Children of Saba (The Epic of Aphrike) by Read N.K

Author:Read, N.K. [Read, N.K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Afrikkana Publishing
Published: 2013-11-08T00:00:00+00:00

Makeda walked through a scorched landscape, kicking up clouds of soot and ash. It sifted over her feet in white and grey puffs that made it seem like she was floating through the air.

All around her were the dying embers of fallen beams, rock piles of marble walls and slabs of crushed roof.

The palace was a scene of devastation. The blaze had consumed the Great Hall, the Blue Nile Chamber and the Queen’s apartments. The senseless arson had destroyed thousands of irreplaceable royal artefacts – galleries of artwork, precious ornaments, antiques, ancient pottery and tragically, much of Sheba’s historical manuscripts dating as far back as Agabo I.

She heard Kendi and Meme’s exclamations. They’d joined her on a quick detour to the palace to scour for whatever treasure they could salvage. Mutua had informed them earlier that what her servants had not managed to protect and store at a secret location in Axum, looters had stripped from the smouldering ruins and there was little to save.

Makeda sighed. I will not mourn what was, I can only place my hope in what’s to come, she told herself.

She’d felt the need for the detour following the theft of her bag in the markets. Luckily for them, Meme has managed to catch the thief, returning the satchel and its precious contents to the Queen, who’d ripped open the bag, sagging in relief at the sight of the gold sceptre within.

Although a catastrophe had been averted, fear and dread had crept into Makeda’s soul. I cannot keep carrying this precious relic around with me, it’s too valuable to risk losing again, she’d thought.

She’d smiled gratefully at Meme for his bravery while hiding her growing worry and unease from the group. The near escape from BiWa Kassa's henchman was another miracle or stroke of luck, which she felt she was running out of fast. She’d then felt a deep desire to visit the palace and connect with her old home, even if for a little while.

I need my father’s wisdom and I need it now, she’d thought, deciding then to visit Dungur 'Addi Kilte.

She turned a corner of the charred ruins and stopped in surprise.

Ahead of her, covered in fallen rafters and stonework were the four walls of what had been the previously hidden sanctuary, which still stood intact. She ran toward the structure, pulling off singed panels of wood from the hidden doorway. When the entrance was clear she run a hand along the door’s high arch the side of the door and found the hidden lock.

The panels and door open silently, their well-oiled spring-work untouched by the fire.

‘Thank Mäläkot this survived.’

She’d created this space nine years ago to the plans she’d drawn up with first love and it had become a sanctuary, a getaway and a sacred place where she would spend meditating and praying.

She ran through the rainbow created by gold stellated octahedron suspended in the air in the beam of white luminescence, falling to her knees before the small altar, finally alone, and entirely vulnerable.

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