I Feel You Linger In The Air

Chapter 19 - Commander Yai

I gape, totally speechless. I can't even speak a word, let alone explain how I know his name. Khun-Yai is not pleased with my silence. He raises his arm. "If you do not speak, then die."

My eyes widen as my heart leaps. "Wait, Commander Yai," a voice cuts in during the frightening moment. The voice owner is a middle-aged man in white attire. He steps out of the group of men on the ground. His manner is prudent, unlike the mighty men around him.

"Have you forgotten where we travelled past before the downpour?" he says. Khun-Yai doesn't relent. He points the tip of the sword at my throat as he answers, "The walls of the old city and the ruins have no connection with this man. The Taw City has fallen for ages. I am afraid he might be a thief spying on us and will bring his loot to rob us later on."

"Though it is a fallen city, we should not disrespect it," the man in white attire resumes. "How are you going to explain the appearance of this man? How could a bandit hide under the water for so long without drowning to death?"

Even if I am baffled by the situation, I am not insensitive to it. A bandit..This is nuts! Me? A bandit?!

"I'm not a bandit," I protest in a shaking voice. I won't let myself get killed because I am mistaken for a bandit! Khun-Yai flicks his keen eyes towards me. "Who are you? Where are you from?"

"My name is Jom. I came from..." I pause. I don't know the answer to that. I don't even know where this place is in the world. I can't risk answering without discreetly thinking. If they take it as a wrong answer, I might die here.

I glance at the men on the ground. They are dressed as they have jumped out of a historical folktale I used to watch on TV. Some of them are topless and wrap their lower bodies in drawn-up cloths like short loincloths, but many wear shirts. Ohm is in a short-sleeve shirt and a drawn-up cloth in a different colour from the others. All in all, none of them looks like they are from the place or the era I have recently left.

Where did the wormhole take me? Is it in the same universe or a multiverse?! My hesitation deepens Khun-Yai's suspicion. He fixes his eyes on me as the man in white attire interrupts again.

"Commander Yai, I beg you to listen to me. Our caravan has journeyed through the woods and mountains without so much as danger, for we have been protected by the deities. How can you forget that? Though he refuses to share his background, you and I have both witnessed that this man appears in the water as it once happened in Taw City in the past."

"Which event do you mean, royal physician?" Khun-Yai asks.

"The event that took place during the Oath of Allegiance, back when King Taw established the city."

Khun-Yai is stunned for a moment, then he orders sternly, "Take him."

Five armed mighty men drag me out of the pool. Khun-Yai goes to the other side to talk to the man in white attire, called the royal physician, but still glances my way distrustfully. Ohm remains where he is.

I kneel on the ground, drenched. I have been ordered to keep my head down, but I try to observe my surroundings as much as possible. When I got out of the pool earlier, I noticed a tent behind Ohm and those mighty men. I assume they are protecting something in there. No matter what it is, it must be important to this group of people to the point they are willing to kill someone turning up out of nowhere.

I suddenly get chills. Did I get swept to a barbaric land or something? What kind of joke did the wormhole play on my life this time? I think of Khun-Yai discussing the matter regarding me at the other side of the cave and feel unfathomably confused. Part of me longs for him, wishing to go there, touch, and look at him closely to see if he is indeed my Khun-Yai. But another part of me is scared. He seems fierce, unlike the gentle Khun-Yai I knew. The worst part is that he is seemingly displeased with me.

They talk for a long while before Khun-Yai walks back with a man in white attire called the royal physician. He asks me bluntly. "I will ask you one more question. For what purpose did you appear? Do you hold an ill intention towards  Seehasingkorn?"

I am perplexed. "Seehasingkorn...'ve never heard of this city."

Khun-Yai and the royal physician exchange glances. Khun-Yai then shakes his head slowly. "He talks strangely. How can you ask me to trust him, royal physician?"

