She was right. In the minstrel Neeya’s song about the Black King and the White Queen, the word “Jagar” didn’t come up even once. The song had been so striking that it had really carved itself into my memory, so I was quite sure of that. The tribe of the white queen hadn’t followed any named god. They had simply called the forest their mother. That was what Neeya had said.
If they hadn’t had a named god, did that mean they had revered a nameless god? If that was the case, then that really did sound like the customs of the red people that Tia had spoken of.
“Of course, I have no proof of this... But Kamyua Yoshu said that there are a number of sacred lands similar to Mount Morga in this world, did he not, Ai Fa?”
“Indeed... So, you believe the black forest of Jagar was one of those sacred lands, and that the red people live in such places, Granny Jiba?” Ai Fa asked, her voice utterly devoid of emotion.
Granny Jiba nodded calmly in response. “I know that I won’t be able to arrive at a definitive answer, no matter how much I think about it...but there is no doubt in my mind that Tia is just like how my people were. My parents, my siblings, the members of my clan, and comrades from different clans entirely. Back then, they all had a look like Tia’s in their eyes, and thought as she did as well. But bit by bit, that changed after we moved to the Morga forest’s edge.”
Both of us silently listened to her speak.
“At first, I truly hated that. My beloved family seemed to be changing into something else entirely. But at some point, that stopped bothering me. Since I lived in the same place, it was only natural that I would change too.”
“Granny Jiba, that’s...”
“It is undoubtedly because of our interaction with the townsfolk. We most certainly did not open our hearts to them, but we needed to go to town to purchase aria and poitan. And then, we learned of convenient tools such as steel blades and metal pots. And we were no longer permitted to make clothing from vegetation, so we needed to buy that from town too.”
I was at a loss for words.
“Perhaps our belief that too much interaction with townsfolk would lead to corruption came from the fear we felt at how much we were changing. Everything was different compared to when we solely lived in the forest and thought only of ourselves.”
“Then, Granny Jiba...do you believe it would have been better to have stayed like the red people?”
Just then, the light sound of wind instruments sounded out in the plaza. When I turned to look, I saw Lebi and Kalgo playing some kind of side-blown flutes, which they had brought along with them in order to show them off when it was time to dance. That time must have arrived while we had been distracted.
Young men and women gathered around the ritual flame. Then they started to step along in time with the flutes. A familiar jaunty rhythm filled the plaza. If I was remembering correctly, it was the tune that had been played after the story of the Black King and the White Queen at the banquet the Gamley Troupe had been invited to—Vairus’s Banquet. The men of the forest’s edge banged along with firewood and giba bones, and some joined in with grass flutes as well.
As she watched the dancers from a distance, Ai Fa whispered uneasily, “Granny Jiba, please tell me. Have we strayed from the proper path? Should we have remained like the red people and avoided interaction with the outside world?”
“What are you saying, Ai Fa?” Granny Jiba asked with a small chuckle. “Give it some thought. The tribe of the white queen formed blood ties with the eastern Gaaze tribe hundreds of years ago, did they not? That in itself was an interaction with the outside world. The red people of Mount Morga would never do such a thing.”
“Hmm. That may be so, but still...”
“Yes, I’m sure it is. There is no longer any way of knowing why the tribe of the white queen accepted the Gaaze. But perhaps when the Gaaze cast aside the eastern god, the tribe of the white queen did the same with their nameless god. Otherwise, we would surely have never forgotten the gods we revered.” Granny Jiba’s voice was very gentle, and the kindness in it was slowly easing the chill I was feeling in my heart. “That, I believe, is how we people of the forest’s edge who solely saw the forest as our mother were born. Now that I have had that thought, I don’t think I can see it any other way. It makes sense out of too many things that I had been wondering about. Perhaps that is why we are so drawn to Tia—because the red people are what we were originally meant to be,” she said, stroking Ai Fa’s blonde hair. My clan head made a face like a peevish child, but she didn’t object.
“Then, do you believe it would be proper to live as the red people do, Granny Jiba? Are you jealous of how they live solely on Mount Morga, avoiding interaction with the outside world?”
“Hmm. I am sure I would have thought so not that long ago...before Asuta’s cooking gave me my strength back, when I was still so weak,” Granny Jiba replied, and then she lifted her hand from Ai Fa’s hair and pointed toward the ritual flame. “But look. We have so much joy in our lives now. What need do we have to envy anyone else? If we hadn’t interacted with the people of the outside world, we never would have found such joy, so I believe we are walking the best path we can.”
Everybody was dancing and enjoying themselves, whether they came from town or the forest’s edge.
Yumi once again grabbed Shilly Rou by the hand and dragged her out into the crowd. And right next to them were Sheera Ruu, Darmu Ruu, Ben, Telia Mas, and Jou Ran. Ludo Ruu was surrounded on either side by Rimee Ruu and Tara as they pulled him along. Though Dan Rutim wasn’t doing any dance steps, he was keeping pace with everyone else while swinging his bottle of fruit wine. Normally, only unwed women would dance, but that didn’t apply to a friendship banquet, and once they realized that, the young children and older folks started joining in too.
Lefreya and Sanjura were moving elegantly, as if they were attending a dance party. Meanwhile, Toor Deen was getting dragged along by the Liddo woman, looking rather embarrassed, and the Zaza siblings and Lem Dom followed after them. I spotted Myme and Jeeda too, plus the eldest sons of the Deen and Liddo clans. And Mida Ruu looked to be shouting something as he moved forward with Tsuvai Rutim up on his shoulders.
“All of the people who live on this continent have their own gods. Even the red people revere their nameless great god. And in the middle of all that, we were born from the merging of the tribe of the white queen and the Gaaze, and lost our gods while devoting ourselves to our mother forest alone,” Granny Jiba calmly said in an incredibly affectionate voice. “And now we have finally accepted the western god. I am sure that is something to be celebrated. After hundreds of years, we have finally been freed from the sin and suffering of casting aside our gods.” She then rubbed her cheek against Ai Fa’s blonde hair and quietly continued, “Or perhaps that is all just in my imagination. There is no way to know for sure. The one thing I do know is that we are now so happy I can hardly believe it.”
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