quarters. Fonjam eluded any more suspicion by following the cooks to the quarters, he decided that he would return some time later when he was sure that Kanaka had left. He entered the quarters and started walking along the long hallway passing one room on the left, one on the right, another; left, another; right, a third; left, and when he was reaching the room on the right to join his other roommates for a bit, Mama appeared through the door to the room where the female servants bathed at the end of the hall. Something fell out of her purse and as it dropped, a green powder puffed into the air and left a residue on the floor.
Mama Yuttputt
Mama Yuttput squinted her eyes from the end of the hall and saw the young man suddenly stop at his door. The boy would not understand, she thought to herself. She felt awkward though, so she bent over and picked the tiny bag up, put it in her purse and tied it back up in her clothes. The way the boy had paused and was now staring at the ground, she wasn’t sure he was entirely clueless.
Fonjam
“Mama, good night.” Fonjam broke the silence and made like he was walking into his room, opening the door to the babble of the men inside.
“Good night my son.” Mama said, as he stepped back out of his room to nod an acknowledgement to her greeting. He almost hit her down at the movement. He apologized and entered his room completely. The men looked at him for a moment then they kept on talking.
Mama Yuttput had the green dust.
“Good night my son.” Mama said, as he stepped back out of his room to nod an acknowledgement to her greeting. He almost hit her down at the movement. He apologized and entered his room completely. The men looked at him for a moment then they kept on talking.
Mama Yuttput had the green dust.
Edongo
Edongo dragged the stubborn goat. Tandoop held the hay bait and was walking behind him until it occurred to him that he should be in front of them. The cold dark night was a perfect camouflage and the black goat faded into the night. Tandoop hung the bag of hay on Edongo’s shoulder, crossing it from one side of his body to the other. He struggled to push it to his back so that the goat would follow the hay. It was still distracted by the rope as it tried to break free until they all stood still for a moment; then it came to the bag to feed.
Then they continued walking.
When they had gotten close to the palace, they tied the goat’s mouth and tied it to a tree near the palace. They waited for Fonjam to distract the guard at the backyard and come out to receive the goat to distract the one at the front, according to their plan. They picked a few stones around and put them in a smaller bag. They took some hay out and placed it close to the fence, tip-toeing to avoid being discovered. They found refuge in the shrubs near the trees. Fonjam threw a stone.
When the stone eventually landed, before they could realize where it came from, Edongo had picked one of the stones and thrown it back at the fence. Tandoop had begun untying the goat’s mouth and loosening its tether when…
“Nooooo!” Someone whispered from the shadows.
They paused.
Fonjam appeared from behind them.
“What?!” Tandoop almost screamed. Edongo dropped a hand on his face.
“No time to explain. Plans have changed…. meanwhile, let’s leave this place before someone comes out to see who threw the stone.” Fonjam puffed.
“Wait… wha…”
“Someone’s coming!”
The goat let out a voiceless bleat from its throat. The guard looked left, right, then at an odd looking tree; odd because it had a rope around it. Another guard came along to look.
“It is just a stray goat.” Guard Two assured Guard One.
Fonjam, Edongo and Tandoop emerged from the ground and ran towards the market place and even though Edongo objected, Tandoop led them to the alleyways that housed Rubinto. One or two of them cursed the gods.
“Is that so?” Rubinto asked, not expecting an answer.
“I am telling you, I saw her drop it.” Fonjam emphatically answered.
“But how did she get a hold of it? How could it randomly wind up in her possession?” Tandoop beckoned.
They heard the goat go berserk for a while from outside where it had been tethered, then silence.
“Mama cleans King Mogg’s room!” Rubinto snapped.
Edongo slammed his fists into the stone table. He was one who seemed to be in control of his temper, but this time he had cracked, but he still said no word yet. Rubinto’s torch was lit low and the smell of the night’s dinner was still around the room. There was some scramble in the kitchen and after sometime, Menabi appeared in the sitting room and without saying a word, smiled and went into her room. The goat had been silent for a while. They had starved it in preparation for their mission and now it was hungry so it was probably busying itself in the hay or it was fast asleep.
