Chapter three: Battle of the throne

It is the last month of the year and the Oracle had returned to her people and was given a place to stay in by the new king of the village (Chi Romando), Chi was ordained by the elders of the village, as he was the member of the royal house.

The village of Omen was then out of lock down following the Order of Chi their new king, that all the people should rejoice in the name of the Romando family and the villagers were so ready to hear from the Oracle. But Chi ordered the Oracle to say nothing until his child was born, indeed the Oracle said nothing.

The villagers did not know anything about their king and the maid that Chi impregnated because he always kept her indoors. Only Chi and the Oracle knew, because it was forbidden for a royal member to be intimate or in a relationship with a servant.

After Chi was ordained to the royal chair as the king of the village by the elders. A day was placed to say he had to sit on the throne and see if it does accept him as the king. Every time a new king was ordained, they would have him sit on the throne and crown him while he sat on the throne.

The hours of the day had passed, and the moon had been the source of light in the village. Later in that night, the Oracle had a vision, in her dream, she saw king Lawrence the great along with his mother, Rubi Lawrence Romando.

The two members of the royal lineage told the Oracle about the evil works of Chi Romando. The queen took and told the Oracle how Chi had her drink poisoned to kill her and take the throne. ‘Now I say to you,’ said king Lawrence, ‘every soul that leaves a terrestrial being from my village, shall come dine with me in my spiritual kingdom. Those who die, shall meet me,’

The Oracle already had knowledge about Chi’s character the next day, but she said nothing, instead she kept quiet, yet the way she looked at Chi changed.

The day came in which Chi the new king was to be tested by the royal throne. All the villagers and members of the royal counsel were gathered to the royal room (esigodlweni) were the throne and the new crown of the next king was.

Chi entered the royal room and all the villagers bowed before him; the elders knelt. ‘It is our pleasure to have you your highness,’ said one of the elders that was ordained to crown kings and queens. He was an old man with a white beard and hair, skin had wrinkles as a symbol of him being aged 99 years old. Elder Jonker Cloudy had crowned eleven kings and two queens, including Rubi.

‘Allow me to lead you to the throne,’ said Elder Cloudy, as he stood up, holding one side of his long white garment. He stretched his hand towards Chi and held him, he therefore sat him on the throne. Chi’s hair and beard was then well combed and clean, as he was still dealing with his guilt and anxieties. He sat on the throne and all the villagers rose to witness their new king being crowned. Chi’s purple garment was long enough to cover his feet.

Elder Cloudy took the crown next to the throne and raised it above Chi’s head. Just when he was about to crown him, the royal chair changed from gold to a rusty chair, suddenly the crown on Elder Cloud’s hands lighted up in blue flames and burnt him, Elder Cloudy dropped the crown and reacted to the stimuli, sucking his fingers.

The villagers murmured. Chi stood up from the throne and looked at the elders, suddenly the chair turned back to gold and the crown’s flames vanished.

‘Your new king is being rejected by the throne and the crown.’ said the Oracle as she entered the event. ‘She is right,’ responded Elder Cloudy, ‘the worrier Chi is not our rightful king.’ Chi’s face changed, as you could see that anger and frustration filled his heart. ‘This is madness,’ said Chi with a loud voice, ‘I am your king, and I will be crowned,’ he yelled.

Chi left the event to seek a sorcerer out of their village. The villagers were perplexed, and rumors began saying Chi could have killed his sister. The elders suggested that they consulted from the Oracle to ask her what was happening, but the Oracle told them that she could not say anything. She said if the throne rejected Chi that day, it did not mean it will reject him forever.

On his way to search for a sorcerer, Chi came across a small village miles away from his, but all the villagers of that village were no more, and the streets spoke silence. The houses were ruined, and every house had graves at the back yard. Chi’s beast raised to dominate the fear in him. He calmed down when he was welcomed by an old woman.

The old lady looked short and had no hair, she held a walking stick and all her clothes told Chi everything about how she was the last one in that village.

‘You have come to find dominion over the throne of Omen village. My king.’ Said the old lady in a cracking voice of an old man. ‘You have come to the right place. In this village you see, lies a blue river called ‘The Blue Karoo Daisy’, named after our village ‘Karoo’. The river grants people their heart desires, the dark and clean desires, though a sacrifice will be needed,’ said the old lady.

Chi stood on the grounds of the Karoo village with his horse next to him, as he was still processing the sacrifice thing, ‘show me the river,’ he spoke. The old woman led Chi to a dark forest with plenty skeletons of human beings and animals, on the way to the river, the old woman told Chi that the village they were at, was a descendent of the Omen village, long ago, a family was chased out of the Omen village after being accused of witchcraft. 

As they were approaching the river, the old woman told Chi to continue and head towards the river, because she was not allowed near the river. Chi understood. He came across the Blue Karoo Daisy, and he stood at the edge of the banks and did not know what to do.

‘Your shoes, take them off,’ spoke a loud voice in the dark forest, Chi did as it told him. ‘When the river starts spinning, throw a stone in it,’ said the loud voice. The river started spinning and he threw a stone, after that, there appeared a mermaid with a long yellow tail and hair on the surface of the river.

‘My king,’ said the mermaid, ‘the power you seek is sufficient and will cost you,’ it continued, ‘it is against the gods of our ancestors, so, you will have to bring forth blood. Huma blood.’ Chi stood there and listened to the creature, ‘anything my descendant,’ said Chi. The mermaid came out of the river, and its tail changed to feet and its hair to white.

It touched Chi and kissed him. Chi could not resist because she was as beautiful as the sun in dawn. ‘Now go my king, your darkest desire has been fulfilled.’ It returned to the water and disappeared. Chi returned to his horse full of joy and confidence, but he made a mistake by not asking about the sacrifice.

