Memoirs of Kitty Siam Ch. 26

I could not sleep during the night so I spent the night on the top of the southern tower, watching as the Ishtan soldiers continued to cart off their dead and wounded comrades by the light of many torches. Colonel Timkat as commander of the watch replaced Prince Vortak and Lord Tausin, and together we spent the night keeping watch over the troops of our enemy as they went about their grizzly business.

In the morning when the sun topped the trees and shed its light over the battlefield we could see that there were still many bodies to be removed. Across the river we observed the smoke from the bonfires blowing to the east into the dense forest. As the Colonel and I looked at the stone bridge we noticed a small squad of Ishtan moving toward the main gate of the castle under a banner of truce.

The Colonel ordered me to mount up an equal number of my cavalry, then sent a runner to alert Lord Tausin. Lord Tausin who was still rubbing the sleep from his eyes met my troops and me at the main gate. He was on foot and not prepared to go out to meet the Ishtan. We both agreed that this was an informal meeting so he instructed me to ride out with my group and find out what they wanted.

The drawbridge was lowered and we rode out to meet the Ishtan at the midpoint between the river and the castle. As we got closer I looked to see if Imma was with the group, but this time she was not. We stopped a short distance from the Ishtan squad and I dismounted. As I did the leader of the Ishtan stepped forward and we met half way between our assembled soldiers. We exchanged greetings and introduced ourselves. He was only a Major, unlike the Colonels and Generals that we had met with before. As he spoke I thought that perhaps the Ishtan believed that this time we would attack and only risked a lowly Major.

He was cordial, but his words were tinged with a slight disrespect. Instead of using words that would be gender neutral, he chose his words carefully but his choice told me that he had little respect for me. I did not let on that I knew enough about his language to take offense at his words. I was as diplomatic as could be while he conveyed his Commander's request for more time to retrieve their fallen soldiers.

His request was within reason and I replied that we would agree to his request for additional time.

He thanked me then asked if I my Commander would meet his Prince at a truce conference on this spot when the sun was at its midpoint.

I saw nothing wrong with this request either and agreed as I figured that the Price and Lord Tausin would rather end this with a minimum of bloodshed on either side.

The final request from the Major was that the Na'Tal Ambassador be present at the truce meeting.

I could not agree to this but I did agree to pass this request on to my superiors.

After the Major relayed his requests we rejoined our squads and parted ways. Once back inside the castle I detailed the requests made by the Ishtan to Lord Tausin.

I was thanked for my assistance in the matter then dismissed as Lord Tausin went off to brief the Prince.

About an hour before the meeting a runner came to me from Prince Vortak with a message instructing me to dress in civilian attire and that Teela would be leading the Prince's escort. Now this left me in a quandary as to what I should wear. The Ishtan were used to seeing me in my battle suit with my military rank affixed to my chest. I thought about wearing a simple white linen dress, but knew that I would have to ride a horse to the meeting and I was not prepared or trained to ride sidesaddle.

I gave my outfit some thought before settling on a pair of loose fitting dark brown silk pants. The outfit was topped off with a tan silk wrap around that came down to the middle of my thigh. The top was form fitting above the waist but loose fitting below allowing me to mount and ride a horse comfortably. Across my hips was a tan silk sash that tied in the front. For shoes I chose a simple brown leather sandal with a very low heel. I knew that this was a negotiation but I wanted to be prepared in case things turned ugly. I left my hair down but tied it together high on my head with a tan silk ribbon making a very long pony tail. Even though it was tied up, my hair still came down almost to my waist. Before I left my room I slipped in my scabbard katana and shorter wakizashi swords into the sash tied around my waist. I thought about not taking the swords but after all, I am in charge of security for the Royals so my swords went with me.

I met up with the Prince and his party inside the main gate. The Prince, his scribes and myself mounted up and were joined by Teela and her cavalry. She had them heavily armed for the occasion and smiled at me when she noticed my outfit and the two swords. I smiled back and rested a hand on my katana.

