Beautiful Rossettes (A werewolf story set in Africa)

Chapter 10 Flame Under Water

Jabulani

The picnic I planned was meant to be romantic. I found a spot with soft grass, enough shade and a good view of Rukuru. Dumase had been silent ever since we got back from Ezondweni. Her sadness was strong and obvious. I wanted her to tell me herself but she did not. It was after our lunch at a picnic spot, that I took out the various fruits I had brought. When she saw the sugar plums, she burst into tears. I moved till I was beside her, cupping her shoulder with my hand.

"This....was...his...favourite fruit."

Oh no. Did she have a boyfriend before me? Who was this he? Zumbwe growled in my mind. I tried to push my anger away. She was sad. I needed to listen.

"My twin." She rasped out. "Today is the day he died."

I soothed my palm against her back.

"He was a tracker not a warrior. But our Inkosana did not care. He sent him to war. The first time he went, he barely survived. The second time he came back with his eyes shut." Dumase placed her head on my shoulder. Her tears flowed down arm. I held her close. She wept for a long time. When she calmed down, I asked her what his name was.

"No. I can't say it. I haven't said it since he died." Her lips trembled. I pulled her closer, encasing her in my arms. She broke away after sometime.

"I have lost a brother too." I said wiping the remnants of tears in her eyes. "My mother had Nyanyiso out of an affair with a guard of hers. My father always hated Nyanyiso. When he was old enough, my father sent him to war knowing he was a tracker. He died." I exhaled. "Nyanyiso and I were close. Closer than me and my other brothers. He was not a black leopard, he did not have my father's blood so he was not as strong as Lizwe and Sundu. We understood each other. He was easy going. I looked upto him."

Dumase stroked my cheek letting her fingernails dig into my stubble.

"I know my grief does not compare to yours. Me and Nyanyiso didn't share a womb but I know the pain of losing a brother."

She wrapped her arms around my back. I held her close. When we broke from our hug, I threw away the sugar plums. We ate the other fruits.

"Your father was cruel?"

"Very. My mother was his mate. When he found her, he already had a wife. And afterwards he went onto to marry nine wives. Living in a polygamous marriage broke Mother's heart."

Dumase rubbed my knuckles with her fingers.

"My brothers and I made a pact to marry our mate and our mate alone. My sisters vowed to reject their mates if they married another wife or if they were already married."

"That was noble of you."

"Thank you."

Silently we starred at Rukuru river as it poured into small streams.

"Me and my twin looked quiet alike. If we were the same gender we would have been identical for sure." She said. I tightened my grip on her waist. "The first six months after he died, my grandmother would burst into tears every time she saw me. So I stopped going to see her because I didn't want to remind her that he was gone. She came to seek me, she cried, I cried. She told me that the reason she cried when she saw me wasn't only because I reminded her of him but because she too had lost a twin. That when she saw me she felt pity for me and her own grief at her loss of her twin sister."

Not knowing what to say I kissed her temple.

"Today is always hard for me, but you being here it's made it easier." She whispered.

"I will always be here for you."

That night, she did not sleep much. I held her as she wept for most of the night.

My younger Father was getting old, he did not carry out many punishments because of the strain it would put on him. He asked Sundu and me to carry out a punishment on an inkosi who had been found using leopard and human sacrifices for ritual magic. I knew that Dumase was not attracted to me for my strength and dominance but I wanted her to know that I too was strong. That I was warrior. I was matched against the mnawa of the Inkosi. While my brother was matched against the Inkosi. The fight was long and strenuous. When I killed him. I starred up at my mate to see her looking at me with admiration as the other women were. She had a neutral expression on her face. The next few days the progress we made, disappeared like a flame under water. She was taciturn, easily offended and no longer laughed at my jokes. What used to be cuddle sessions were now each of us sleeping on opposite ends of the bed. Even Sundu noticed I was not in a hurry to return home after our trainings with my younger father. My home had become silent and devoid of mirth. It was as though I was living with a ghost of my mate. The loving woman who I had known was gone. I don't know what went wrong. I didn't know how to fix it. I wish Thanda and Londi were here. They could have helped me.

Author's Note

Why do you think Dumase withdrew into herself?