Deities of Deceit

Chapter One

Nimah Eze | One
Sands Of Time
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Once upon a time, across the vast sun-kissed, golden brown sands of the deserts of West Africa, soared the Kingdom of Arjana, under the rule of it's one true ruler, The Great Emperor of The Sands, Conqueror of The Dark Ages, Breaker of Curses, Witch of The Crown and Bringer of Rain, Her Royal Highness, Hareti Jaja.

At the daring young age of fifteen, during the dark ages when Africa was plagued with hatred, war, and death, Hareti ascended the throne. Blood ran free in the streets of every kingdom on the continent and Africans diminished in strength. Slavery ran the economy and the culture perished underneath the ugly leashes that whipped it.

Songs and poems were sung across all nations about the inevitable death of the great continent. Africans had begun to bury their motherland in their heart. A time of great pain and grief.

The queen led the wilting kingdom into triumphant battle with black magic so pure, and war strategies so profound no man or evil could compare. She banished the evil that poisoned the minds of Africans and united all kingdoms in one single battle against the invaders and evil that lurked across the land.

The queen freed the minds and bodies of all Africans from the chains that bound them and claimed the invaders as slaves: the price for their transgression. All invaders from Europe, the Middle East and the Americas came to know the pain of whips on their backs. Their wrists and feet came to know the tightness of chains. They perished as slaves under the tight fists of the formidable queen and prayed for when the drums shall be sounded in news of her death.

As time passed, whispers grew. The queen was said to be cloaked in magic so dark, death could not find her. The people murmured about the queen's secret. They said she sold her soul to the devil or was cursed for her war crimes. A hundred years passed and then another hundred years and yet the drum did not sound.

Humans from every corner of Africa and beyond journeyed to Arjana to find a new home after hearing of the prosperity that soared within the kingdom. A new society that welcomed all and promised a world of freedom, wealth, and happiness. A kingdom where all were equal under the eyes of the queen and the god of thunder, Amadioha. Except when they were a descendant of the invaders.

It was only a matter of time before the children of the invaders began to marry citizens of Arjana and birth children that were half slave and half free—half casts they were called. It forced a new order in the kingdom. The illegalization of slavery passed as law. Citizens could no longer buy slaves at the trader's market. All slaves would now be paid for work. But the fee was next to nothing.

My grandparents were among the mixed marriages that formed this new order. My grandmother was a citizen of Arjana. Dark of skin, with locs so long and eyes so bright. My grandfather was a white slave from Europe, a faraway land I had never visited called Great Britain. He was sold to her father for farm work. They fell in love and she took in with my father.

It was forbidden at the time. Her father was forced to send her away to live with the River slaves. A growing community in the small village of Uwari, named after the great river it was built beside. They were among the first settlers in the village, and as years passed, it continued to thrive. More slaves, and citizens who married them found homes by the river village and after the law passed it was booming with homeless slaves my grandparents had to provide for.

My mother was one of the first white slaves to be freed after the new law. She told me a lot of the story. How she was so fickle and could barely walk and Papa had found her lying on the street, slowly dying from hunger. He'd taken her in and nursed her back to health with the help of his parents.