The gates were open and we trotted out smartly with Teela in the lead followed by several mounted officers bearing the Prince's standard. The Prince followed next and was joined by Ambassador Smett. I joined in after the Ambassador and was followed by a company of mounted archers dressed in their finest formal uniforms.

The Kreetin army had set up a tent as it had been before when meetings were called with the Ishtan. We all entered according to our rank and social standing in my case as I was forbidden to wear my insignia. My function today was as escort for the Prince and as a translator, which put me at the back of the line when it came to entering the tent.

Both Kreetin and Ishtan guards flanked the tent's entrance as usual, and this time it was Teela standing next to the formidable Imma. I smiled to Teela and winked to Imma as my foot bumped into hers as I passed by. I entered the tent and was directed to a neutral position with Ambassador Smett between the Ishtan and the Kreetin Princes. The introductions were made around the table that had been set up and I made the language translations as required.

The negotiations began with each faction declaring their strengths and requesting that the other submit. Of course this went nowhere fast and Ambassador Smett acting as a neutral party did his best to steer the negotiations in a direction that would help both parties find a compromise. I knew that the Kreet held the upper hand as the Ishtan army was an army without a sufficient food supply. I wanted to just reach out and smack the Ishtan Prince and inform him that there was no way that the Kreet were coming out of their castle and that there was no way the Ishtan were ever getting in. But I held my tongue and kept my words to the translations that were required of me.

After six hours of this back and forth between the two parties it seemed as if a bolt of lightning struck the tent and the Princes finally agreed that both armies were at a stalemate and that neither could win. It was then that they got down to the business of ending this war. The Ishtan agreed to basically go away and leave Kreet. The Kreet agreed to keep their mounted archers inside the castle and not harass the Ishtan as they retreated back to Na'Tal. To Ambassador Smett's dismay the Kreet agreed to not invade Na'Tal and force out the Ishtan. It was good that this was agreed to in these negotiations as the Kreet did not have the forces for this sort of campaign but our Prince was smart enough to let the Ishtan believe that he did.

Once we made progress in these areas the Princes decided to take a break and Prince Vortak invited Prince Nassak of the Ishtan to continue the negotiations over dinner in the castle. Prince Nassak agreed and sent a rider back to the castle to have the food prepared. Before the rider left the tent I gave him a second message to deliver to Lord Tausin requesting that he pull the catapults back from the wall and secure them in an area that will not be visible to the Ishtan.

Our party began to mount up when the Prince called me to him and Prince Nassak. He informed me that I would be going back to the Ishtan camp as a hostage to ensure the fair treatment of the Ishtan Prince while he was in the castle. This had my blood just about to the boiling point but my training kicked in and I remained silent and respectful. This is when it all came together for me and I figured out the request for my not wearing military insignia. I was to be a civilian hostage, where as a military hostage would be expendable, and a mere Captain would not be a proper hostage to exchange for a Prince. I knew that the Prince was splitting hairs being that I was his bodyguard and all, but what sold this ploy was that I wore his golden collar and was also his consort. Shortly after I came to this realization Prince Vortak ordered me to explain this to Prince Nassak and I did.

Teela formed up the Royal escort and they trotted off toward the castle. As I watched them ride away, Imma touched my shoulder and motioned me to join her unit as they formed up and prepared to return across the bridge to their camp. As we walked Imma made several attempts to walk behind me as a sign of respect to my position, but I would stop and allow her to catch up. As we began to move toward the bridge, Imma and I began to talk. Not as friends or enemies, but as soldiers would out of respect for each other.

Imma asked me why today I wear two swords instead of the one that I had usually worn. I explained to her that my role had changed from cavalry Captain to translator and bodyguard to the Prince.

This of course prompted her second question as to the need for the second sword today.

I explained to her that the long sword called a "katana" was for use in combat, and that the second much smaller sword called a "wakizashi" would be used to take my own life should I fail in my duties to my Prince.

