A Royals Honor

Brother’ she ran to him hurriedly dragging her long dress so that it doesn’t sweep up the dirt on the hard ground and raise dust, her brother smiled as he looked at his little sister, he adored her, she stood by his side and handed him a jag of water, he received it from her and smiled, passing his hand through her thick lock of dark hair that had been tied in the middle making a loose bun

‘I thought the daughter to the chief shouldn’t run’ he joked with her and she glared at him

‘May you be successful in your journey’ she said nervously ignoring him

‘don’t worry baby sister’ he responded and their mother came, she too was nervous, no one knew what lay ahead of him, they were not worriers, they were a peaceful village of herb gatherers what did they know about war

‘Son’ she said breathing heavily

‘Mother don’t worry’ he encouraged and she nervously cleared her hands of sweat

‘I will be back’ she told her and turned to his sister ‘take care of her’ she nodded and put her arm around her mother

‘It is time’ the uncle said standing next to him

‘What do you think they want?’ asked the mother to her brother who was equally off to war with nephew

‘Sister, the men come here with spears and daggers and you ask what they want? Doesn’t the thing speak for itself?’ he questioned her

‘We have lived peacefully for so long, we treat their injured, why would they attack us suddenly?’ she was nervous at the point of crying

‘My queen, compose yourself let no one see your fear’ she nodded at his words

‘Uncle is right mother, you are the queen of our people, you should be strong and lead them, give them hope’ the son told her

‘And you are the future king, if something happens to you’ she stopped in her speech as her lower lip trembled at the thought

‘He shall be fine mother’ she told her and looked confidently at her brother ‘perhaps they just want to talk?’ the uncle sneered at her innocence and walked past his sister. The brother winked at her and left with his uncle

‘I have a bad feeling about this’ she said

‘Mother, he will return to us’ she smiled at her

‘we are just women Neima, don’t be naïve’ she told her looking over the village terrain as her worriers left for the battle field ‘we have lived peacefully after your father died because of the Mena warriors, they protect us, so I don’t understand why they choose to attack us? The alliance was forged years ago. In return for protection we supply them with herbs and grains for their land isn’t fertile, if they remove their cover from us, we are doomed daughter’ she held her hand to comfort her ‘everyone knows they have the best weapons and worriers amongst the four tribes’

‘We should approach their king and talk to them’ the daughter suggested

‘oh Neima’ she shook her head ‘if the Mena tribe turn on us, it’s only a matter of time before the Zwiri and the Atula come for us next, our land is the most fertile of all and they have always wanted it for so long’ she explained remembering the many battles that had been fought before

‘mother let us believe’ she smiled at her faith the men of the family had gone to battle leaving her worried to her stomach, the other worriers had come to protect them but her heart ached, just like it did when her husband went for battle and never came back.

*

‘uncle perhaps we should approach them and discuss this’ the brother said at the battle front, the other tribe dressed in leopard skin stood with their spears banging the ground fiercely with their king in front waiting for them to approach first

‘you are right, they just stand there looking at us’ said one of the elderly men with them, the uncle, nephew and two other well abled men approached them, they were fairly good worriers and they all knew they would have to face their fears. Nenga being the eldest of his family knew better than to cower and hide when trouble knocked on the Nkoka tribe. Having have lost his father at such a young age he had taken it upon himself to protect his sister and mother from harm, he would through the fire for them

‘That is close enough’ the chief of the Mena tribe commanded and they stopped, Nenga got down on one knee before the chief

‘My king’ he greeted sovereignly and stood ‘what have your servants done to deserve this?’ he inquired

‘You come at us with spears and daggers like we are criminals’ the uncle said Nenga elbowed him so that he keeps quiet

‘silence, you are no ruler of the Nkonka tribe to speak to me’ the deep voice vibrated sending chills down their spines making them swallow deeply as his eyes pierced theirs ’we took you in when your chief died, looked after you but this is how you repay us’ he echoed his disappointment

‘My king, your servants do not understand’ Nenga explained

‘You dare to come into my village, steal from me and injure my men?’ he asked them and they all looked at each other in shock

