Freeday, 1st of Juno, 470th Year of the Fifth Era

Parulian was sat upon the carpet floor next to his father who was sitting upon a chair within the great hall of the ancestors of Matanitao. It was called the 'Bale ni Pasogit Mula Jadi' and it was the seat of power of the Raja Malim. There the Raja Malim had invited the kings and the elders for a so-called 'night of drinks'.

Outwardly it was a social call of sorts but beneath the facade, Parulian could feel that things weren't as they seemed. The night had started light-hearted enough. As light hearted as you can get in a room with people that very clearly detested one another. Parulian wasn't the smartest but even he could tell that with every word a king or an elder said, there was either another meaning or just plain-as-day poison behind it.

Within the hall, the Raja Malim sat upon his throne while sitting cross legged upon it. He looked quite relaxed though it could be because of the cup of tuak he was holding.

To Parulian, the throne of the Raja Malim itself was an item of interest. It was more of a large iron boulder with chair-like features carved into it more than anything else but it had a special reddish-glint to it. Legend has it that the rock was a piece of Banuaginjang (heaven) that had fallen from the sky in front of the first Raja Malim as he prayed for guidance towards the gods.

In contrast to the 'Habangso Batulangit' (Skyrock throne), the rest of the kings were only afforded well-designed yet effectively modest chairs to sit on. Whether it was a calculated move by the Raja Malim or just a coincidence, Parulian didn't want to make any judgements on that. What was clear to see now was that all twenty kings and their most prominent elders had been gathered in one spot. And it took almost no time for the civility to shatter.

Petty arguments over whatever foolish reason, be it some by stupid rivalry, friction at the borderlands, or just old men metaphorically comparing the size of their penises. 'I will have your clan pay for raiding my sheep pens!'. 'How dare your son take my daughter away from me!'. All sorts of things.

One would think it was a playroom for children, not a hall of kings. And the only other person in the room who seemed to share in Parulian's quiet misery was none other than Partogi. Parulian had caught sight of his younger brother and shot him a smile and a nod. Togi had nodded back but his demeanor remained cold and distant. Unsurprising, to be fair. But it was still quite the shame.

Togi's sights weren't focused at him at the moment. Parulian followed his brother's line of sight and it was clear that it landed upon their father. And the king must have noticed that. It would be impossible not to with how Togi was practically staring daggers at King Parhal. But their father remained aloof, not giving his estranged son even the slightest glance.

Did he truly not care for Partogi anymore?

As if sensing this exchange, Partogi's father-in-law – King Lombutua of Saorma – cleared his throat in an audible manner. This quickly caught the attention of all the other kings and elders within the halls.

Now that he finally had their attention and the hall was quieting down, King Lombutua stood up from his chair. With a grin on his face he then pointed the tuak cup in his hand toward King Parhal.

"I give this toast to the health of our most honoured Hulubalang Nabolon!" King Lombutua said with great mirth. "May a hundred years more be added unto his life!!"

Parulian noticed that his father only scoffed at the king of Saorma's hollow toast. It was indeed an empty toast with words that no one would seriously even consider to be the truth. Parulian hated to admit the fact but even he knew his father wasn't at all long for the world. He would be lucky to have five more years with his father, let alone a hundred.

All the other kings knew this too and the disgustingly insulting smirks on half of the kings' faces in the hall irked Parulian as well as the Gorian elders and their allies. A pack of ravenous wolves no better than actual beasts. Always ready to strike when you least expect it. You couldn't trust these men farther than you could throw them.

Again King Lombutua continued with his speech, but this time his expression grew more serious as he looked at the Raja Malim.

"Once again, I give my thanks to the great Raja Malim! How Ompu Mulajadi Nabolon and the Debata Natolu blessed you – their great representative – with wisdom that would rival all our honoured ancestors!" King Lombutua showered the Raja Malim with honeyed words. Perhaps out of courtesy, the Raja Malim nodded and smiled at the king of Saorma "I thank you for heeding my humble call for such a great gathering like this in honour of our ancestors and all the hosts of Banuaginjang!"

"The honour is truly mine, o great king and lord of the line of Tuan Saorma…" The Raja Malim spoke in acknowledgement of King Lombutua as well as the other Pasaorma elders. "It is well that the spirit of our ancestors would move you – undoubtedly guided by the honourable Tuan Datu (Lord Shaman) Honahata – to remind me of my own duties to channel the will of the heavens to us all. The bountiful harvests that have graced all of the Halaklands is a sign. A sign that once more all the children of Si Raja Halak must gather and give their thanks to the ancestors and to the gods."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Truly it is so, honourable king!" King Lombutua bowed towards the Habangso Batulangit before his gaze swept over the room and once more landed upon King Parhal of Goria. "With that in mind, Lord Raja Malim, please allow me now to bring to your attention – as well as to the attention of the rest of my brother kings here – of one matter of great import."

Parulian did not like where this was going as he noticed Partogi also had a certain look to him at King Lombutua's speech. He glanced at his father beside him who maintained his ever-stoic gaze.

"Though I believe most of you here have heard of this news, in the case that some of us have been living under a rock for the past few months, allow me to reiterate again." King Lombutua finally motioned his hand towards Partogi who was seated upon the carpeted floor beside him. "Here with us today is my beloved son-in-law and son of our Hulubalang Nabolon, Tuan Partogi Bonar Sigumogo, and it is here that-...!!"