My heart drops. I turn to the royal physician pleadingly. "Since we have not yet unearthed his intention, please spare his life. We do not know if he has been sent

here by the deities or forest divinities, and for what purpose. If you kill him, I am afraid it will be a disrespectful action."

"If you insist, as you are afraid it will bring upon ominous events, I will spare his life and take him with us, but I will not grant him freedom as the others."

The royal physician bows slightly. "As you deem proper."

I look around in a panic. What do they mean? What are they going to do to me?

My question was answered a few minutes later. I am held up as they chain my arms and legs. My ankles are suspended in shackles attached with a chain long enough for taking steps. If I run, I will trip and fall. I look at myself in disbelief towards the situation. My state is no different from a criminal or a prisoner of war.

I turn to Khun-Yai, who keeps watch on me a short distance away, yearning and feeling upset. Why did he do this to me? However, the cold gaze makes me realise my place and understand that, among these strangers, he is the one who wishes to get rid of me most.

Once I am securely chained, Khun-Yai yanks my arm and pulls me away from that area. My heart drums. I sneak a glance at his hand and arm that tug me forward, not caring that it is difficult for me to walk. The person beside me has the same appearance as the Khun-Yai I knew. Even though their faces and heights are the same, this person looks more mature. His physique is sturdy, like a warrior's, and he seems audacious, not graceful, like a son of a noble family. His skin tone is slightly darker, indicating he does his activities outdoors rather than indoors. He wears a ring on his right forefinger. It has a lion-head case holding a white-grey gemstone between its fangs.

"Khun-Yai..." I mutter, my chest feeling heavy. I don't know what to say, but I still want to call his name. Khun-Yai turns his head to me. My heart swells with the feelings I have for him. Is Khun-Yai right here the same Khun-Yai of mine...? Is he the person left watching me disappear in the fog on the road flanked with rubber trees?

My lips tremble, but no word is spoken.

"You are strange." He furrows his brow, his eyes curious yet distant. "You are as weak as a woman, but I don't trust you."

He tightens his grip around my arm and yanks me to the area near the entrance of the cave. Many people are there, all males. They build a fire and dry their clothes on the rocks. I look outside the cave. It is dark, and I can only glimpse the shadowy shrubs and trees. Still, I can tell we are in the woods, not a city. The rain has stopped, and I hear frogs croaking in the dark.

Khun-Yai pushes me to one of the men circling the fire. "Captain Mun and all of you, take turns keeping watch on him," he commands.

I watch Khun-Yai's back as he exits the cave without care for me. The man who responds to Khun-Yai's order walks over to me. I flick my eyes at him and gape. ...Ming!

I blink, but the sight before me is unchanged. This is Ming, the servant in Mr Robert's place, the one who taught me how to paddle. He sweeps his eyes all over me suspiciously before pointing at the narrow ground encircled by rocks. It is a blind spot with the only way out: Through the group of men ringing the fire.

"Stay there. Don't try to escape or pull a trick, or I will chop your legs off." Wow...How ferocious. These people are as fierce as a pack of wild dogs. I nod in acknowledgement and plop on the ground as told. Ming tosses a cloth, a big, thick blanket with a lint texture. I look at the fabric in my hands and glance up at him.

"Sleep on the dirt and rocks if you want," he says. I cover myself with the blanket and sit still, occasionally glancing at them. The men look at me as well. Their eyes and manners display paranoia. I ponder in silence. These men seem to be under Khun-Yai's command. I clearly heard they referred to Khun-Yai as Commander Yai, a military title. Ming is the Captain and takes orders directly from Khun-Yai. Therefore, the rest of the men must be their crew.

Silence prolongs suffocatingly. At last, I decide to lie down with my back facing the men and pretend to sleep. Soon, someone whispers a question.

"Is he a remaining Tawian?"

"How idiotic of you," another man shoots. 

"The Taw City has been abandoned for decades. Not an animal survives to this day. Let alone a human. All that is left are the broken stone walls. The houses and buildings were completely destroyed. How could he have survived alone? His complexion is oddly fair."

