Karmagha

Quest For Solution

“Forgus! Forgus!” Flora paused for a while and said, “Where has he gone to?”

She continued her search to the point of going into his room but he was not there. Anglo was close to the room with one of the female teachers discussing.

“Do you know the whereabout of Forgus?” Flora said to him.

“No. is anything the matter?

“Help me look around for him, I need him to do something for me.”

They both went in search of Forgus, entering different places in the vicinity calling on him but no response, he was nowhere to be found. Then Flora proceeded to the rocky part of the field in further search of him, he always goes there whenever he wants to be alone. Seeing him from a distance, she just stared with wide opened eyes and didn’t shake. After some moment of gazing, Anglo came there and was about to call him, she used her hand to close his mouth. They watched him closely without saying a word, then they went back.

Later that day, Forgus was with Mr. Sarma in the library;

“How’s it going with you, young man?”

“I’m quite well but a little confused.”

“How’s the lady, hope she’s alright?”

“She sure is. I was with her a couple of hours ago.”

He portrayed a fainted smile and said, “I see, you guys are getting along.”

At this point, Forgus became weak, then he walked to a chair and sat down.

He said, “She wants me to leave this place with her once we are done with learning and I don’t think my parents will let me.”

Sarma walked up to him, held him on the shoulders and said, “It’s well my boy, don’t think much about it. Besides, you still have about a year to go; just focus on learning and maintain a good relationship with her.”

“What if she brings up the matter again? I don’t know what to reply her. I love her and wouldn’t want to lose her.”

“You won’t lose her, okay?”

Forgus stood up and hugged Mr. Sarma tightly.

“As I’ve told you before, whenever you have a problem in your practice let me know so I will put you through. I delight in young people who wants to learn sorcery though I don’t do it anymore for some reason.” Sarma reassures Forgus.

***

It’s in the heat of the day at Karmagha, Chief Manda’Uke came visiting the king.

“Manda’Uke, the great goddess brought you here at this crucial time. I’ve been having sleepless night for a couple of days now, I’m really disturbed.”

“What troubles the king? Can I share the burden with you my king?”

“The state of Karmagha gives me concern, at this point I don’t know what to do again. You are aware of how I’ve been feeding the nobles from the royal farm and I do not fail to provide for the commoners once in a while.”

“Yes, my king. You’ve done wonderfully well, that we can’t dispute.”

“Then I ask this question, when will all these be over? When will Karmagha be Karmagha again, Chief?”

“My King, those questions are questions of one who has lost faith in the great goddess. Our salvation is now near, we must not be weary nor faint. It’s eighteen years now since the birth of the chosen one, he must have been fully equipped to be able to face the evil sorceress and lift up this curse from the land.”

“That’s true wise friend, I will send for Magnus soon to inquire the state of the child. What’s the cause of the noise outside?”

“I wouldn’t know my King, maybe we should go take a look.”

The king and Manda’Uke climbed the stairs, came out to the balcony and discovered multitude of people glamouring to gain access into the palace. As the saw the king, the glamouring reduced and a certain man lifted his voice bringing their grievances to the king.

“O king live forever. It’s almost two decades since a curse was placed on this land; the people are suffering, our land is not yielding as expected, people go as far to the neighbouring villages to get water. My king we’ve endured this enough that’s why we are here for solution.”

The crowd began to make noise in support of what the man had said. Another voice was heard from the crowd.

“This thing has to be addressed today, our wives are barren, hardly will you see a child on the street. Any child seen on the street is not from Karmagha, we are tired. What is the way forward? What is the hope of the once great kingdom Karmagha?”

Another person from the crowd said, “Our people are dying of starvation, our farmland is not producing anything; we struggle to get seedlings and plant but nothing is coming out of it.”

Someone interrupted and said, “Only the rich ones who are able to buy lands in the neighbouring kingdoms are able to get produce and sell it to us at a high cost.”

The multitude echoed, “We are tired and need solution.”

The noise became so intense that the king had to beckon on the people to be calm to allow him address them. The clamour was so much that they ran towards the gate to break it and gain access into the palace. The guards immediately rushed to secure the gate and move the people away but the multitude kept thronging to get themselves in. Some persons who were not strong enough to withstand the pressure of the push were stampede; it was indeed a great uproar that made the King covered with confusion. He tried beckoning on them with the hands to be calm but the more he did so, the more the noise. The King walked back and forth with his hands at his back, his eyes kept blinking as he wandered looking above like one expecting to see something. The clamouring didn’t stop but increased as they kept banging the gate.