PRINCESS IN DISGUISE

Hi,

I am not a writer. Im normally just a reader, but sometimes I try to write, and here's some of the stuff that I  write

Princess in Disguise

~Prologue~

Her father, the king had passed away. Her mother was going to be inherited by her uncle Gekura who was also going to inherit the throne. She was her father's only child and according to their customs she was not entitled to anything, and by then she was only 14years old, her though mind was of a grown woman. She had seen enough in her short life to understand that this was not the life she wanted to live

Her father had been a different man compared to other men in their clan and village. Most men in their society married more than five wives, and it was up to the wives to produce food and other family necessities. Women were beaten by their husbands and any other male relative, and to them that was a way of life and there was nothing wrong with being beaten, in fact they took it as a sign of love and respect from the men who beat them. Men were warriors and they fought all battles victoriously

She had at least thirty uncles and aunts from her father's side, her mother, Mita, was from a far away village and she had been a princess who was given as a peaceful offering to the crown prince of Oginda who later became the king and Mina's father. Mita was lucky though, because she was beautiful and well nurtured and  Prince Oselo fell in love with her and he swore never to take another wife or a concubine, something that was very rare for King. Oselo son of Achula kept his promise and never married another woman despite the fact that Mina was born a long time after Mitta and Oselo were married

He had loved his daughter dearly, and he always told her that she had big brain than her age, he always told her that she will go to places and achieve bigger things someday. As she lay there thinking of him she realized that her life had changed forever, the protection that she had gotten from her father, love and care in a very special way was all gone. Her mother had never really tried to do anything different, she was just lucky that she married a good man and now she was just going to let fate sail her to whatever it had in reserve for her

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oselo son of the great King Achula of the great land of Oginda sat there in the morning Sun, he was watching his wife and some of her servants doing some house chores and he got into deep thinking. He had been married to Mita for about two years now, and there was still no sign that she had conceived. Rumors had started spreading around that she was barren and members of the council had started lobbying the King to marry another woman who will eventually produce the heir to the throne, but Oselo was reluctant to do so

His wife, who was given to him as a peace offering from the neighboring land of great mountains was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had a light-brown complexion and with the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen, the moment he set his eyes on her he knew that he had found his queen and that he will never be able to be with another woman as long as he lived

The fact she could possibly be barren was disturbing him a great deal, and he had already decided to go to the Lord of the skies for an offering. Their tribe believed in God who dwelled among the skies who gave them sunshine and rain. The land of Oginda had never known famine, thus their belief in the God who provided them with rain and sunshine was great, their  fields were always full of crops and their storages full of food, they normally made plenty to even trade with other lands whose luck wasn’t as good as them

Most Lands feared waging wars with the Great land of Oginda, because apart from its heavy rainfalls and deep green fields and forests they also had "giant-like" built handsome men, the men of Oginda always won battles as easily as how they won hearts of women from the surroundings villages, the fame of this land was known far and wide. All that considered, it was important that the reigning King produces an heir as soon as he started his reign

Their great King Achula, had passed away only a year after his Son's wedding. He was a wise King who always made decisions for the wellbeing of his subjects, but even him could not understand why his son wouldn't marry another woman after a year of fruitless marriage. Upon his father's passing naturally Oselo who was his oldest son reigned in his place. Osello had a lot of half-brothers and sisters resulting from his father's multiple wives, but the closest rival of his was his half brother Gekura. Gekura was only a year younger than Oselo and he greatly despised his brother. By the time Osello got married Gekura had already married two wives with a bunch of kids, but apart from that, he always also wanted his brother's pretty wife in secrecy

Oselo made a journey to the worship place in deep jungles, accompanied by only the priest and two servants who were bringing along a beautiful healthy she-goat as an offering to the great God. The journey was of two days and two nights and before arriving to the offering place they met an old woman who was wounded greatly, they had to stop and help her. She appeared to be from the neighboring village and they couldn't quite understand what she saying was as she just kept murmuring something that they couldn't figure out

They nursed her for about one night and one day when she regained her consciousness and was able to talk and walk she explained to them that she had come to make an offering to the great God for her son's well-being as he was very ill, she blessed the king by telling him that he will get his heart's deepest wish but it may be a blessing in disguise

After the departure of the old woman the king and his small convoy made their way to the offering place and made it back to village safely. After a short while Mita conceived and as her delivery days neared greatest feast was being prepared to welcome the little prince who would later rule the great land.  At exactly one year after Oselo's encounter with  the old woman in the forest, Mita gave birth to a very healthy and beautiful baby girl

The kingdom was heartbroken. The queen couldn't even hold her newly born daughter. The king however was of different state of mind, he ordered all celebrations which had been planned for the birth of the prince to continue as scheduled, and he declared a feast of three days across the land to celebrate the birth of his daughter. He said "a daughter or a son it is still a blessing from the great God" besides he remembered the words of the old woman "that his heart's desire will be fulfilled but may be a blessing in disguise. Oselo son of Achula named his daughter "Mina" meaning a blessing

Mina grew up each day becoming more wise and beautiful. Her mother never borne another living child, she gave birth to a still-born son a couple of years after Mina was born and that was it. The king remained devoted to his wife and daughter and Princess Mina had all that her heart desired. The council grew tired of convincing the King to marry another wife and they were so taken by his good leadership and they way he deeply cared for his subjects to keep noticing that he hadn't produced an heir yet. 

~ Chapter One ~

Mina ~ A Curious Princess

The great land of Oginda was widely known for having plenty of beautiful women who were well nurtured and mannered. But of all the young girls in the whole wide land none was as beautiful and well behaved and nurtured as Mina, the Princess. Although she was still of tender age and was growing up in a pampered environment she was not spoilt, not even one bit. She had a curious habit, and she would always want to know the in-depth details of everything that she encountered. Mina spent most of her time with adults than she did with kids her age, and in a most surprising way none of the adults she spent time with found her annoying. As a kid she knew how to be curious without getting in the way.  

Her mother, Mita, loved Mina in her own way. She knew not how to express her love to her daughter, may be because she was still secretly wishing that she had been a boy instead. Mina knew this, and as a result she always tried to stay out of her mother's way. As Mina grew, her mother started realizing her potential but the shield her daughter had already created in her early childhood years made it difficult for her to get close to her, and deep down she knew that Mina would always be daddy's daughter.

One fine morning the village was awaken by the wailing sounds from the palace. The princess was missing. There had been a feast previous night and the princess had led a group of young girls in a very beautiful dance that left everyone mesmerized, Mina single handled had created and organized the whole recital from the scratch, and everyone agreed that they had never seen or heard anything like that before, after the dance Mina went to bed and by next morning when the servant went to awaken her for her usual morning routine the princess was no where to be found.

An alarm was raised and all activities were cancelled. The major priority was finding the Princess, safe and sound. Oselo himself led one group of the village men who went out to look for Mina, they searched far and wide, no stone was left unturned and as the day grew old they both sensed that great disaster was about to befall their peaceful land, then Oselo had an idea... 

A while ago, actually few days back while sitting at the river bank with Mina she had asked about the great cave that the great Usiriri river flew above. She had heard stories about the cave, that most people who went in never came back because of an old woman who resided in the cave, it was said that the woman had an ability to grant a person eternal wisdom but only after answering one question correctly, the myth went on that if someone failed to answer the question correctly then that person was never seen again. As far as the myth goes, only one person had ever been in and out of the cave and that person was the founder of Oginda and also a great great grandfather to Mina. Oselo confirmed the details of the story to be true, but forbade Mina to never even think of going to the cave.