The men had missed one and a half good opportunities to accomplish the simple task, and this time, even without a plan, they would not miss the last one. They would approach Mama and collect the bag of green powder before it became inaccessible; simple. That was Fonjam’s job, they decided. Three huge men would definitely raise an alarm that could not possibly be to their advantage. Tandoop and Edongo headed their way, promising to meet them back at the house at early afternoon the next day. Fonjam went back to the servant’s quarters, announced for the servants to go to sleep then he rushed to sleep himself, not wasting a minute more, stressing himself. He had to wake up earlier than Mama Yuttput. That way, only both of them would be awake and then it would be easy for him to talk her into giving him the bag. No need for stealth, no need for strategy, no need for hidden languages; a simple confrontation; the power of one.
Edongo dragged the stubborn goat. Tandoop held the hay bait and was walking behind him until it occurred to him that he should be in front of them. The cold dark night was a perfect camouflage and the black goat faded into the night. Tandoop hung the bag of hay on Edongo’s shoulder, crossing it from one side of his body to the other. He struggled to push it to his back so that the goat would follow the hay. It was still distracted by the rope as it tried to break free until they all stood still for a moment; then it came to the bag to feed.
Then they continued walking.
When they had gotten close to the palace, they tied the goat’s mouth and tied it to a tree near the palace. They waited for Fonjam to distract the guard at the backyard and come out to receive the goat to distract the one at the front, according to their plan. They picked a few stones around and put them in a smaller bag. They took some hay out and placed it close to the fence, tip-toeing to avoid being discovered. They found refuge in the shrubs near the trees. Fonjam threw a stone.
When the stone eventually landed, before they could realize where it came from, Edongo had picked one of the stones and thrown it back at the fence. Tandoop had begun untying the goat’s mouth and loosening its tether when…
“Nooooo!” Someone whispered from the shadows.
They paused.
Fonjam appeared from behind them.
“What?!” Tandoop almost screamed. Edongo dropped a hand on his face.
“No time to explain. Plans have changed…. meanwhile, let’s leave this place before someone comes out to see who threw the stone.” Fonjam puffed.
“Wait… wha…”
“Someone’s coming!”
The goat let out a voiceless bleat from its throat. The guard looked left, right, then at an odd looking tree; odd because it had a rope around it. Another guard came along to look.
“It is just a stray goat.” Guard Two assured Guard One.
Fonjam, Edongo and Tandoop emerged from the ground and ran towards the market place and even though Edongo objected, Tandoop led them to the alleyways that housed Rubinto. One or two of them cursed the gods.
“Is that so?” Rubinto asked, not expecting an answer.
“I am telling you, I saw her drop it.” Fonjam emphatically answered.
“But how did she get a hold of it? How could it randomly wind up in her possession?” Tandoop beckoned.
They heard the goat go berserk for a while from outside where it had been tethered, then silence.
“Mama cleans King Mogg’s room!” Rubinto snapped.
Edongo slammed his fists into the stone table. He was one who seemed to be in control of his temper, but this time he had cracked, but he still said no word yet. Rubinto’s torch was lit low and the smell of the night’s dinner was still around the room. There was some scramble in the kitchen and after sometime, Menabi appeared in the sitting room and without saying a word, smiled and went into her room. The goat had been silent for a while. They had starved it in preparation for their mission and now it was hungry so it was probably busying itself in the hay or it was fast asleep.
The men had missed one and a half good opportunities to accomplish the simple task, and this time, even without a plan, they would not miss the last one. They would approach Mama and collect the bag of green powder before it became inaccessible; simple. That was Fonjam’s job, they decided. Three huge men would definitely raise an alarm that could not possibly be to their advantage. Tandoop and Edongo headed their way, promising to meet them back at the house at early afternoon the next day. Fonjam went back to the servant’s quarters, announced for the servants to go to sleep then he rushed to sleep himself, not wasting a minute more, stressing himself. He had to wake up earlier than Mama Yuttput. That way, only both of them would be awake and then it would be easy for him to talk her into giving him the bag. No need for stealth, no need for strategy, no need for hidden languages; a simple confrontation; the power of one.
To be continued...
- Telsum Bini
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