Hiding was exhausting; especially when you hid along with some two hundred and fifty persons. The first problem was about food. In the beginning, to feed all the refugees, food was supplied secretly from several farm villages whose residents took pity on the them. But when the supply was stopped—Amretasari believed it was because the farmers did not want to risk themselves by helping them anymore—they had to live by eating things that were available in Sungai Lumpur village; from fishes to roots. Thus, rigorous rationing could not be avoided.
The second was about the risk to be found. At first, the bribed rakshin could protect them almost impeccably. Then one day, without notice, the rakshin started to become nowhere to be found. Some of the refugee believed he was moved to other area, some believed he was dead. Some of the more cautious of them suspected the bribe could not buy their safety anymore and they will be found out in no time. Fortunately, the village had never suffered any raid from the rakshin. Possibly since the village was so remote—far away from the palace.
The last problem was the refugee themself. With so many people and so little food within so limited spaces, there was no guarantee that they will get along peacefully through it. An old man had been stabbed in the back to death by a woman whose child’s food was stolen by. Two young men got into a brawl—resulted in a broken jaw and a twisted ankle—because the one disturbed the other’s prayer ritual. One man dared to touch Amretasari, Indravarman was so angry he ordered the man to be executed only to be stopped by his mother himself. Conflicts also happened with the local fishermen. But with the leadership of Amretasari, all frictions can be calmed down.
Amretasari was a natural-born leader. She did not offer herself to lead the refugee, but the refugee trusted her. The Maharatu felt a little speck of joy since at last she was no longer around people who regard her as an outsider. She was now the queen of the minority. The queen of the outcasts. Steadily, the number of people who came to Sungai Lumpur to seek Amretasari’s protection increased. Usually, they hitched the carts of traders who were foolish—or clever, depending how you see it—enough to trade in the village.
Under that kind of hard circumstances, Amretasari was proven to be able to control and protect her people. Their strategy was, in fact, waiting. Wait as long as they can until the situation outside was better for them. They were able to gather information from traders and Indravarman’s friends who were mostly sons and daughters of Palembang’s noblemen. From the informers they realized that the state of affairs were nothing but getting worse.
For the Maharatu, the hardest thing she should endure during her hiding was being far from her daughter. At first, Amretasari planned to give herself up to the palace—with hope she can be reunited with her daughter. But of course, her son prevented her because he knew the rakshin will imprison her again or worse. Therefore, Amretasari shouldered the burden of maternal longing every day.
Each day passed with no clear clue what kind of hope they clung into. They understood that they could not be forever in hiding. Yet they also did not know where to go from here.
One day, hope came to the village.
***
No doubt the rakshin could not find her, thought the Senopati, this is literally nowhere.