The Hidden Queen - Goshalion, The Eternal Realm

Prologue - The Peculiar Kinga Clan (i)

A peculiar clan with the surname Kinga has lived hidden in the wet, lush green highlands found on the outskirts of Mount Kenya.

Legend was the ancients of the Kinga Clan had discovered a secret treasure in their family land. The treasure-filled their lives and those of their descendants with abundance and good fortune. However, the price of keeping the treasure included a lifetime dedication to guarding the source. There was no compromise.

Legend said that there was never a member of the Kinga Clan who shunned this duty. After all, the Kinga farms remained abundant, the clan's children multiplied, and there was no reason to walk away from such good fortune.

The first ancients of the Kinga clan remain distant, but it is well documented that the sixth generation of guardians in the clan was led by Singu Kinga and his wife, Asta. Singu and Asta guarded the treasure for eight decades before handing it over to their son, Teres.

Teres Kinga, and his wife, Jelena, grew the clan even larger during their seventh generation. And so, Teres guarded the treasure for seven decades before the couple handed over guardianship to their eldest daughter, Siti.

Siti made history in the clan by becoming the first matriarch in the Kinga Clan and the head of the eighth generation. She took on the heavy burden of guarding a treasure that had lived for over four hundred years.

One afternoon, in the spirit of educating Siti, her mother, Jelena, led Siti to the massive fig tree that grew in the deepest part of the forest in the middle of their farm.

Siti visited the fig tree often with her parents. All her elders liked to bring fruit offerings to this tree in a show of respect every time the moon turned full. She was twenty-one years old and had brought fruit offerings to the fig tree since she turned five.

She never understood why they needed to give thanks here.

That is, until that strange afternoon four months before Siti married her husband, Adasi. Jelena led her to the fig tree, and Siti discovered the reason why her clan protects their land with such fervor.

Jelena took Siti's right hand and made a small cut on her index finger with the tip of a broken coconut shell. She then placed Siti's bleeding finger on the trunk of the fig tree.

"Siti, you're to marry Adasi and learn how to run our Fig Hill Farm for the next generation. It is time you understood the fate your father and I place on your shoulders," Jelena said, as she held Siti's hand pressed to the fig tree.

Once enough of her blood was on the tree bark, Jelena pulled Siti away from the tree.

"Beyond our gates, the region is filled with a perilous fight for freedom from the colonialists," Jelena said, her voice wistful as she watched the tree bark. "Have you ever wondered why our home remains untouched?"

"Often," Siti said. "Two months ago, we needed to help Ceri and her family when they were chased away from their land by the colonialists. But the bad people did not enter our gates, even though we left them open for anyone to walk in. They never found their way in."

"Yes," Jelena said. "I'll show you why we have been protected from the pain Ceri and her family face. Why you now must help protect the source of our good fortune. Why you must keep at it for the rest of your life. There are only three rules to knowing the secret of the treasure. One, do not be afraid. Two, do not be disrespectful, and always show gratitude. Third, never abandon the promise. Anyone from the Kinga Clan who abandons the promise will no longer enjoy the protection of the treasure. Do you understand, Siti?"

"Yes, Mama," Siti said, though she did not fully understand.

Before she could ask more about the rules, a white light cut a straight line through the middle of the tall fig tree. The light grew wider, as though opening a door in the middle of the thick tree trunk.