The Cave 

Mina was never a rebellious child, but sometimes her curiosity got the better of her, and that was what had happened. After the dance she went to sleep, which she actually didn't. She stayed awake until everyone went to sleep and slipped out in the dark without being seen by the guards and headed straight to the river. Upon reaching there she chose carefully the easy way down the river's steep delta walls until she made it to the dry bottom part of the river, the part which was believed to be the mouth of the cave, she had taken with her a lighting stick which she now lit to help her see through, although it was a Mooney night she still could not see clearly once she was the river.

She located the mouth of the cave and started her way in, it was very slippery and she had to be very careful as she was using only one hand while the other was holding the lighting stick, at some point the stick got wet and went off, and from there she started using her hands to sense her way through. She struggled with pit holes until she she found herself inside a narrow dark but warm passage. She was already really cold, and the darkness started terrifying her, she was now imagining all sorts of dangerous insects and snakes that resides in dark caves, and the thoughts only made her even more scared. She kept walking thanking God that she remembered to wear her handmade leather shoes “kubadhi” which were made from completely natural dried leather, no insect could get in through them and they extended as far as near her knees.

She felt a soft ground beneath her, and she realized she had stepped on a pile of dried grasses; she got an idea of lighting a fire. Using two dry stones like her father had always taught her she managed to lit a small fire. She knew that the fire wouldn’t last long as the grasses were being consumed really fast, then she spotted a dried up small fallen tree near by, it was a short bushy tree, and for some reason that she didn’t understand it was uprooted. She quickly used her hands to cut some few branches and threw them on fire and suddenly the fire blew big, big enough for her to start seeing the walls of the narrow cave and the engravings that were made on the walls. She pulled the tree nearby the fire, as it wasn’t very big she managed without difficulties and she started inspecting the walls.

She realized that the engravings were made from brick red colorful painting, most likely lily berries that women in her village used as a cosmetic, but the color was now fading probably due to time and wind. She took a branch from the fire and used it as light and she kept walking deeper in the cave while going through engravings. Most part of the engravings showed nature, how plants grew and wild animals were born, some showed human village with people doing various activities, and then the deeper she went the engravings became less appealing and more saddening, she saw human figures killing wild beasts, spoiling rivers and even cutting down the trees, and soon all that she could see were plain lands with a big sun engraved above it shinning too bright. Then she saw what looked like a vey windy land with huts being blown away and people falling due to the breeze. And suddenly she found herself at the end of the cave.

She had expected that the cave would widen as she walked but it didn’t, she tried looking for clues that maybe the old woman was hiding in some other parts of the cave but she did not find anyone or anything to show he that there was a human being living there, so she turned back and started walking towards the mouth of the cave. She reached a point where she had lit the fire and found it almost dying, she added some more branches and suddenly she realized that it was heavily raining. She had no idea how long it was before sunrise but she knew more than anything that she ought to be home before sunrise or else her father was going to flip, and probably he would never trust her again.

It kept pouring, and she was getting more worried and impatient by the minute. Suddenly a strange light seemed to be filling the cave, it became as clear as a day light, Mina got scared because she could not locate the source of the strange light. A voice spoke to her from behind, when she turned she saw a beautifully dressed woman, a little old but not too old. The woman had unusual long hair and very beautiful facial features, and she spoke to her gently “My daughter, you have come seeking for the truth about things that you can neither see nor understand, why do you think u deserve to know the truth?”, Mina who was still mesmerized by the radiant lights that seemed to be created by her clothes found herself replying without thinking “Because I am a true heart and pure heart who seeks for the truth”

The old lady seemed to have brightened, and a wide smile spread across her face and she replied “a true heart indeed I see, may your heart desire be fulfilled and may you always see and listen with your heart, for your heart is as pure as the morning dew” after saying that, the lady faded slowly until she completely vanished and it was dark again in the cave. Mina’s head was spinning fast, she felt like she had awaken from a deep sleep with a strange dream, to her relief she realized that it had stopped raining and she could only hear the sound of the river flowing harshly down the steep slope. She drew a stick from the fire and made it out the cave.

As she was struggling to make it down the steep sloppy walls of the river, she thought she heard voices calling her name, and to her astonishment it was already morning, it was even sunny. The crew which was led by her father had come down the river to look for her after her father remembered her interest to the cave. They were calling out her name, and by the time she made it to the top her father was there waiting for her. Several village men who had accompanied her father to the river saw her as she exited the cave, the forbidden cave. By the time he made it to the village the story had already spread, that the princess was able to enter and come out of the forbidden cave safely, her fame spread among her people.

Gekura

Gekura sat by the awina tree, he was so furious that he could actually feel the heat coming out of his nose. He hated that Mina with all his strength, as the days passed he become more obsessed with the throne, and as long as his brother did not produce an heir he was then an apparent heir to the throne. But what had him pissed off this much now was the fact some of the old men who were members of the council had seriously started considering Mina as an heir to the throne. They had already sent out messengers to the near and far lands to see if there’s any land that has ever crowned a woman to become their leader. Evil plot was cooking inside Gekura’s head, and Princess Mina knew it. She could see it through his eyes, but there was nothing that she could do about it, not without angering her father.

One of the messengers who had been sent out for inquiries came back, he had gone as far as the fourth ridge towards the land of the Sun, but what brought him back too soon was the bad news he had encountered on his way to the land of Sun. He had come across a village which had completely been dominated by very pale looking people, these pale people spoke a weird language and he could not understand them, when he spoke to one of the native villager he was told that the pale people had come as friends and offered their chief some gifts,  and their chief agreed to trade with them. And whenever he seemed hesitant they used force to take young men from the villages and rode off with them. They were using  starnge weapons, long sticks that were vomiting smoke and fire, this messenger boy had never seen anything like them before. Almost all able bodied men had been taken from this village by force,  Luckily the messenger was able to turn back before he was captured and sent to the fields to work

With this, Gekura got an idea. He decided that he was going to kill his brother and claim the throne, at such a state no one was going to accept to have a young girl lead the, especially when there was a threat of the pale people’s invasion.  With that, Gekura embarked on a long journey to find what could kill his brother. He came back after few days, and he had with him the strongest poison extracted from the poisons snakes found deep in the forest, this poison could kill anything within few hours of ingestion without leaving any signs.

Lemina, was the person who was in charge of the King’s meals. She was a middle aged lady who never married and has always been secretly in love with the king. She had been Oselo’s childhood friend and she had hoped that they would wed one day but unfortunately to her it never happened. In the early years after Oselo married Mita, Lemina still hoped that Oselo would take her as his second wife, but still it never happened, after all this time and disappointments she become bitter and bitter inside but she never revealed it. Gekura sensed what was going on in Lemina’s head and he used it as the opportunity to get through the king.

He approached Lemina with a plan; that they poison Oselo’s food and when he dies Gekura becomes king and marries Lemina, but Lemina refused. She gave Gekura the condition of marrying her first before killing the king, that way she was sure to become part of the royal family. Gekura agreed. A small feast was held and Gekura took his sixth wife, Lemina. Most people wondered what had come over Gekura who always preferred fresh young women instead of old virgins, but they kept their mouths shut. 

According to traditions of Oginda the King’s first wife was the only one who held the title of the queen, and the remaining ones were to be addressed to as princesses. And thus having failed to fulfill her dream of becoming a royalty before, Lemina did not want to take any chances this time. After they were wed, Lemina was supposed to train a young woman who would take her position of being in charge of the king’s meal. On the last day of the training before she went home and after having discharged the new girl, Lemina used the water that she had poisoned using the snake poison that Gekura had given her to wash the King’s soup bowl.

