CHAPTER 24
Big Story, Small Story
The feeling lingered, as thick and real as the new supple, glowing gown the prince gifted to her. She was constantly aware of it even as she walked, with as much grace as she could portray, through a throng of admiring people. She smiled and said “I thank you” to anyone who passed a compliment. She felt it bubbling in her belly as she went to the spot for the important people of Mifirhana.
Several mats had been laid side by side to form a large one. Upon it were pots, trays, and plates brimming with foods, and more were being set down by young men and women who came and went like a bunch of ants. Nasomi sat on a stool in between the prophetess and an empty stool, whose owner, the prince, was entertaining a group of inquisitive children. He turned to Kanguya who stood by his side, and gave the kowasa something from his pocket. It was small, and it glinted in the light of a nearby fire. Kanguya romped up and down when he took the shiny stone. What a pair these two make, Nasomi thought. When the prince saw her, he waved enthusiastically. She waved back.
“You look radiant tonight, My Heart,” the prophetess said.
“I thank you, My Eyes and Ears. You are dressed finely yourself.”
The prophetess was in a fine brown dress dyed with red floral patterns. She had white bangles on her wrists and ankles, her hair combed out into a puffy cloud. On her forehead, half-hidden by hair, was a cowry band similar to the one Wakani gave Nasomi. She smelled good too, like the leaves of red ivorywood. The most beautiful thing on her was her smile.
“It has been a while since we had a feast here,” the prophetess said. “Ever since the king and queen died, there has been a gloom that settled in the whole kingdom, and Majiyo wasn’t helping things.”
“What will happen to him?”
“Exiled, perhaps executed. It will be the prince’s decision, with guidance from the Daughters and the Elders. It’s a tedious ritual—the execution, if it comes to that, and I know the prince will be loath to demand it.”
“Any child would be.”
“But he has to think of the people. Majiyo will come back, more vengeful, if he’s allowed to live.” She touched Nasomi’s hand. “Talk to the prince. He adores you and will listen to you.”
Nasomi saw Tebula and Kanguya displaying shiny stones to an intrigued audience, saw him give one to a demure girl. “I cannot do that, Eyes and Ears. I cannot be involved in this.”
“You already are, My Heart, can’t you see? All this celebration wouldn’t be possible without you. You’re the Heart of Mohale now, her judgment shines through you. If you pronounce that Majiyo should be killed, everyone will judge you wise. The prince will know it is the right thing to do.”
A heaviness fell upon Nasomi, but also the feeling of the tellings grew warmer. She needed to trust that feeling, else she would be drowned in politics she couldn’t handle. “I cannot bear that burden, Eyes and Ears. It wasn’t me who caused all this. It was the dreams – say it’s the Goddess if you want, or the stars.”
The prophetess looked disappointed. “You are needed here, My Heart. With you, Mifirhana is a happy place. You came to us at the moment we needed you most, even if we didn’t know it yet. You are a force to reckon with, a power, a queen.”
Nasomi gave her a sharp look. “Don’t say things like that. People are hearing.”
“I say what I see. You think yourself small, but My Heart, you are a thing closer to a goddess. I have been imagining a big story with you as our Guardian Queen. I know the prince would choose you. Your visions will be good for us, showing us the rise of our enemies, and we can thwart them down should they arise. Mifirhana would prosper, maybe even start mining copper, build bigger iron kilns, and send our own people to walk the Gold Road. We would build high walls, annex some other tribes for labor and grow a large army.”
Nasomi opened her mouth to speak but the prophetess touched her lips. “You are about to mention your children, your husband. Listen to me first. We can even send for your children to come and live here, and we would create a palace for you. You can send warriors after the Bride to retrieve your husband. You will be a happy family here, in your own grand palace, in a happy, peaceful Mifirhana. And when the prince is of age and he takes up the throne, he will protect and cherish you and ensure that you are fulfilled all the days of your life.”
Nasomi sighed. “You have thought of everything, haven’t you? But I must tell you I’m not what you make of me. Not a seer, nor the Heart of Mohale. I am just me. A mother. A wife. That’s my story. I cannot be anything more.”
“What about the prince? He would be the most heartbroken. What would he do without you?”
“He has you, he has the Elders. Please don’t ask of me what I cannot give.”
