THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

Princess Dedeli was already frightened. She heard a door crack open and then suddenly it stopped. If someone was trying to scare her, it worked. She turned her head to face the door that squeaked and prayed her mother, a servant, a guard or simply a friendly face will come out. She looked, she watched and gazed and no one or nothing came. To help ease her troubled mind, she wanted to continue with the story her mother told her the night before.

Jaaziba (Empress) Ashanti returned. She was surprised to see her daughter still awake. Princess Dedeli is as stubborn as her mother. She is determined and brave, and, her mother loved her for who she was. “You are still awake,” commented Empress Ashanti. “I told you mother, I cannot sleep. Not until I have heard the entire story. Will you continue or not?” asked Princess Dedeli. Empress Ashanti had no option but to continue.

The hero woke up in a big bed covered in white sheets. He examined his surroundings and thought he must be in heaven. Not only his bed but the entire room was exquisitely decorated. He tried to get up but felt a sharp pain in his chest. He felt his chest and remembered how it happened. He sat on the beast beating it into a pulp when the beast blew him away with a very loud roar. He was thrown at quite some height above the ground and fell flat on his back and everything went blank. His right palm was on his chest and he felt his chest had been bandaged. His room in heaven was nice but he planned for only a short visit. He pushed himself and was able to sit on the edge of the bed. Now came the part where he stands on his feet. He was trying that too when she entered – the beautiful lady he tried saving. “Was she in heaven too?”

She just walked to him and sat by his side. “Thank you for saving me,” was her very first words while looking at one side of his face. He tried to avoid eye contact. “Save... it means I am not dead,” thought the hero. “It was nothing. You ended up saving me instead,” said the hero now facing the princess whom was smiling. She said “no, we saved each other.” One young and handsome man, and, one young and beautiful princess drowning in each other’s eyes. Both smiling and not knowing what to say. Talk about a really awkward situation. Suddenly, he shook his head and asked “what happened to the beast?”

The princess told him that after he saved her, she run. Suddenly, her body stopped after she heard a loud roar. When she arrived, the beast was up and he was out cold. The beast was going to kill him when she placed her body over his – she shielded him and thought they were going to die together but nothing happened. She raised her head and the beast was gone. Then came the eyeballing and awkward silence again.

“Who are you?” questioned them both suddenly. They both laughed and the hero said “ladies first.” “I am princess Siyata, daughter of Queen Sinti of Gambua,” announced the lady proudly. With a smile he said “I am just Nanazi of Kilianki.” So, Nanazi can I call you Nani?” asked Princess Siyata. “You can call me anything you want on only one condition – you do so wearing this beautiful smile.” Princess Siyata blushed and tried to avoid eye contact. He also asked “Can I also call you Siya?” She too said “you can call me anything you want on only one condition – you promise to be always sweet like you are now.” Once again, the awkward silence returned. But this time, it came with something far more interesting.

It came with an attraction stronger than magnetic and gravitational pull. Slowly Princess Siyata was leaning in for a kiss and the lucky man, Nanazi, was more than ready for it. It was slow indeed but it was going to happen.

Suddenly the door knob turned and someone walked in. It was Queen Sinti. She had come to check up on the man who saved her daughter. She was an old and wise queen and noticed immediately that she has interrupted something special. The strong scent of attraction was everywhere. She looked at her daughter whom was upstanding and turned to Nanazi. She asked “I hope I did not interrupt anything.” “No!” shouted both Nanazi and Princess Siyata. “I was just leaving” added the princess while she hurriedly left the room and closed the door behind her.

A few days passed and Nanazi completely recovered. He was asked to stay in Gau, the city of Gambua to celebrate the festival of love with the royal family in the royal palace. He was treated like a prince until he suddenly disappeared. He left Gau without saying goodbye.

His leaving changed Princess Siyata. She tried to hide it but it somehow forced its way to the surface. Her mother finally got tired of her daughter trying to act brave and visited her the night before the celebration of the love festival. Princess Siyata was looking out her window and crying. When she realized that her mother was in the room, she wiped her tears and pretended nothing at all was wrong. Queen Sinti studied her daughter and told her this: “a mother’s greatest worry is her children’s happiness, and, you my daughter are clearly not happy. How can I be happy if my daughter is not? I want you to go and find him. Clear things up with him. Talk and find out why he left you so heartbroken.” Princess Siyata made a face and asked “you want me to leave Gau the night before the festival?” “Of course I want you to. But you must do so under the protection of a dozen of my best bodyguards. They are ready to follow you anywhere you wish to go,” answered Queen Sinti. Princess Siyata smiled and her mother smiled with her. While Queen Sinti was leaving her daughter’s room, Princess Siyata called out to her. She shouted “maa… thank you!” The wise queen smiled and answered “anything for my daughter. She closed the door before shouting “good night, my dearest!”

 The following day was the love festival. Siyata went to look for Nanazi in Kalu the city of Kilianki. The festivities had already begun and the city was very noisy. You know how people can sense their loved ones; how they smell or feel them when they are near? Siyata had one too. One of her guards asked “how do we find him?” She looked left and then right. She turned to look behind her and realized the difficult task ahead of her. She heard something. Empress Ashanti does not know and so do I. She just started walking in a particular direction and stopped behind a young man sitting on the ground with some kids and telling them a story about how he rescued a princess from a beast of hell. He noticed a shift in the attention of the children. They all looked at something behind him with eyes of admiration. One asked pointing at something behind him “is that your princess?”