The next day, after taking his breakfast the king went out for a stroll, he preferred inspecting the fields early in the morning before midday. As he was conversing with some farmers he started feeling dizzy and he sat down, his right hand man gave him some water and for a while he was almost okay but suddenly he fell down and his eyes turned all grey, they rushed him back to the palace and called the medicine man but before his arrival Oselo son of Achula the great King of Oginda passed away, his daughter Mina beside him.

Funeral

The entire kingdom was in shock. They could not understand what had came over their beloved and young king, they did not understand why he would pass away so soon. The prime minister led the burial ceremony.  Oselo’s grave was said to be filled with water which was considered to be a bad luck to the family of the deceased, and since Oselo was the King many people saw this as a bad luck sign to the entire kingdom.

When a king passed away, the kingdom was only supposed to mourn for one day, only the day that he had passed. Kings were buried the same day they passed away in the special place of the fore founders, and from the next day up to the seventh day only feasts were supposed to be heard, where people danced and ate and drank to their heart’s content were supposed to be held in the entire kingdom. It is said that the feast was a symbol of celebrating the king's life and all that the king had done to his people. And on the seventh day the new King would be crowned.

By sundown Oselo was already buried. Mina and Mita were placed in one among the huts in the royal place, and they were not supposed to be seen in public for the whole seven days period. While the feasts were taking place in the land, the members of the council were in a deep argument amongst themselves. The council was divided into two, one part wanting Mina to be crowned as the reigning queen and the other wanting Gekura as the rightful heir to the throne. After a hot discussion, which lasted for about five days the council came to an agreement that Gekura should become the next king, especially with the threat that they had heard of the pale people.

On the crowning day, all people in the land gathered at the palace on the great ground of festivals. As the New King was being crowned it started pouring heavily, it was accompanied with hail and thunder and very strong storm. By morning half the fields had been ruined and half the people in the kingdom had no shelter, their homes had been ruined by the storm. A great work lay ahead of the new King, but the new king was already blinded with power.

The families whose homes remained intact sheltered those whose homes were ruined; the people of Oginda were already prepared for poor harvest, and possibly famine because even their food storages were affected by the storm. The council men came up with the plan. All unmarried boys were supposed to go to the forest and collect building materials, a bit older boys were supposed to be restoring the houses and all old men and children were to help in collecting all viable food from the fields and the damaged storages.

By the tenth day since the day of the storm all houses and storages had been restored. The remaining food was distributed equally amongst all people, and people had started working on the fields again, Mina helped, but her heart was deeply mourning for her father. She suspected that her Uncle had something to do with her father’s death but she had nothing solid to prove it. She had once tried to mention it to her mother but she scolded her and warned her not to repeat it to anyone, so she kept quiet.

Since her father’s death, The Princess had become awfully quite. She wasn’t her jolly self. She worked so hard in the whole process of restoring the village houses and all she wanted was for her mind to think of something else aside her father and her Uncle, the new King. Some wise old folks at the village had noticed that she had become too quite, but it was not their place to interfere with the royal family, so they dismissed it quietly.  The season went by and luckily the remaining crops did well, although they weren’t going to have their usual harvest at least what they got could take them through the season until the next harvest. Life went on.

The new King

The new King was different. He did not make appearances on the fields, he sent his assistants instead, he did not participate in the filed work, or any other community work. Gekura had waited so long to become King and he wasn’t about to waste his precious time toiling, he was determined to live luxuriously. All the furniture from the palace was changed, and the more luxurious ones were made from the finest Maker in the neighboring village. The Palace walls were plastered different colour despite the fact that the walls did not need to be re-plastered, all this was done by the village craftsmen who were told to do so by force.

His reign had only lasted one season, but the people of Oginda already hated him. There was a rumor going around that the King was cursed, and that the land was going to be cursed as well because of his reign. But whoever was caught spreading this was caught and executed in public. Gekura did not want to be challenged, he never consulted with the councilmen and once he made his decisions they were final and undisputed. People were too terrified, and most of the time the stayed out of his way as much as possible. They stopped taking their matters to the royal court and preferred to settle them amongst themselves, for whatever property that was the source of the controversy was now seized by the king and both parties ended up with nothing.

Because Mita was left a widow at a young age, Gekura took her as his seventh wife.  People stopped referring to her as the queen and started referring to her as the princess. Mina was heartbroken. She hadn’t expected her mother to resist though, but she hadn’t figured that she was going to have the same title as her mother. Mita on the other hand did not show any emotion, if she was hurting or happy no one knew, she kept her feelings to herself, and abided to all orders of Gekura. 

Mina missed her father terribly, she thought of him all the time and whenever she closed her eyes she could still see and feel him. She missed the way he spoke to her, so gently. She missed the way he would rock her and stroke her when she was a child or hurt by something. She missed his wisdom so much, and she really needed to hear him say that it was going to be okay. This was the time that she wished that she had siblings, at least they could have been able to understand what was she was going through.

She remembered the time that she when she had gone to the cave, she had been sure that her father was going to be so mad at her for breaking her promise, instead he was too glad that she was safe and said to her “I am proud of you”. He was of course proud of his daughter that she was the first amongst the living generation to have gone and came out of the cave alive. Several people embarked on the journey of going to the cave after her return but none of them ever made it to the cave, and those who did were never seen or heard from again, at least no one ever came back anyway.

The Arabs

It was already another harvest season. Few merchants had come to Oginda for the usual trading activities, although because of the disaster the people of Oginda did not have much to trade with this time. Most merchants left early, but a troop of a long caravan entered the land of Oginda in the mid season. There were normal people and some very weird people in this caravan, their skin was like light skinned Ogindans but their hair was way darker, longer and softer. They wore very weird clothes and some even covered their heads with such clothes, they spoke a language that only a few people in their caravan would understand and they were not friendly.

But that aside, they had brought with them very good things, ornaments that the women loved so much, the King went to see for himself what the caravan had brought and he had exchanged as much as possible, when it was clear that the royal storage would run out if the King persists on trading, the prime minister consulted with the king and explained the situation to him. The King wouldn’t be told, he wanted all the good things he had seen and he was determined to get them. So he sent a messenger to the head of caravan who spoke through a translator, the king wanted to know if there was anything else that had interested them aside their crops and cattles. The reply was yes.

This caravan, apparently also bought and sold people. Mostly young boys, they explained that the young men were needed in some far away land across big lakes for cultivation purposes. As it happened Oginda had very strong built men and the merchants expressed their will to trade in exchange with some few well built men. Gekura agreed to the trade, members of the council became outrageous, but the king would not listen. Soldiers were sent out through houses and the strongest well built boys were forcefully taken to royal palace, their parents objected but they were threatened to be banned from the kingdom, and the trade was made. 

Mina witnessed all this in awe. She could not believe that such a terrible thing was happening in Oginda, her beloved land. However in her mind she already knew that Oginda had changed, and it would never be the same again, without her father and his wisdom the Oginda she knew was gone forever. Her mother was not any comfort, She knew that her mother loved her but she was weak, and she would never speak ill against Gekura who was now her husband. Mina wanted to stay in Oginda to help restore it to its former glory, but she knew that if her uncle would come to know he would marry her off immediately to the first person who will afford to pay her bride price, after all she was a princess. So she made up her mind, she was going to leave Oginda, with the caravan.