‘King Mena, we do not know what you are talking about’ he laughed out loud, everyone knew of the cruel nature of the king so they dared not to cross him. He looked at his son who stood proud behind him and moved forward

‘As if that’s not enough you bewitch my queen, my beloved queen lays dying on her bed as we speak’ he explained poking Nenga ‘I was told you were a tribe of witches and wizards but I refused to believe it’

‘King Mena we have been framed’ said Nenga

‘for what has been done to me I shall exchange a life with a life’ he said aiming his spear at Nengas throat, the men with him pointed their spears at the King angering him further making his worriers draw their bows and aim their spears

‘Relax everyone please, we can talk about this’ suggested Nenga

‘The time for talking is over’ King Mena said

‘King Mena please on the life of my life please listen to us, we have been your loyal subjects for over 10 years, you owe us at least once a listening ear’ just as the chief was putting down his spear to listen to him before he opened his mouth to utter a word a loose arrow came flying and pieced the old man’s heart he looked at him in shock holding the arrow in his chest sinking to the floor

‘You dare deceive me?’ he asked looking at a confused Nenga who looked around in the commotion for who had fired the arrow because it definitely came from their side of the field

‘Father’ the son moved from behind and held his father lying on the ground as he choked on his own blood

‘Son’ the king struggled to say

‘Protect the king’ the head worriers nearest him said and they all surrounded him

‘We should go’ said Nengas uncle

‘No, we should find out who did that’ he resisted, a battle cry was heard and men from both sides launched forward to attack the other, ‘uncle stop them’ he instructed the uncle looked at him and shook his head dragging him to a safer place but they got caught in the cross fire, as Nenga looked around and suddenly stilled when he felt a sharp object pierce his chest, he sunk to the hard ground looking into the eyes of his assailant who removed the spear and watched him mercilessly. ‘Why’ he asked gasping for breath

‘I needed you gone’ the man responded

‘you will never be king’ he told him and he laughed

‘You know it’s funny you father said the same thing right before he took his last breath’ he stabbed him again , Nenga fell flat on the hard ground and breathed his last breath.

‘Tell the men to fall back’ the uncle commanded and everyone scampered

‘Brother what happened” the nervous mother asked looking over his shoulder ‘where is my son?’ she asked eagerly

‘am sorry sister, there was nothing I could do’ he said and she let out a loud wailing noise collapsing instantly after wards, the brother lifted her and took her to her chambers, he came back and addressed the people surrounding him who had gathered at the sound of the wailing noise ‘the prince is dead and the queen is in a bad shape’ the people sympathised and they all broke into loud cries ‘this is no time to cry, they know we are defenceless and the Mena tribe shall attack at any moment, we had best be ready’ he said giving out instructions ‘while my sister is in that state am in charge’ he commanded

‘Where is the princess?’ the elders asked and he gave them a glare that shut them up instantly

‘if you have any questions come to me’ he said walking out and finding one of the men he had been with on the battlefield ‘where is that insolent girl?’ he asked quietly making sure no one heard him

‘The maids say she went to wait for her brother on the hill outside the village borders’ he reported back

‘Even better, makes killing her easy. Make sure she doesn’t come back’ he told him and the man nodded before running off in search of the young maiden. Nali inhaled deeply looking around making sure he was alone before he broke into laughter so loud it scared even himself. Getting rid of the person next in line was the easy part but now he had to get rid of the princess, he had to make sure that after his sister died which would only be a matter of time, peacefully of course, in her sleep, only he would qualify to be the head of the Nkonka tribe. He got one of the clay pots in which beer was brewing and poured himself a drink, he was damn proud of himself, this plan had to work. He had craved for power for so long it wouldn’t by pass him this time around. He remembered the day his brother in law had died, he had been the heir to the throne, he had no male siblings and so when he died he expected to be the one next in line, but his sister was stubborn and when she formed the alliance with the Mena tribe being as strong as they were he knew that he stood no chance for the people loved and listened to her. The thought of it made him throw away the horn in which the beverage was being drunk. He stood up and decided that he would go and finish this himself. Time waits for no man.