"That's why the royal physician suggested we wait. This could be a good omen, as it was back when King Taw established the city. He witnessed a divinity appearing behind a waterfall, reaching out his hand as though to offer a blessing. The Taw City was abundant in water resources and fertile soil until it perished in a war. This man could have appeared by the power of divinities."

I start to have an inkling. The story is strangely familiar.

"Is he a warlock?"

A clamour sounds around the fire while I fight the urge to get up. What are these men imagining? If they are going to come up with wild imaginations, they should consider my state first.

"Are you going to argue?" the same man continues. "He's either a warlock or a divinity or a nymph or a Gandharva in disguise. How could a normal human have emerged from the water without running out of air and dying?"

Some of them mumble positive responses. They resume talking while I mull over their previous conversation. Frankly speaking, I don't know Tawn City or Seehasingkorn, but the story is freaking similar to when I was drifting in the peculiar tide. I saw the curtain of water and held out my hand through it before getting yanked back and thrown out here. It happened in a few seconds, but could it have been decades?

"Is he a ghost?" another man exclaims, scared. "A ghost of a Taiwanese man was violently killed in the battle with Lanna."

Another clamor. My ears perk up, and my eyes widen. "Ai-Jun, fuck your shitty mouth. I'll kick the hell out of you." This voice belongs to Ming or Captain Mun. "How could a ghost be chained? He could've broken the manacles or your neck by now."

My heart beats faster upon what I have just heard...Lanna. It is the only thing I know since I was sent here, and it gets my brain worked up instantly. I take a deep breath, get a grip, and piece every puzzle together. The Lanna Kingdom, the Oath of Allegiance, the city establishment, and other things I recollect. I try to analyse and organise them into an intelligible story that points out my situation.

Om, om, deities roaming the earth since the beginning of time… The chant I heard as I drifted on the peculiar tide before being sent here replays in my head. It was

archaic verses mixed with long chants to pledge allegiance to the king, consisting of Praise to the Holy, Curse to the Treacherous, and Blessing to the Loyal.

I remember it now. The reason it sounded familiar wasn't that I had been in the situation; I had once read about it. I picked up the book from the shelf in a bookstore because the title piqued my interest. I wondered how the writer composed and interpreted the enigmatic pieces of ancient literature, especially the spectacular Curse.

Burn in flames and dry out to death.

All canals can be poisoned, thou be haunted in bed. Grass be swords slashing life out of thee...

Each line in the Curse implies that every step of the traitors to the land will take them to excruciating death. Burned, poisoned, and even terrorised in their own houses. The grass under their feet will become deadly blades. Killed by wild animals, crushed by the falling sky, sucked under the earth, beheaded by water, disembowelled, and other causes of torturous death.

Accomplices committing treason be damned by the deities. Die in three days, not three months, nor three years. Robbed of merriment...

This malediction is in the Curse on the Water of Allegiance as part of the Oath of Allegiance! 

The hair on my arms stands on end. The Oath of Allegiance is the rite to swear the oath with water before the king, influenced by India and the Khmer. There is a historical record stating Thailand performed the ritual from the Early Ayutthaya Period, the Thonburi Period, to the Rattanakosin Period, and it was abolished sometime after the transition of government.

...Shit.

It must have been me who appeared when the Tawians performed the Oath of Allegiance, not a divinity. Worse, 1 know now I haven't been sent to some bizarre universe. This place is the same world 1 have lived in, if a different period. To put it simply, I have reversed further into the past!

Unable to fake sleeping any longer, I sit up and turn to the group around the fire. They are startled when they see me.

"Captain Mun..Ah." I clear my throat softly and speak to Ming, "I'm parched. Can I have some water?"

Ming hesitates, then he approaches me, holding out a bamboo tube of water. I take the tube and drink from it, thinking of the right words. I want to know exactly what period I am currently in. The Lanna Kingdom lasted for a long time and encompassed several cities, with periods of independence and annexation. I need to narrow it down. I want to find out where in the country I am and what period I am in.

