Soon dark forest gave way to tilled land as he came back into the village. He made straight for his friend’s compound. As he approached Kadiki’s hut the dogs began to bark. The boldest of the trio made as if to nip him at the heels but with a swift kick and a muttered command the dogs slinked back into the shadows from whence they had come.

“Who is out there?” Kadiki’s voice boomed out from the doorway. By the light of the moon, the king could see that he was armed and ready for trouble.

“Put away your spear Kadiki. It is only me,” King Uripo replied.

Without a word Kadiki disappeared back into the darkness of his hut and the king followed behind him. Kadiki was about twenty years his junior but he’d proved himself to be a loyal confidante and friend. Wise beyond his years the king had often sought Kadiki’s council.

Kadiki stashed his weapon on the shelf and quickly rekindled the dying embers on his firepit. He was a large man in stature almost as tall and broad as the king and a warrior of great repute. Only Dzukwa had ever defeated him and only barely.

When a lively fire was finally burning in the pit Kadiki turned back to regard King Uripo who was now seated on a wooden bench close to the fire.

“Is everything alright?” Kadiki asked. Thinking that nothing but trouble would make the king rouse him from his sleep at such an hour of the night.

“I have a son,” King Uripo said.

Kadiki glanced at the moving bundle in his arms. King Uripo was sure it was not the answer Kadiki had been expecting. After all it wasn’t bad news. But the relieved look wouldn’t last.

“A son?” Kadiki repeated an uncertain smile breaking forth. “But that is wonderful news!”

Uripo couldn’t bring himself to smile. Kadiki knew how much he had been longing for an heir. Under normal circumstances Uripo would be jubilant, shouting with thanksgiving throughout the village not looking like he’d just lost his mother. He knew his joyous announcement did not fit his unsmiling countenance.

Uripo could read Kadiki’s thought processes. He would come to the same conclusion Uripo would have if their roles were reversed. Gazing at the bundle in his arms with new understanding the smile was wiped clean from Kadiki’s face.

“The boy—” Kadiki began only to be interrupted by the King who had accurately guessed what Kadiki was thinking.

“There is nothing wrong with the child.” He uncovered the child so that Kadiki could see his son’s tiny but perfectly formed limbs.

“I don’t understand.” Kadiki could not fathom the reason for the King’s strange behavior. There was obviously something else going on here.

“You now have a successor from your own loins,” he ventured trying to figure out what he was missing. “It is your greatest desire.”

“There are...They…” King Uripo started and stopped. He couldn’t believe he was stammering like a shy youth. “He is a twin,” the king breathed.

Kadiki’s eyes widened fractionally. Finally, he understood. The full implication of those words hitting him right between the eyes. Kadiki had no children of his own. He’d recently lost his newborn child and he fully understood King Uripo’s torment. In fact their shared desire for an heir had been one of the reasons they’d become good friends despite their age difference.

Kadiki’s sickly son had only lived for a few hours after his birth but this child was completely healthy. It had been three days but the pain was still gnawing at him, digging a chasm in his chest. After carrying the child for nine months his wife was inconsolable.

“I have waited so long to have a son,” the king said in a driven undertone. He was taking a big risk and he wished he could see into Kadiki’s mind so that he could predict the outcome. There was no way he could guess how Kadiki would react once he knew his plan. He had to proceed with the uttermost care.  “I cannot bring myself to take him to the river.”

Kadiki nodded his understanding.

“I want you to know that you’re my most trusted friend and there is no one else I would trust with this.”

“Say no more, my King.” Kadiki squeezed Uripo’s shoulder, a man who was more like a father to him rather than his sovereign ruler. The gesture was meant to convey his understanding and any comfort he could offer. “I understand completely how you must be feeling. I will undertake this task on your behalf and hope it brings you a measure of peace.”

Kadiki made as if to take the child but the King’s arms tightened around the child.

Misunderstanding the reason Kadiki said, “My king more sons will come with time, but this one belongs to the ancestors.”

“Does he...does he really belong there?” the king hissed in anger.

“What are you saying?” Kadiki chided him gently. “This is your grief talking. You know what to do that’s why you came to me.”

“You don’t understand.”

“There is nothing to understand,” Kadiki said firmly.

“I need you to save my son.” King Uripo looked into Kadiki’s eyes. There could be no doubt as to his meaning. Desperation made him less cautious than usual.

“Surely you’re joking?” Kadiki gave a humorless laugh.

Kadiki had never seen a more helpless expression on anyone’s face. King Uripo’s eyes burned with a deep pain that mirrored his own. Gone was the proud king and in his stead stood a father desperate to save his son. Kadiki sat back on his hunches a shocked expression on his face. 

“Tell me you do not mean to keep the child!” He sputtered in disbelief.

