Spear and the Heart

Chapter 3

Sato sat up in her bathtub, beads of water rolled down all over her body. The steam in the room made it almost hard to see in front of you and the smell of sweet flowers and fruits filled the room. She stepped out of her tub and onto a dry towel that was waiting for her feet. One of the helpers walked over to her and put a towel around her already raised hands and wrapped it around her body. A towel was placed around her head and she was led out of the bathroom.

She walked into the familiar chambers, a curtain drawn to what led to the balcony and the decor was dark and empty. She always detested every time she stepped it in that room. She waved her hand dismissively at her helpers who walked out, leaving her standing in the middle of the room. She walked over and sat on the edge of her bed, eyes fell on the sheer green outfit that was laid out for her. Sighing deeply,she looked at her reflection on the dark window in defeat. This was her life now, she must do whatever it took to make sure that her family’s goals were kept. She slid into her dress and walked to her favorite full-length mirror, angled her head to her side and admired the woman staring back at her.

The knock on the door woke her up from her dreams.

“Yes,” She cleared her throat before answering. She knew what time it was.

“They are ready for you ma’am.” A voice answered from the other side of the door.

“How many?” She self-effaced.

“Two, Lord Kori only sent two,” the voice answered.

“Send them in.” She voiced after spraying some perfume on her neck. She walked over to her bed again and this time, she took a position that she had grown quite used to. She laid on her back, her face glued to the ceiling with her hands placed on her tummy. The door opened and she smelled them. She wrinkled her nose before she could even help it. The deep, long cleaning was not enough to get the sewer smell off the iron blood. She closed her eyes shut and bit her cheeks, already feeling the dampness in her hands. She kept on thinking about why she was doing what she was doing. Why is she willing to put her body through all that? Her mother would be proud of her. That's if she would not call her a failure at first. She wanted an heir and, as much as Gara was the next in line, she knew it would be hard for him to rule a country that looks down on men.

“I trust you were instructed on what to do?”She asked, not moving her eyes from the ceiling.

“Yes,” one of the men said in a dull sound. The bed shifted to her side, deep and it got close to her. Her body sunk in that direction but her eyes stayed fixated on the ceiling. Her hand was moved to her side by the one standing beside her. A slight cold breeze hit her bare chest where the man that sat next to her had exposed it. His cool hand cupped her next, making her blink a bit faster. The other guy tugged at her legs, opening them up to him. Right then, the curtains that led to the balcony opened up to a crowd. She turned her eyes for the first time since she laid down, to the crowd that looked like it had about five people. The people in the crowd were seated with their hands on their laps wearing an all-black robe that made it hard to differentiate between their sexes. They each had worn wooden black masks that were curved in a way that made them look like they had worn some makeup, especially the eyes.

The first guy positioned himself beside Sato, taking her boob in one hand and putting the other in his mouth. He caressed one while sucking on the other as it gave out milk. The other guy standing by her feet slid his finger into her, making her draw a sharp breath. He played around with her and while it was supposed to be fun for her the audience and the fact that she keeps on changing a partner after every four months makes it hard to enjoy. She was pulled back to reality when she felt him getting inside her. It was never hard for the men because they were given something before they met up with the emperor. She could not wait until that was a thing of the past.

There were a few positions that were allowed and one of them was believed to guarantee success in conception. The man inside Sato pulled out of her, making the one on the boobs stop. There were a few positions that were allowed and one of them was believed to guarantee success in conception. The man inside Sato pulled out of her, making the one on the boobs to stop and step back. Sato sat up looking at the man who was in front of her for the first time. He had blind folds and his arms showed how hard he had been working. He motioned for her to get on all fours and she did it without hesitation. The small group clapped as she was turning on fours. He then went back inside her and the other took the position under her boobs and continued sucking. Sato kept her face looking at a spot that took her mind off everything whenever she was in that position. It was also a position that would get the men to c*m inside her faster.

The time had reached where they needed to switch. The one sucking moved to f*****g her while the other took a position on the other boob. The new guy made Sato lie on her back while he slid into her from the side. Her arms were around the one sucking her. She was not embracing him but rather doing what she needed to do. Her mother and grandmother all went through this, not as much as she had.

She moved the guy under her and climbed on top, her front now exposed and facing the crowd. She rode him while the other sucked her till he came with a loud moan. She pulled herself up from him once the one sucking her stopped and gathered her dress up and walked out of the room. The crowd stood up without a word or clap and walked out when the curtains were closing..

Sato walked to her bathroom where she had a bath already waiting for her. She first laid on the bed with her hand over her forehead and another on her stomach and whispered a prayer to the goddess of fertility. She had hopes that this time she might get pregnant and carry it to term. She stayed in that position for a few hours before getting out of her sheer dress and into the bubbling bath water. Her faithful servant Eni poured her some wine and let her sip it in her tub.

“Anything from Gera.” she voiced once she pushed the issue of fertility off her head.

“Not yet.” Eni spoke back once she got back to her spot and started at her feet. “ Last thing he said was he did not want to be here during the uzazi ceremony.” her face was still on the ground.

Sato took the rest of her wine in silence, Gera's words echoing in her mind.