*

‘My prince we should leave this place’ the worrier who had stood nearest to his father said but he shook his head ‘my prince it isn’t safe’

‘My father is dead’ he responded angrily ‘we can kill every last one of them’ he instructed looking at the ensuing battle field with corpses lying on the hard ground

‘Prince I speak not as your elder but as your father’s dearest friend, we need to return to the people’ he told him, the prince didn’t move

’Someone has to pay for what had happened today, someone needed to die, blood needs to be shade’ the prince quivered as he spoke ‘send the men out to scout the fields,’ he ordered

‘The man who was talking to your father, the one leading our enemy is reported to be dead’ the scout who had been sent to oversee the lands came back and reported

‘Good’ sad the prince ‘was it by our spear?’ he asked

‘It is unclear’ the man shook his head

‘It’s not good enough’ the prince responded ‘we penetrate the village wars now!’ he ordered

‘My prince that is not wise, we have few men remaining’ the man spoke

‘Mengi do not question me’ the prince said ‘we are stronger than them, its only a matter of time’

‘your father’s body needs to go back to the village, let him rest and then we attack’ he cautioned the prince stood motionless looking at his father’s corpse lying on the ground covered with sack cloth he nodded. The guards started wlaking behind him

‘go ahead of me, I shall walk back with Mengi’ he told them and they ran while he walked with Mengi to collect his father’s body and ride with it back home, this was certainly going to break his mother’s heart, her health was already bad and now her husband had died, she wouldn’t take it well. The intention had been to bring someone back to help cure his mother but nothing ever goes as planned does it

‘Mengi watched the prince walking in front of him, he was so much in thought he figured that this would be the perfect time to annihilate him and pin it on the Nkonka tribe. Dying in battle was the best chance he had of subduing the throne, he drew the blade around his waist and slowly inched closely to the prince, he needed to do this in one swift movement, he equally needed to make sure that that one strike would kill him. Everyone knew what a skilled worrier the prince was, avoiding an altercation was definitely needed, just as he was about to strike they heard a woman’s voice, making him stop in his tracks and turn around, Mengi quickly hid his blade and looked in the direction the prince was looking, there was a young lady with another young lady with her, they were of the Nkonka tribe, they appeared to be waiting for someone or something.

‘Mengi’ the prince said and he was right by his side ‘take those two back with us’

‘Why? We do not need extra baggage’ he argued ‘I can end them right now’

‘My mother is ill, those two will bring her healing, or I shall kill them myself’

‘My prince’ he shrugged

‘Do not question my judgement’ he responded harshly

‘Yes my prince’ he answered and drew his blade advancing against the two young ladies

‘Do not kill them I want them alive’ he instructed further sending another set of men who had met up with them to help Mengi.

‘Who are you?’ Neima watched the men and instantly fear gripped her heart, the maid servant with her tried to stand in front of her to shield her from harm

‘Move aside’ Mengi said pushing her away and putting the princess over his shoulder despite her protests, one of the other men stopped the maid and tied her up aswel, they threw her in the cage designed to hold slaves, captured from war, Naima was scared as she looked at the faces of these men

‘My princess’ the servant said and she heled a finger to her lips to stop her from saying anything further

‘We shall have fun with those two’ said one of the men who had captured them the two hugged each other afraid

‘Touch them and you are dead, they are my prisoners, I have a use for them’ the prince said scaring them

‘No problem my prince, we shall just wait until you are done’ he shook his head at how sick these people were.

They reached the royal establishment, ‘what do we do with these girls?’ they asked the prince

‘put them in the royal prizon’

‘why are you giving them sucha privildge?’ Mengi asked

‘they are my slaves and don’t forget they are here to look after my mother’

‘how can you trust the very people who bewitched her?’

