The question pulled Agur Suhi out of his thoughts. He resumed a more serious expression and then turned away awkwardly. "That night, we both enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, venting all the frustration from the previous months, and finally letting go of all worries. We intended to hurry back home right the next morning after the sun went up but we really needed that night.
"Well, it got quite late and I got quite drunk. At that time, Reng had already retired to his own room quite some time ago while I stupidly insisted on carrying on drinking with those women. It got to the point where — and I am slightly ashamed to admit this — I was swaying while I walked and my sense of direction had flown out of the window long ago. I definitely overestimated how much I could take.
"With the circumstances being like this, I had some trouble to find back to my room. I swayed over the corridor, trying to find the right door and freshen up a bit before those girls were supposed to come and accompany me."
Susha Unhuor slightly narrowed his eyes. Judging from the story so far, he should have seen something, and whatever that had been was the answer to why Agur Suhi believed that maybe Shaun Reng would have been able to summon a demon. Finally, the question he had had all along was about to be answered. Just thinking about it, his heart was beating faster.
Agur Suhi fell quiet though and then sighed again, closing his eyes. There was a hint of pain in his expression and he shook his head. "Believe me, I wish I could forget what I saw that day. But unfortunately, it is one of those moments that is deeply edged into my memory. No matter what I try, I just can’t forget about it.
"I walked up to the door, fumbling around to open it. You can probably imagine what happened: Yes, it was not my room, and yes, it was Reng’s instead. I don’t know if the alcohol had gotten to him as well or if he was too busy to pay attention to his surroundings but he didn’t the sounds coming from the door.
"After some trouble, I finally managed to push it open. I stumbled on the spot, almost falling over but managed to cling to the door frame. At that moment, I finally heard the sounds. Drunk as I was, I looked up, wondering if maybe the girls had already come over and were getting ready for me. Naturally, that was not the case. Instead, I found Reng on the bed with a prostitute."
Susha Unhuor nodded impatiently. He understood that Agur Suhi wanted to tell him everything but he had already spoken for so long and still not gotten to the main point. How could he not become anxious? The longer this man spoke, the bigger the chance he might change his decision at the last moment.
Luckily, Agur Suhi did not intend to do so. He raised a hand and held his forehead, his expression turning even worse but he continued to speak. "Believe me when I say that this alone would not make me lose my composure. Had it been just this, I might even have asked to join in. After all, there was nothing we ever kept to each other. It was probably just because I was so drunk that I needed a moment to make sense of what was happening and didn’t call out immediately that I finally saw everything play out.
"Contrary to me, Reng hadn’t drunk as much. He was obviously still sober in terms of the alcohol that he had consumed. But he was drunk on whatever fantasy that was running through his head." Agur Suhi lowered his hand and shook his head again, looking uncomfortable now that he thought back to that moment. There was disappointment in his gaze, incomprehension.
"He had flipped the woman around and was kneeling behind her, holding her by the waist while he took her from behind, not slowing down for a single moment. Drunk as I was, I couldn’t help but smile to myself and try to get a better look at her. In any case, if he enjoyed himself so much, she had to be good, right?" He faintly glanced at Susha Unhuor who only looked back at him, not indicating any reaction.
Agur Suhi took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and finally continued. "Well, there was not much to see. He had untied her hair, making it fall down over her shoulders and cover her face. I could only see that she seemed slim and quite young, with hardly any curves to speak of. That was not quite the type of woman I preferred so I figured I should go back and find somebody more fitting for me.
"Just when I turned around and reached for the door, he spoke up, his voice hoarse and full of longing. The name that came out between his groans …" He shook his head and then his shoulders, gulping as if he was unable to repeat it and needed to get rid of a stale taste.
Susha Unhuor stared at him, waiting for him to continue but Agur Suhi rubbed his forehead and walked to the side of the courtyard. Susha Unhuor hurriedly followed him only to see him sit down on what turned out to be a dilapidated stone bench that was half-hidden under the greens growing on the walls.
Agur Suhi leaned forward, propping up his elbow on his leg, and covering his mouth. He stared off into space before he finally looked up at the zhireng next to him. "I was unable to look at him for the next few days. And I became even more worried the closer we came to the capital city."
Agur Suhi fell quiet while Susha Unhuor still stared at him, his expression confused. He didn’t understand. Which name? Just what had happened? Why didn’t the minister explain what had actually happened?
He opened his mouth but just when he wanted to speak out, it finally dawned on him: a name he had said while enjoying himself with a prostitute, clearly substituting her identity in his mind for the person he was calling out for with his voice tinged with desire, his friend’s feelings of horror about this nightly encounter and the fear of returning to the capital city because most likely, that person was there.
Susha Unhuor closed his mouth again, pressing his lips tightly together. His face drained of all color and he clenched his hands into fists. The breath he finally took was shaky and his voice was rough when he finally spoke up after all. "You … Are you saying that the person he …" He stopped, unable to even say it.
The longer he thought about it, the worse he felt. Especially so when he remembered Jusha Lale’s gaze when he had told him about what that other zhireng had done. This person who was actually able to lay down his dignity for his people, who had actually trusted his uncle so much and felt that it was a pity he stopped spending time with him as much later on … This person had actually been thought of like that?
