“No, he wouldn’t have the courage to attempt such a thing!”
Ayıbogan shouted to interrupt his son’s speech. When Tiger Heart saw that his father was hesitant, he continued raising his voice.
“The night before the hunt, the warriors reported meeting the two in his tent. How else can the traitors, who had been breathing hard in your tent just a week ago, dare to attack the two warriors on guard, father! “
The scenes in the naming ceremony came to Ayıboğan’s mind, and his expression became unpleasant. He had witnessed Pigtail stepping forward and rescued the weak orc from death and broke the hand of the grandchild of the other coarse orc.
“Is it possible? Has he decided to rebel against me after all these years?”
When the Tiger Heart entered the tent and started talking on his knees, the tribe could not be the same as before. He told his father, along with various lies, that the two Orcs sentenced to death had caught the Thick Fang off guard, that they provoked the Angry Bull and made him kill everyone.
“How does he not know why we sent them to the Great Mountain? Pigtail is trying to end our lineage by using the grudge of two Orcs for Thick Fang. As if it wasn’t enough, we let him live; you let him have a son too.
I beg you, father! We have to take care of this before dawn! “
Tiger Heart continued his words, crying out as if to rip out his lungs. As his eyes looked at his son, who was performing a great drama, Ayıboğan’s mind turned to that night eighty years ago.
There were some crucial rules that orc chiefs had to follow to perpetuate their lineage.
The chief could only make a child from a female orc capable of breeding offspring. For the safety of the throne, the leaders had to stop having children after the first son. This was the most crucial rule they put when he and his four siblings ruled the Orc Steppes.
Only one exception was when the rule was broken in a century. After Ayıboğan’s son was born, it was not five breaths yet, when the tent groaned with another cry.
Ayıboğan, who had to kill the younger twin boys, succumbed to his emotions. While he kept his first-born son in his tent, he sent the other to the newborns.
Until the officious healer told the events to Tiger Heart to increase his reputation, no one else knew about this secret. Standing in front of his father with the effect of what he heard, Tiger Heart would not forget the pain of that day’s slap for his whole life.
The healer’s execution was very quiet, and the appointment of the head of the supplies department of the tribe’s star hunter Pigtail surprised everyone. Having run out of options to kill his hated brother, the Tiger Heart would wait for the day of revenge.
“When the moon reaches the top, all department heads should be in my tent.”
Tiger Heart was too happy when he turned to his son’s tent. When he entered, he took the healer continuing the treatment and memorized the lies he had told his father literally to Thick Fang.
The department heads, who received the news of the meeting, started to make the necessary preparations. The information that went to the fighters’ department head was a little different from the others. That’s why he came to the tent first. Teams of warriors surrounded the outside of the tent, and those who entered were asked to lay down their weapons.
Pigtail had heard of daytime events before many in the tribe. The experienced Orc, who witnessed numerous injuries and deaths as a former hunter, could not understand why the incident was magnified, even if he was the chief’s grandson. After all, once you go hunting, you never know what will happen to you.
Entering the tent with these thoughts, Pigtail saw the department heads and aides wearing their combat armor. The inside of the tent had been guarded by many warriors as well as the outside.
Before he sat down with his assistant, he felt a great unease. When everyone who attended the meeting took their seats, Tiger Heart stood up and ordered.
“Quick, seize the traitors.”
Taking their orders, the warriors threw Pigtail and his assistant in front of the chief. The two Orcs, surrounded by warriors, were looking around in confusion from where they knelt.
“Two traitors set a trap in the hunt and tried to kill my son Thick Fang. “They betrayed my son who went to kill the lord of the Great Mountain with his warriors.”
Tiger Heart paused his speech, and two seconds later, continued, adding a bit of sadness to his voice.
“You all know the Thick Fang; his brave heart always beats for his tribe. Despite all my warnings, he wanted to do what he thought of. He tried to avenge his countless brothers killed on the Great Mountain, where they went to provide food for his relatives! “
The department heads and their deputies in the tent shouted after these words, banging their chests. The Heart of the Tiger continued to speak mercilessly, manipulating the environment as he wanted.
Tiger Heart, showing the Pigtail with his finger, said, “When my son and the hero warriors attacked to kill the cruel creature in his cave, the female orc who this traitor saved at the naming ceremony attacked from behind. Our warriors, who saw their commanders wounded, were torn to pieces by the cruel creature while running to help.”
Pigtail could no longer hold back and cried out, “Lying, slander, I have absolutely nothing to do with this.”
“Shut up. How would you speak like that in this holy place, in front of our supreme chief? When Thick Fang comes soon, let’s see how you can deny what you have done?”
Tiger Heart had asked his son to attend the meeting a little late. He would prepare the environment with a quick entry and make the final with Thick Fang, who suffered greatly from the wounds he received.
“What I went through, you will live too. You will understand what it means to see your son in a situation with mortal wounds! “
The assistants to the department chiefs had to be their son. This rule reduced the risk of being betrayed by their subordinates and kept the department heads under threat at any moment because of the fear that their son would be executed.
Pigtail, trying to stand up in a fury when he saw Tiger Heart walking towards them, was shot face down by the warriors around him. As Tiger Heart approached his son step by step, Pigtail had nothing to do.
“Everybody out!”
Ayıboğan, who had been silent since the beginning of the meeting, which turned into a hearing, finally spoke. All the Orcs stood frozen as his voice echoed in the tent.
“Everyone except two, leave the tent!”
The chief spoke as he pointed to Pigtail and his son. Tiger Heart wanted to protest, but he knew that any action he made against his father would be against him.
He was muttering to himself as he slowly stepped out of the tent after watching everyone go out.
“Idiot boy, I said be a little late. What the hell have you been rubbing in all this time?”
Ayıboğan spoke to his son on the floor as his tent was quiet.
“Raise your head!”
Ayıboğan, who got up after seeing Pigtail’s eyes, continued his speech while walking towards the two.
“Would this be the result of breaking the most significant rule of our family and keeping you alive? Is this the way you show your gratitude?
The slanders, the humiliations he suffered, and the attempts to kill his son had already passed the bottom line of Pigtail.
“I did what you told me for many years. Not once did I do anything to put you in a difficult position. Now when there’s no proof, don’t you believe me too? Father!”
After the last word came out, cold winds blew in the tent. He finally said this word that had been taboo to him for years. Under the astonished gaze of his father and son, he felt a weight fall off his shoulders.
At the same time, the tribe groaned with a thunder-like voice, and this outside cry completely dispersed the strange air inside the tent.
“Where are you, Ayıboğan? I came to separate your bitch head from your coward’s body!”
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One slander breeds other slanders.
William Shakespeare