Nanazi turned his head ever so slowly praying that it should not be her – it should not be Princess Siyata. His prayers were not answered. It was Princess Siyata. He looked at her like he had seen a ghost. He asked “what are doing here and how did you find me?” One of the guards was even more surprised that Nanazi; so surprised that he also added his voice. He said “yes! How did you find him?” However Princess Siyata was not ready to answer neither her guard nor Nanazi’s question. She had an important request – one that could not wait. She said “we need to talk, Nani.”

 She followed him into some wooden structure with poor furniture he called a home. Princess Siyata did not mind at all. She was very comfortable sitting on the hard wood stool he offered her as a seat. “You know why I am here, don’t you?” asked Princess Siyata.

“Yes, I do!” answered her beloved Nanazi. “I am sorry Siyata for the pain I caused you. It is just that I couldn’t go through with it. He paused, rose from his seat and turned his back to her. “Well…, go through with what?” asked Siyata. “With my quest for revenge,” answered Nanazi. “What are talking about?” asked the Princess. Nanazi sighed before telling his story:

“It happened about fifteen years ago (Nanazi was about twenty years old) when my parents lived in Manse, a farming village in Gambua. Yes, my parents are natives of Gambua not Kilianki. My father was a corn farmer and he was the largest supplier of corn to the royal family. I still remember tagging along when he made his deliveries to the royal palace. Then, one unfortunate night, his storage house was broken into and a sizable quantity of corn he had stored for the royal family was stolen. He tried to explain it to your family but they would listen. He and his entire family were condemned to die. A distant aunt living in Kilianki whom was visiting smuggled me out of Gambua to Kilianki and raised me as her own son. I remember first disappearing and playing with a baby somewhere in the palace until a maid in the palace found me and drove me out. When I came out, all I could see was fear in the eyes of my father.” His back was turned to the princess all this while.

“I came back to Gambua to avenge the death of my family. I met you and I realized I could not go through with it anymore. I started to feel something special for you. I planned on telling you on that day – the day I left. I came looking for you and found you kissing another man. I was angry but not angry enough to carry out my revenge. I decided not to stand in the way of your happiness and left without saying goodbye.”

He turned to face Princess Siyata and realized she was crying. He did not know that leaving hurt her so much. “So it was you. It was you from the very beginning,” said the princess. Nanazi was confused. “What did he do?”

“I am so sorry for everything you’ve been through. I know this count for nothing but allow me to apologize on behalf of my family,” remarked Siyata. Princess Siyata knelt before Nanazi. He took her arms and begged her to rise but she will not rise until Nanazi has forgiven his family. He said “fine, I forgive everything. I forgave everything a long time ago. Please rise.” Allow me to tell you a story of my own and if after hearing my story, you still do not want to see me, I will leave you forever.

“I was born very sick and no one thought I could survive. Then when I was barely two years old, a boy is said to have played with me in my crib. When this boy left, I was healed. My parents spent a long time looking for this boy. Only one maid saw him and she identified the man you saw me kissing as that boy. His name is Edu. Everyone expected me to marry him. We became very good friends and I strongly considered marrying him until I met you. That day, we shared a goodbye kiss. It was nothing but a simple goodbye kiss – I swear!” shouted Princess Siyata. “Forgive me! Please forgive me!” cried the poor princess in love.

Nanazi realized he had been blinded by jealousy. He too was sorry. He apologized to Siyata but all she wanted was a hug, a kiss and a promise that he will never abandon her again. She held on tight and would not let go. She cried initially because she was sad but later, it was tears of joy. She loved Nanazi very much and losing him would have meant veritable death. Nanazi and Princess Siyata returned to the royal palace in the royal city of Gau.

Princess Siyata went straight to her mother’s bedroom. She wanted to deliver some good news but unfortunately good news cannot sooth the queen’s troubled heart.

Whilst Princess Siyata was away on her great adventure to find the man she loved, message reached Queen Siyata that the dark King, Kofie had somehow been released from Jumbaga (caves of darkness). He held a grudge against Gambua and was matching with his army to first crush the home of the love masters before actually going on to defeat and control the entire world.

The dark King and his army of immortals cannot be killed. Only the love masters can stop him and they have been dead for a very long time. Many of the allies of Gambua have refused to lend a hand. Only a few will stand and fight with them. No, only a few will stand and be slaughtered with them.

After hearing this, Siyata gathered some arrows and carried her bow. She was a good marksman and decided to join the war. Nanazi, will not let her die alone. He travelled with her to the battle field – to die together. He had made a promise to never leave her side and he intends on keeping it.

Edu was the leader of the armies of men that decided to stand against the immortal army of darkness. He was thinking of what to say to ready his men for their first battle. Don’t be confused he was good when it comes to motivating his men. But this war was different. The opponent was not human. He must therefore choose his words carefully. Then they arrived – Nanazi and Siyata.

Future Queen Siyata shouldered the responsibility to motivate her army. She said “I know you are scared of the darkness. We all are scared of the darkness. The task that lies ahead is impossible but I would rather die taking on an impossible task than sitting idle and whining about how impossible the task is because at the end of the day, I want to be remembered as the girl who made the impossible… possible.”

“Yah!” went the army of men. Nanazi was very impressed. He stood next to Siyata, held her hand firmly and said “let me help you make the impossible… possible”.