Chapter 51:
“Ever have I served you,” Rajani whispered.
Metal walls and a metal roof enclosed the holy place. Shadows filled it. The steam rising from the thermal spring inside muddied the auroralight that peeked in through the rust and the cracks.
“Ever have my ancestors served you.”
The words were powerful, even if they weren’t quite true. The Jinkari Table had come into existence only three generations ago, when Grandmamai and Grandpapai left their Xhota kinsfolk and traveled over the shelterbelt to become Cursed. Yet the chant’s accuracy, or lack thereof, didn’t bother Rajani. The spiritual line of the Cursed ran all the way back to Earth, and it was an ancestry that any Cursed citizen, myxte or old-Tabled, could claim.
“Ever has my Table served you.”
It was time for the ablution. Rajani knelt and placed her cheek against the razor-sharp edge of one of the black stones that lined the pool. The whetted stone bit her skin. Out of the corner of her eye Rajani saw a host of other lead hunters doing the same, their bodies bent in united submission.
Then it was done, and Rajani was on her feet, wiping her face with her sleeve. She stepped out of the way so Lainla could take her place. After disinfecting its edge with a firestick, Lainla knelt and placed her cheek against the same stone.
Rajani stood and watched, her cheek throbbing. She didn’t try to ease the pain. Pain is our offering, the Hem Table Chronicles read. We give it to the gods in exchange for life.
Once Lainla was done, the sisters withdrew to the back of the holy place. Lainla was greeted by a group of hunters also lingering there; she joined in their chatter. Rajani stayed silent. She watched as the next set of hunters started bringing non-hunter Table members forward for a pre-trials blessing. Then she saw Kebet approaching her from across the holy place.
He nudged his way to her side. “Did you hear about Pratap?”
“Yes.”
“He says the Gather’s Children these days aren’t Cursed, so it doesn’t matter what we do to them.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Rajani snapped.
Rajani was interrupted before she could say more. Someone had stumbled into her; she turned and saw a young girl, fifteen years old at most, trying to find her footing. A Cursed hunter, a man of Shib-vyn’s age, glared and grabbed the girl by the back of her neck, yanking her forward.
Rajani’s anger immediately flared up. She didn’t like it when the weak were pushed around. “Don’t shove her like that!” she told the hunter.
“You’re not the lead hunter of the Mehen, Rajani, I am,” he snarled back. “You mind your Table, and I’ll mind mine.”
Rajani wasn’t surprised the hunter knew her name. Not only was she the youngest of the lead hunters, she was also one of only a handful of them that were female. This meant she always had to respond forcefully, no matter what the circumstances.
“Mind your Table in private, then,” Rajani snapped back. She studied the man’s myxte Cursed features, and added, “Don’t do it where everyone can see.”
Rage filled the man’s face. He let go of the girl and lunged for Rajani. He was stopped when Kebet stepped between them and blocked the way with his wiry frame.
“I don’t need someone of your generation telling me how myxte Cursed ought to behave,” the man spat as he tried to shove Kebet to the side. “You’re the ones giving us myxte Cursed a bad name!”
“What’s this?” a voice sounded.
“Uh oh,” Kebet muttered. He looked nervous but stayed in place even as Chief Bikash pushed his way through the throng to where they were. Only when Rajani put a hand on his arm did Kebet relax and return to his original position by Rajani’s side.
“Gipth, what’s going on?” Chief asked the other hunter.
“Rajani thinks she’s lead hunter not just of the Jinkari, but of the Mehen, too,” Gipth answered.
A small crowd had started to gather around them. Rajani overheard someone in it ask what was happening. “It’s just myxte Cursed, fighting again,” someone else replied.
Hearing that made Rajani wince. She didn’t like that kind of talk, and from the look on Chief’s face, he liked it even less. Leaning forward so that his face was level with Rajani’s, Chief hissed, “Don’t make trouble.”
“I’m not,” Rajani responded, as calmly as she could.
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She had been trying to reassure him, but Chief glared at her as if she had spat at him. She knew he wouldn’t lay a hand on her, not here in the holy place, and certainly not after hearing the slur that all myxte Cursed were quarrelsome. But it was with a sinking feeling in her heart that Rajani watched Chief pull away. Training next week would not be fun, to say the least.
“We should get out of here,” Kebet said.
Rajani agreed. She glanced at Lainla, who had drawn near sometime during the conflict. Her face was worried. “It’s okay, La,” Rajani said. “I’m going back to the bio-dome with Bet. You want to stay here?”
Lainla shook her head. “I’ll come with you.”
The three of them made their way to the wall where their sheathed boots lay. Quickly they pulled them on. Holding their breaths, they broke into a run as soon as Kebet twisted open the door. Soon they were back beneath the north end of the bio-dome’s protective frame, the ruins of the ancient starship that covered the holy place behind them.
