Chapter 7
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." I told her weakly.
"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. She smiled at me and pushed back my disheveled hair.
" 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 again, my King, 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 if nothing else and I abide by it.
"Oh is that 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.
"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.