She waited until it was after midnight. The land was dead silent and the only sounds that could be heard were of few animals and bats. She had noticed how the black ladies who came with the caravan were dressed and she disguised herself as one them, when the caravan guards saw her outside they thought she was trying to escape so they took her and tied her along with the other women,  her hands and legs were now tied, but instead of feeling sorry for herself she felt relief that she hadn't felt in a long time. 

If you saw her now , you would not have been able to differentiate her from the other girls, except for the red pearls necklace around her neck which was ussually worn by first born daughters of Oginda's kings. This necklace was usually made by the finest jewels-man in the land available during the birth of the princess, it was made from hard deep red shiny stones which were dug from deep in the forest. The stones were gently curved to perfect oval rounds, and then gently pierced to make something that looked like a simple red round- oval pearl, and then a very strong string made from the finest animal skin was used to tie the red pearls together. These necklaces lasted for a life time.

Next morning at the first cock-crow they were awoken with the sound of angry shouting men, the other girls woke up in terror, most of them were older than Mina, but none of them were from her village. Mina assumed that they had came from several different places, some of them spoke the language that she understood but most of them seemed almost numb and dumb,they were not saying a word.  The caravan left Oginda that day, and at least fifty strong young men were captured and taken from Oginda. Along with them, and Mina ......the Princess was gone from Oginda forever.

~ Chapter Two ~

 The caravan

Mina had lost track of how long it had been since the caravan had left Oginda. Along the way she had witnessed almost half of the boys and girls that were taken being sold, a few were bought, but as always they were much older than herself. She was hungry, tired and dirty. Her clothes were of of dirt colour now, she could not remember the last time she had bathed and her hands were scarred across were the ropes that were used to bind the girls together crossed. She had not eaten for almost two nights, she was feeling dizzy and she could not move her legs properly, but she had to keep going because she had seen how other girls who could not walk were beaten and they were later sold off to the nearest village that they entered.

Mina wanted to escape from the caravan, but she first wanted to be as far away from Oginda as she could, and by sticking with the caravan was the only way that the was going to make it. She wanted to go as far as the caravan would go, she was determined. The other girls' shoe-sandals were worn out, it was only her who still had some kind of shoes on, deep-down she thanked the royal cobbler back home, for his hands' work was saving her now. Most of the paths that they used were stony and rocky, and most of the time they would not stop to rest for miles, and in such roads slaves feet bled, and some were beaten to death by the caravan's troop men because they could no longer walk. 

She was determined to remain invisible, she walked in between the girls, not too fast and not too slow to be noticed. She was hungry as she could be, but she kept moving, the last thing she wanted was to be beaten. From a distant she could hear her fathers voice comforting her, telling her to keep moving, and she did. Lucky it was already sundown and it started pouring, the caravan tented for the night, and of course the slaves were supposed to sleep outside on the rain, to Mina it was a relief, after a long time she felt water on her skin, she took off her shoes and she let her toes feel the coolness of the wet soil. Her hands were tied, but the rope that was used to bind the girls together was long enough that she could actually move without pulling the other girls along. That night after it stopped pouring they were given some food to cook, a flour and some weird dried herb leaves, there were about ten young men left and at most fifteen girls.

The boys were not going to be untied no matter what, their price was high and the caravan head could not risk them escaping. So three girls who seemed less deadly tired were untied and bound together in a long rope which was later being held by the head of the caravan, Mina was among them. Making the fire was a difficult task since almost everything was wet, but they were finally successful. They were given big pots and Mina was in charge of cooking the dried herbs, it was more like just boiling them anyway. They finished cooking and they distributed food amongst the other slaves, when they were done they sat down to eat. Among the two girls that she was cooking with Mina had come to know one as Kira, she was from a neighbouring village from Oginda, and she could speak perfect Oginda, Mina was relieved. The other one was older and she did not say a word the whole time, Mina figured she did not understand a thing they were saying.

That night she ate enough food than what she had eaten in a long time, she conversed in hush tone with Kira but she did not reveal to her that she was Oginda's Princess, she was glad to finally be able to talk to someone. Kira seemed nice, but she was scared. She was a little older than Mina but it was Mina who was comforting her. God knew Mina herself needed comforting, but looking at her you would not have noticed, somehow she always knew how to keep her composure, even in worst case scenario situations like this one. 

That night two slave boys from the caravan tried to escape, one was caught and he was brought back alive to the caravan, but he was beaten so badly that he could not say a word, he just laid there drooling. The other was shot right in front of their eyes and he died instantly. Mina had never seen people so pity-less and this frightened her even more, but she knew she had to survive. She had to, and the journey went on.

A long time had passed now since they had left Oginda, almost all slaves that were captured  the day she left Oginda as a slave were already sold, except Kira. For some reason they were kept in the caravan, may be because by now they were the only ones who were being used to cook for the other slaves whenever they camped. One pale guy had even taught them how to prepare his food and they were now able to cook his food. Deep down Mina wished to know exactly how long had passed since she left home, but she had no way of knowing this. But she knew that the pale people knew how long it had passed exactly because she saw them using some kind of metal stuff to know what time it was. But the only way she could actually know that without asking them was through learning their language, so she did. Slowly she started understanding their language.

It was Arabic (but she did not know that then), she knew that to them Allah meant God, and a lot of other words, finally she came to understand that two seasons had passed since she left home. And her fully grown figure corroborated that. She now had a full bosom, with beautifully shaped firm breasts, she had also grown tall, she approximated herself to be as tall as her mother by now, and she had started seeing her monthly periods. If she were back home a small feast of women would have been prepared on her honour, and her mother and few elder women would have gathered around her and taught her how to become a wife and a mother, and by now she would have been probably married to the suitable warrior, or a neighbouring Prince.

Every time that they passed a destroyed village, with so many people being captured and sold under constant supervision of the pale people she wondered what was happening in Oginda, from time to time she though of her mother, and what she must be thinking of her, but she quickly brushed these thoughts off. She had chosen to leave Oginda behind, and she was determined to go however the great god intended her to go. She somehow knew that the great god was watching over her, otherwise how did she manage to survive for two seasons with the caravan without dying or being beaten even once? The journey continued.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The year was 1850, and to this year Princess Mina of Oginda had attained eighteen years of age, but she did not know that. She was far away from home, starved most of the time, tired from walking the long journeys and her feet soles were now full of blisters, her leather sandals had been worn out, after protecting her feet for a long time. This time they had reached a place which seemed to be like a village, but what surprised Mina the most was the fact that all houses looked a almost exactly like, and most people were dressed like the pale people in their caravan. To her amazement in this place she saw so many pale people, and even a different kind of pale people.

These ones were more pale, in fact almost red. She was worried that their skin would burn from the sun, they wore big round hats, and very different looking clothes and they also spoke entirely different language. She knew this because along the way she had learn all the basic arabic words (her caravan masters had no idea she could now understand them) and she seemed to notice that even the caravan masters were having trouble communicating with these other people. They were taken into a big market, and Kira and Mina were placed aside, the master had liked them and he wanted to keep them and sell them last

There were all kinds of things being sold, cloths, jewelery and a lot of other things that Mina had never seen. But all that aside what scared Mina the most was  seeing how the pale people  were treating these people who were being sold. Most slaves who were being sold at the market were bound together, most male slaves were bound using metal chains, the most rebellious ones had metal chains tied across their necks to down their hands and all the way down to their feet, All these people looked so tired and heart broken and most of them had given up fighting and they just sat there awaiting their fate.

