In Warume, Gatamu was on his toes. He prayed day and night for things to fall together as soon as possible. Not only did he have the trouble of confining these dreams and his intense feelings for Peninah to himself but also, to mask them from Silviah. She hardly left his back. In fact, Silviah was more of a tick than his love. As it is hard to keep the tick off the veins, so it was to keep her from Gatamu.
He tried his best to keep his feelings for the civic girl Peninah curbed but…not hard enough I guess. Some things, especially feelings, are hard to conceal from women, especially with them always around you and by your side. It was not long and Silviah noted Gatamu’s sudden lack of interest in her. She could also not keep it to herself and had to ask Gatamu a question about it.
She went ahead to ask of what had gone wrong since his visit to Malaba district for the project. Gatamu tried to get himself off the hook but men… was it so tight! As much as Gatamu mentioned the massive water project to be the source of his destruction, Silviah could not help to wonder how. How can a project such as that be of more importance to a man than his woman? She wondered.
As an answer to that question, she had suspicion with a fact for sure. The only thing that can get a man’s attention from his woman could only be, another beautiful woman. Due to her status and class, she could not imagine of any other woman that Gatamu could have fallen for. If indeed Gatamu had fallen for another woman, she must have been an angel and, Silviah was eager to find out about her.
She looked bothered to the heart, “My Prince, my love, what is happening to us since your trip to Ruaki village? Did our love go for the same trip as well but failed to return?” Silviah asked.
Putting on a sure-of-what-I-say face, “Why do you ask these questions Silviah? I do not understand what you mean by that,” Gatamu replied.
Silviah made faces stabbing her finger towards him, “Do not play dump with me Gatamu… come clean! Did you find another woman? Who could she be anyway? What good woman can come from such ruins of a village?” she asked.
Putting on a serious tough face, “Silviah, this has gone too far. What has come over you? I have no other woman…and stop that insolence! Those in the bucolic are people too. If you must know, I have headed a major project there and therefore, I thought you should understand that I may seem preoccupied for a while,” Gatamu said.
She moved back a little and held her six with the right hand and with her left leg slightly in front, “What do you take me for, uh?” she asked shaking her head slightly up and down in anger, “What project could be of more importance to you than me, your woman?” Silviah continued bitterly.
He walked slowly forward towards her, “I take you for nothing less or more than the woman you are but…I can now see that you might have become something else when I was away. Let us have this talk another day. As you can see my dear, it is such a quite cool morning and I am heading out. I wish to preserve its tranquility and do not want you ruining the rest of my day either. It is still way too early for trouble neither am I in the mood for it. So please…if you may, I have to run!” Gatamu said as he left for his convoy.
She turned to look at him as he walked past her, “Well Mr. Prince, it’s your world against mine. You belong to me…and me alone! You had better get this into that sick head of yours…or I will do it for you! I swear to find out about this woman….and if I do…just pray that I don’t Mr. Man…just pray I do not prince…pray hard,” Silviah reprimanded as she slowly followed.
He turned back at her, “Suit yourself woman! A piece of advice though; watch your tongue as well as your step,” Gatamu concluded.
After the heated dialogue with Silviah, Gatamu knew one thing for sure. Silviah was the crazy type and could go to any extent just to prove her point. That was yet another bone for him to crush. Meanwhile, he left for his doctor friend’s house to seek some more advice on the way forward. After that heated dialogue that seemed not to solve or give her any answers, she could not extend her stay in the palace. She also followed and left and very angry with the prince.