It was unheard of. No one, not even a king could defy the ancestors and remain unscathed. The ancestors were feared with good reason. They were known to punish generation upon generation of those who overstepped the boundaries. Bad luck, disease, and death were the weapons they wielded without mercy until a sacrifice was made to appease them.

“Have you gone mad?” Kadiki gasped. “The people will rebel and the land will come under a curse.”

“The curse would follow my bloodline and no one else,” the King said urgently.

“I think you’re completely crazy to even suggest such a thing.”

“There is no one else I would trust with this but you. Believe me, I do not take this matter lightly,” King Uripo held his look for a long moment before his gaze shifted away to the dancing flames. “You’re my only hope.”

Kadiki absently poked the fire with a dry stick. “I don’t know why you would tell me all this. You must have known what I would say.”

“I came here to reason with a man who knows what it is to lose a child,” the King’s gaze challenged him to claim otherwise.

“You know I would do anything for you but this is too much.” Kadiki murmured but his mind was working overtime imagining what it would be like to be a father to the king’s son. Kadiki crossed the hut and stood by the open doorway. “You’re asking for the impossible.”

The night sky was clear dotted by shining stars. Come tomorrow the sun would be blazing as if it had never rained in the night.

Uripo watched Kadiki go with hope burning in his chest.

“Then don’t do it for me,” King Uripo said. “This boy will die if you don’t take him.”

“It’s beneath a king to use a man’s circumstances against him,” Kadiki said as he turned back to regard Uripo with an icy glare. “This is taboo and you know it.”

King Uripo stood, “Don’t criticize me for what you would have done. If you had been able to save your son—”

“I would have fought a leopard barehanded for him. I would have swum through the crocodile infested waters of Black River to save him,” Kadiki replied eyes moist. “Is that what you want to hear?”

“Kadiki—” Uripo was ashamed for goading such emotion from his friend.

But Kadiki interrupted him, “Get out and take that child with you.”

King Uripo brushed past Kadiki and stopped at the door, “I am sorry.”

“Just leave!”

“What’s going on here?” A feminine voice.

They both turned at the question. Kadiki’s ridiculously short wife Nakai left her hut and crossed the short distance to Kadiki’s doorway.

“Kadiki why are you shouting at this hour?” Nakai asked. She squinted at him in the darkness. “King Uripo is that you?”

The child in Uripo’s arms started to cry. Nakai gasped and came right up to Uripo to gaze at the baby in his arms.

“What’s going on here?” she asked again.

King Uripo tried to quiet the child but his cries became all the louder for his efforts.

“The King was just leaving Nakai,” Kadiki said from the door.”Don’t delay him.”

Nakai ignored Kadiki, clucking loudly and said to King Uripo, “You’re doing it wrong. Let me take him.”

Before he could protest Nakai had plucked the baby, blanket and all from his arms.

“Great lion’s beard!” she exclaimed. “This child is wet no wonder he can’t stop crying.”

Nakai brushed by Kadiki and entered his hut. King Uripo and Kadiki could do nothing else but follow.

 

***

The men came in and sat on the stools watching Nakai as she replaced the wet sheep blanket with a dry one from Kadiki’s bedding. They didn’t say anything and Nakai was thankful for the small respite.

For days she hadn’t been able to sleep. Losing her newborn son had been a blow. She’d miscarried twice before she’d carried to full term. She’d thought her heart was breaking when she lost each pregnancy but it was nothing compared to holding her son and then losing him.

When she heard the dogs barking she’d looked outside to see a shadowy male form approach. Her husband’s firepit had been lit. Moments later Nakai had gone to see who the late night visitor was. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop but couldn’t help overhearing the conversation between the king and her husband.

“The child is dry now, Nakai,” Kadiki said. “Give him to the King so he can be on his way.”

 “Gogo Mangwana said I will never conceive again,” Nakai said fighting for her next breath. Her chest ached and her eyes burned.

She didn’t see her husband stiffen with shock but she could hear it in his voice when he spoke.

“Nakai, the midwives have been known to make mistakes,” Kadiki replied. “They said you would never carry a baby to term but you did.”

Nakai almost smiled it was so like her husband to ignore the bombshell she’d just dropped and choose to comfort her. Such words may have comforted her before but now she knew the meaning of pain.

“I want a child of my own,” Nakai said.

“This child is not meant for you, Nakai,” Kadiki said drawing closer.

“But he can be if you would only accept him as yours,” King Uripo said to Kadiki.

“As tempting as your offer is my wife and I shall have to decline. This child will only curse us.”

“Curse us,” Nakai laughed.

The men stopped talking and looked at her. Nakai knew she must appear mad to them but she couldn’t help herself. She laughed so hard tears began to leak from her eyes. She already lived the life of a cursed woman. For a long time, she’d struggled with barrenness when most of her peers had two or three children crawling about their compounds. Her home was silent and she had no one but her servants to keep her company. She’d tried it all. She’d filled her life with the knowledge of a woman's body and the secrets of conception. She knew every healing and poisonous herb to be found in the forest. Twice she’d miscarried but she hadn’t given up. At last, she’d carried a child to term but the baby had not survived the night.

