chapter 5
There where murmurs among the villagers, Not only was it abominable for a man and woman to show physical affection in public but this was a fifteen year old prince of Kele palace and and ten year old Princess of Seke palace, they where engaged but not yet married.
What supprised the people about this engagement was why I was given to prince Sepo who should have been married with at least a child at his age.I on the other hand was not yet a woman, I was still a child...The people had seen it strange but no one would say anything if they didn't want to die.
* A month prior to *
Kele palace was built atop a large mountain they called Kelemachi mountain, unlike Seke palace which was on a floodplain. Kele palace had only three of their villages at the foot of the mountains and where mostly occupied by worriors...The palace was well secured.
The palace was made entirely of bricks, wooden windows and thatched roofings and just like the Seke palace, it had a long veranda leading to the king's study, audience hall and king's private chambers.
The queen's chamber lay further on the left side of the building. The concubines, princes, and princesses had theirs on different premises.
King Chani sat in his study on a Marula wooded chair, the room was brightly lit with the morning sun when the queen with her tail of handmaidens stood at the door of the study requesting for an audience, the queen was ushered in by the king's aide after a consultation. She made obeisance and sat on the chair opposite him.
"Why is my queen here this morning?" he asked queen Maliwa
"I can't continue to see my child suffer like this when I can help him"
"So you want me to take the life of someone else's child, is that what you are telling me my queen?"
"....."
"And besides we are talking about your brother's daughter, my queen"
"She is just a mere princess, our son is the heir to the throne, I won't allow a concubine's son take the throne when I can avoid it"
"What makes you think, nothing will happen to that concubine's son?"
"That is not the reason am here my king"
"I know why you are here my queen."
"I have made up my mind, my king, all you have to do is send a messenger with the proposal to my brother"
"..."
"My brother won't refuse, he owes me a favour"
"He does?"
"His insistence on marrying his beloved wife, a woman with everything but a noble birth will cost him his only daughter"
The king looked as his wife who looked even more determined to follow through with the oracle's solution for her son's predicament.
"You can go to your chambers, I'll think about it and send you my response"
When the queen was gone, he stood up from where he sat and sat on another chair just at the window, he suddenly felt cold as he remembered his father's words
"My son always be a just king, never do things you will regret to a subject because Nyambe our god fights for those himself....A bad deed taken to a grave befalls your bloodline"
"I can't do it my queen" he thought with a grim face.
He was reminded of the words of the oracle
"My prince's heart and manhood are held by a woman who killed herself because my king left her after taking her virginity and promising her the seat of the Queen...My prince will continue to have heart aches, he will never be able to perform sexually, the women will all die one after the other, it's a curse she placed on your heir to the throne"
"What if I change my heir" the king asked which payed him with a look of dissatisfaction from the queen.
"The same things will befall them, there is no way out, that Does not require you to shed some blood"
Prince Sepo and the queen where both present at the time of this revelation
"What is the solution then" the queen asked the oracle almost scared to ask.
"He is to marry of a royal family, she wants blood from a royal Virgin, when my prince marries a royal, the night of there consummation, that blood of the virgin is what will break the curse but....."
"Wait " the queen stopped her midsentence as if she knew what was about to be said. Everyone looked at her astonished
"My prince, you can leave now, wait for us outside" the queen said.
Prince Sepo stood up from where he was kneeling and walked out of a shabby looking hut.
"You can continue, but what?"
The oracle looked at the queen and king before she continued
"But that royal won't live to see the morning sun".