One of Imma's soldiers chimed in and asked how this was done.

I answered him and detailed the process where ladies of the court would plunge the blade through the side of their neck until it came out the other side, and then she would draw the blade forward severing the arteries and windpipe.

Imma gasped at the description of this.

I then went told all that were listening that the process was different for the men in that they were to plunge the short sword into their belly thrusting upward then draw it in one clean cut from one side to the other.

I could see the empty look on her face as she heard this, but it only lasted for a second or two until she asked if this was the warrior's code that my people followed.

Of course this was not the Kreetin code, but it was "a" code that had been followed by people in Earth's distant past, so when told Imma that it was, I was not lying. I am sure Imma's soldiers that were listening in thought by now that they were fighting a bunch of bloodthirsty lunatics, which is sort of the impression that I was trying to give them. It never hurts to leave the enemy thinking that their enemy has little regard for life.

Imma asked me for more detail about how I would take my own life and as we walked I did my best to explain the seppuku ceremony to her in language that she could understand. This time as I explained the ceremony, more of her soldiers were listening in and I knew that I had a devoted audience.

Imma nodded and let me know that she understood this time, then she went on to assure me that my Prince would be safe today as her people would find dishonor in breaking a banner of truce or committing violence during truce negotiations. She went on to describe how harming a visiting negotiator or their safety ensuring hostage would be a violation of the Rantakki Accords that governed how honorable nations should conduct themselves in dealing with other nations. Ishtan and Kreet had both agreed with and signed these accords centuries ago, though the people from these two countries had never met until Na'Tal was conquered.

Imma and I had a good conversation along the way to the Ishtan camp and we learned a lot about each other and I learned more about her culture. The Ishtan were a warrior race and their soldiers were bred for war. Their parents were selected to breed the strongest off spring possible. Those children that did not meet the military's standard were given other less prestigious roles in the Ishtan society like Imma's younger sister Kenna. Imma dwarfed her younger sister in height but Kenna was only an inch or two taller than I was. I was introduced to Kenna when we reached the Ishtan camp. Kenna was an apprentice scribe to one of the Royal administrators. Being that she had just reached the age of adulthood, she was assigned to a scribe employed by one of the younger Ishtan princes.

Imma and Kenna escorted me to what could best be described as a mess tent for the army. When we approached the serving lines Imma had separated from us and stated that she must only take food from the line for military and that Kenna and I were to dine on the civilian side.

I looked over the food that was being served on both sides of the tent and there was not much difference in selection. The only difference I could see was that the military was given much greater portions. There was no meat, just a thick pasty porridge that was sweetened with some sort of tree sap that resembled maple syrup. It was filling, but very bland. Kenna informed me that rations had been cut again this morning, as the army was low on food.

Of course this is something that a member of the military would not have admitted to the "enemy" but Kenna was about my age and had no military experience. She believed that she was just being accommodating to a guest that was visiting the camp.

After we ate Imma formed up her squad and invited Kenna to follow along. We moved to the stone bridge and took up a position under the trees where we could see the main castle gate where we waited for the princes to return to the conference tent, or someone to give us word that it was ok for me to return to the castle on my own, but no one ever came.

We stayed at the stone bridge and waited, and when darkness fell and the moons rose Imma and I came to the realization that I would be spending the night in the Ishtan camp. Imma and her soldiers escorted me through the camp to the tent of her Colonel, and after the introductions were made he suggested that room be made for me on the civilian side of the camp.

There were no visiting officer quarters, or VIP tents in the Ishtan camp, so Imma made arrangements for me to bunk with Kenna in her tent. She also made arrangements for guards to be placed outside the tent for my safety. Imma explained that the guards were not to keep me in, but to keep the Ishtan out. She was afraid that perhaps some of her fellow soldiers would intend me harm being that I was from the enemy castle. I guess they just were not properly set up to house a diplomatic hostage.