‘don’t start with thie Mengi, my decision is final’ he responded and the prince went straight to his mother’s chamber

‘don’t get too comfortable’ Mengi warned them ‘its just a matter of time before I get rid of all of you’ he warned and they hugged each other before he disappeared into the back

‘don’t just stand there get out’ ordered the worrier standing near their gate. They trembled as they walked out ‘quickly now’ Neima walked qucily behind Nana her maidservant, she was so deep in thought wondering what was so nice about a royal prison that the strange man had been angry with, wasn’t a prison just a prison? to her surprise they were shown to a room in the back of the royal establishment, there was a thatched bed in the corner with made up stools on the side, this place was clean, it didn’t smell at all

‘get comfortable you shall be here fro a while’ the man said pushing them inside and losking the door

‘my princess’ said Nana

‘shh’ she told her ‘no one can know that am a princess, let us just do what they say, maybe they shall let us go’ she said with a smile and Nana noded but was still in doubt, she had heard of places like this were people were held and killed but she did not want to ruin the princess mood and just smiled

The prince endtered his mothers chamver and he held her pale hand in his and shade some tears looking back at how his father had been brutally murdered right before his eyes, she lifted her hand and touched him bringing him back to earth from his mind which had been swearing its revenge on the Nonka tribe

‘mother, father is no more’ the mother immediately sat up at the news of the passing of her husband, he held her hand to straighten her and help her sit up

‘how?’ she asked

‘in battle’ he responded and she cleared her throat starng into space

‘he always wanted to die like that, he said it was a worriers great honor to die in battle’ the mother said ‘where is his body?’

‘they are preparing it for burial now. We shall give him a thunderous send off’ he resported and the mother truned to him ‘a send off fit for a king’ he added

‘son we have no time to waste, you are king now’ she told him

‘I never wanted it like this’ he responded ‘I always thought he would live to see me through this moment like his father did’

‘no one ever does’ she responded pushing herself to get out of bed and he helped her up ‘take me to the council of the elders’ she instructed ‘they should have gathered by now’

‘motehr father just died’ he insistered she rests ‘they cant gather without us’

‘we have no time to waste son, you are the king, we need to claim it now’ she told him and they walked with haste to the council of the elders, they opened the doors and found them sited, life is a funny thing everyone wants to take what isn’t theirs, thought his mother, even the third and fourth wife to the late king was here presenting their sons when everyone knew who the rightful heir to the crown was.

‘am surprised to see you here too’ she told them and they quickly bowed their heads

‘we were just called here my queen’ they both responded and nodded

‘well am not yet dead and as you all can see my son is alive and well’ she said looking at Mena

‘my queen, we were told you were unwell’ they said standing to their feet showing reverence to her and the prince

‘that is no excuse to hodl such a meeting of such importance without informing me nor my son, your future king’ she said ‘while we mourn my husband the late king you plot his successor’ she told them

‘no my queen’ they answered ‘we equally mourn with you’

‘deepest apologies my queen’ she walked to take her seat at the table and was surprised to see Mengi there, he sheepishly look down and she chuckled, everyone wanted the crown, she knew she wouldn’t be strong enough to seat through the meeting so she quickly knelt down in front of Mena, and bowed her head as a sign of respect.

‘King Mena, may you live a full life,’ she told him showing reverence, soon the rest fo the elders all knelt down with Mengi being the last. He cursed vehemently in his heart as he paid his tribute to the new king this isn’t the way it would end he would see to it that it didn’t end this way. ‘what are you waiting for give him the crown?’ she told the elder in charge of coronation

‘yes my queen’ he responded and went to collect it from the crown room, Mena looked at his mother, helping her up and she smiled at him

‘you are the rightful king, you shall rule us with honor and just, just like your father did and his father before him and those who came thereafter’ he nodded just as the elder came back with the merg to bless him as he leads the people.

‘we shall hold the ceremony right away’ announced the eder

‘no we need to bury my father before any celebrations can commerce’ responded Mena

‘ofcoruse my prince’

‘king’ he corrected him ‘am king now’

‘apologies my king’ he answered and Mena saw his royal guard who had grown up with him smile in the back ground he always told him he would make a good king

.