L is for Lubun-Blue

        (My A to Z Challenge theme this year is Characters from My Own Books.  For each letter I’ll share an excerpt from my writing that centers on one character.  I hope you enjoy meeting them!)

         “Give me back my amulet!” demanded Lubun-Blue.

         “I would never touch any foul thing of yours!” retorted Imruk-Black.

         Once again Oru got to his feet and stood between the two nomads.  “Explain yourselves,” he ordered, as everyone watched apprehensively.

         Lubun-Blue said, “I have an amulet, copper with a sacred pattern inlaid in opal scarab shell.  This swine has stolen it!”

         “Why do you think Imruk-Black has stolen it?” asked Oru, before the other nomad could retort again.

         “Aren’t all his tribe thieving jackals, just like the one who was stealing this expedition’s supplies?  And isn’t my amulet gone?  Or perhaps it was this other Black villain.  They’re all the same.”

         Oru looked at Imruk-Black and Laal-Black.  “Did either of you take his amulet?  Or do you know anything about its disappearance?”

         They protested angrily that they knew nothing of it.

         “Do you swear on your ancestors that you speak the truth?” Oru persisted, his voice stern.

         This made the guides more solemn, yet their answers remained the same.  They denied any knowledge of the disappearance of the other man’s amulet.

         Oru sighed and said, “Well, let us break our fast and see what we can discover.  Time to rise, everyone.”

         When everyone was settled with their rounds of flatbread, Oru turned again to Lubun-Blue and said, “Now, tell me where you left your amulet, and how you discovered its disappearance.”

         “I keep the amulet on my belt, tied on with a leather thong.  At night I lay my belt beside me.  This morning when I rose and put on my belt, I found the thong ripped and my amulet gone.  Everyone knows that to sit down with a Black is to rise robbed.”  Lubun-Blue scowled at Imruk-Black meaningfully.

         “And are these childish lies the sort of witless evidence the Blue brought against our kinsman in Sisoa?” shouted Laal-Black, his hands straying to the knife and black fabric in his belt.

         Oru interrupted forcefully, “Enough of that; I asked what happened.  Let me see the thong.”

         Lubun-Blue returned to his rolled blankets and after a brief search picked up a short length of thin leather, which he handed to Oru.  Oru looked at it carefully and held it out toward the others.  “Does anyone make anything of this?” he asked, his voice puzzled.

         They all leaned forward to look, except Lubun-Blue who sat with his arms folded, still scowling, and Imruk-Black who continued to eat his breakfast with a show of utter indifference.

        Lubun-Blue (and a bonus L, Laal-Black) from Ruin of Ancient Powers, sixth book in a high fantasy series for middle
school-or-so through adult (excerpt from Chapter 3: The Theft of an Amulet).  More information here, or “Look inside” at Amazon.

[Picture: drawing of Lubun-Blue by AEGN, 2018.]

A-Z Challenge, all posts for the letter L