Ndlovukazi - Queen

Chapter 18

Amehlo aluhlaza (Green Eyes)

Even though the lightning brightened the heavens for only a moment, I knew exactly who was in the cave with me. After spending weeks attending to his brother, I could recognize him anywhere. But those eyes, he didn't have green eyes before...

Sthembiso is sitting at the entrance of my cave and he is sopping wet. He shivers violently  and his hair matted to his forehead. There are water droplets dripping from his nose and ears. In that moment he stares  at me, with his arms hanging over his knees.

I blindly reach for my spear or shield, anything to reassure myself that I am still protected, but as I pat the damp ground beside me and the furs on my waist, an unsettling feeling rests in my chest.

I hope it isn't true, that I slept so deeply that I did not feel someone remove my weapons from my grasp but l know the truth, he has disarmed me or at least my weapons aren't within my reach. "Slima" (idiot!) I want to scream at myself, how could I allow myself to be that vulnerable, someone else could have done worse...

Lightening flashes again and I see that he still staring at me, he doesn't say a word nor does he make a sound. I huff and stare back, even as the darkness surrounds us once more, I dare not move my eyes from his direction. "Ufunani La" (What is he doing here?)

I lean my back further into the wall to reassure myself that I am still in the cave I fell asleep in and to feel whether the small knife I concealed inside my skirt is still there. I fight the urge release a sigh of relief as I feel it's jagged edges poke against my skin.

I breathe out slowly trying  to calm my heart that is beating so hard, I think I can hear it beat in my ears. The thunder rumbles again and this time it almost feels as though the cave shakes.

He found me, I cannot believe he found me. This boy from a far away land, with a name I cannot properly pronounce and who can barely speak our tongue. This boy tracked me all the way from home?! I expected my father's trackers but him?

The last time I saw him was in front of the pyre...

How did he find me?

I was careful, I made sure no one was following me, I covered my tracks, I made sure I didn't walk along any riverbanks. Did he just stumble upon me? It's unlikely, why would he even come this way?

The sound of the raindrops splashing into the cave echoes through the cave as I try to understand how I could have missed him. I did everything right, I ran, changed directions, didn't walk along known paths, and ran so hard that my feet and legs still hurt ... and it still wasn't enough.

The heavy rain pours from the heavens as if seeking to replenish the earth in a day and thunder crashes through the sky, like huge boulders crashing into one another. The rain has not stopped since it started pouring, making the air cold and the ground muddy.

When I was alone in this cave, I didn't mind the darkness, but now that the lightning has shown me that I am not alone, I feel as though I am completely blind.

Lightening strikes again, this time he seems to be closer than he was last time.

Why him? Why me? What does he even want with me? I gave him a way out and instead, he followed me!

I left him weeping at his brother's funeral pyre ... I thought I would never see him again. Is he here to take me back? Force me to marry him?

His brother is dead, outside of Baba's greed I don't see why he would even bother. He's young, he can find a young girl his age to marry and move on.

My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of his wet footsteps, it sounds like he is coming towards me. It's so dark that I cannot see anything except the feint glimpse of lightening in the distance. The storm is growing and I don't think it stop anytime soon.