Susha Unhuor gulped and turned away, trying to get his emotions back under control. He couldn’t lose his mind over this. He had to stay calm or he would not be able to defeat the demon.
Agur Suhi glanced at him, his own expression defeated. "I told you: No matter what I tell you before, you will think about him differently after you know the truth of this matter. I do not want to vilify him needlessly. Reng … He was a good person, I will maintain that. He had just one fault and that was that he desired the wrong person. Never mind that he is the dan, he is his nephew, his sister’s child …" He shook his head. "You tell me if this is a grave enough sin. One grave enough to summon a demon through."
Susha Unhuor raised a hand and covered his mouth, feeling sick to his stomach. The demon. Obviously, Shaun Reng had summoned it. But a demon was summoned to achieve a wish. So in other words, Shaun Reng hadn’t given up. Sometime between this journey that Agur Suhi had just talked about and the moment when Jusha Lale appeared at the temple of Sundang, his uncle had decided that he was willing to sacrifice anything to give in to that desire, to finally gain Jusha Lale.
"The dan has no idea about this, does he?"
Agur Suhi shook his head. "Nobody does. In fact, it was only Shaun Reng and me. I never told a second soul, not even my wife. I felt that I owed my friend this much, no matter how wrong I felt he was. I wasn’t about to just let him go on like this though. Shortly before we reached the capital city, I made it abundantly clear that I would not stand for it if he got too close to the dan. I made sure he would not approach him any longer, would not be alone with him anymore, and could not find any chance to act on that desire."
Susha Unhuor gulped again and lowered his hand. "Thus, he slowly distanced himself afterward, making the dan wonder what exactly it was about while keeping his dirty secret. And you never wondered what might become of this? You didn’t stop to think what would happen if you weren’t there one day to keep him back? What if he hadn’t been willing to keep his distance anymore? What if he went to see him in secret? What if he went and did something to him that could not be reversed?!"
Susha Unhuor’s voice grew louder and his hands shook. Had this man not thought for a single moment how this could end? "Your approach put the dan at risk! Being a good friend is one thing but allowing this to happen …"
Agur Suhi shook his head. "Reng wasn’t like that. He might have had that desire but he never would have acted on it. He wasn’t like that." He furrowed his brows, clearly unwilling to believe it.
Susha Unhuor only gave a humorless laugh. Wouldn’t have acted on it … "I wonder where the demon came from then." But alas, there was no use in arguing over this. It had already happened. Jusha Lale could only count himself lucky that his uncle had died before he could do anything to him.
Agur Suhi didn’t answer. He looked away, clearly not daring to look into the zhireng’s eyes. "It’s been years since then."
Susha Unhuor merely scoffed. Yes, it had been years. But so what? Obviously, Shaun Reng’s desire had only grown stronger. And was Jusha Lale suddenly not in danger just because more time had passed? No, instead, because he hadn’t interacted as much with his uncle anymore, he had been more unlikely to clue in on what was happening which also made him unable to put up his guard against this person. In other words, this Agur Suhi had made things more difficult for him.
But anyway, Shaun Reng was dead now. Even though he didn’t agree with how things had been handled, this was not the most important matter. At least not for now. "Well, never mind, I still have to thank you for telling me now. With this, I know what to do to stop the demon."
Agur Suhi looked up again, his expression worried. "Then the dan … he won’t need to come with you to be a decoy, will he?"
Jusha Lale gave him a long look while he actually felt like laughing inside. Now, he was afraid for Jusha Lale’s life? He probably deserved to be scared. But, well, this wasn’t helping. He might be angry but that didn’t change anything. The past was the past. And this was not the right moment to deal with it.
He pushed his anger aside and shook his head. "Don’t worry. Eliminating the demon is my duty. I want to save as many people as possible. Including the dan. That plan was only considered because I was lacking the most vital information to make sure that I would be able to vanquish this creature.
"Since I now have that information, there is no need for such a plan. I can go and kill the demon myself without needing any extra steps. So, thank you. Even though I still don’t agree with you not telling him back then and giving him a warning, your decision to finally speak up about it today will likely save his life."
Agur Suhi nodded faintly. "I’m just glad that nothing has happened to him and that he will be safe."
Susha Unhuor turned to leave.
Before he could step out of the courtyard, Agur Suhi held him back though. "Zhireng Susha, you will not tell the dan about what I informed you of, will you?"
Susha Unhuor narrowed his eyes. Well, while he did believe that Jusha Lale should’ve known about it, that was at the time when his uncle had still been alive. Now that he was dead, the danger was over. What would he accomplish if he told him? He would only make him fret needlessly and feel bitter. "I guess it will not be necessary anymore."
Agur Suhi heaved a sigh of relief, obviously happy that his friend’s image would not be destroyed in his nephew’s mind.
Susha Unhuor lightly shook his head and then left. Now, it was time to go to the capital city. He would still talk with the high priest just to get a second opinion on this but after that, he could go and take care of the demon.
Well, it was time that this being born of that sinful thought was eliminated.
Comments (0)
See all