Chapter 5

When the queen left the king's chambers, she went straight to prince Sepo's premises.

He was outside the quarters, behind his chamber, on a sandy ring, wrestling his best friend, the son of​ the chief worrior, Lonki.

Both of them had on loin clothes​ and they where glistering with sweat. Despite his heart problems, he was a strong young man and he earned respect from the worriors in that regard...

Lonki had married the previous month. Although they where both the same age, prince Sepo was yet to marry...He was getting frustrated with this but he was not showing it, his younger brothers had already picked concubines...he blamed his father's injustices​ and frivolous thinking as a young man.

Everyone but the king and queen thought the only reason he hasn't married was because he didn't like women near him. His rightful wife from Seke was still too young for him to marry, but he would have already had numerous concubines like other princes his age...He had known very early on about his inability to perform and wasted no time for himself or the countless unfortunate women who threw themselves at him.

When the queen walked on them wrestling, prince Sepo was on Lonki's back and he was twisting his leg and yelling, commanding him to surrender. She immediately turned around and the handmaidens followed suit.

Her son wasn't young anymore​, he was a man now and she needed not see how manly he was had become... which was very visible in the loin cloth he had on.

He grabbed a chitenge and wrapped it round his waist.

"You can turn around now, my Queen"

"Can we talk in private" she said looking at Lonki, who offered obeisance and left , so did the handmaidens after taking a hint.

He lead her to a table with three chairs on a veranda and they sat down.

"I have already talked to your father about your marriage to princess Zae, he will soon send messengers with a proposal soon"

"Isn't princess Zae barely 10 years old, my queen? I can wait till she is twelve years at least"

"You can get engaged and marry her at twelve years, there is no harm"

"I came here to tell you so that you can prepare yourself mentally"

"....."

"You will be fine my prince, I'll do anything to see you fine and happy, ANYTHING" she emphasised which caught Prince Sepo's attention but he didn't pay much attention to the words of this mother who was also too frustrated with the situation.

"Well as long as it doesn't harm anyone, am fine with your​ decision, my Queen"

To prince Sepo, a woman shedding a little blood on her first sexual encounter was inevitable, so if that was the only blood needed to be shed, it was nothing out of the ordinary...In fact wasn't it "happy" blood? He blushed just thinking about it.Lonki had told him a lot of things in that department, some scary, some just plain stupid and some he too wanted​ to try out.

That night, prince Sepo spent the whole​ night making a bangle out of the ivory given to the palace as tribute. He was excited about meeting little princess Zae, he had heard about her beauty, wisdom and intelligence at such a young age, that he couldn't wait to meet and marry her later. He sat near a night fire made for him, on a brazier with firewood to keep the room warm.

"If you give me just this one woman, who will accept me with the enormities i come with, i make a promise to you Nyambe my demiurge, that, I'll love only her. Even if i don't get healed from the pain that wrecks me everyday, I'll take only her until my demise... I prince Sepo, son of king Chani here on seals this promise with my blood​"

He cut his wrist and collected some blood in a wooden cup before placing it on a fire that consumed everything .

* Present day *

He heard the people's murmurs but still refused to put me down, the priestess, seeing that my father the king was coming down towards us, begged him.

"Put her down my prince,it is an abomination for you to touch a maiden , not to talk of a royal Princess, you can be branded as a perverse prince and unfit to marry our princess"

Understanding what the​ priestess meant and not wanting to put any obstacles between me and him, he relectantly put me down carefully​ and knelt beside me, the moment he put that bangle on my wrist, he'd marked his territory, be it platonic or sexually, I was his... married or not.

When the queen and king reached where we were, Queen mother came almost running, she was helped by Queen Maliwa to keep her from falling on the steps.

"She is fine, my king, it's the same thing that happened six nights ago, she will be fine"

My​ father nodded in agreement and looked​ at prince Sepo.

Because, holding me at the time seemed plausible, my father did not reprimand Prince Sepo.

Nanny came forward and carried me back to my quarter and lay me on my wooden bed.

"The celebration continues, eat and jubilate, everything is ok" The king said before returning to his seat.

The drums where beaten again, songs where sung, people danced and the celebration went on through the night.

I woke up to kneeling before the wrinkly old woman who would now be addressed as "the great one" and Kuku again.

"This wasn't supposed to happen, it's to early for her to concert to such ambiguities"

"I know but if she did, we have to find out why her abilities manifested this early"

"She needs to want to take on the pain of someone for it to happen, it can only happen involuntarily if that person is the antidote"

"But that's​ impossible, no one of us has ever found or met an antidote before, and certainly not when she is this young".

They had been talking amongst themselves and only looked at me at that point dumbfounded.

"I'll have to ask around in the realm of the dead" the old woman said.

"Yes great one"

"You have to help her now because you don't have much time either since you have already surrendered and passed on mantle."

"Yes great one".

********

I woke up very early in the morning, four days later drenched in sweat and smelled like herbs...Nanny was sleeping besides me on a tree trunk stool. She was startled when I tried to sit up in the room that was still covered in the morning darkness​.

"Nanny am thirsty" I told her with a dry throat.

