THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

Whilst Ashanti descended the stairs to take her seat, the announcer’s voice was heard again “let any woman whom thinks she is more beautiful than our Holy Empress be cursed to perform mabala (a purification ritual performed by only women whom commit sins against the gods but are willing to appease them. This sinful woman must conceive and give up her child as sacrifice to the gods; a very painful thing for any woman indeed)!”

She had finally descended the stairs and moved slowly towards her throne. Again he shouted “let any man born of a woman whom thinks himself wiser than our Empress be cursed to perform kuyala – kuyala was another ritual performed by both men and women. This ritual demanded that the offender be publicly whipped half naked, denied food and water for three days and three nights during which they must be completely absorbed in prayers for forgiveness of their sins!”

Then just before the queen sat on her royal throne carefully placed on top of a raised platform above the court, the announcer shouted “let any mortal being whom thinks himself higher than our August and true ruler, the only woman amongst women, the great mother be cursed to die through yamala (yamala was the ultimate sacrifice. Any one condemned to die through yamala will first be tortured; his eyes will be slowly and painfully be removed from their sockets; his tongue will be cut off using a blunt knife and many other forms of torture will be carried out on his or her body before he/she is buried alive.)!” The Empress now sat on her royal throne. For what reason had she been called out?

Returning to her past, young Ashanti sat on her bed. Her bed was made of a wooden platform raised some few centimeters above the ground. On the wooden platform was a simple mat made of straw which served as her mattress. Her pillow was also made from a white sack filled with small pieces of straw. She had crossed her long thin legs on her mat. She faced her window looking out at the sky. It was really late but she could not sleep. When she closes her eyes, she sees flashes of her father and brother dying. It frightened her and she read it as a sign of something terrible about to happen.

Remember how she had met and had been staying with Nsofo for six days now. During this time she learned many things; like how to cook various types of food; how to wash and clean, and, how to sing to entertain her new ‘father’. But on the seventh day, she noticed that her adopted father was distant. He did not eat much. He neither laughed nor commented on her singing with the same enthusiasm like before. And it bothered her. She sat on her bed with a blank expression gazing out at the sky. There was a full moon which brightened the sky. Only a few stars widely spaced filled the bright sky. It was a really beautiful night but she could not appreciate it.

She sat in the same position for some time and began to doze. Suddenly, she heard approaching sounds from a distant – it sounded like some men were arguing. It got closer and closer until it woke her up. The argument was really loud. She feared her adopted father may be in danger. She rushed to the door and tried to peek through the tiny openings on the wooden door to her bedroom. She saw three men she could not recognize arguing with Nsofo. One of them was really thin, the second really fat and the third was really scary – at least that is how she could identify them. It sounded like the argument was about money. Her adopted father was demanding more money but his new acquaintances would not oblige.

Then she heard them threaten Nsofo many times until the scary man drew a short knife and held it close to Nsofo’s neck. This scared her. She run out of the door and shouted “stop!” All eyes were now on her. The fat one turned sharply at Nsofo and asked in a funny voice, much like the voice of a little girl “is this the girl?” Nsofo closed his eyes and nodded in response to the question. The thin one moved towards her, grabbed her by the arm and said “you are coming with us!” in a surprisingly deep voice. “What is going on? Certainly her “savior” was not going to allow these strange men take her anywhere!” she thought. The thin man covered her nose with his palm. She started feeling dizzy and yet all she could think about was Nsofo. She was worried about him and prayed before she lost consciousness that her god beyond the sky protect him.

Ashanti now sat on a swing. A single rope attached to a wooden slab was tied to a high enough branch of the mango tree behind their family house to make the swing. Her mother stood behind her and pushed her slightly to keep her swinging. Her younger sister was jumping and laughing excitedly. Suddenly, everything disappeared and she found herself in bed – her old bed in her family house sleeping. Rocking her and shouting wake up repeatedly was her sister. She wanted to sleep some more but her sister was very persistent. She was finally waking up when her door squeaked and opened. Her mother entered and with a beautiful smile said, “It is time to wake up my dear.”

She finally woke up and was greeted with a very different face. It was the face of a stranger she had never seen before. A beautiful stranger, a girl, said “thank the gods; I thought you were never going to wake up. I am Aisha. What is your name?” Ashanti stared at her for a while and started to survey her new surroundings. She lay on dirt in a wooden prison. Inside the prison were about four or five girls about her age. One of the girls, Aisha sat next to her looking pleased to have seen her awake. She asked herself first, “where am I and how did I even get here?” “Who are these people and where is Nsofo?” she had many questions and not a single answer. After sometime of examination and thinking, she turned to Aisha and asked “where am I?”