There was a long exchange of looks between them, Nasomi’s irritated glare and the prophetess’ disappointed glower.
Nasomi was rescued by a call from Wakani, who came bounding to her. “Nasomi Esha! I mean My Heart, My Lady. Come dance with us.”
Nasomi took the man’s offered hand, stood and went with him to a group of people holding up fire torches. They surrounded her, and her heart leaped for a moment. But they began to dance, and she was in the midst of a frenzy of torches as more people joined in. There was a rhythm to the stomp of their feet. Stomp, pause, stomp, pause, stomp stomp stomp.
Someone began to sing, a sharp voice raised above the din. The whole throng joined in at the same time. Their voices blended into one mighty consort, with no voice of the many out of place.
She caught some of the words, of a deep-chested tongue that wasn’t Ao’Mu:
Tsuyugarakaitero
Karanayoaruteyo…
The chorus went on for a while, and the words were having an effect on her as Majen did back in Nari: touching a deep place in her soul. The singing suddenly stopped. The silence was piercing, and the fire of her tellings burned hot. Then when a new chorus began, she was drunk with the feeling.
Keira ozotakutotera
Weka ozotsuyugara
She’d never heard anything so beautiful. She’d never seen such synchronized glorious madness. Someone grabbed her hand. It was Wakani. “Just do like me,” he said.
He moved like he’d known the dance all his life. The dance was easy to follow. A few stomps later, she was one with the people in dance, and mirth was bubbling up inside her, and she let it out.
When it was all over and the eating began, Nasomi felt she couldn’t contain the feeling inside her anymore. She knew that a telling dream, or dreams, was coming. With power. Something big was going to happen.
“What do the words of the songs mean?” she asked the prophetess.
“It’s the language our people used to speak before Ao’Mu,” Eyes and Ears replied, after a moment of deciding she wanted to talk to Nasomi. “Very few elderly people still know how to say some things. From what I know, the songs are talking about how the world was created from music and colors.”
“It’s a beautiful language.”
“It is being forgotten, alas!” She chuckled, became silent. “My Heart, I am sorry about trying to force you to stay.”
“It is well. I would want to be here all my life, if I could. But you must understand. I must go where my dreams lead me.”
When Nasomi went to bed later, she didn’t take long to fall asleep, and she was in a telling. Her awareness flew eastward over Mifirhana, over a vast forest, over a stone city overtaken by nature. Miles upon miles over a changing landscape: settlements, rivers and lakes, hills, a green basin, bare lands, a swamp, and then she stopped over a winding vale traversed by a river. As she floated down, she felt something break. Something opened, a barrier was removed. On the ground, under the shelter of a tree, sat Tambo, Reema, and the hyena.
Reema finished saying something, and Tambo laughed. His good happy laughter that Nasomi adored. The way he laughed when he was without a single worry. He was thinner than the last time she saw him, burned by the sun, withered by time. He also looked… happy.
Reema cut off her laughing, stood and looked up. As though she could sense Nasomi. Reema had the look of realizing that someone else was here.
“It is time to go,” she said.
“We just sat down right now!” Tambo complained. “My feet are killing me.”
“Don’t argue with me. Stand up, you two. Off we go. The cave is nearby.”
In her soundless voice, Nasomi shouted, I’m coming for you, Reema! I’ll get you!
As they moved, Reema looked back over her shoulder. She swept her hand in the air, and Nasomi felt the barrier close again. She couldn’t see them anymore.
The telling took her further southward, to a wall five hundred feet high. The wall stretched for miles, made Nari look like a chicken pen in comparison. She passed through the wall, flew over a kingdom of stone and fire, came into the chamber of the grand palace. What drew her here, she didn’t know.
She met a sleepless king seated on his bed. In his mind, he was worried over an impending civil war. His people wanted him out, and he was determined to thwart the rebellion. His door banged open, and someone rushed in with a dagger. Outside, weapons clashed, and blood flowed. Nasomi knew, without even seeing it, that somewhere in the Redland, a baobab tree had fallen.
She awoke.
Why do I see all these things? She wondered. All I want is to get Tambo and go home.
She wouldn’t let the matters of the world distract her from Tambo. Good thing she was still heavy with need for sleep, and the feeling inside her was strong. She was determined to break Reema’s barrier once again.