"Thank you." I return the tube and offer a small smile to show amity. Ming nods quickly in acknowledgement and acts as if he has no wish for further conversation. But hell, I won't let my chance slip away. 

"Captain, when you talked about the Taw City falling down in the battle with Lanna, what city and which king did they fight against?"

Ming pulls a face, his eyes exasperated. "We are Seehasingkornians. Why would we stick our noses in the business of another city? Stay away from me and never ask a single question."

I go back to my place right away, not risking getting kicked by Captain Mun. I don't think he would harm me, though, given the slight fear in his eyes. He must be unsure if I am a human or a warlock, but I still shouldn't risk anything. Their city, Seehasingkorn, doesn't seem to be on good terms with Lanna, considering Captain Mun's irritation.

I lie down silently. The men around the fire also fall silent, taking turns resting and keeping watch. Time passes with all the horrible feelings. I can't sleep, though I wish I could fall asleep and wake up to find out it had been a dream. I wish I could wake up on Khun-Yai's bed in the little house. He would comfort me, saying it was just a nightmare. He would kiss my cheek and forehead and hold me in his arms until daybreak. 

My heart stings with these tormenting and longing feelings. My eyelids feel hot. I can feel warm tears brimming in my eyes and overflowing in my chest. I curl up and hug myself. How is Khun-Yai right now? How shocked and hurt must he have been to see me disappear in front of him? How long did he stand there until he accepted I was gone from his world, without a clue if we would meet again? Will he wait for me? What will happen if I can never return to him? 

The thoughts occupy my head all night and get me restless. Before dawn, I fall asleep out of exhaustion. 

Captain Mun shakes me awake. I groggily rise as told and follow him to the cave entrance. It is early in the morning. The sun hovers indistinctly above the trees. The air is cool, probably from last night's rain. I halt and rub my eyes awake in my surroundings. When I peered out of the cave last night, I only caught shrubs and trees and nothing else.

Now, the scene before me is beyond my expectations. A male elephant stands by the great tree, carrying a carved wooden howdah covered in an intricately embroidered fabric for a person to sit on, sheltered under a large, long-handled umbrella. People over there are busy with their tasks. I spot luggage carts and multiple horses, huge war horses.

Some people are feeding them food and water. The smell of freshly cooked rice wafts in the air. They all wear garments revealing their chests, like parted vests, and cloths drawn up over their knees. They resemble ancient warriors. My heart drops in a panic. Don't tell me I popped up in the middle of a war!

"Captain, wait." I grab Captain Mun's arm, trying to steady my shaking voice. "Are you marching an army to wage war?"

Ming turns around and yanks his arm back, both amused and annoyed. "Take a damn good look around. How can an army have fewer than a hundred? And fifteen of us are females. Why would we attempt an attack just to be laughed at? We are part of the royal procession of Her Royal Highness Princess Amphan Niwat to Seehasingkorn with Commander Yai and Commander In as the Royal Guards."

"Princess Amphan.." I mumble, thinking if I ever heard the name.

"Her Royal Highness is the sister of His Royal Highness Prince Seeharaj, the ruler of Seehasingkorn in the present."

I nod. Things are coming together. The tent I saw last night must have belonged to Her Royal Highness. With my sudden appearance, I did deserve to be held by a sword.

Captain Mun leads me to the side where the narrow stream runs by. Water trickles between rocks from the side of the cave into the stream. I guess it comes from the pool inside. Ming and I scoop water from the stream to wash our faces and bodies like the other guys nearby. They gree, chat, and throw weird glances at me. I don't blame them, knowing how out of place I look, and my story must have been twisted and spread since last night.

Shortly after, we head back to the front of the cave. A few women carry trays of food inside. They are beautifully dressed in woven skins and round-neck, straight-cut shirts. Shawls hang around their necks, letting down the tails on both sides of their chests. Their hair is tied up in buns and secured with gold flower hairpins. They must be female royal attendants serving food to the princess.

