Ibn Sharjar: The truce cannot be broken
Posted on 15 Oct 2023 @ 12:51am by Atif ibn Sharjar - Merchant of the Al Ashar
Edited on on 02 Nov 2023 @ 9:27pm
Mission:
Ongoing Mission - Planet Obsidian
Location: Oasis of the Nine Stones
Timeline: M 03 Day 12 1715hours
1495 words - 3 OF Standard Post Measure
“Inside! We must get inside!” One of the elders, Ulbenan, shouted “The sunstorm is upon us!” he gestured towards the nearest house where a woman was holding open the door and urging them to enter.
“Nephew you must stop!” Gebran was blocking Jelik’s path and had hold of his shoulders, locking his eyes on the younger man’s face, which was contorted with anger and grief. “Even if they are Frag-Senni, the truce is upon them and upon us! It cannot be broken!”
“They cannot be trusted, you know this!" Jelik protested. “You have said so yourself, they have no honor!”
Gebran shook his head. “Maybe they do not, but we do! You will not shame your Tribe! We have always held to the path, to our watch, since the time of the Caravans and despite how the other tribes shunned us! The truce cannot be rescinded, not matter with whom it was made! Even with the Frag-Sanni!" Jelik opened his mouth to protest further but Gebran held up his hand. “I am your Chieftain and you are my blood, the son of my brother, you will obey me Jelik.”
Jelik stiffened, as though he was about to make a final effort to break free and lunge towards the cavern but then he slumped, his head dropping. Gebran took the opportunity to turn his nephew around and called to Ibn Sharjar. “Atif, help Selandar get him inside”
Ibn Sharjar ran over, he helped the woman lead Jelik to the open doorway. In his pocket his tricorder was buzzing an alarm at the rapidly increasing radiation levels. Gebran and the other Elder hastily led their Uralsu to a stable and followed them inside. With their tough carapaces the beetles were essentially immune to the solar radiation that would kill Humanoids.
Ulbenan closed the door and his wife led the way into the house. “The cellar is this way.” They followed her down a corridor, a trapdoor in the floor was open, stone cut stairs descended downwards. She lifted a couple of lit oil lamps from a sconce and started down.
Selandar and Ibn Sharjar guided Jelik down. Ibn Sharjar placed his free hand against the wall so as not to fall in the dimness. The stairs went down perhaps twenty feet, at the bottom was a short, arched-roof corridor. The Elder’s wife waited for them, holding up the lamps to light the way, a doorway opened into a larger space.
The woman placed one lamp in a wall niche and used the other to light two more, then set it on a table. The cellar was rectangular, perhaps twenty feet long, maybe twelve wide; cut from the bedrock, like the corridor the ceiling arched overhead. There were several shelves and alcoves cut into the walls, some held storage jars and woven baskets. There were two large earthenware vessels, which Ibn Sharjar recognized as a water jars.
Besides the small table, there were a couple of benches, and in the back, three bunk beds, with blankets and skins. Clearly the cellar served as storage space and shelter. In his pocket Ibn Sharjar’s Tricorder was silent, they were deep enough now to protect them from the radiation.
“Come, come, sit,” Ulbenan said, taking off his dusty robes and gesturing to the benches. “May you be welcome in my house, may it’s shade protect you from the sun and it’s walls protect you from the ways of the fiery one.” He intoned the traditional greeting to guests, while his wife went to get a jug of water from one of the jars.
Jelik slumped down on a bench, not removing his robes and sat there hunched over. Ibn Sharjar and Selandar took off their riding garb and gratefully accepted water. A few moments later Gebran, and the other Elder, M’denb entered. After they had taken off their robes, and had water, Gebran gestured for them all to sit around the table, he and the two elders sat together on one bench, the rest spread around on the others.
Ibn Sharjar sat next to Jelik, he nudged the man and held out a clay beaker of water. Jelik pulled off his mask, wiped the dust from his face and took it, drinking slowly. He gave Ibn Sharjar a nod.
