Two years had passed and much had changed for Mlezi and his family.

A major thing was that their compound was much larger and had gained the name Central Hatua, even though Mount Kupumzika was closer to the true centre of the region.

Many people visited it for trade and many more had moved their huts to the southern part of the newly founded town.

The central wall divided those who were true residents of Hatua in that the people north of the wall were actually people who worked for Mlezi while everyone to the south lived there simply for the protection being there provided.

As for Mlezi himself, his hut was far bigger than before and had separate rooms for everyone in his family with him and Ua sharing the biggest room.

However, Mlezi wasn’t home at this moment.

He was actually on his way west to the village of the tree worshippers or the Mbegu people, an offshoot of the Umande.

They believed themselves and all life to be the seeds of the Mti Mkubwa or the Great Tree. Their village hadn’t grown much, being about thirty or so huts large but apart from that, the only notable feature was the giant tree which had green leaves regardless of the season.

Mlezi led a group of twenty men, ten of whom carried tall vases full of water.

The other ten were armed with iron spears and pangolin shields and they walked completely silently beneath the bright light of the rising sun.

Mlezi and his men were accompanied to the foot of the tree by a few Mbegu men, who wore nothing but loincloths, unlike they, who wore leather clothing and shoes.

The Umande men were led to the foot of the tree which was covered in shade by the large branches, most of which were still so large and heavy that instead of growing outwards, they fell to the ground where they grew branches of their own.

Mlezi and his men were instructed to sit on some straw carpets and they were eventually joined by an elderly man who, despite his age, moved with vigour.

“Greetings, great men from the West. My name is Mchungaji. What is it that we can help you with if anything at all?” The old man asked with a surprisingly clear and high-pitched voice. One which added to the betrayal of his wrinkly appearance.

“The rains have rarely visited us this summer, mmm? I bring with me water so that the next few days aren’t so arduous, what with the fact that whenever your people grow thirsty, they have to travel across the wilds to the nearest stream,” Mlezi growled. His voice had deepened significantly and he had acquired several lines on his face.

Mchungaji glanced at the vases and winced.

“Thank you very much but what did we do to deserve such kindness?” He asked.

“Think of it as an act of goodwill by a distant neighbour.” Mlezi weakly smiled.

“I see. Then I give you my sincerest gratitude.”

Mlezi nodded before watching, with narrowed eyes, as a few of the Mbegu people prayed at the foot of the Great Tree.

He then let out a soft scoff before standing up.

“Feel free to come to the East, should you need anything.”

“Hopefully that won’t be necessary. After all, the Mbegu get all we need from the Mti Mkubwa.” Mchungaji weakly chuckled but all Mlezi did was smile in response before eventually bidding Mchungaji farewell.

He then led his men back home and while he did, I shifted my attention back to Ua who gently washed Jua’s hair as he sat naked on a little wooden chair. Unlike most people, Mlezi’s family had a private bathhouse behind their hut and next to it were other, larger huts.

“I can do this myself, ya know!” Jua whined but Ua ignored him while running warm water through his long and kinky hair with her hands.

Mlezi’s family were some of the few who got to bathe with warm water since everyone else bathed in the river.

“Here are some fresh clothes, ma’am,” Heziyn said as she entered the bathhouse.

Ua ignored her prompting Heziyn to place them on the clothes rack next to where Jua was being forcefully bathed.

The boy gave Heziyn a pleading look but all Heziyn could do was bow before leaving.

Jua sighed in defeat as his mother turned him around.

She looked into his eyes before gently wiping the water from his brow.

“My boy turns fifteen this day… you cannot imagine how happy that makes me. So please… let me do this one thing before we return to our duties.” Ua whispered while gently pressing her hands on her son’s cheeks.

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“Alright.” Jua sighed making Ua smile.

The two eventually finished bathing and, after drying up and getting changed, they made their way into their home and into Jua’s room.

Jua sat on his bed and Ua sat behind him before braiding his hair.

“I understand why you wanted to bathe together but do we have to do this as well?” Jua whined.

“Yes. Your hair has gotten far too long to leave it as it is.”

“Aww! Why can’t I just let it grow as it is like Uncle Maini?”

“Because he is a madman and I do not want my son to share even a passing resemblance with such an unkempt sort!” Ua scoffed before turning to the door as Heziyn approached it.

“Ma’am, your parents are outside.” She reported making Ua’s eyes narrow.

“Bring them here.”

Heziyn bowed before leaving.

A moment then passed as Ua continuously braided Jua’s hair and Heziyn eventually returned with a certain aged man and woman.

They walked hesitantly and with heads that were slightly lowered.

The old man or Mkali wrung his hands as he reached the door.

“Come in,” Ua said without removing her eyes from Jua’s head.

Her parents did as instructed and they sat about a meter away from Ua.

They then sat in silence as she finished braiding her son’s head.

She had given him two thick braids which went backwards and pointed downwards like the horns of a goat.

“Go to your study. We’ll spend some more time together in a bit.”

Jua nodded before leaving the room and following Heziyn to his study.

Ua then sighed before turning to her parents.

“Yes?”

