Apeleka asked bewilderedly after walking a few distance away from the Twiya clan. Ochieng' did not bother doing anything further after they were done punis.h.i.+ng that chief. That was a chief of a whole large clan of Lang tribe for G.o.d's sake. Killing him would bring unnecessary trouble to the Lang tribe. The woman he adored after all came from that tribe. But that did not mean the chief could sit on his head. If he dared to, Ochieng' could not mind destroying the whole of Twiya clan or even the entire Lang tribe to vent his anger.

"What did you expect me to do?" He asked Apeleka with a charming smile.

"You should have ended his life."

"That could bring trouble to the Lang tribe."

"But I don't care what happens to this wicked tribe." She controverted angrily.

"Apeleka, at the end of the day, this is your tribe. You can't run away from it completely, east or west home is the best remember." It is her mother who gave her lectures this time.

They covered the rest of the journey silently. When they got home, Sankale found him a 'manyatta' to spend a night in.

Puuuuu!

The next day, when the sun had just risen, a sound of a horn being blown reverberated in the air. Those who were busy in one way or the other stopped what they were doing to hear where the sound came from. This was in Twiya large clan. Many from that clan quickly figured out that the sound came from the royal 'manyatta'. They made their way to that place in a flash.

Chiefs were n.o.ble people. They rarely met the people especially in Lang tribe where they had family heads to take care of several matters of the small clans. Due to this, very few people from the clans in Lang tribe had seen their chiefs. It was out of the norm for an alarm to be raised from the chief's area, therefore, when the blowing of horn was heard, everyone within the clan left their activities to go and take a look.

The chief's compound was filled with people after around ten minutes. The air in the compound was sulky. Many sat on the ground holding their chins, others were weeping. The chief's wives were even crying at the top of their lungs. Though many still did not know what was happening.

After a while, one of the Twiya's family heads walked out of the chief's 'manyatta'. Everyone rose to their feet shooting queasy looks at him. The wailing of people before dissipated. The family head himself had sweat trickling down his forehead. He cleared his throat and in a palpitation voice said,

"The chief was attacked last night..."

What he said was like a stone that dropped into a water body and caused a thousand ripples. The people present were buried in a heated discussion, discussing what only them could understand. If the family head was someone with a weak mental fort.i.tude, he couldn't have been standing there with equanimity at this time. He could have either got annoyed with the commotion breaking out immediately he started speaking or he could have walked away not unable to harbor their impatience.

"Someone he knows did the attack," he continued after the hurly burly tranquilized, "I am asking the warriors of our great clan to match forward. We must let others know that our clan is not a clan to be trifled with. As for others, we ask you to go to the clan's shrine and offer prayers to 'Ngai'¹ for the chief to get well. Our able medicine man Lamot is already taking care of the chief."

The family head then disappeared into the chief's house. It did not take long before the clan warriors were gathered in front of the royal 'manyatta'. The tribesmen walked silently led by their seer and priest to the shrine. They dared not talk about what they just heard fearing that that could cast a dangerous spell to the chief or even the entire Twiya clan.

After the compound was left with the warriors only, a middle aged man around the age of forty walked out of the chief's house. The man was powerful just from his look. The air around him was fierce and the killing intent emitted from his red eyes showed that he had washed his hands with a lot of blood. It was clear that he was a powerful warrior.

"Commander!"

The warriors bowed in reverence in front of this human dynamo. The man only nodded indifferently, the scowl on his face not alleviating a little bit.

"We are marching to Amonka small clan in Nkase large clan to demand for an explanation." He said in cold blood, the warriors followed by a loud 'yes sir'.

...

"I am here to find justice for Apeleka and her mother."

Inside a 'manyatta' in Amonka clan, a young man said pa.s.sionlessly to an old man sitting on a three legged stool nearby.

"Justice? What justice do you want for a killer?" The old man harrumphed coldly.

"Killer? It is true that women in this tribe have no say when it comes to who they should marry...but I know it is also true that a woman cannot be married to a man she doesn't want." The young man reb.u.t.ted.

"And who are you to bring them justice? I am Apeleka's father and Sankale's husband after all. Where do you find the temerity to walk into my house to look for justice to those stupid..."

He was not allowed to finish what he wanted to say. It is said that every lioness is protective of its cubs, touch them and it will tear you up into pieces. This was the same for Ochieng', the young man who came to bring justice for Apeleka and her mother. Apeleka was his cub, you touched her and you met your end.

He slapped at the old man's face sending him on the floor. Several teeth of the old man landed on the floor beside him. When he rose, he coughed several mouthfuls of blood. The way he looked at the young man even changed. It was like he was seeing some ghost or something. The slap he was given was too powerful, suggesting the strength the young man wielded. It is worth mentioning that even the old man's nose was distorted from that slap.

"Who exactly are you?" The old man asked his face filled with terror.

"Who I am is not important. What is important is that you should know Apeleka can never be stupid when I am around. Understood?" As calm as ever, Ochieng' monished.

"Yes! Yes!"

The old man nodded smartly. He did not want to receive another slap on his face. What a joke! The first slap almost killed him.

"Because of your greed, you forced Apeleka into a marriage she did not want, " Ochieng' began as he paced around the man, his hands held behind his back in a domineering manner, "Out of self defense, she accidentally killed the man. As a father, you could at least try protecting your daughter but what did you do? You left her in the hands of that pachydermatous chief. You even implicated her mother in this. Yes, she killed but considering the circ.u.mstances, was it right to reject your daughter like that?"

"I... " The man was speechless.

Just when Ochieng' wanted to continue with his lectures, he heard a deafening sounds of warriors going into battle echo in the air. He turned to the old man and said in a low tone,

"Here is the aftermath of your actus reus."

1: It is the way Maasai people call G.o.d.