Mina herself was in no better condition, she felt so tired now and every single inch of her body was hurting, her long feet were swollen and in most times she could not feel her own fingers, every thing had gone numb. She was seated next to Kira, as they witnessed all the other members of their caravan being sold. 

There was one girl who had been sick most of the time on the journey, at some point Mina thought that she was going to die but she did not. She managed to reach this place with them, but she was so thin and worn out and as a result no one wanted to buy her, and the caravan master become so angry because she had bought her for a lot of money so he grabbed a knife and stubbed her to death. Mina felt a shock of terror sweep all over her, she sat there staring at the dead girls lifeless screaming eyes, and for the first time she was scared.

 Mina had heard people speaking and she came to know to know that they were now in bwagamoyo, she knew that the slaves who were being sold here were taken to another place across the big  lake to cultivate something she did not understand.  She gathered all this from listening to the pep talk of the people in the market, she had advantage of being able to understand Arabic to some extent, and this new language that was being spoken here was a bit different but not too different. 

She still managed to pick a few words here and there. Finally, a worthy buyer came by, the master seemed to have reserved Kira and Mina for him. This buyer seemed rich, and for some reason Mina felt scared of him. He inspected their teeth, and someone was asked to undress them, their clothes were stripped off their bodies like mere animals being displayed for sale, and finally the buyer seemed pleased with what he had seen and he agreed to buy them. After the trade was made Mina and Kira were taken by the servants of their new master, to the place where he stayed.

Their new master was a swahili trader, he bought them because he was looking for worthy slave maids to be shipped to the sultan's palace in Zanzibar. Sultan Said Seyyid of Oman was rulling Zanzibar by then, and his people knew how to trade well. Judging from the girls health state and their posture he knew that he will get a good price for them. When they reached his house, Mina and Kira found other girls just like themselves and some few women, these girls were being taught how to do house works as well as preparing several dishes, the girls they found there looked tired too. There was one swahili woman, a bit old and she looked like she was the one in charge of the training. She was speaking so fast that by listening to her Mina's head started to spin. Her name was Aisha.

A black elderly woman was placed in charge of Mina and Kira, she was supposed to bring them up to speed of what the rest of the girls had already been taught, her name was Nana. Nana spoke in soft voice, and she seemed to be always scared, that night she took Mina and Kira to a place where all girls slept, it was a big round mud hut and all the girls slept on a bare mud floor. Then she took them to some sort of a washing place, after bathing they were brought two pairs of khaki tailored clothes, a lot different from the clothes Mina had worn back home. And the lessons begun.

Over the course of the following months these girls were taught how to cook, clean, bow, curtsy and speak. They were taught to speak a new language "swahili" Mina did not find it too difficult though because she already knew some arabic so she went with the flow. She was excelling in kitchen and in just three months her swahili was almost perfect, she had also learned how to do some other few things like sewing and pottery, all this from Nana. Nana loved Mina, she knew that this girl had strength and determination than what she had seen in any captive slave girl, she remembered herself how broken she was when she was firstly sold to slavery, thirty years had passed now, and deep down Nana was still the scared slave-girl.

But Mina was different, and Nana knew it but could not tell why. She witnessed these girls being driven to work in the kitchen for more tan twelve hours non-stop under Aisha's supervision and whip and all the girls girls would break but not Mina. Aisha seemed to be working a lot extra to break Mina but she never succeeded. Over the course of days Aisha couldn't even find a reason to any more, the girl was almost perfect and she had mastered all that she was supposed to in such a short period of time. She knew she was going to get a good price for her.

The night came when the next day was going to be a market day, they were all going to be taken to swahili trader who supplied slaves for the sultan of Zanzibar and his properties, these swahili merchants paid well for the slaves, but their main condition was for the slaves to be in perfect health condition as well as well trained for whatever that they were going to be doing, for men they needed no training because most of the captives were from agriculture societies, but the girls needed some sort of training like what Mina and the other girls were undergoing. 

Aisha's head was full of thoughts that day, she had to make the profit because she wanted so much to change the kind of business she was doing. Her husband was a trader also, but he passed away and left Aisha childless many years ago after that no one would marry her despite her delicate features, because no one wanted to be married to a childless widow. So she had to continue with her husband's business of training slave girls for merchants. She had a small but modest house, and it had a large compound surrounded by the Big round mud huts where they were keeping the slaves during training. And from time to time she used one of the huts as a brothel to the traders who wished to be entertained by her for the night. She so tired of this life and all she wanted was to be able to do something else with her life.

On the other side of the compound Mina was still awake, She was sleeping on the muddy and cold floor, and she could see the stars through the grassy roof. She remembered the times when her father used to tell her the meaning of each constellation and in the sky, she missed him so much. she could feel hot tears through her ears and she had to comfort herself. She had left home knowing that what laid ahead was not going to be easy, but she had not anticipated it to be this bad. She knew she had to be strong because she had seen what happened to the weaklings in this business, she had to be strong. 

She remembered all that she was taught home by her grandmother and her father. How she always was supposed to regain her composure and not let anything throw her off balance because she was the daughter of the ruler who was intended to be married to another ruler someday, all these thoughts just made her miss home, she missed home so much and the more she thought of it the more she felt sad and finally for the first time since she left home Mina sobbed. 

One fine morning Mina woke up feeling happy, for the first time in a long time she felt at ease and relaxed. She had been fairing well and Nana was very pleased with her. Around noon that day, she saw the man who bought them come, they had never seen her since the day they were brought to Aisha's. He went straight to Aisha's chamber and after a while he came with Aisha. Nana was summoned, and was told to prepare Mina and Kira for a journey, they had gotten a buyer.

The trip to Zanzibar begun few hours later, Mina was not sure whether to be happy or sad. She had been treated well so far, and she had not been whipped for a while. As she sat there, with her hands tied together with Kira, she remembered her mother. She had not thought of her for a long time, she tried to imagine what she thought when she realized that Mina was missing, she felt like crying, but she couldn't . She had no tears left. 

~ Chapter Three ~ 

The arrogant aristocrat 

 Earl Edward Philip Wilhelm Jones had never traveled outside Europe. He had spent most of is childhood in schools and then military school. Then his father passed away unexpectedly, and everything seemed to be moving too fast for him to handle, he realized he needed a break from all this. After all he was just 25, and he didn't quite feel like he was ready to be tied down with the aristocrat life for the rest of his life. He needed just one adventure  and then he would settle down. His Mum totally disapproved of this, She knew that he wanted to go to Africa, and in her opinion it was not safe for him and the journey was simply too long to be taken by a new Earl. 

Edward's Sister Charlotte was 16, she was sweet and shy. She loved to read, and her brother saw to it that she had the best tutors to teach her everything she wanted. Charlie, as everyone called her, was not particularly close to her mother. She had been Daddy's girl and her brother was always favored by their mum. This however did not create a rift between them, they loved each other a lot. With her father's passing Charlotte had only Edward to rely on. She was still very sad and the wound was still fresh in her heart. Her brother had done the best he possibly could to comfort her, and now that he was planning to go on a journey she was heart broken.

Edward had his route planned well. He wanted to go to many places, but his destination was going to be Zanzibar,he had heard a lot about the small island and he wanted to see for himself what so many travelers had praised to be paradise.  The year was 1850 when Edward finally arrived in Zanzibar. They were being hosted by the Sultan of Zanzibar. He was particularly very generous to Edward because he knew that he was a royal just like himself. That evening he was taken for a tour to the port, there were so many activities going on at the port. Off loading and loading of ships. One boat in particular was offloading food stuffs, and amongst other things there were two slave girls who were also getting off the boat. For some reason they caught his eye.