The next day the castle went about its morning routine as usual. Cleaners dusting and mopping. The kitchen was the center of everything with the cooks fixing the breakfast for the castle. The big room had massive pots boiling on a huge source of fire that seemed to be the work of Baba Dule the castle blacksmith. On the other side stood two ovens made of stone that was picked from the river blessed by the gods. The castle was the only place that had an oven like that. The tall windows that stood on the walls were open to allow circulation of air, which in turn made the castle filled with the beautiful aroma that was coming from there .

“Don’t forget Mugwe Gera will not be in for today’s breakfast.” one of the women handling the bread uttered to the man making the tea.

He leaned in closer to her with a mischievous smile on his face, he placed his hand on one side of his mouth in an attempt to hide his lips, “Was yesterday uzazi night?” He was clean shaven with his beige shirt and pants hanging on to his lean body, he looked better than how he would have if he was on the streets of Ironblood.

The woman wrinkled her forehead and shot a shoosh at him. “What are you doing?” She whispered.

“I just think she is doing too much, she is old enough to have great grandchildren. She should stop and let the son take over. Plus, I heard the people from dini were there.” He leaned to whisper.

A man and a woman happened to hear and jerked at the mention of dini, almost dropping what they were holding.

The woman stopped what she was doing and looked at the man who was now putting the bread into the oven. Her eyes followed him with an awareness that only she and women like her could understand. She wanted to speak but it was cut short when one of the other servants ran into the busy hot room, with her cleaning rag close to her breasts matching her beige clothes. “The emperor is coming this way.”

A few jumped from their relaxed state to now being apprehensive. The man who was on bread duty closed up the oven and immediately jumped to the sink in an attempt to look busy.

Sato walked in the now busy kitchen feeling a bit at ease ,she picked up a native orange that was somehow rare to find and smelled it. Her mind now flooded with her childhood memories. The sweet smell was not too strong nor was it too weak. She had always loved the combination of those two smells. She then proceeded to the sink where she washed the orange and cut it. Everyone had by this stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Placing the cut orange on a sauce plate, she picked up a salt shaker and walked out of the kitchen.

“Someone was in a good mood.” The boy, who was now in the sink, noted to the helper beside him after seeing that the emperor’s ear was far from them.

Sato walked past them and to the library, where she found her cousins in a deep argument about Kringa. She pulled a chair and sat behind them, since they had not noticed.

“No, according to mom, father could not rule due to the fact that his sister was born first.” Tien stated with confidence.

“I don’t think birth rites have anything to do with this. I have to say it is because aunt Tinda was stronger than dad. Did you hear how many men she led into the battle and came home victorious? The sweet smell of the orange made the two girls turn to find Sato behind them.

“Emperor Sato, was dad not picked to be emperor because he was the third out of four girls?” Tien asked with her half body turned to face Sato.

She looked at the two girls and smiled, the curiosity of trying to understand how things work. She pulled her seat close to them and looked down at the book they were looking at.Kringa’s Ancestors, a class book that was taught in most classes in the land.

“Most of these are diluted stories.” she lightly smiled while closing the book. “So what do you want to know?”

“Nyan was saying that only women get to rule here and as much as we have seen women ruling every village in Kringa I believe it is more than just women who should be leaders.”

Sato crossed her legs and set her elbow on the knee, supporting her head in her hands, “ Yes, you are right,it is more than just women get to rule,” she turned to Nyan and then to Ien, “ It is also not about birthright or who is stronger but it is about what happened before our ancestors started founded our way of living. There was a time where men ruled because they were men and almost everyone believed that they were rational thinkers, but war, famine and constant individualism fuelled by consumerism made the ancestors, with the help from the gods changed how we lived. Our mother, your great great great great great grandmother, together with the leaders of the other villages helped form our progressive society.”

“So men are terrible leaders, is that what you are saying?” Questioned with all the innocence of a five-year-old.

“No, that's not what we are built on, we believe everyone is equal when it comes to ruling Kringa.”

“But all the emperors we have had have all been female cousin, Sato?” Ien broke her sentence.

She paused for a bit, a hard truth hitting her together with the memories of last night's uzazi ritual. She breathed deeply, thinking of how she could walk around the shell of the question that was thrown at her. “ See, that is the question we are trying to answer…”

Just then the door opened, “ Sato, Luvahle is here to see you.”

“Does it sound important?” She stood up, glad to be pulled out of the tiny meeting she had got herself into.

“He said it is urgent.” The guard told Sato when she was walking towards him.

“We will finish this talk later.” The door closed behind her and she was glad she was out of there.

They walked silently to her work space and there she found Luvahle comfortably seated in the seat furthest to the corner, with part of his face hidden behind the shadow. He hunched over with a sly smile on his face.

“I have something for you today.”

Sato walked over to the other side of the desk and sat on her chair, crossing her arms in front of her on the desk and leaning over.

Luvahle stood up and started pacing the room slowly, “ People say that during the darkest times one will find the light and Sato have I found the light to your ruling. With what i have and if you use it,” He stopped midway of his pace and looked at sato, clearly having more in mind. “I know how I could have used it to my advantage, but I don’t know you. How will use this information, but it is an interesting one. Did I mention that it was not only information?” He smiled and walked back to his seat.

“Lord Luvahle, just tell me what it is.” she could not hide her frustration in her voice.

“I found the girl.” his smile got wider and Sato knew if this was true she would pay dearly.

“Who are you talking about?’

“Your sister’s daughter, I found her.” he leaned back in his seat, knowing that he had caught her attention.

“I have Wita in my custody.”