Black Beauty

Chapter 11

Year 1202

The woman looked up from the scrying mirror and let out a shaky breath, she held her hand over her heart. It was quiet for a while and then she turned to the woman beside her.

“Is this what is going to happen to her?”, the woman remained silent, “Answer me ! Is my great granddaughter going to die like this! Why didn’t you help her? You had countless of chances to help  or even tell the warrior when he asked you at the market !”

“You know I cannot interfere with fate Gregor, even a high priestess like me is not allowed to change fate. I can only give advice”

Gregor slammed her hand on the table, “So what Regina? You’re going to just watch her die?”.

Regina looked away, “Why didn’t you help her Regina?”

“I do not have the mandate over death”.

Gregor let out a laugh, “My great granddaughter will be born more than 90 years from now and you seem to be very much alive appearing and disappearing like a thief in the night”.

“You know it’ll eventually catch up to me, and do you think I want to watch her die?”
“Then we agree on it, tell me how to stop this from happening”.

Regina shook her head ,“ We cannot, this is what is bound to happen to Jasmine.”

“No, I disagree! I won’t allow my family’s legacy to end by that man’s hand. Now tell me how I can prevent it from happening.”

She looked at her trusted friend who was avoiding her gaze, “There is no way of preventing it”

“You’re lying to me, you always avoid my gaze when you’re lying. Tell me please, if it were you’re family wouldn’t you want to stop this?”.

Regina exhaled and her shoulders slumped knowing that Gregor would not stop until she got what she wanted. “There might be a way, but it won’t do much. Jasmine’s fate is already written down”

“Tell me,” Gregor said impatiently, “The white men who came to our village will visit the chief your husband with a paper this night, they’ll deceive him into signing his name on it. Then by that agreement the white soldiers will come and settle here, which will in turn open up the trans Atlantic trade and foreign people will settle here. That’s how the general came here, so if your husband doesn’t sign the agreement….”

“Then none of this would happen”, the woman concluded, she was out of the house running as fast as her legs would carry her not hearing Regina calling for her. The only thing on her mind was saving her family.

She burst through the door panting, making the man stand in a fright, “Ezekiel..” she hunched over panting.

“Gregor what is the matter, why are you running ?”, her husband asked alarmed.

“Ezekiel, did the white men come here ? Did you sign on a paper?” She fired questions at her husband.

“Where have you been? Come have some water first”, he said leading his wife to a chair.

“I do not need water Ezekiel, tell me if the white men came here”, the man looked worriedly at his wife.

“Yes they did”

“Tell me you did not write on anything Ezekiel, tell me!”, She said desperately.

“I did not write on anything”.

A relieved look came on her face, she felt as if a stone was lifted from her chest.

“Really?”, the man nodded and the woman smiled at him.

“Then it’s fine , it’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay”, she said putting her head on her husband’s shoulder.

Ezekiel held his wife, feeling guilty he looked toward their bed wondering why the paper beneath, that he put his ‘signature’ as the white men called it caused his wife so much distress that he had to lie to her to ease her worries.

“That Gregor never listening to me,” grumbled Regina as she walked back inside after failing to call back the running Antelope that was Gregor.

She exhaled as she looked at the scrying mirror once again watching as Mama Patience waved her hand over Jasmine, watched as the life drained out of Patience and go straight to Jasmine.

Sighing, she turned and fed more wood into the fire while shaking her head.

“That Gregor never once listening to me”.

                           THE END.