Mina, had had a long night, they had left bwagamoyo around noon and they reached Zanzibar around noon next day, she was very hungry and sea sick, the boat that was used was not strong enough to hold off the effect of sea currents, as a result she had thrown up everything she had eaten, and the master had to control himself not slap her silly. She was relieved that the journey  was over. As she stood there at the port, she realized there were some white people, but one among them was particular staring at her. Deep down she wished he would stop staring at her. His gaze was long and she was not sure she understood what it meant. Her hands and legs were tied together with Kira. This time Kira was strong, she had not thrown up and she was the one who had been supporting Mina throughout the night. From the port, the journey to the palace commenced.

At the palace, they were received by the head of household. it was an Arabic woman who spoke a mixture of Arabic and swahili, she was tall slender, and she had piercing green eyes, her name was Zahiya. As they entered  they found her shouting at the slave girl who had brought her coffee instead of tea she had asked for. Zahiya was not very kind, she hated training slave girls and she found black girls were hard working but stupid and she found it very difficult to train them. That's why she only bought slaves who were already trained. The work started right away as they entered the palace. There was a ball being prepared by the Sultan on honor of the Earl Edward, there was still a lot to be done, and they only had a day left until the ball.

The main activity was cooking and preparing the ball room. and still there were so many guests who had been invited and they were all residing at the palace and they needed attention, hot water, supply of linens, and much more. Luckily Zahiya did not trust the new girls to cook, she found out that they could speak swahili and she was relieved, so Kira, Mina and one slave girl who had been at the palace for much longer were in charge of attending the guests. It was evening, so they had to start with supplying hot water to the rooms. The rooms at the palace had bathrooms within and that really surprised Mina. 

Edward was back from his stroll, he was feeling rather hot and he wanted to bathe, there was a knock at his door and he was startled. He remembered that he was not decent, so he took a linen from the bed and he covered himself and he went to answer the door. He did not expect to see her again. It was that slave girl he had seen at the port. She was tall, she had a light chocolate skin, big round sleepy eyes, and for some reason she seemed to be smiling  She bowed, and then walked past him to the bathroom and poured hot water in calabash and kept clean clothes and linen on the bed, she bowed again and she left the room.

By the time he closed the door, he realized that he was not breathing. He cursed himself, and did not understand what was happening to him. He had seen a lot of black women and never found them attractive at all. Back home, women were literally throwing themselves at him, and he never hesitated using them, after all he was rich, handsome and a Royal, he was the most eligible bachelor of Snowcount. His mum had started nagging him to choose a maiden he was going to marry, and that had started irritating him, and that is among the reason why he had left England. He had slept with many women, rich and poor, all of them beautiful. And he did found pleasure sleeping with them, but he never imagined spending the rest of his life with them. They were all sucking up to him, and they were ready to please his ever whim, and for some reason he found that greatly disturbing.  He had promised his sister to write to her everyday, and send the letters with ship crews, so he decided that he would write to her after he had bathed.

He went to the bathroom, got in the sink full of hot water and lilac scented soap, he found himself thinking of her. He kept wondering how she would look if she laughed, how her skin would feel like and how she would taste if he kissed her. He got up and left the bathroom, he took a big sheet of paper and he started drawing her. He drew her standing there at the port, her hands and legs bound along the other girl. There was something about her eyes that captivated him, they were big and round but not sad, actually he found them fascinating, there was a way her eyes danced and she seemed to be smiling  He kept wondering how could a person be smiling while their hands and legs were tied together. He drew her in the white wraps she had been wearing, her bare feet sunk in the sand, the red stoned necklace around her neck, and her hair pulled back in a pony tail. When he completed, he wrote at the back of the portrait;

"Dear Charlotte,

Zanzibar is beautiful. I'm sorry I did not keep my promise to write to you everyday, but it was rather difficult to do so from the ship. I went roaming around today, I saw the clove farms and the slave market. I also saw the slave girl in the picture, and I thought it would be nice sharing what I have seen with you.

So long.

Edward.

Hours passed quickly, and the Ball was here. Mina and all other servants at the palace did not sleep one bit, they were working constantly to make sure that everything was in place. Mina was placed in the Kitchen after the 'room service duty". And she had worked tirelessly  The good thing about being in the kitchen, is that she found something to eat and drink. Although she was still drowsy from the sea journey she knew that she was in no place to show that if she did not want to be whipped. They had been given new clothes here and shoes that totally covered they feet. They were supposed to be clean all the time because they were serving the sultan and his family and his guests. They were given a few hours to sleep, and Mina used those hours to bathe, wash and comb her hair neatly. She had massive long silky hair like her mother. Oginda Princesses never shaved their heads, so she had never shaved her head for as long as she could remember, her hair was long and was always knitted in a straight pony tail. And she still found a few minutes to rest before the beginning of the new day.

That morning, She was again placed on room service duty. The same wing she was yesterday. She hadn't gotten time to think of the big white guy she had seen at the port and later in his room at the palace. she felt weird in her stomach when she started thinking of him. She didn't know what was happening though, she thought she was going down with flu or stomach bug. As she approached his door, she found herself trembling, she didn't know why, but her heart was beating so fast. she knocked, and waited. He came to open the door, it appeared that she had awaken him, his hair was messy and again he was only wearing a linen sheet around his waist, his hairy masculine chest was bare and she found herself smiling when she saw him. He appeared to be startled as well by her sight, if only she knew how much that smile affected him. When he went to open the door he had expected it to be his assistant who always came to wake him up to make sure that he was okay. He found himself smiling as he let her in.

He sat there and watched her as she poured water in the sink and mix it, and then she came with linens to his bed and changed them because he did not go back to bed after she entered, and she found it easy to just replace the linens. He wanted to ask her what her was name but he did not know how, he only spoke English, but he was determined to learn arabic and swahili. She had perfect teeth, white and well arranged, her smile was divine. He knew that she was new at the palace, but the way she carried herself was impressive. If you didn't know any better you would think she was the head of the servants. She walked with her head high, as if she had some sort of authority. She had a way of looking you straight in the eye, but politely. And she hymned as she worked, as though she was enjoying what she was doing a great deal. Suddenly it hit him!!! he fancied her, and he wanted her so bad.

He had never had a black girl before, but what he felt inside this time was different. He had wanted women before and it was never difficult getting them, After all he was Edward. He had never felt this way, and he was so pissed at himself for allowing himself to feel that way about a black woman. What was wrong with him? why her? he kept asking himself, there were dozens of women in the palace who had been placed there to entertain Sultan's guests at their whim, But he did not want any of them, he wanted her and her only. He cursed, got up and went to the bathroom, she had already left his room along time ago but he was still seated there thinking of her. He had a quick bath, and went downstairs for a feast breakfast and found his assistant William and his best friend George already at the table.

George and him had been best friends since they were little, his parents were close friends to the Jones and he practically grew up at their place with Edward. they were more of brothers really and they told each other everything. Actually it was George who had first introduced the idea of them travelling to Africa. The moment George saw him that morning he knew that something was wrong, he knew that his friend had had a sleepless night and he looked pissed. He decided he was not going to ask him anything until later when they were on the tour. Edward barely ate that morning. He kept looking around if he would see her, but she was no where to be seen. That morning Mina was washing the linens together with some other servants. 