Imma stayed outside the tent for a time chatting with the guards while Kenna and I talked as we set the tent up for the two of us. Imma and the guards stopped talking a few seconds before the word; "Kanatae" began to echo through the camp. The echo started off in the distance then grew louder as it echoed toward the civilian side of the camp. This is when Imma poked her head inside the tent and told us to follow her. She said that this is something that I would want to see.

Place your swords under your bedding; you will not need them tonight she added. I did as Imma suggested.

I exited the tent with Kenna and Imma led us toward the center of the camp. As we walked she cautioned both of us to stay very close to her and the members of her unit and to stay quiet so as not to provoke anyone.

I told her that I would comply then listened closely as she explained the Kanatae ritual.

The Kanatae is a combat ritual between the warriors of the Ishtan army. When declared by the King, Prince, or Commanding General, all ranks are put aside and anyone may challenge another soldier to ruled combat. By "ruled" they mean no killing, disabling, disfiguring, or anything else that would render a fellow soldier incapable of performing his or her duties the following day. The ritual gives soldiers a way to blow off steam and perhaps get a bit of revenge on a sergeant or lieutenant that has been giving a soldier grief.

We arrived at the living circle created by the assembled troops and a one on one battle had already begun between two rather impressive looking men. Above the battle on a dais over looking the two combatants sat the Ishtan King, and several others of the Royal court. I guessed that they were Princes due to their attire but I was not sure being unfamiliar with the insignia on their uniforms.

The battle that we came in on ended shortly after we got there. A rather burly older man was on the losing end of the confrontation until he attempted a pick up and slam his opponent to the ground. The attempt was blocked, but since the older man had his hand between the younger man's legs, he gave the younger man a hard squeeze that brought tears to his eyes and a wale of anguish from his mouth. As the young man dropped to his knees, the men in the audience winced collectively as the women laughed. It took only seconds for the younger man to yield to his crafty older opponent.

In the spirit of competition the older man helped his opponent up and as they stood before the King, the King pronounced Sergeant Kawant the victor over Corporal Midgant by submission.

The King dismissed the two former combatants then called for Sergeant Mitaq to step forward. Out of the crowd stepped a tall muscular woman carrying two wooden swords. She bowed to the King and waited for him to speak.

Sergeant Mitaq, who do you challenge he commanded.

Lieutenant Obartz your Majesty she replied.

Lieutenant Obartz stepped forward and accepted the challenge, then accepted the practice sword from his sergeant.

The two of them squared off and started at each other. The two were equally matched in skill and size and the battle went on for some time. After about twenty minutes or so of stalemate the two combatants disarmed each other of their wooden swords and the battle continued hand to hand.

The rest of the fight became a combination of wrestling and boxing as they stretched and pummeled each other until the Sergeant got the Lieutenant in a semi clinch that allowed her to deliver blow after blow to his exposed ribs and abdomen. Unable to draw breath the officer dropped to his knees gasping for air and guarding his ribs. The fight was then stopped by one of the Generals sitting with the King. The victory was awarded to the young Sergeant.

The King congratulated the victor and was about to call the name of the next challenger when his eyes picked me out of the crowd. I guess it was not hard to see me since I was the only one in the camp with light colored skin.

He knew me by name and called me forward. I stepped carefully into the center of the human circle and bowed. The King introduced me to the camp as "Kitty, translator for the Prince of Kreet."

The King seemed a kind older man, perhaps in his late fifties or early sixties. I guess kind is not the word to use for someone that had ordered the committing genocide in the country of Na'Tal. The King asked how I was enjoying the Kanatae ritual.

I responded diplomatically by saying that it is a good tradition for the military to be able to show their skills in combat with their peers.

Does the army of Kreet have anything like this he asked?

No your Majesty, it does not.

Then unexpectedly the King asked me if I thought that this ritual was barbaric.

No your Majesty I replied, and then I stuck my foot in my mouth without thinking and blurted out, "I would participate if we had such a practice in Kreet."

That got the King's attention, but it also got Imma's attention and I could see with a sideways glance that she was shaking her head.