Losing her son had been worse than never conceiving at all.

And now, here was a perfectly healthy boy who could easily become hers to raise.  Her body shuddered with the force of her sobs. Her bosom ached and she looked to her husband.

“I am barren. How then do you hope to gain a son?” she asked him. “Unless it is your plan to take another wife.”

Kadiki sprang back as though he’d been slapped. He bumped into a bench and it fell over with a crash. Nakai flinched but didn’t look up when Kadiki sank to her side.

“Have I not proven my love for you time and again,” he said quietly. “I want a child too but this is not the way, Nakai.”

“Look at him,” she replied watching the sleepy child. “Are you going to let him die?”

With visible reluctance, Kadiki looked at the child who was perfect in every way and felt a lump lodge in his throat. If he let this boy go now his wife would never forgive him. He might never forgive himself.

“Everyone knows that our son is dead,” Kadiki said marveling that he was giving the King’s harebrained scheme the time of day. “There is no way we can pass him off as ours.”

“No one in this land need know. My parents live in Nyasa, King Mambo’s lands north of the Black River. We can go there and come back after enough time has passed,” Nakai said.

“Such a plan would never work and you’re conveniently forgetting the curse.”

“The curse is mine to bear,” the King pleaded. “My wealth is yours. Anything you want.”

“Do not insult me with such offers,” Kadiki said without heat. “Your substantial wealth would mean nothing if a curse overshadowed me.”

“If not for me do it for your wife then. Would you deprive her of a son to hold to her bosom? You and I both know our people are not kind to the barren. How long would it take for childlessness to taint your wife and turn her bitter?”

Kadiki shook his head.

“Do not be a fool. There is nothing here to hold you back. Only ridicule and shame await you if you stay.”

Nakai was surprised by the king's insight. In their world, a woman's job was to bear children and take care of her home. In their people's eyes she was a failure.

“Don’t withhold this last chance from me,” Nakai begged. “Please Kadiki.”

“There is no more time,” King Uripo indicated the lightening sky. “You need to decide now.”

Nakai looks fragile, thought Kadiki as if a single harsh word could break her into pieces. He felt her pain like a physical blow. She turned haunted eyes to him and he couldn’t deny her.

Tears filled Nakai’s eyes but she did not let them fall. Sometimes she wished for death to free her from her barren mortal shell. At least then Kadiki could remarry and have the children he longed for. Her wistful eyes slid away from her husband and focused on the baby. She was about to lose another child.

“If we agree to this we would never be able to come back to Zambezia,” Kadiki said to her.

If her husband thought leaving Zambezia would be a hardship then he was very wrong. What was there to think about? She would not let this beautiful child be destroyed when she could be his mother. She needed this child as much as he needed her. He would ease her pain and she would give him all her love.

If her husband hoped to father a child he would have to look elsewhere. The midwife had made it clear that another pregnancy would kill her. Even then she wouldn’t have tried again. She couldn’t bear the loss of another. Whatever the future held this boy would always belong to her.

“Leaving Uripo will be hard but I would have gained a son,” Nakai answered.

“I don’t know what to say,”  Kadiki began, for a time words failed him, and he struggled with strong emotion. He’d never broken a single law in his life.

His voice grew stronger. “We will take him.”

When Kadiki nodded Nakai’s eyes warmed with joy and acceptance. The breath she’d been holding whooshed out of her. King Uripo looked as relieved as she felt.

“I promise you the boy will be like my own son. He will never have any reason for sorrow. He will eat what I eat and sleep where I sleep.”

“That is all I ask,” Kind Uripo smiled.

“Does he have a name?”

“He doesn’t have one,” he replied in a husky voice. “There was no reason to name him before.”

“Thank you.”

“There is no need to thank me,” he smiled, a bright glowing heartfelt smile. “It is I who is grateful to you. May the Creator go with you and keep your family safe.”

“May he keep you also, my King,” Nakai replied, hugging her son tighter to her bossom.

“May I hold him one last time?”

“Of course.”

The king took off his seashell necklace and put it around the child’s neck. He held him close for a few moments. This would be the last time he would ever see the boy.

“Give this necklace to him when he comes of age,” King Uripo said to Nakai in a voice clogged with emotion as he handed the boy back to his new mother. The necklace was an heirloom passed down by the past kings of Uripo to their eldest son and heir.

Nakai reached for the boy. The minute she held him and placed him against her bosom the tension completely left her body and a beatific smile lit up her features. She rocked him gently in her arms not believing her good fortune.  She would withstand any curse for the sake of this boy. She was barely aware of the King when he took his leave.

When the child cried she put him to the breast and he suckled on her swollen nipple. His strong pulls brought a stinging pain but even that brought a laugh of pure joy.