“Oh- err… we just wanted to give little Jua our best wishes on this most joyous of days,” Mkali said with a weak smile but Ua simply tilted her head slightly in response.

“He was here a moment ago, you should have done so then but I suppose you could do that any time later today.” She said although her voice came as a song and her voice wore no expression.

”Ah- yes. Of course.” Mkali said before lowering his head.

What followed was silence.

A blaring silence which Mkali and his wife Tamu tried filling by fiddling with their fingers and shifting their eyes from side to side.

They had moved into Central Hatua a few months prior along with several other Umande, much to the dismay of the elders who swore that doom would befall all who followed Mlezi and his family for they were supposedly cursed.

Ua giggled upon seeing her parents struggle to find something to say.

“And to think that long ago we used to talk and laugh without a care. Yet here you sit, unable to properly converse with your own daughter. What changed?”

Mkali finally raised his eyes and looked into Ua’s.

“Good question… a lot can happen over the long course of twenty or so years but this… what happened on that mountain? Because, to us, you are a completely different person from-“

“From the woman whom you chose to abandon?” Ua asked with narrowed eyes and this made Mkali’s head lower slightly.

“From the woman whom you allowed the elders to curse while casting her and her family into the wilds? The woman who lost her son to those northern dogs? How am I so different to that woman, father dearest? All that changed was that I learnt a thing or two-“

“Bending the laws of the world is not a simple thing or two,” Mkali said with a pained expression but Ua’s face twisted as though she was in pain as well.

“We are simply carrying out a vision that was shown to us by a higher power! Whether you can understand or accept that is up to you.” Ua said before sighing and crossing her arms.

“We would not have been able to build any of this were it not for our Lady, Sav’ta.” Ua smiled.

“But some of the people are saying that you were given those powers by a malignant force.” Tamu whimpered making Ua deeply frown.

“And who do you believe, mama, your daughter or those who would rather see her and her family struggling for scraps?” Ua snapped making Tamu flinch.

“I don’t care how much you’ve changed but you will not speak to your mother that way.” Mkali thundered.

“Or what? Who was it that came to my home and accused me of horrible things? I should be seething with hatred but I sit here, hoping, begging that you finally stand by my side and yet before me you sit. Tell me, Baba, should all this crumble and Mlezi, Jua and I are made to suffer yet again, will you help me?” Ua asked but all Mkali did was sigh before helping Tamu onto her feet.

The two then silently left the house, leaving Ua in silence.

She clutched her hair as tears welled in her eyes but just as quickly as they formed, she wiped them away before taking several deep breaths.

She then stood up and made her way to Jua’s study to find that he was having lunch with Heziyn, a common occurrence.

Heziyn promptly left the hut after noticing Ua, allowing the mother to walk up to her son who had filled his mouth with raisins.

She then sat next to him before resting a little bit of her weight on his shoulder.

She opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something but she stopped just as Jua rested his head on her shoulder.

“The path ahead is long, my beloved Jua.” She sighed.

“Could I ask you to promise me that you will stand by my side to the end?” She asked while looking at Jua who noticed that his mother’s lips were trembling.

“Yes!” He said with a determined face but that face turned into one of concern as a few tears fell from Ua’s eyes.

“What’s wrong, mama?” He asked but just as the words left his mouth, Ua wrapped her arms around him.

His face was riddled with confusion at first but he took a deep breath and hugged his mother back before allowing her the silence to cry.

.

..

Night had fallen upon Central Hatua.

Ua and Jua sat silently in the study.

“Thank you,” Ua whispered.

“For what?”

“For all the strength you have and will provide me in the future,” Ua said while standing up.

“Oh. Does Baba give you strength as well?” Jua asked as he followed his mother back home to find that Heziyn and a few other Chofumah women were placing large amounts of food into the living room.

“Yes, but he just as easily saps it away by making me worry.” Ua chuckled as she sat by the table which the women had lined with food.

Jua joined her although he turned to Heziyn as she left.

“Oh! Can Aunty join us? Please!” He cried making Heziyn stop.

Ua looked into the boy’s wide eyes and sighed.

“Fine.”

Heziyn turned around and proceeded to sit opposite Jua even though it looked like he wanted her to sit next to him.

“I wonder where your father is-“ Ua stopped just as a Mlezi entered the house.

He saw that food was ready but waved his hand, signalling that everyone start eating before him.

He then grabbed some fresh clothes and made his way to the bathhouse where he quickly washed himself with some warm water provided by one of the Chofumah women.

He dried himself and changed before eventually entering his home where he sat next to Jua who had stuffed himself with food, leaving him incapacitated on the floor.

Mlezi softly chuckled while playfully poking the boy’s enlarged belly.

“No… don’t…” Jua groaned helplessly.

“Eat up, dear,” Ua said after giggling softly along with Heziyn who silently laughed at the boy as well.

Mlezi nodded but just as he reached out to grab a piece of meat from the table, a weary Imani entered the house before lowering his head.

“I am terribly sorry for disturbing you, sir but Chief Mashouah of the Chofumah is here and he says he has an urgent request to ask of you.”