Gebrun waited patiently for his nephew to drink the water, then cleared his throat. “Tell us what you know.”
Jelik wiped his face again and began to explain the situation, recounting again the events when they had landed in Frag-Sanni territory land, the fight and death of the youngster, then the departure.
“And you recognize one of them as being Frag-Sanni?” All eyes turned to Ibn Sharjar now. “Which one?”
“He whom you were speaking with, when he arrived,” Atif explained
“They say they are Ruj-Hadha,” Ulbenan commented. “And their robes have the black and green strips on their shoulders…”
“Bredul has traded with the Ruj-Hadha for twenty years,” Jelik countered. “He said he did not recognize any”
Ulbenan nodded. “True, I did know any of them either.”
“But the Ruj-Hadha are a large tribe,” M’denb pointed out. “And they trade far.”
“You are sure Atif?” Gebran asked Ibn Sharjar again. “You are not mistaken?”
“The one you spoke with, he beat his fist on my windscreen as we took off.” Ibn Sharjar replied evenly. “He was as close as we are now. I saw his face clearly. I saw the hatred in his eyes. That I do not mistake, it is he.”
The three Elders eyed him for a moment, hard faced as they considered his words, then exchanged looks.
“You are known and trusted by my brother, my own blood,” Gebrun said quietly. “To you he entrusted his son, my nephew, and his family, also my blood. You brought them here safely. You have been made welcome in the Oasis of the Nine Stones, we have shared much with you, for you are of the stars. You have shared our path for a little while, you have done so with respect and honor. There is peace between us. Though this is not what I would hear, for your words bring danger and death to the Tej-Ka-Jalfa, but I accept your words and I believe you, Atif Ibn Sharjar.”
Gebran looked to M’denb and Ulbenan, both nodded.
“I believe you, Atif Ibn Sharjar.”
“I too accept your words, Atif Ibn Sharjar.”
“That is settled then,” said Gebrun. “What now do we do with the Fraj-Sanni? No matter that they lied and have falsely taken on the guise of the Ruj-Hadha. Like the Qatarak is a hunter in the dust, it is the Fraj-Sanni way to lie and betray, but the Sunstorm Truce binds us, we can do them no harm while it is in effect.”
“May I ask a question?” Ibn Sharjar said. “Where are they now and why are Niefle and Kniva with them?"
“They are in the cavern” Ulbenan explained “It is the entrance to the caves of the Hurdan Lef-Vindar. The entrance is large and goes deep, there is room there to shelter many, it has been used since our ancestors came here. We let guests and trade caravan’s use it now.”
Ibn Sharjar’s translator struggled with the archaic Obsidian term, Hurdan Lef-Vindar, it gave him Fallen Guardian.
“I am the senior midwife,” Ulbenan’s wife spoke up. “Kniva was visiting with me, when you returned. When the Fraj-Sanni were brought to the cavern, she and Niefle and two others, who journeyed to the Tower of the Moon with you, went in with them to show them the way.”
“There are four of us in there with them?!” Jelik jerked up, his hand going to his sword.
“Sit down!” Gabrun ordered .
“But your wife is there, along with mine!”
“Do not be foolish nephew, you would not survive the walk from here to the cavern. Neither would I, nor any of us. What good would we be to our wives, or our Tribe, struck dead by the Trickster’s Hammer?”
Jebril sat down again sullenly; his fists balled in his lap.
“I do not believe they will come to harm during the truce,” M’denb offered. “Never has any tribe broken the truce, the Frag-Sanni would not dare do such a thing.
Though they left the path long ago, though they betrayed Tej-Selkar, if they were to break the truce all tribes would turn from them, the Divine One himself would turn from them!”
He shook his head. “Even they would not risk that, it is unthinkable.”
Gebrun nodded. “I concur, it is our very oldest law, it is not a step they would take.”
“What then do we do?” Jelik demanded.
“We prepare for when the truce is over…” Gebrun replied