"...Do not call him… Sigumogo…!!" King Parhal had cut off King Lombutua's speech. Though his voice was low, Parulian could sense that his father had laced his aura into his voice, making it reverberate across the room.

"Father, I don't think we should…-!!" Parulian whispered as he tried to calm his father down, but the old king merely waved away his son's concerns.

"...I have stripped that… apostate of his right to the name Sigumogo…! He is no longer to be considered my son…!" King Parhal's words were firm. Though his voice was raspy, his conviction was clear.

This statement from the king of Goria invited whispers and murmurs to precipitate throughout the great hall. The kings allied to Goria nodded their heads in support of King Parhal. Most of the kings chose to keep a neutral countenance. However, there were also some amongst the kings who looked towards their Hulubalang Nabolon with utter disdain.

One of these kings – a one-armed old man with a blinded left eye – openly voiced his objections.

"You have no right to do that, you dying old fool!" The one-armed king said. Parulian frowned as he saw the disabled king. He could never forget the face of Raja Pirma Siparsangap, the 'Blood King' of Hutaraja. A truly detestable savage of a man in Parulian's eyes. A man whom he didn't at all regret maiming all those years ago in Haumarara. "By what right do you think you can strip a Halak man of his core identity?!"

"Watch your tongue, you deformed beast!" Parulian stood imposingly as he pointed towards the king of Hutaraja. "Stay out of my clan's issues or I'll add your tongue to the list of your appendages I have removed!"

"Such insolence from a snot-nosed brat..! I'll remind you that this is not Goria!! Neither you nor your father have any power here, boy!"

It didn't take long before the Hall descended into a chaotic flurry of insults, thrown tuak cups, and shouting, angry men. Parulian was at the forefront of wanting to land a punch over at the bastards of Hutaraja. So what if Hutaraja was once considered the seat of kings of the Halaklands? Their time had passed and with their defeat at Haumarara, their king had no business insulting Goria like they just did.

Parulian had to be held back by three of his five-star lieutenants who were visibly struggling to control him. Even if they were all five stars, someone at the peak of nearly becoming a blademaster was just different. And none of this was just reckless bravado.

Among all the warriors of the Halaklands, there was only one swordsaint currently alive and that was King Parhal. There currently were no active six-star blademasters among the Halak peoples – at least none who bothered to put themselves within the public view. The last blademaster Parulian had heard to be any active was Lord Hisar Arimonang of the Nainiari kingdom and he was killed in a skirmish a few years back by the Banuans.

Most other blademasters were either too old to do anything or had died in the fields of Haumarara.

"O GREAT KINGS I BESEECH YOU ALL TO RESPECT THIS SACRED HALL!!" The Raja Malim finally shouted as he banged his arms against the Batulangit throne. When he did that, a few dozen warriors had readied their weapons. They were the guards of the Dolok Mulajadi. That being said, Parulian noticed how even those guards were hiding a great sense of fear. In all honesty, what could these aura warriors possibly do were the other kings to disregard all pretense of civility and outright start a slaughter?

The Raja Malim continued to say, "I did not invite all of my brother kings here for us to make war upon the field where our great ancestor emerged from his occultation!"

Though the kings did not at all fear the show of force by the Parmalim warriors, they seemed to have respected the Raja Malim enough to calm down. Even Parulian got back to his seat as he breathed out an exasperated sigh.

As the room took back a semblance of calm – now replaced with a slight tension –, the Raja Malim allowed King Lombutua to finish what he wanted to say. The king of Saorma bowed once more before he cleared his throat to continue.

"...Right… what I was trying to say was something that the Hulubalang Nabolon had mentioned first himsel." King Lombutua said, this time getting straight to the point. "I share an opinion with Raja Pirma of Hutaraja. I believe the stripping of my hela (son-in-law) of his rightful claim and name of the Sigumogo clan would be overstepping the bounds of what the Hulubalang is allowed to do. Especially when the reason for such is merely the so-called 'apostasy' from a foreign religion in conflict with the faith of our blessed ancestors!"

With King Lombutua's speech, another round of murmurs appeared once more upon the kings and elders. Some harrumphed in scoffing at the king of Saorma while others grunted in agreement.

"And that is also one of the main reasons as to why I beseeched the Raja Malim to commence another tonggoraja (council of kings) with this festival!" King Lombutua continued impassionately "I hereby propose a reassessment of the role of the Hulubalang, the rights of kings, as well as a review on the Old Treaty of Haumarara! It is obvious that in the two decades since the treaty, much has changed and much is in dire need of addressment by all of the kings here. And who better to lead the arbitration than the Raja Malim himself?"

With his proposal, the king of Saorma had ignited a difficult conversation to be held. Parulian frowned as he exchanged glances with his father. This so-called 'informal meeting' was slowly but surely turning into a trial to corner Goria. It was a disgusting move made by cowards who would not dare face them upon the field of battle but instead rely on cold and callous politicking to achieve their ends.

And it was in a battlefield like this one where Parulian's sword-arm would prove to be of little use. For in a battle wits and speeches, the mind was truly the mightier weapon. A weapon that could vanquish sword wielders before they even had the chance to unsheathe their swords…

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.