Yolopo was a notorious town that served as a border town between the Eastern and Southern empires. Strangely enough, it was also the name given to the town that bordered the Western and Southern empires. Well, the story about these towns will be revealed later. But it is clear now why people were uncertain about her origin. Anyway, Yolopo was the home of thieves, slave traders, magicians, prostitutes, tricksters and other shady characters.

Ashanti was now a prisoner in this strange town. Her friend shrugged. She too had no idea. The wooden door of their holding opened. A thin man, one of the three who came for her entered and forced them all to step out of the cell. Outside the cell, another man stepped forward and examined their bodies; he run his hand through each ones hair, lifted them with his right hand only and hung them in the air for a while. He later examined their teeth. When he was satisfied, he ordered the girls to move – an order they all obeyed with fear and trembling. They walked for a while and entered the market square. It was a market day and many people had come to carry out various business activities.

It was still early in the morning and the sun was not at its peak. In one corner, some women, improperly dressed were flirting with men. In a bar on their left, some men were drinking, fighting and singing. Elsewhere, people had started their selling and buying of different types of food stuffs – purchase was made with gold, copper and silver coins. Some carried out their trading activities by exchanging various items; a piece of cloth for an equivalent piece of meat. The market was really noisy that early in the morning. Some few people looked at Ashanti and her new friends with the corner of their eyes while others just blatantly stared at them. They kept on walking, turning and bending repeatedly. It was difficult to tell exactly where they came from and their destination. Finally, they entered a dark corridor and came out into the open space again.

A platform had been mounted in that open space and on top of the platform stood many young boys and girls. The bidding had already begun and one after the other all the captives were sold including Ashanti and her friends. She was sold to a fat lady whom wore very expensive clothing and smelled really nice. The fat woman was well known to run an exquisite brothel in Jumapafie (Southern Empire) serving her customers with the very best – young girls between the ages of fifteen and eighteen. She bought both Ashanti and Aisha.

The fat lady may not be bad at all. She smiled at the two girls, squeezed their cheeks and asked them “do you want to be the two most beautiful girls in the world?” they blushed when they answered in shy voices “yes” She said “that is good because I am going turn you two into queens.”

Immediately after procuring her merchandise, she left Ashanti and Aisha in the care of her three large bodyguards. People who run brothels have enemies, you know. She had some more shopping to do. She said “now that I am here, I have to buy most of the things I need from this wretched town.” For a town of shady characters, things were cheap and many people do most of their shopping there. But she took too long in buying all the things she needed and by the time she came back, the sun was already setting. One of her bodyguards advised they stay for the night, since they had to travel through the thick forest that separated Yolopo and Jumapafie (Southern Empire). But fatty was really adamant and insisted she could stay no longer in Yolopo. She said jokingly “this village scares me more than any forest in this world. Besides, why do you think I brought you three along?”

After a few hours, they had left Yolopo completely on foot and were entering the forest. Inside the forest was never ending darkness. One of the three large men led the way and the other two watched their backs. The man in front held a lantern that lit their way and the other two carried the shopping materials of their mistress. Fear gripped the hearts of Ashanti and Aisha and would not let go. Funny noises came from inside the forest. They feared the forest might be haunted by ghosts or serve as home to some dangerous reptiles and flesh eating animals. After sometime, they were deep in the forest travelling on an almost invisible and narrow foot path – a path overgrown with weeds.

They walked and walked for what seemed like eternity. Suddenly, the leader of the company signaled by lifting his right arm and everyone stopped. The other two dropped their items gently, drew their swords and took their stance – ready to fight off any goons. They moved very quickly to detect any assailant. Ashanti and Aisha feared even more and hugged. “What is going on?” they wondered.

Unexpectedly, about six arrows were shot from behind the trees and struck all the three men. The arrows perforated their bodies and yet they did not even flinch. In fact they withdrew the arrows from their bodies and looked not harmed at all. One of them shouted “get down!” forcing their mistress, Ashanti and Aisha to lie prostrate.

Ashanti and Aisha lay flat on the ground very close to their mistress. Ashanti touched her body and felt something liquid and sticky in her palms. When she looked at it, she realized it was blood; thick red blood. She sat up and looked petrified. Her mind presented images of her beloved brother, wicked father and the same liquid flowing from their lifeless bodies. The expression on her face was just fear – dominating fear. She shook while staring at her palms and screamed. One after the other, the guards commanded her to be silent. I don’t know but I think her mind processed the word silent differently because she screamed even louder than before. The guards were growing impatient with Ashanti.

One of the large men turned and with an angry expression yelled “if she does not shut up, I will cut off her tongue right this instant!” Aisha knew she had to do something. She rose from the ground, wrapped her left hand around Ashanti’s neck and covered Ashanti’s mouth with her right palm to stop her loud screams.

Their mistress lay on the ground. She looked dead and blood continued to flow from her body. More arrows were fired at them and Ashanti continued to scream behind Aisha’s palm.