Peninah arrived at the oracle’s place. The oracle was expecting her visit and therefore was ready for her. As the oracle was welcoming her, she could not tame the fear she had within herself. Her life had become an unsolved mystery because of what was going on. More so, she could not help but fear the words that she was about to hear from the oracle’s mouth. The oracle however, could see this fear engraved on her face like the Ten Commandments on the stone tablets. He knew that, such news could not be easy on her, especially, the part about breaking taboo. In fact, the laws of their land and this anathema worried Peninah most. That is what had brought her to the oracle. She could understand what she had already heard from her mother about the oracle, her future, the gods and the prophecy. She also had little faith that the gods were doing their part. What she could not comprehend was how the gods would protect her from the people’s wrath after breaking the taboo. She
Peninah arrived home from visiting the oracle. Her parents were anxiously waiting for her. They were eager to hear what she had been told by the oracle. They also wanted to share to her the news about the change of the traditions. “My daughter, I see that now you have all the answers you needed. There is no fear on your face no more.” Peninah’s mother said. “Of course mother, the fear is gone, although not all of it but, I hope it shall clear as I learn to accept my lot.” Peninah replied. “What did the oracle have for you my child? What did he add to what I had told you?” Her mother asked curiously. “Well, in fact, all that you told me, he has just confirmed. He has also told me to befriend the Prince and something about Rimberia changing the laws of the land.” “Aah I see. Well then my daughter, we had the same news for you. It seems the gods are surely at work and serious about it after all.” “What same news mother?” “…The new
Prince Gatamu arrived at the doctor’s house. Not only was doctor Kirimi his friend but also their family doctor. He also happened to be the brother to Mr. Mamiti. This is to mean that, he was Silviah’s uncle. He was the youngest brother at their home. He and the Prince happened to be of the same age. Prince Gatamu visited the doctor frequently but this day’s visit was no ordinal visit. Gatamu had a bone to break and he surely needed somebody to help him on how to go about it. Despite the fact that Kirimi was Silviah’s uncle, Gatamu knew that he could help him out. In the past days, whenever they met to have a chat, some of the key things they discussed were women, love and marriage. These two being of the right age, they could not help but to discuss these issues. Gatamu knew for sure that Kirimi was an advocate for love and could help him out. He believed that for two to be together, they must be in love. Before Gatamu met this girl, he talked of marriage as
Back at the palace, Silviah was left mad at the Prince for assuming her and talking rudely to her. Since she knew that the king could never brace such a relationship, she could not keep her tongue on leash. She went ahead and told king Matumu of the new discovery. Surely, king Matumu could never tolerate Gatamu marrying any other woman but Silviah. This was not for the love they had, or, should it be, love they had not nor Matumu’s interest in her as his daughter-in-law but all for power. Her father was a very influential person in the city and therefore, Mamiti was crucial in his position. Matumu only wanted this daughter for his son because of his political ambitions. Were it not for this fact, he could also not support his son into marrying someone he does not love. Silviah did not have a clue though that her relationship was not for love but politics. According to her, Gatamu loved her like no other woman. She was his queen of the heart. After all, she was proud
Gatamu arrived at the palace only to meet his father breathing fire and no Silviah. He was so worked up because of what she had told him about Gatamu having another woman. He could not imagine Gatamu messing things up just that blindly. With much anger, “Gatamu, where have you been and what has become of you?” the king asked. “Why do you ask this father? I do not seem to understand. I am just from the other side of city to see my friend doctor Kirimi.” “And who gives you the impression that doctor Kirimi treats people with such insolence and disrespect?” “What disrespect are you talking about father? I do not understand why the tone my king. I thought you knew that I do visit him when I need to see him.” “Of course I do but I fail to understand why you had to disrespect Silviah and talk to her the way you did this morning.” “Father, I am sorry to have talked to her like that. It will not happen again. I just had a bad morning and my mi
Rimberia was now ready to set the day for the council meeting. All he had to do first was to let Gatamu know of his progress and maybe some down payment. He sent him a message and went ahead to set the dates for this meeting. After this, he went back to let Makubu know of the dates to alert the seniors. After Makubu was notified of this date, it was time for him to reach out to the seniors and let them know of the meeting and the dates. After a few days, all were aware of the meeting and were ready to meet. As a safety measure, he made sure that he did not disclose the agenda to them before the actual day had come. They could not risk letting the cat out of the bag. It is not that they had discussed it. It was just use of common sense for both. Makubu also had to respect what the Oracle had said. He had to let Rimberia call the shots as well as prove to him that they were together. If the seniors were to be told the agenda, they could have time to plan for the opposi
Gatamu, on hearing the news, he could not waste any more time. He could not keep his heart’s thirst unquenched any longer. It was time to meet this queen. At least, if not to talk much and all, just an introduction was enough. You cannot imagine how eager he was just to hear her speak. Before he organized of when to visit the village again, he had to let his father know about it first. Since Matumu had put him in charge of the project at the village, he could not decree otherwise. All was set and it was time for him to set on this important journey of his life. The following day very early in the morning, he woke up to a nightmare! As he was getting ready to leave for the city, Silviah had already arrived at the palace and waiting for him at the driveway. She was ready to travel with him to this village too. Since the very last day they fought about him having a girl from this village, she swore to keep him on a tight leash. She was to be by his side in every underta
At the site, Rimberia had arrived early enough to wait for the Prince. Just minutes later, the Prince arrived. He hurried towards his motorcade to receive him. The cars halted a few minutes later and the Prince was out. As Rimberia was busy greeting him and talking to him, he seemed one occupied by other fixations. He hardly looked even where he himself stepped. His mind was engaged in the search for Peninah. His eyes ran erratically around the crowd in search of her. After a couple of minutes in the search for her, he realized that she was nowhere to be found in the crowd. At this point, it is when he had time to talk to Rimberia and respond to his greeting. It is not that he was so much into what Rimberia had to tell him but only needed to hear about Peninah. “Good morning, my Prince.” “Good morning, elder Rimberia. I was looking around and could not help but to worry...” “Why do you have to worry my Prince? There is nothing to worry a