Shaka the Great (42 page)

“I am ready!”

The boy turns and makes a show of scratching his chin. He passes his hand over each of the shells in turn. Then, gently, using
the tip of his forefinger, he pulls the center shell toward him …

“Aiee, Little One,” says Pampata, clapping her hands, “this is clever. You have shown me where the stone isn't!”

A smile playing across his lips, the Induna retraces his steps quietly, waits for a few moments, then summons the boy.

The homestead that was their destination was a day's journey away. By leaving in the early afternoon, the Induna intended to break their journey into two segments, with a sleep in between. This would enable them to arrive at the kraal before midday.

They moved quickly, following well-trodden paths, wispy fan lovegrass giving way to hardier thatchgrass with its flattened stems, buck nibbling the seed pods of flat-topped acacias, and among rocky outcrops, and along watercourses, quilted sagebush.

As night approached, they made their camp. After a supper of porridge and amasi, the Induna told the udibi about the Bead Man and the accusation of murder. He also told him the second part of the tale Nandi had recounted …

Two suitors, one maiden, and a father who cared only about the lobola. As the bride price is an indication of how her family values their daughter, a wise father would be governed by his daughter's wishes, where two suitors are involved. Not surprisingly, though, there are those who abuse the custom, seeing it merely as a business transaction, with profit as the aim. And although Nomleti, the maiden, loved Nyembezi, Masipula's father was wealthier, so it was Masipula who married her.

The result was an unhappy marriage and many believed that Nomleti's death, while giving birth to her second son, was brought on by her treatment at Masipula's hands.

“He knew, Nduna … he knew he wasn't the one she loved and he set about making her suffer,” Nandi had said. “They say he kept her out in the field, hoeing until she could scarcely stand, and then
he took his time sending for the midwife. As far as he was concerned, he couldn't make her suffer enough.”

At least Nomleti was free of Masipula's tyranny, once and for all, but the same couldn't be said of their children. As the eldest, Zikihle did her best to shield her two brothers from their father's wrath, and suffered for it. Like a disease, Masipula's hatred for his wife had metastasised into a hatred of all women, including his daughter.

Then he began to poison her brothers' minds, the boys she herself had raised. He'd beat them when he was drunk and had become bored with picking on Zikihle, yet he was happy to enlist them as allies in his mistreatment of her. At first they joined in eagerly, because at least it meant they weren't the ones in trouble, but all too soon abusing their sister became second nature to them.

Upon hearing of Zikihle's plight, Nandi had intervened. She could do nothing about Masipula's treatment of his daughter, but she could arrange for the brothers to be called up as udibis, thereby removing them from the influence of their father.

“A bitter, brutal man,” murmured the Induna, watching the embers for the billowing of color that follows the ever-shifting movement of the life within the fire.

“Who had a grudge against Nyembezi,” said the boy. “Yet
he
was the one who died.”

That was just it. “This is another reason why I have sent for you, Nduna,” Nandi had said. “If they had told me Masipula had murdered Nyembezi, I would have said ‘Hai, what are you waiting for. Let the King's impalers have him!' For, say what you like about the man, he had every reason to feel wronged, with the desire for revenge growing ever stronger in the passing of the years.”

“Especially when he heard how his rival, the Bead Man, prospered!”

“There is that too, Nduna. But see what has happened.”

Whenever a human being dies in their hut, a special exit for the body is constructed at the back of the dwelling. Under normal circumstances, a person is considered rude if they leave the hut backward,
but this does not apply to those who carry the corpse. The ingadi, or right-hand wife, will walk on the left side of the body, while the ikhohlwa, or left-hand wife, will walk to the right. As a sign of mourning, they'll wear their skirts inside out. Immediately after a chief's funeral, cows in the kraal will be milked from the left side of the animal, instead of the right side as is usual.

In other words, things are inverted.

And that seemed to be what happened here. Everything was the other way around.

A contemplative silence. Then the boy opened his pouch and checked to see if his shells were still intact.

“She cheated,” said the Induna, his gaze fixed on the embers at his feet. Pampata was supposed to put the stone under one of the shells, and then move only the other two before smoothing the sand. Instead she had shifted all three.

The boy nodded. “This is so.”