"Oh, ok princess Zae I'll bring you some water" she said groggily.... looking at me with a beam of hope and gladness in her eyes. Nanny was like my second mother, she had taken care of me more than the queen mother had, she was virtually there all the time, we had a relationship that defied blood relations.

The Queen mother came with her and Queen Maliwa behind her, they came and sat on my bed.

"How are you feeling, princess Zae" Queen Maliwa asked with a full on facade.

"I feel fine, though I feel a little tired and my body aches too"

"That's because you have been sleeping for four days"

"Yes, other than that am fine". I said smiling.

To queen Maliwa, it was the beginning of the oracle's prophecy, because I had fainted after the engagement, she thought it was the curse being lifted from her son and she was just glad I wasn't dead yet to fulfill the prophecy...

My mother looked at me with relief and could say nothing as tears rolled down her face.

" Since I see you smiling, I'll rest now knowing you are fine princess Zae" she said at last patting my head lovingly.

" I think we will return back to Kele now, knowing you are fine" Queen Maliwa added.

By "we" queen Maliwa meant her and prince Sepo who stayed behind with a little entourage.

After the discussion of the bride price set on three hundred cows,  and fifty elephants tusks, during the bride price negotiations four days ago.

Prince Sepo sent his aide to inform the kings, he wanted to double the amount of both requested items,if it was ok with my father, the king.... Which shocked both kings, their courtiers and the Seke high chief. Because a man and woman in question are not allowed to attend the bride price negotiations themselves, prince Sepo was called into​ the audience hall to explain his rudeness.

"If I allowed you to give so much for my daughter, I'll feel like I sold her for mere cows and ivory. I have all those things here and am only charging you that much merely to follow customs and traditions of our land".

"Forgive this prince's impulsive behaviour but as true as your reasoning is...." he had not finish his sentence when he heard people present in the hall murmuring about his impudence.

"Quiet all of you" the king's aide commanded.

"Continue, Prince Sepo" my father said to him.

"My king, I am way beyond the age of marriage, when I heard I was getting engaged this prince wished for nothing else and was truly thankful for your​ kindness, giving me princess Zae as a wife. If my king had requested the stars of the night as bride price, I would have gladly obeyed his command, I meant it with the sheerness I intend to carry it through with."

" Is the tribute my people give king Chani too much for the royal family?" my father asked  looking at king Chani but testing his son.

The enormity of his intellect was non that my father had come across in a young man Prince Sepo's age.

"Excuse my impudence, but these things I wish to give are by no means from my appanage nor is it from the tribute sent by the people.... Due to my hard work, I had a good harvest on my own land given to me by the the previous king, my grandfather. A reward bestowed on me for answering a riddle.. I exchange my harvest with the livestock farmers every year. My grandfather told me to always adhere to one proverb and I abide by it.

"Oh is it so?"my father was filled with admiration for him. "what is that proverb?"

"My king, it is from a comrade he had from the Bemba kingdom. It says:

         "Nine titi uushangila mulya mung'ombe, Kano mwipindo lyandi....   kuti nakwanisha nangu cakuti tamun'gafwile mwe bakankala".

        " I can survive without the favours of the great".

Everyone was marvelled at the wisdom the young prince had including his father, king Chani.

"So what is this riddle our ancestor gave you" he suddenly asked  him with curiousity.

He gave the riddle to the courtiers on my tenth birthday but I at ten being to young to know my place, answered him. He had said:

"This man is silly because he drags his intestines"

My father laughed out in awe for he knew the answer. The predecessor of Kele palace had visited Seke when he was a prince, a long time ago, and he my father had asked him that riddle that same day, he was given the riddle by Kuku before he married my mother, the queen.

It had only taken him a couple of hours to answer it then but, It had taken the old man two days and one night to figure out the answer. when he did he was very happy, and had given my​ father a rare gem as a present before leaving for Kele.

"Do you, my courtiers know the answer to that riddle? it is a childish riddle I had given his grandfather when he came here​ once"

Non of the courtiers or even king Chani knew the answer.

"You can tell them the answer prince Sepo" my father told him full of expectation.

"It is a needle and a thread, my king"

My father looked at this young man kneeling before him with avidity, he wished for nothing else, knowing such a young man was marrying his only daughter, he was happy and his decision to have my engagement at  ten that weight heavily on his mind was lessened. He let out a resounding laughter that rung through the whole chamber.

"King Chani, when I saw your son today, I thought he was a pious young fellow but, I must admit, he is quite bold" my father conceded.

king Chani showed obeisance to my father before saying

"Thank you my king for your kind words"

Outside king Chani was very happy but there was ambivalent feelings inside hisself...

He didn't have a very good father - son  relationship with his son because of their conflicting​ views on governance but what he was sure about was that, his son had fallen in love with the ten year old Princess.

"How will he react if he found out the reason for this marriage, will he ever move on from the fact that she died because of him, if the time comes?" he thought.

"I pray that Nyambe reward your bravery and humble plea" my father told prince Sepo.

"Your grace is non that I have seen, even though I don't deserve your kind words, I appreciate the heart behind them".  Prince Sepo replied with glee.

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