章 2: chapter 1
Sekeletu kingdom
"Princess Zae you have to take a bath first"
My nanny sebi called running to catch me, I ran towards the door before I bumped into my attendant kubona and fell to the floor.
I started crying even though i wasn't in pain. I was ten years old and being the only daughter among the five children king Yanga and Queen Kathi of Seke palace in Sekeletu kingdom had, i was spoiled silly.
Kubona pacified me with a promise to pluck an unripe mango off of a big tree that stood in front of my premises.She bathed me and my nanny took me to my mother's quarters.
I wore a purple satin musinsi and baki with the goat skin sandles as i excitedly went to my mother's quarters.
I was about to open the door of mother's room when i heard my father say to her,
" It's just an engagement, they won't take her right away"
My mother's voice sounded hoarse and piteous when she answered my father;
" But she is too young, she won't understand anything, can't that wait for now?"
"We can wait till she becomes a woman, and do the rest, right now it's just an engagement" ...
At the time it didn't bother me because they didn't mention my name and I had a lot of cousins and two of my brothers where still not married too either, so it wasn't a new thing if one of them got married.
It was a promise my father King Yanga had made with King Chani of kele palace. He had three sons and four daughters from the Queen. Their palace was in the west of Sekeletu kingdom.
Having been defeated in a war between the kwansi and Malenga kingdom, the Malenga people of Malenga kingdom lead by three worriers fleed and settled in a place they called Sekeletu and here they established a kingdom and two sub - kingdoms.
The leader was made king to rule over all but will reside in Seke palace that stood in the south and east of Sekeletu kingdom and the other two worriors where given Kele and Letu palaces in the west and north of Sekeletu kingdom...
Everything was harmonious, Sekeletu become the most powerful kingdom as they conquered the neighbouring kingdoms.
They became the richest kingdom with a largest amount of worriors called the Zapo, a large number of livestock, slaves and minerals. There was no kingdom compared to it until the Letu palace divided themselves from Sekeletu kingdom and named themselves the Letuyako kingdom...
The Seke and Kele strengthened their relationship with royal marriages. Hence my father's decision to have me marry into Kele palace.
"They will be coming in seven nights, have everything you have to, prepared until then."
I knew my parents would think it bad etiquette if they found me eavesdropping, so I walked as slowly and soundless as my feet could allow me and walked away from the door.
It was too early to go to play with my uncles' children from my mother's side, so I went to the kitchen to watch as the cook prepared a mealie meal and crushed groundnuts porridge for breakfast...I liked to watch them cook and i got even more hungry as the groundnut aroma reached my nose.
"Give me some, am really hungry" i said to Mandi, the girl who was cooking, she was barely nine when she came into the palace with her cousin and now she was fifteen.
"You will get a bad diarrhoea if we don't let it cook some more"
She gave me a roasted sweet potato instead...by the time the porridge was ready i was already full and just had five spoonfuls of the porridge.
"Eat some more princess Zae, i shook my head and no one was going to force me, she just looked at me and took the plate away.
After informing the Queen mother about my want to go to my uncle's house, some fifteen minutes later, we started our little journey with nanny Sebi and two carrier bearers behind me...I dreaded using the carrier bestowed on me by my father the king because I liked to walk and run around...unless I was tired or sleepy I walked and ran. My carrier was an open mukwa wooded couch that was covered in a purple linen and black satin cusion.
My uncle Landa Mwane was my mother's brother and his house was about eleven kilometers away into the east side of the palace. one of my carriar bearers went ahead of us to announce my arrival. When we reached Landa Mwane's compound, a colourful house painted with a brown mud and two stripes of charcoal adorned their visitors' quarters that was facing the reed gates on the compound entrance.
Dalo and Nandi where waiting for me outside, they knelt down , I greeted Dalo first,we shook hands, clapped, shook hands again and clapped three times, this was then repeated with Nandi also. Landa Mwane's wife Mwiza spat on my Palms and chanted, blessing me with a long fruitful life before she directed me with the respect as the tradition demanded into her house. The Visitor's quarters had Marula wood chairs and a table on the corner of the room.
Two benches where placed almost at the center of the room, I sat on one and she and nanny sat on another...Nandi and Dalo sat on a reed mat placed on our feets.
"Thank you for visiting us princess Zae, we are really grateful and honoured to have you here. Unfortunately your uncle has gone hunting with his friends and am unsure of the time or day of his return".
I was used to people treating me with respect and always trying to impress me. Because I was too young to hold a sensible conversation with her and her knowing I wasn't there for her but her children, left the room to prepare us something to eat.
Dalo, Nandi and I ignored all the royal traditional etiquette and respect entirely when we where together,
"let's go you see the dolls Dalo and I moulded in the back yard,we left them there to dry." Nandi whispered to me, scared nanny will say something against the idea.
We where about to go out when Mwiza came back in, when she saw me standing she looked at Nandi with a reprimanding look and Nandi sat back down on the reed mat, when I saw Nandi back down I sat on the bench too. It felt like she had reprimanding me without saying a word to me, seeing that we where all seated again she said
"Your kuku( grandmother) is back from the neighbouring village she had gone to, am sure she will be happy to see you Princess Zae"
"Regards... she is back?" I asked excitedly.
My grandmother and I where very close, she was the one who helped my mother when i was born, the midwives who where present during my birth, said my mother was literally in no pain when i was born, she pushed me out effortlessly.
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