"Keep staring, and your head will be cut off," Ming says in amusement, catching me looking at them until my head turns. I force a sheepish smile, not arguing. I don't want to explain that my heart doesn't flutter at the slightest sight of those pretty attendants.

I get to eat soon. Rice and grilled fish. I stare at them quietly for a moment. I have no problem with the meal as the fish is nicely grilled, but my hands are shackled. The chain between the metal rings is the length of a palm, not one foot long like the chain at my ankles.

"Captain, how do I eat?" I ask.

"If it's too hard, just starve," he shouts from the meal circle not far away. His comrades in the circle laugh, finding it hilarious. In the end, I eat just like that. Quite a struggle. But there is no better way.

After that, they prepare to resume their journey. Captain Mun strictly orders me to keep my head down. Do not look up when Princess Amphan exits the cave and gets on the elephant. The elephant is followed by the carts for the female royal attendants, roofed carts that shelter them from the rain and sunlight. Trailing behind them are the soldiers walking in formation, with the last being luggage and food carts at the back. Cavalry officers patrol along the procession.

I am positioned in front of the luggage carts with Captain Mun. I gasp when Ohm rides his horse past where I am to make sure things are in place. He is in a full soldier's uniform, with badges pinned to his arms and shoulders, and round silver earrings. He looks gorgeous. Handsome and dignified.

I avert my eyes and dip my chin when he turns my way, not wanting him to know I was staring. Khun-Yai already has an eye on me. I hope Ohm won't do it either. Ohm stops his horse. Feeling his gaze, I don't dare to look up. I wait until he trots away before glancing up and asking Captain Mun, "Who is he?"

"That's Commander In, the other commander guarding Her Royal Highness."

I mumble a response in acknowledgement and ask nothing more.

The procession starts moving. I drag the chain on the bumpy road and trip over after a few steps. My white shirt is splattered in mud, which only worsens my state.

"How hard can it be? Just take fast, short steps," says Captain Mun, helping me up.

I grit my teeth. He can say that because he can walk freely, not shackled like me. I tell myself to be patient and to take my steps carefully. I keep my eyes on the road to watch out for muddy puddles. I soon hear a trot approaching. I turn my head when the sound stops beside me.

It is Khun-Yai or Commander Yai. He straddles a horse, imposing as a warrior he is. He isn't topless like last night when it rained. He is now in a black short-sleeve shirt embroidered in gold laces like Ohm's. And those badges of rank. I notice Ohm and Khun-Yai wear violet-blue drawn-up cloths with particularly exquisite patterns, suggesting their rank is higher than that of other soldiers.

Khun-Yai casts his gaze on me, sweeping his eyes from my head to toe in silence. I brave up and flash a smile, an open, friendly, and genuine one. Khun-Yai doesn't smile back. He glowers and trots away to the front of the procession, leaving me smiling at

the air to no one.

Wow...Did he have to dismiss me like that?

I press my lips together in infuriation. I wish I could shout some harsh curses at him, but I don't dare to risk it. Khun-Yai's horse trots up next to Ohm. They chat in a friendly manner. He was so protective of his smile and wouldn't share a glimpse of it with me, but now he smiles brightly at Ohm. 

Khun-Yai pats Ohm's shoulder, wraps his hand around Ohm's neck loosely, and lets go, while Ohm touches Khun-Yai's waist. Then they both gallop up side by side. I frown. Feeling greatly bothered, I ask Captain Mun. "Commander Yai and Commander In seem close. Did they fight in battles together?"

Captain Mun chuckles and answers my question. It stuns me for a long moment. I am unfathomably stunned and flabbergasted.

...Damn.

I already thought I was tremendously unfortunate to be driven away further into the past. Regardless, 1 am not sure if the latest information will make the chart of my fate shoot up or down.

In this period, my ex-lover and my new lover are siblings.