After breakfast, Edward and his convoy were supposed to be taken to Malindi via boat, and they would be back on time to get ready for the ball. He wasn't looking forward to it really, he just wanted to stay around and see if he would be able to talk to her or send her a sign maybe that he wanted to see her alone. He still didn't understand why he wanted to be with her alone, or why he wanted anything to do with her at all. But the more he resisted his feelings the more his urge of seeing her grew. 

Zahiya was liking Mina. She was as straight as an arrow, she was doing everything perfectly, for a few hours that she had been there, Zahiya knew that she had found a right person to assist her. She did not want to rush though, she decided to watch her for a few more days before giving her more responsibilities. There was something about her that Zahiya liked, the confidence mixed up with humility and the ever smiling eyes of hers. She knew that she had a perfect composure to serve his majesty in the future. Meanwhile Mina was done washing, and now she was in the ball room. She had been told what was to be done, and with the help of other girls they were giving the ball room some final touches. Deep down she was thinking of him and she wondered where he was and what he was doing. She found herself smiling every time she thought of him standing there with his bare chest and a linen wrapper around his waist.

All slave girls were given long black dresses with white aprons and head scarves. They had been trained to make sure that food and drinks kept flowing to the table during the feast, and later the drinks to all the guests. Edward had been feeling down that day, but he could not disappoint his host so he had to attend the ball.  So he had on his best outfit and as usual he looked bashing. The food was nice and the rum in adequate supply but he was not in a festive mood today. He had knot in his stomach and he couldn’t figure exactly the reason for it. That was of course until he saw her, walking like she was following a rhythm of a song only herself was hearing, for a moment it felt as though the knot in his stomach had eased up.

He could not stop gazing towards her, almost following her every movement with his eyes, the sultan’s advisor noticed that their guest was interested on the slave girl, and as a sign of courtesy he instructed Zahiya to have Mina sent to Edward’s room that night. Unbeknownst to Mina what was taking place, she was far too busy making sure neither she Nor Kira make any mistake. 

 After Dinner was served it was time for dancing, most guests were no longer drinking but rather dancing in pairs. Mina watched in amusement as they danced, she had never seen anything like it before,  their dancing moves amused her very much. Then she saw Edward, not dancing but rather just standing in a corner of the room with an empty glass in his hands, not wanting to get in trouble she approached the gentleman and she gently bowed her head while stretching forward the pitcher full of rum, but the gentleman didn’t seem to notice. Edward was lost in the world of his thoughts to the extent that he did not hear Mina when she was asking to serve him more drink.

He was startled by her and suddenly came back to reality, he declined her rum offer and decided that he would retire to his suite now, it was quite early for a festivities night, but Edward wasn’t really in a very festive mood. Soon after Edward headed to his room, Mina was summoned by Zahiya and it was explained to her that she was supposed to go entertain Edward. She didn’t quite understand it, but she had an idea of what it meant and for a moment there the reality hit her, she sobbed so bitterly, not believing what was happening to her. 

She wondered what she had done wrong to be punished that way, she remembered how back home women who entertained men who were not their husbands were despised, and right now she felt like one of those women. She begged Zahiya for forgiveness for whatever it was that she had done to deserve that, but Zahiya told her that this order did not come from her, but from the higher authority. She did not know which guest she was to entertain until much later

She was bathed by other slave maids that night with lilac scented soap and warm water, and she was then a long silky dress and a silky robe. Zahiya took her up to Edwards room, explained in a single English sentence that she came bearing a gift from the sultan and the made a way for Mina to enter. Edward was astonished, for a moment he was speechless, even after Zahiya closed the door and leave them  alone he still did not have a quite full grasp of what was happening. He felt like a little boy who had just received his perfect gift from Santa. 

She was dressed in a white silky robe that vividly contradicted her chocolate soft skin and her deep brown eyes. And for the first time he noticed that she was pretty young may be Charlotte’s age or a year or two older but she was taller. He estimated her to be may be 5’9 tall. Her hair had been washed dried and oiled and this time it was let loose, it was almost loose springs very dark hair hanging down well above her waist, it was massive and this made her look so sweet, young and innocent. And then it hit him’ that she was there to please his every bodily manly whim. But for some reason his strength failed, so instead of leading her to bed he showed her the chairs instead. 

She walked elegantly to the chair and sat down. Mina had been told to loosen and take off her robe the moment she entered his room to make him more comfortable, as she was about to sit down she remembered these instructions from Zahiya, scared to get in trouble with Zahiya  she loosened her robe and let it fall on the floor, and she remained with the long white silky transparent nightdress. By now Edward was breathless. He wanted to pull her in his arms, kiss her and feel the touch of her lips and her skin, but the look in her eyes said something totally different from her actions, so he just sat in his bed staring at her and not knowing what to do.

As she sat there, she looked like a perfect portrait, and then he decided to draw her instead. So he pulled out his drawing pad and pencil and asked her to sit still, well technically motioning to her that she should sit still and he started capturing her. Seated there, with her massive black spring hair hanging down her shoulders, her long arms revealed as well her straight bosom. With her long face towards him and her big eyes looking so frightened and yet sparkly. 

He drew her with stars in her eyes. When he was finished he showed her the portrait, and the expression in her face was priceless. Her eyes shone like a morning star, and tears rolled down her eyes, she went down her knees and bowed her head and took his arms and kissed them as a sign of gratitude. He was astonished, he motioned her back to the chair and he started giving her, her very first English lesson. Hello, how are you?  my name is Edward. By morning she could master to properly say Hello, how are you? My name is Mina. 

Edward was so pleased with himself, his night had been a blast. Although Mina did not spend the night in his bed but rather in a chair, they had talked till early morning when she had to leave for her other chores. They spoke different languages but it felt like they understood each other. 

The routine continued, Mina was asked to go back to Edward’s room every night that followed that following Edward’s request to the sultan’s adviser, and with that a special relationship developed between Edward and Mina. Every night he would make a portrait of her, and then teach her English, and he would send those portraits to England to charlie with a caption engraved behind them.

She was a sharp student. By the end of six months she could almost speak English perfectly and him Swahili . Unfortunately, it was almost time for him to depart for England. All this time he never even once laid a hand on her.

Mina herself had started to quite look forward to her nights with him. Unbeknownst to the other slaves or Zahiya she was actually having a real fun. Edward had taught her English, and has started to teach her how to read write, of course all this had to be kept a secret from everyone else. Her writing was almost as perfect as her spoken English. He was amazed by how quick she could learn and master the language. In his heart he felt that this girl could do pretty much anything.

 Whenever she had time for herself during the day Mina would practice her writing on the ground. Finally the night of saying goodbyes came. When he told her the news she broke into sobs. Apart from Kira, he was the only other person who really knew her now. During their night visits, she had told him pretty much everything about herself. After knowing what he did about her he found himself falling in love with her, a slave girl.

Mina herself did not exactly know what she felt. She was still as efficient as ever during the day. But Edward and her had become more of friends now rather than master and servant. She sat there that night sobbing, he held her in his arms for the first time and he could hear her heart beating so furiously, as the tears rolled down her cheeks. He could not bear to see her cry, he wiped the tears from her face with his hands, but more tears came rolling down, she was sobbing in silence but he could feel what she was feeling. 

They were living in a bubble, where the outside world could not understand them. No one would understand their friendship nor what they felt for each other. To the rest of the world they were just a master and servant.  Looking in her eyes as the tears rolled down Edward no longer knew what to do and he found himself saying please don’t cry, I love you! 