***
The hunter trials were held every year during the first week of rainsoon season. All those who wished to become hunters had to prove it by enduring not only endless runs around the circumference of the shelterbelt, but also multiple nights of being hazed.
It was during Rajani’s own trials seven years ago that she and Kebet became friends. They had known each other before, having attended school together in the same cohort, but it was during the trials that their bond was forged. Rajani had even told him about her hopeless, secret dream to become a lodge mother one day, and although Kebet never failed to tease her about it, he had also never betrayed her confidence.
A week after the ablutions, Rajani and Kebet were standing with a few other myxte Cursed by the edge of the bio-dome. It was the last day of the trials. The hunters were gathered on the training ground at the northern end of the bio-dome, waiting for the new hunters-to-be to finish their last lap around the shelterbelt.
“I heard some of the lexikosts were in the atreola all daysleep, talking about how there’s been a lot of sunspot activity this dry season,” Kebet said to her. “Yathi was trying to do some research there but they were so loud she gave up and came back to the lodge to tell us about it.”
Rajani frowned. “I guess that explains why we didn’t catch as many mammoles this time.”
Kebet started to reply but fell silent. Rajani turned to him. “What’s wrong?”
Before Kebet could say anything, Rajani heard Pratap’s scornful laugh emanating from a group of hunters a few paces away. “I put that Gather’s Child girl in her place. And of course the girl’s older brother didn’t do anything. That’s what overbelters are like.”
Rajani’s eyes narrowed. She started to turn towards Pratap, then froze when she heard Lainla’s familiar even voice.
“Pratap, you know that’s not something to be proud of.”
Lainla was facing down a cluster of Vadyan Table hunters. “What did you just say to me?” Rajani heard Pratap sneer.
With Pratap was his cousin Nehik, who glanced at Rajani. She ignored him, focusing on her sister. If any of them lay even a finger on Lainla…
“Pratap,” Rajani heard Nehik say. “Maybe we should leave her alone.”
“Why?” Pratap asked. He smirked. “Is Rajani going to do something? Is that what you’re afraid of?”
Rajani ran towards the Vadyan, reaching Pratap just as he shoved Lainla to the side. He tried to pull away when he saw Rajani coming for him, but she used her momentum to drive him backward. He responded by swinging a fist at her. Ducking his blow, Rajani side-kicked his knee.
Before either of them could continue, Chief Bikash’s roar rang out. “Rajani!”
All at once Chief was before her, grabbing her by the chin. His fingers dug into her face as he shoved her backwards into the circle that had formed around them. Off-balance, Rajani tried to catch herself, but Chief followed up with a powerful backhand that sent her sprawling.
Struggling to catch her breath, Rajani couldn’t escape as Chief’s hands closed down on her shoulders. He hauled her to her feet. She stumbled as he thrust her towards Pratap. “I told you not to make trouble!” Chief snarled. “You started this, now you get to finish it.”
Ears ringing from Chief’s slap, Rajani wasn’t able to avoid Pratap’s next blow. She tried not to cry out as his fist connected with her side. Through the pain and disorientation, Rajani could hear the hunters around her start to mutter.
“Chief, please, I started it, not her!” Rajani heard Lainla shout. Rajani tried to shake her head, moving backwards as Pratap stalked her. “No,” she managed. “No, it was me.”
“No, Lainla didn’t start it, and neither did Rajani,” Kebet called out. “Pratap shoved Lainla, Chief. How was Rajani supposed to respond?”
Other hunters watching the exchange chimed in. “Kebet’s right. It wasn’t Rajani’s fault.”
“All right, all right!” Chief shouted over the growing clamor. “Pratap, settle down. And you, stop making trouble.”
He gave Rajani a parting shove that caused her to stumble sideways into the crowd. Lainla, shivering, threw her arms around her. Kebet put his hand on her shoulder. “Bastards,” he muttered.
The tightness in Rajani’s chest made it hard to breathe. She closed her eyes, fighting her sense of vulnerability. Now was not the time to give in to her emotions.
“You okay, Rajani?”
Rajani looked up. It was another hunter, a few years older. She recognized him by face but couldn’t recall his name.
“Yes,” she managed.
The hunter glanced around, then lowered his voice. “Chief went too far. I know he’s usually rough on everyone during the trials, but this is too much. I think he’s scared of something.”
Rajani felt both grateful and ashamed. It ate at her that Pratap continued to escape sanction for his crime against the Gather’s Child girl while she received punishment despite having done nothing wrong. Though it was gratifying that another hunter would think so too, it was still humiliating to be beaten in public before the other hunters, and even more so for the beating to be commented on.
Chief was blowing his horn. It was time to pick a new hunter to break in.
“Rajani, move!” Chief shouted.
Rajani forced herself to start running to the line of new hunters by the shelterbelt. With Kebet on her right side and Lainla on her left, she managed to pick up speed. Still, it took several minutes until her body was finally relaxed enough to stop trembling.