Part 10 (7)

The young maiden Suzie was very sad, for the attack of the walking tornado had changed all plans, including her scheduled marriage with Governor Babida the lumberjack.
However, the beautiful bride Suzie was as she had always been, that was to say reasonable. She understood very well that the priority of her groom Babida was to save the land from total destruction, first as the Stateman that he was and secondly as the national hero that people looked up to.
Moreover, he had the trust of the Emperor, His Majesty Batang V, who had appointed him Governor, the second highest position in the land, and gave him the mission to rule over Okunde village.
And also the woodsman had made history by being the first ruler of a province who was not a member of the imperial family.
Therefore under these particular circumstances, there was no way that Babida the lumberjack could have carried on with his marriage.
He had to prove to His Majesty that he well deserved all the hope and responsibilities that he had placed upon him.
The young maiden Suzie looked at her groom who had the face lost in the clouds so thoughtful he was, then she leaned on him and laid her head on his right shoulder as a way to tell him: "My love, you are not alone in this fight against that calamity. You have my full support".
To this affective gesture, Babida the lumberjack who captured the silent message of his crush, silently replied to her by bringing his left hand to his right shoulder and patting the young miss Suzie's curly hair.
They stayed in that warm and intense position for a good while. And it was only when some volunteers began to share collation that they were forced to break the body contact.
"Oh, young Miss, they are sharing bread over there with coffee or...maybe Chai. Let me go and take some for us!" said the woodsman with the nicest voice that a groom could use to speak to his wife-to-be.
"Okay, my love!" uttered the young maiden Suzie with a small and shy voice, for she wished nothing had disturbed their fusional moment.
Governor Babida then stood up and went to the food distribution area.
"Comrade, please for two slices of bread and two cups of hot...Chai? Or is it coffee?" asked the woodsman to an imperial warrior who was volunteering to share the meal with refugees.
"Right away, Your Highness!" answered the imperial soldier to the Superior Commander Babida.
He swiftly served the logger who thanked him before returning to the left corner of the main compartment of the magical cave where the young maiden Suzie was impatiently waiting for him.
"A hot and sweetened Chai for the most beautiful maiden in the entire Batang empire." declared Babida the lumberjack to his bride Suzie as he gave her one of the two cups of tea that he was holding, making the latter blush.
"Don't you exaggerate a little bit, my love? There are many women in this land way prettier than I am?" The young Miss Suzie reacted.
"Well, I wished I was hyperbolizing but I am not. The truth is that I am the luckiest man in the world. A hefty and bearded groom like me with the most refined beauty that could ever be. And hopefully, soon we shall wed." The woodsman answered her with a smiling face.
The last sentence of her husband-to-be made the young maiden Suzie's black cheeks become even redder.
And out of the blue…
Haaaaaaaaaaa
The senior henchman Polo woke up and yawned.
"Oh, Your Highness!" He exclaimed, surprised to see that the lumberjack was back in the magical cave from his outing earlier in the day.
The aide-de-camp Polo stood up and gave the Governor of Okunde a military salute and while he was doing so, he mistakenly stepped on the left hand of the interim henchman Baba who was sleeping next to him.
"Ouch!" The youngster screamed as he woke up, for the pain was horrible.
"I am sorry, comrade!" told the senior aide-de-camp Polo to his younger collaborator as he removed his left foot that he wrongly laid on the latter's left hand.
The sleep in the eyes of the interim henchman Baba was thus gone and he jerked from the mattress when he glanced in front of him and realized that Governor Babida was present and sitting next to his bride Suzie.
Like the senior aide-de-camp, the youngster Baba rose hastily, saluted the Superior Commander Babida, and powerfully cried out: "Welcome back Your Highness!".
"At ease!" ordered Governor Babida to his henchmen.
Then he added: "Well, comrades we need to talk privately but before that, you may take some hot beverages and bread over there."
"At your command, Your Highness!" The two aides-de-camp Polo and Baba replied to him in unison, then headed to the food distribution area of the magical cave.