Even between sobs Mina could understand what he said, for a moment what she had been feeling for him was as clear as the day, she loved him too, she loved him so dearly that she could not bear to see him leave. Mina, who has always been a strong girl, for the first time she found herself to be weak, and not knowing what to do. Edward pulled her closer to him, wiped the tears off her cheeks and kissed her lips gently. Not knowing what she was doing, Mina wrapped her arms around Edward’s neck and responded to the kiss, and they stayed like that for a while. 

For the first time in his life Edward felt completely at peace with himself, as she laid there, in her silky white nightdress her hair spread across the pillow, she looked like a goddess. In his heart Edward thought she looked like a real goddess. That night, Edward expressed his feelings for her. Once he started he could no longer control himself, he told her how much he wanted her, and how much he had been completely captivated by her from the first day he saw at the port. 

And it was this night that they made love for the very first time, the pleasure she felt was immeasurable, she could not compare with anything she had ever been through. And Edward for the very first time in his life as well made love to a woman instead of just having sex with her. To Mina even the pain of loosing her virginity came with pleasure, and when they were done, they laid there in his bed, looking in each other’s eyes.

 

When he woke that morning she was gone. The only trace of her in his room was the blood in his bed cover. He did not understand whether she was upset of sad , but he did not manage to see her for the rest of the day until they set sail. His heart was heavy, his friend tried inquiring but he was unsuccessful. Edward knew it was pointless telling his friend what was really going on because he wouldn’t understand, no one would. As they set sail, he kept looking around the port for her, to see maybe she was among the servants from the palace who had escorted them to the port but she wasn’t. 

And then he saw Kira, whom he knew from the palace and as a girl who had come to Zanzibar with Mina from the same place, Kira approached him, and gave him a folded note. And then he realized that he did not have the rest of his plain drawing pads with him or his pencil, Mina had taken them with her that morning.

The note was neatly handwritten by Mina and it said,

Dear Edward,

You set sail today, and my heart is heavy and cannot bear to see you go. I will forever cherish everything that we have shared and cherish you for the rest of my life, and may be fate will be kind to us and we will see each other again.

Mina

BACK IN ENGLAND
He was back in England. his mother was overjoyed, and a ball fit for a noble was prepared. considering their family reputation it was a uge celebration. The only person who was not in a festive mood was Edward himself. His heart was so heavy and he couldn't bring himself to be happy, even for his own mother. He found a quiet corner upstairs in the house, away from all the celebrations that were prepared for him, he just wanted silence and some time to think. He had missed Mina, that innocent smile and big smiling eyes, and her graceful movements, he had missed her terribly.

Edward, decided to go to his bedroom to unpack, as he was walking to his bedroom his mother caught up with him. Princess Anna had arrived, Anna was the queen's niece and she was two years younger than Edward. She was a nice girl, and was very much in love with Edward. Edward adored her, and for a minute before he departed to Africa he had started to accept the fact that he would marry her one day. She was Tall, fair and with very long chestnut brown hair. She had green eyes and had the kindest smile. Carlie liked er a lot. And she secretly wished that Edward would marry her. His mother wanted him to marry her too. Because she was third in line to the throne of England. The queen was yet to produce any heirs, the late Kind had only two daughters the queen and Elizabeth who was Anna's mother. Anna herself wasn't much of a politician and she was a sickling. So there were whispers that Anna might become queen of England someday.

Edward was walking behind his mother in slow pace, as he ascended down the stairs, he saw Anna, as pretty and fair than he recalled. She had grown more beautiful. He admired everything about her, except he was not sure how he felt about her anymore. She was not dancing, she was just standing facing the direction where Edward was coming from having a chat with Charlie. When Charlie saw Edward, she kissed him and disappeared into the glitzy crowd. It was waltzing time, and he took her arm and they started dancing. She was as light as feather, so beautiful, and yet when looking at her Edward couldn't help it but think of Mina. He was in love. The night came to an end and everybody went home Edward's mother was delighted that he had only danced with Anna that night. She couldn't help it but giggle when the last guest left. Announcing how happy she was that Edward seemed to like Anna.

LADY VICTORIA WILHELMINA EDINBURG COUNTESS OF SNOWDOWN
She was born as duchess Victoria Elizabeth. Her father was a son of a scotish prince, but he wasnt a direct heir to the throne. She grew up in a privileged life. Never really making an effort to get anything in life because almost everything she ever wanted was at her disposal. She always got what she wanted. She fell in love with Earl Wilhelm at 18 and she made sure she got him to marry her, by the time she was 20, she was giving birth to Edward, and was living in his mansion in England. She a blond beauty, with long blonde/golden hair like a real lie Rapunzel. She had a charm to her that made people believe every word she said and simply wish to impress her. The earl was no different. He would do anything for his wife, just to see her smile.

Lady Victoria wasn't really a difficult person. But she wasn't easy to please either. She loved her husband, but her son Edward was everything to her. She had big reams for him, and considering the influence she had on her husband she was practically running snow down, and her family. She got pregnant accidentally when Edward was nine, she had not planned for another baby. Little Lady Charlotte Diane was born late one night when Edward was nine. A big baby with a powerful voice. Who would have thought she would grow up to become the most soft spoken person Edward had ever seen. Their mother dotted on Edward, and he always got what he wanted. On the other hand she put a lot of pressure on Charlotte to be a perfect Lady. But the only thing that really ever interested Charlie was books and art. She would disappear from her mother's sight for hours, lock herself in her fathers study and read. and the to Eric's gallery to paint. She was a gifted painter even more than Eric.

She had learned to avoid her mother's wrath from early on. She would stay out of the way and invisible for long hours of the day. Housekeepers adored her because she was so nice and polite. they would sneak her snacks in the study and the gallery. She and Edward had a very strong bod. despite their age gap they could simply talk about anything. Her father had passed away when she was ten years old. And he was the most incredible man she had ever seen. Most people considered him weak, because of how he always gave in to his wife's demands. But Charlie saw a complete different side of him. a gentle, kind, strong and intellect side. He was her personal tutor for all the years until he passed away. She had learned a great deal from him, before he passed away. His death was a blow to her, because her mother never really knew her, not like her father did.

Edward sensed the loss that Charlie was feeling. Being 19years old he was old enough to understand the pain that his little sister was going through. He tried as best as he could t step into his father's shoes in Charlie's life, and to some extent he succeeded. As years passed it came to realize that it was only Charlie who understood him. 

The night after the ball, Lady Victoria was practically floating, she had seen the way Anna looked at her son, and she was certain that Anna Loved her son. She had however missed the look on Edward's face. The look that was far far away, with Mina. She wanted to have a talk with her son, she could already hear wedding bells and had started thinking of grand the wedding celebrations were going to be. Edward sat on a sofa, listening to his mother go on and on about what a nice girl Anna was and how much their family status would be uplifted if he married Anna. He wanted to tell her that he was in love with Mina a negro maid back in Zanzibar, but he could almost see his mum fainting upon hearing the news. He wasn't sure how it had even happened, and why he was feeling the way he was. he listened to his mother and he promised to think about it, and he went bed.

Charlie had been ears-dropping, and he knew that Edward wasn't too happy with the plans that their mother was making. He suspected that Edward had fallen in love with The negro girl in the painting he had sent her from Zanzibar, because that painting was Eric's finest work of art yet, she could almost feel what he was feeling whenever she looked at it. Their rooms were adjacent from each other. It was not uncommon for them to stay until very late talking. She followed Edward in his bedroom. He was sitting on an arm chair beside his bed staring at the stars at the window. And she knew what he was feeling. She wanted to ask him what he was going to do, but he knew that it wasn't the right time. She left quietly and went to bed.