His Ramblings:Broken Reflections

Josh's rage had been quelled mysteriously, but he still possessed vast amounts of anger towards the man studying the shells. The chief spoke, bringing him out of his enraged and mumbled thoughts. "Just as I had told you before, we need to confirm something first before we can delve deeper into anything. Now, I need to know what your guardian said to you?"

Seeing that the chief would not talk unless he cooperated, Josh forced himself to remember the details from the strange encounter he had in the pool earlier. The man did say that he was his guardian and had also left him with some parting words that Josh had stuck to memory. "Ngi yamkeliwe ekhaya." Those words, although he did not know their meaning, he could feel the profound care and warmth in them.

Opening his mouth, Josh tried his very best to say it the same way Sipho had said them. "Ngi yamkeliwe ekhaya, or something closer to that." He tried, but his accent was way off. The chief studied him for a short while before returning to his throne-like chair. The princess moved to go stand beside the chief.

The chief reached under his desk and pulled out a small pouch. He shook the pouch three times before opening it and casting the contents inside onto his desk. Josh was surprised to see that it was just a lot of cowrie shells in various sizes. The shells clattered and spun, finally coming to rest in an intricate pattern.

The chief studied the arrangement, the princess and the advisor both seeming on edge as they patiently waited for the chief to speak up. His brow furrowed in concentration, "Ah," he muttered, his eyes snapping with understanding. Josh stared at him with a blank expression.

In his mind, the revelations were still replaying themselves. Although his rage had been quelled mysteriously, he still possessed vast amounts of anger towards the man studying the shells. "The spirits recognize him as one of our own," the advisor's eyes widened for a brief moment before he quickly regained his composure and muttered a low, "I see."

Josh could feel their gazes on him, but he cared less. All he really wanted at the moment was answers, and only the chief could grant him those. So, he asked, "Can we continue now?" The chief nodded and turned to the princess with a single glance.

The princess walked out of the room, but not before throwing Josh one last look. Behind her was the advisor, Siyabonga. Once they were out of the room, the chief stood up and turned away from Josh, facing the huge wall. "To understand my actions, you first have to understand who we are. Our history spans over a millennium, back to the days before the Great Fall..." The chief's eyes seemed to glaze over, lost in the depths of his own memories.

The room fell silent, the only sound the soft hum of the ancient artifacts that lined the walls. As the last of the chief's words faded away, the truth seemed to be dawning on Josh. But then a deep frown found its way back onto his face.

His eyes moved slightly as he analyzed the chief's words, and his frown slowly deepened until he shook his head and spoke, "So, with all these servants, you decided to send your own daughter? Can you please elaborate on that? I'm having a hard time trying to wrap my head around this one."

From behind, Josh could see the chief's shoulders drop a bit, having possibly sighed. "It is custom that the firstborn child of the royal family is to be sent to the lands of the high-borne," the chief explained. "And your mother, my Anko, was my firstborn. I had no other choice than to obey the customs... I had no choice; I had to set an example." He turned to face Josh, tears in his eyes.

Josh's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the chief, his mind reeling with the weight of the chief's words. "You had a choice, and you chose to sacrifice your daughter in order to please your subjects," Josh snapped, his voice breaking as he spoke.

The images of his mother laying on her deathbed, trying to smile for his sake, resurfaced, and her last words to him forever stuck in his head like a sad memory: "My little poet, never lose your smile." If only his mother knew that after her death, Josh never really smiled again.

Josh realized that looking at the chief only brought him more anger, so he turned around and walked out of the study, leaving the chief to stare at his back as he departed.

Princess Larone stopped pacing as soon as she heard the door creak open. She stared at Josh as he left the room with anger and grief written all over his face. Without even sparing her a glance, he walked away.

She rushed after him, leaving the advisor standing all by himself. She caught up to Josh quickly and followed him silently for a short while, until she realized that he had no idea where he was going.

"Any destination in mind?" she asked. He tilted his head to glance in her direction for a brief moment before glancing away, and his answer followed after, "Unified States."

Hiding her surprise, she continued, "And how do you plan on getting there?" Josh paused in his steps, as if carefully taking in her words, before shrugging. "Not sure, I might have to swim."

She found herself laughing lightly at his response, shaking her head. "Come on, I know a spot," she told him, gently taking his hand and dragging him away. Without the willpower to resist, he let her drag him away, or so it seemed.

Soon, Josh stood beside Princess Larone at the edge of the coast, the warm sand shifting beneath their feet. Before them stretched the endless expanse of turquoise sea, its gentle waves lapping at the shore in a soothing melody.

The salty air filled their lungs as they breathed in, the scent of seaweed and ocean spray mingling with the cries of seagulls wheeling overhead. The sun beat down on their skin, its warmth seeping into their bones as they gazed out at the horizon.

The princess closed her eyes, the sea breeze rustling her clothes as she let the peacefulness wash over her. Josh followed suit, feeling the tension in his shoulders ease as the sound of the waves washed away his worries, but also reopening a fresh wound.

The memories of his time with the crewmates and their captain, who had accompanied him on his journey for two years, broke his heart. Unknown to him, the princess was staring at him, and she asked, "What bitter memory are you revisiting?"

Her question hung in the air for a short while until he opened his eyes and wiped away the tears that had found their way out of his eyes. "A memory of those I have lost to the storm," he answered slowly. "But I will keep their memory alive in my poems."

"To die at sea is an honor only high-borne can experience," the princess said. "We cannot die at sea; it is part of a thousand-year-old pact made by one of our ancestors with the great sea spirit Badu Larohua."

The name Badu Larohua caught Josh's attention because it was the second time he had heard it in the same day, and the first time he had heard it from Sipho. Deciding to look into it some other time, he turned to the princess.

"So, you are my mother's younger sister?" he asked. She nodded pretty slowly. "Anko left when I was still just a toddler, and my memory of her is pretty vague, but Papa - Father, I mean - made sure to tell me all about her, and we have many portraits of her…."

She smiled at him. "You resemble her quite a lot, actually. You look like a male counterpart of her younger self, as portrayed in the paintings." She added, going quiet as if contemplating something before looking at him again with an indescribable expression.

"Tell me, Josh, what was she like?" she asked.