Chapter 1.2

He continued.

“Son, this kingdom of ours boasted of having the most beautiful black woman. All of Suramy’s sorcerers and magicians with virtually all those old folks who are called ‘priest’ sought after her in conjured visions, yet, it seems they were blindfolded. No one could foretell the future to the ailing prince. Days went by, moving closer to the deadline; for there was a deadline. The Emperor knew that if Prince Habeb died, his chances of retaining the aged dynasty will be slim. In Suramy, the dynasty had never been derailed. 

“The Emperor, being a prudent man, came up with a plan.  Since the priest of Suramy foretold that such kind of a woman, whom the gods required as a sacrifice to restore the prince’s health must come from the hilly kingdoms, he dispersed hundreds of his men beyond his territory.  They entered Achar, Disee, Egleton,and our kingdom, carrying parchments whose contents revealed the wealth that would be bestowed on any man whose daughter won the contest to marry Prince Habeb. This, we later discovered was a farce. It was a trap. Parchments were disseminated to all the Empire’s provinces and all the kingdoms.  People succumbed and got carried away by this misleading news. The news reached our kingdom. But the gods have never misled us. Briah, our powerful priest revealed to us about the evil of these promises. At that time, we were an autonomous kingdom. Warnings came from Briah’s shrine. This warning revealed repercussions. It portended destruction – and no one believed it would happen this way.  

“We never knew that chief Umai will disregard traditional rules like a fool. Despite warnings from Briah, which was peddled by the town crier, warning that no woman from Muzagah should partake in the competition to marry the Prince of Suramy lest evil reign in our kingdom, Umai secretly journeyed to the capital city of Suramy with Nana, his only daughter to compete for the prince’s hand in marriage. Fortunately, she vied and won. A fake marriage between the prince and Nana was organized. The outcome of that marriage became a triumphant victory for the rulers of the Empire of Suramy. Nana was murdered and used as a sacrifice to the gods of the Suramite which brought healing to the dying prince of Suramy. The monarchy stood firm again. The dynasty’s continuity was celebrated. The evil that clouded the royal family drifted away. Little did Umai know that a man’s quest to fulfill his greatest wish had prices that must be paid.

“He returned to Muzagah in secret but the eyes of the gods watched him. He flaunted his wealth, and it didn’t take long before we felt the plague. Briah made his inquiry, and the lots fell upon Umai, and quenched his life. Since this terrible incident, the gods punished us and made us pay great tributes to the Suramy Empire annually. And we do not know if we will ever be absolutely independent again. There is more to tell you. I know that you are troubled. You have a feeling of a looming war which, if you take a step to find the truth, you will see that the Guchi clan have a strong connection with the cause of the impending war.

“Last month, precisely on the fourth day, Prince Habeb of the Suramy Empire marched onto our kingdom. We thought he had come to collect the yearly imperial tributes, so his arrival wasn’t strange, since he came along with his troops. When he came to the palace, his gait seemed to be like one who is lame. He told the king that he fell from his horse. He was badly injured. He said that he fell down from his horse as a result of a momentary loss of his mind. We had thought that that was all. But there was more which led to his fall.

 That day he acted courteously. He talked to King Guaya like a friend. I and some chiefs who welcomed him were in the palace, and we listened to the young prince as he narrated his ordeal to us. We were all amazed by his politeness. He began by telling us that the Emperor, his father, who was a warrior in his youthful days, when he conquered the kingdom of Ballahi, met a fair damsel whose race originated from a very far country where the white people lived. The Emperor admired her so much so that he captured her and married her. He impregnated her and she gave birth to him. This is the reason he is of mixed race. Though his father is black, he inherited his looks from his late mother. These racial differences made him underrate the beauty of a black woman. He hated the indigenous young women of Suramy. Yet these girls admired him, as a prince, and above that, having a unique race as his enticed them, too. 

“When he said that he developed amorous feelings for his sisters because he couldn’t find a suitable black woman to mate, I thought he was crazy. One day, he said that our gods proved him wrong. Surprisingly, he claimed that a black girl’s beauty mesmerized him; that was the beauty he found in Nana. If anyone had told him that a black woman possessed such beauty he would have doubted it. And when the gods requested the most beautiful black woman as the only sacrifice they will accept in order to heal him, he thought it was a trick to push him to the pit of death. He’d thought he would surely die, but luck smiled at him. 

“To satisfy that sudden feeling of instant love he felt for Nana, he ordered the executioners to allow him kiss her luscious lips before she was beheaded. She died, leaving a big scar in his heart. So far as he lived, he knew that her death had left a deep wound in his heart. He felt he would go mad.  Murai, these things happened, but to think that the prince told us the truth was a terrible feeling after what he did to our beautiful Nana.

“I’ll drive to the real issue now. I sat next to King Guaya, listening to the prince talk passionately. We did not believe him when he said that for the past three years; he had longed for any woman that looked a bit similar to Nana. Remember I told you earlier that Emperor Zule is a sage. The Emperor became worried because the Prince had taken Nana’s death hard and it affected his psyche. The Emperor felt that for one to go on a search to find a duplicate of Nana; it would be fruitless if you commence your search outside the territory of Muzagah. He urged the prince to come to our land. Perhaps he might find a relative of Nana or a sibling of hers. Surely, he believed answers would come from here. This is what necessitated Prince Habeb’s appearance in our kingdom.

“The tributes were ready, so we presented it to the prince. We were surprised because he rejected these royal tributes so civilly, before he declared his intentions to us. He stated his words so well, yet we remained unyielding, even though we knew the consequences. I get confused, thinking why the gods left us to live by our own wisdom. I told you that the gods punished us when Nana was sacrificed to atone for Habeb’s sinful act. We believed that Banabella, my sweet angel would become another victim because she is the girl of whom Prince Habeb demands from us,” chief Hugadah announced.

Murai drew back in shock. “What? My sister?”

His father cast his eyes down for a bit, before speaking up again, as he narrated what happened.

 “King of Muzagah,’ said the prince, “I have no respect for kings who are mere ants that I can smash to smithereens. Dignity is given to the one who that deserves it. You deserve my respect. I will explain why. Believe it or not, I shall take no stone from your treasury if you give to me, that which I desire more than silver or gold. It is a woman, for I have been stricken by love; and I know that you must have heard about Nana’s death. News always flies so far and spreads widely. Believe me, I saw beauty in Nana. After she died, I kissed her body thoroughly. My soul has not found rest after she was killed. Speaking from my heart, I fell in love with Nana, my first wife, who was killed for my healing to come. Since her death, I have become an empty man. I need to fill this void in me with any woman who must look like my lost Nana. I’ll be honest King Guaya, I fell from my horse when I saw a girl. Your Grace, I saw a twin of Nana. She lives in this kingdom and must be the daughter of one of your kinsmen. Don’t be afraid. I speak no lies but only the truth. When I passed through the sepulcher of your ancestors, words came from my spirit saying, ‘look!’ And as I turned around, I beheld a girl. She looked just as beautiful as my lovely Nana. It was like a dream come true. I saw other young women moving in the queue, walking away from a nearby stream. This girl, who hypnotized me, moved alongside them. To be precise, they were six in number. They carried on their heads, clay pots of water, which was filled to the brim."