Battle of the Throne: The Sacrifice

On the first month of the next year, the maid that Chi impregnated gave birth to two twins, a boy and a girl. Chi named his two children, Maize-keen and Leiden. The boy was named Leiden Romando and the girl Maize-keen Romando. 

Chi suggested that they tried to crown him again before the villagers and the elders, he wanted to reveal his kids after the crown had accepted him. A day came and all the villagers were gathered to witness the event. The elders gathered and elder Jonker Cloudy was urged to crown the king, although he feared to, but he had no choice. Elder Cloudy held and sat Chi on the royal throne, after Chi sat on the throne, he saw the mermaid from the Karoo village entering the event.

Chi’s beast in him dominated over his fear, he then heard a voice in his ears, ‘cast all your worries to the beast within you my King, they cannot see me, only you can,’ said the mermaid. The mermaid entered and took the crown from its position, all the villagers and the elders could see was a crown lifting on its own, they were all overwhelmed and fear became their new name. The crown raised above Chi’s head and hung over his head for thirty seconds and settled on his head.

The elders gazed at Chi, they all therefore fell on their knees and exclaimed, ‘hail to you king of kings, crowned by the hands of the gods!’ and all the villagers followed and bowed before him.

Later that day in the evening, the king (Chi Romando) had a dream, in his vision, he saw a male mermaid yelling at him, telling him that they want their daughter’s sacrifice since she granted him his darkest desire. ‘The human blood is what we want,’ it said.

Early in the dawn, the king woke up, took the mother of his children, Olein Cradoc (a self-willed woman who was Chi’s maid) and he went to the Blue Karoo Daisy River along with her. It was four in the morning when they arrived at the Karoo village. The maid was so scared when she saw the river and she did not know what was happening, the river started spinning and the king heard a voice in his head ‘throw my sacrifice in.’ Chi hugged the maid and kissed her, after that, he pushed her into the river, it changed from blue to red. After the spin, it went back to blue.

Chi returned to his village with tears on his eyes, he spent the rest of his day in his house with his two children. Guilt raised in him, as he remembered that late wife’s (the one he boiled to death) wish was to have two babies, a boy and girl. Chi developed love for his two twins, because most of his time, he spent with them.

Three years went by, and Chi’s children were then three years old. The villagers still had no idea about their king’s children as they were always indoors with the Oracle as their nanny. Although the Oracle hated Chi, but she took care of his children, not for him, but for the sake of the innocent kids and in honor of the late queen, Rubi.

‘For when you do good my king, you shall be rewarded, but when you do evil, evil will do you, and when guilt rises, death opens the grave and hell becomes your home.’ Said the Oracle to the king as she prepared food for the two kids. The beast in Chi could not dominate every time he heard those words, but instead, fear overwhelmed him. As he remembered the first time he heard those words, his sister was down the floor breathless. 

The king was so stressed because on the last past two years after his first sacrifice, he always dreamt of the male mermaid all nights, telling him it wants his blood. Chi-moa loved his two kids, and he could on decide based on them.

That was the Oracle year, in which they had to celebrate but they did not, because Chi had changed the previous ways and of the village.

On the second month of the year, later in the evening, Chi had a dream in his sleep, in his vision, he dreamt of the mermaid. ‘I shall kill your entire village and all that lies in it, for you have disobeyed me,’ spoke the mermaid. Chi woke up in the middle of the night stressed. His heart was heavy and soul troubled, tears down his face as he grabbed his 3-year-old son and rode with him on his horse to the Blue Karoo Daisy.

While that took place, the Oracle could see everything in her sleep. The king reached to the village and headed to the river, he knelt before it with tears all over his face, he tried to beg the mermaid, but the male mermaid hated Chi for his greed and wanted to punish him. It was twelve in the midnight, and it was very dark when the river spined for the last time for him, Chi kissed Leiden goodbye and he threw him in the river.

Immediately when Leiden vanished, the Oracle woke up and ran to the king’s room, Chi and his son was not there, the Oracle took Maize-keen and ran with her into the mountain ‘Herod’. The gods were pleased with the Oracles actions, but the mountain could only keep Maize-keen with the other death kings and queens, not along with the Oracle. So, she left Mize-keen in there and returned to the resident. The mountain Herod closed, hid its opening and kept the 3-year-old Maize-keen.

The Oracle returned to Chi’s room and waited for him. When Chi entered, the Oracle from behind tried to kill Chi, but Chi as the greatest worrier, he stabbed the Oracle, had Oracle’s arm bleeding. The Oracle’s anger led her into bursting, she cried out loud holding her bleeding arm, and she told Chi how evil he was, and that she knew what he just did and how he had his sister poisoned.

While Chi listened to her, he tied her feet and hands, he therefore went to his storeroom and brought a huge barrel, large enough to fit a human being. He lifted the Oracle as she tried to scream but the tape around her mouth was strong. He placed the Oracle inside the barrel, sealed the barrel and had it filled with water. Chi rolled the barrel to the fire room his palace, when he got there, he set fire around the barrel and had the Oracle boiled to death. 

The way the guards were so scared of Chi, the did not ask him what was inside the barrel, but instead, he had them help him to dispose it after boiling it for one hour. On the day after, Chi had announced to the village that again, the Oracle ran away.

Although Chi wanted her daughter, he could not ask for help from any villager or elders, not even his former fellow worriers. Because they had no knowledge about his children. Chi spent his old last days longing to see her daughter. With all that had happened in the village, the return of the great king Lawrence was still to come, and the growth of Maize-keen, had been a wonder.

The next story is titled ‘The Forbidden love’. In which King Lawrence returns with great power and falls in love with his cousin not knowing it is his cousin ‘Maize-keen’.