That earned him a look and raised eyebrows from the Induna.

“You knew?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Kobo!”

“Sire?”

“Am I wrong? Do my eyes deceive me? Or are we experiencing a surfeit of Zulu sangomas?”

“Hai, Sire! Ngoza, the Great Buffalo and ruler of the Thembus, master of all he surveys, scourge of his enemies and the dreadful one even the shades fear, can never be wrong. They are indeed flocking here, these Zulu sangomas, like animals fleeing a drought.”

“The drought in this instance having taken the form of a big fat Beetle …”

“This is so.”

“But why must they come here?”

“Erm.”

“Kobo?”

“I have, er, made it known in your, uhm, name, Highness, that they will be welcome here.”

“Why?
Am I not taunted enough by our own sorcerers?
”

“They loathe the Beetle, who is constantly striving to restrict their influence, Majesty, and I thought they might be able to provide us with valuable information about the state of affairs over there.”

“And have they done this to your satisfaction?”

“Er, no, Highness. I must confess the harvest has been paltry, to say the least.”

“Idiot! I could have told you that. Were one planning to usurp a king, one would prefer to remain as close to him as possible. Failing that, one must work on his subjects, show them the error of their ways, and seek allies among his inner circle. Take whats-her-name …”

“Nobela, Sire?”

“Yes, Nobela, whose reputation caused even some of my own medicine men to bang their knees together. Did she flee? Of course not! Not even when it became apparent that to stay was to die. It's only the cowards who darken our doorway.”

“I will see the message is spread. None will make it this far in future.”

“Yes, tell them to go and pester Pakatwayo and his Qwabes, or else Faku.”

“Since the Beetle has been courting Pakatwayo, I doubt they will feel safe among the Qwabes. As for Faku, he appears to hate everyone, and why travel so far when they can eat dust at home?”

“Which shows a distinct lack of mettle on their part. Not only do they value their innards over putting a stop to the Beetle's tyranny, they prefer to seek out what they clearly think is the easier path even when they flee.”

“But they compliment you, too, Majestic Awfulness!”

“I need their words of praise like a bull needs udders.”

“This is so, Sire, this is so, but I meant they compliment you by coming here. Is it not a sign they believe that you, the Mighty Magnificent Buffalo, are the one—the only one—who has the strength and the wisdom to succeed where all others failed, and crush the Beetle?”

“No, Kobo, the only sign I see here is how eloquent you can be when trying to justify your errors of judgment. Which isn't surprising, since those are legion.”

“I am humbled by your Cognoscence's shrewdness!”

“As well you might, Kobo.”

“And, more, see how my hands tremble at the thought of what might have been, Sire!”

“When do they not tremble? But why particularly this time?”

“What if the Beetle sends an assassin disguised as a disgraced sangoma, as he did with Zwide on the eve of Gqokli Hill?”

“Do you seek to insult me, now?”

“Majesty! Fount of Wisdom! That is furthest from my thoughts.”

“To think that I would fall for such a puerile trick. This smacks of treachery. Treachery, Kobo—betrayal!”

“Please, your Dreadfulness, I did not mean to—”

“You are slobbering now, Kobo.”

“May my bountiful apologies cause your fields to blossom with mercy, Sire.”

“I might be master of all I see, but apparently not of all I hear.”

“Sire?”

“I have absolutely no idea what that means.”

“What what means, O Frightful One?”

“Forget it! Let us return to the matter of these Zulu sangomas …”

“Rest assured, Majestic Terror, I will see to it that your wishes are carried out.”

“What wishes?”

“I will see those Zulu sangomas removed before they foul our land any further.”

“Tell me this, Kobo; are you enjoying your journey along the path of stupidity, this morning? For it seems to me you have packed your sleeping mat and are set on ranging far and wide.”

“Majesty? Bellowing Buffalo? Profuse apologies, but I do not—”

“Understand? Clearly! Let me put it this way, Kobo, and heed my words carefully. You will continue to allow the Zulu sangomas to come to us, seeking protection, and you will leave them unmolested until you are able to discover whether they have anything of value to tell us. I do not see this ever happening, but let us not miss any opportunity to get behind Shaka's shield. Do you understand?”