“The Senopati told us if he does not appear in three hours, Samudra Raksa should leave the port,” said one of the hulubalang in the sambau’s cabin.
Amretasari felt crestfallen. There is no way he can make it alive.
The man noticed Amretasari’s feeling of distraught. “Maharatu, once he and ten men stormed a fortress guarded by a hundred men. They came out of it with no more than a scratch.”
The Maharatu smiled in response to the words of comfort. “Yes, I’ve heard that story,” she said.
There was a loud cheering (and an abundance of tears of joy) when they felt the sway as Samudra Raksa started to undock from the port of Sungai Lumpur. But most of them knew, the price of their coming freedom was paid by the lives of brave men.
Amretasari could not help to feel guilty because she had mistrusted him. Without doubt, Senopati Narendra had saved their life. After Narendra’s host arrived, Amretasari and her people managed to board Samudra Raksa. In the sambau, the refugee treated her immediately. They had bandaged her chest and made her drink herbs to lessen the pain.
The legendary Senopati Narendra, who had fought thousands of battles and live on, gave up his life to help the outcasts. Amretasari shuddered at the thought.
She turned and saw her son tending the wounded. As a mother, she can’t feel prouder of Indravarman. He had proved to become a brave and gentle man—no more a boy. Her son had thrived in difficult times. Amretasari thought he will make for a great king.
He was just like Sumatrabhumi, she thought, before he went mad.
Still, her successful escape from the rakshin was bittersweet. She survived with her son and her people, but she still worried about Anes in the palace. In such chaotic condition, anything bad could happen to her. Senopati Narendra had assured her repeatedly but she kept restless.
The incessant pain in her chest reminded her of something: the last time a woman with broken ribs sailed with this sambau, she did not make it. She hoped this time a better fortune was available for her.
“Maharatu!” shouted a man behind her.