Chapter 4
That morning, I woke up earlier than usual. With the noise from the maids moving up and down, waking that early was inevitable.
The Kele Prince and his entourage had reached Seke palace that morning for the engagement after traveling for five days.
His entourage consisted of King Chani, Queen Maliwa; my aunt, Kele chief courtier Mbau Kani , thirteen maidservants, and their their sixteen carrier barriers, eighty goats, fifty cows, fifty pigs, fifteen sacks of sweet potatoes and fifty sacks of maize.
Nanny had bathed me, and clothed me in a purple Musinsi and a black baki, four white dots adorned the bridge of my nose to my hairline. I had on ivory ornaments in my breaded hair. She finished me off with a black charcoal colour on my lips, the one Queen mother and other order women in the village used.
" what function is there today nanny." I asked out of curiosity with the unusual things happening around me.
" nothing, just regular maize planting festival."
" If it's just for that, why am I dressed like this."
" Don't you like the Musinsi Zae? Queen mother bought it for you..."
" I want to go and greet my parents, I told her." We children of Sekeletu kingdom greeted our parents first, it was the most filial thing to do.
" The King said to not go today..." My heart sunk, something was really wrong
" Nanny am hungry."
I lied.
" I'll get you some food then Princess Zae."
When she walked out of my quarters, I went and opened the door, she was talking to two maidens who where sweeping my surroundings before she disappeared behind a flowery wall. I Couldn't go out the door so I opted to try my luck with the wooden window. But lo and behold, two palace guards stood guarding that side of my premises too.
We never dressed this good for the maize planting festival, at this time I knew I was getting married, the signs where poignantly everywhere. I was scared, I was only ten years old, I still wanted to stay with my parents. Did they not want me anymore?
When Nanny came back, she had a wooden plate with sweet potatoes and a plate with rice, mixed with sour milk in one hand and a cup of water in another...
She handed me a spoon and brought a plate with the rice forward, I wasn't hungry, I had told her that to get her out of the room but I wasn't going to tell her that. I took a spoonful of the rice and even with the sour milk in it, it's taste was bland. She brought the plate to me and I shook my head. Thinking maybe I need more time chewing, she tried again later but I pushed the plate away from me and she wasn't going to force me. She took everything back.
I threw myself on my bed in anger for Nanny, my parents and my four brothers, it was all their fault.
The sun was near setting in the east. It was leaving it's little orangey mild sister in its stead when Nanny came to get me from my quarters. The whole palace grounds was filled with people from all over the Seke palace villages.
The abattoir was congested with red and white meat that we could later whiff. Beer fermented by the best in zymurgy polluted the air, all kinds of delicate edible foods where prepared for the day.
I walked to the shaded side of the ground where my father sat on his royal couch with a purple linen on it, next to him my mother on her identical but smaller couch. A step lower than them sat King Chani and his wife Queen Maliwa...The step after theirs accommodated my four brothers on their smaller but royal couches on the left, and the fifteen year old boy I was to be engaged to; Prince Sepo, sat on a couch that was to accommodate two people on the left side of the step.
It was a pyramid of royal power.
The Prince was of a darker colour than his parents but one could see he inherited his looks from his mother, he exuded of royalty and goodwill. He wore a golden siziba with lion cub prints on it. He looked frail and pale that his face almost looked grey, He kept his eyes on the ground and never did he once look at me. One would only blame the long journey from Kele to Seke palace. I would have sworn I had seen his face contorting to a pain only he could feel...yet, on my way to the shade.
My father called to me to greet our visitors, I went and greeted King Chani, I shook his hand and clapped, shook his hand, and clapped again, shook his hand the third time , and clapped, he then flipped my hand and spat on my palm as a blessings and Queen Maliwa did the same. I proceeded to greet my parents who directed me to sit next to Prince Sepo.
" Let the celebration begin." My father shouted.
And with that drums where beated, tambourines resounded and songs of celebration from pitchy voices that left old people even more deaf, where heard.
Then a woman in a weird looking cloak came into the middle of the ground where a reed mat with two clay pots laid. Raising her wooden stick, the singing and drumming seized. She called me and Prince Sepo to her and and we walked and knelt on the reed mat. She did her incarnations, and sprinkled beer and blood on us from the clay pots before she got two ivory bangles and bringing them forward, she told Prince Sepo to put one around my wrist which he did and I did the same. Prince Sepo then summoned a Kele maidservants who came with one more bangle with her on a try. He took the bangle and helped me with it, so that I had two bangles on my wrist.
"Don't take this off, you can still wear it for five more maize planting seasons."
His voice sounded authoritative but kind.
He raised his eyes to me. Them that had a thick brow and long eye lashes to them and smiled. I looked in his eyes that looked sad and I must have wanted to take his pain from his eyes that was in contrast with his smile. An excruciating pain stubbed my heart, at ten I experienced someone else's pain.
Took it for my own.
My knees gave up and I fell, but not on the ground. I was in this Prince's arms
