JARUMI DAN BAIWA

Description

In the bustling market of Hindu, a boy no older than nine, Salhim, flees in terror, pursued by a towering, menacing warrior wielding a gleaming sword. The warrior, clad only in a loincloth, leather sandals, and a small turban, is no ordinary man but a royal guard of King Mazwan, feared for his ruthless enforcement. Salhim’s crime? Stealing a single loaf of bread from the palace to quell his hunger. He had slipped into the palace, unnoticed during a bread distribution for the king’s slaves, only to be spotted by Mazwan himself, who ordered the warrior to chase him down and sever his head for his crocodiles.

The chase disrupts the market, with the warrior trampling goods and scattering vendors, yet no one dares intervene due to fear of the king’s wrath. Salhim, dodging through stalls, stumbles over a statue and falls, allowing the warrior to catch up. As the warrior raises his sword to strike, a sudden blow to his chest sends him crashing into a stall, collapsing it. To everyone’s astonishment, a small girl from the Indian jungle tribe, no older than eight, stands defiant, a bow slung across her back. Despite her size, she fearlessly confronts the warrior, dodging his swing and breaking his leg with a swift kick, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

Humiliated, the warrior blows a horn, summoning forty more guards who storm the market, attacking and looting. The girl grabs Salhim’s hand, and they escape into the dense jungle. She navigates with ease, leaping through the trees, while Salhim, exhausted, struggles to keep up. An orphan since infancy, Salhim’s parents were killed by Mazwan’s guards over unpaid taxes, their home burned to ashes. Raised by an elderly beggar woman, Harsum, Salhim grew up in poverty, hardened by hunger and survival.

Years earlier, Mazwan’s tyranny was evident when he confronted a traveler, Sham, demanding road taxes. Sham’s defiance led to a brutal fight, where he slew several guards before Mazwan himself intervened, wounding Sham with a precise strike. The king, relishing his power, mocked Sham’s bravery, proving his dominance. Hindu’s people, crushed by Mazwan’s oppressive rule—where two-thirds of crops and monthly taxes went to the king—lived in fear, knowing resistance meant death or enslavement.

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