Guardians of Saveba (eBook)

Chapter One

In Assongou, one of the last kingdoms in West Africa, lived good King Abioye and his wife, Queen Adanna. The queen was celebrated throughout the region for her beauty. Her ravishing face, framed by a glorious crown of indigo hair, was a sight to behold. The king himself was a picture of elegance and charm. The couple, who had ruled Assongou for many years, were greatly loved by their people. The king and queen had two children—a boy and a girl. When the girl was born, the people celebrated for three days. The queen named her Kibibi. Although the boy, Sema, had arrived eight years earlier, no one could remember a celebration for him. In fact, no one could say with certainty how he came to be the son of the king and queen.

Sema’s beginnings were wrapped in mystery. It was rumored that he had only one possession when he was presented to the king and queen—a black amulet tied around his neck. Some whispered that his arrival had been predicted many years earlier by priests and soothsayers, who spoke of a strange young man who would someday appear among the people. They said that he would not embrace familiar so-called “manly” customs like hunting, fighting, and pursuing badges of power; instead, he would be an artist—a creator—whose gentle heart would search endlessly for peace and unity among all creatures of the earth. The soothsayers also told his parents that the boy’s gifts would reach beyond this world in ways that would not be known to them. These things, they say, were told to King Abioye and Queen Adanna in the darkness of night.

As the years passed, a plague of evil spread across the continent of Africa in the form of foreign invaders whose greed drove them to destroy the lives of men, women, and children living and thriving across the sprawling land. During the siege, many kingdoms fell. Assongou was no exception. Everyone was killed. Only young Sema and his sister, Kibibi, survived by escaping deep into the forest. As much as he could, Sema, the young prince, took care of his little sister by relying on his youthful skills. Although he was familiar with hunting and was an excellent archer, he refused to kill the creatures living around them. Instead, he and Kibibi survived on plantains, mangoes, guava, cassava leaves, and wild sorghum—fruits and vegetables growing in abundance everywhere.

After several weeks had passed, eleven-year-old Sema and three-year-old Kibibi heard loud voices shouting their names. Because Sema thought that the sounds were coming from the invaders who had killed his parents, he remained silent. He quickly placed his hand over his little sister’s mouth to quell her chattering. Then, mysteriously, he was overtaken by a strong feeling that the people searching for them were friends. So he took Kibibi by the hand and moved closer to the shouting. In minutes, the brother and sister stood face-to-face with two men and one woman, whose kindly smiles assured them that they were not in danger.

The rescuers were from the Kingdom of Saveba. They had been sent by good King Tenkamenin, who had been especially fond of King Abioye and Queen Adanna. The king had been told by his adviser—old Mojintu—that the royal couple’s children may have survived. When Queen Malia, the king’s wife, heard the news, she insisted that a search party be quickly dispatched to find the children. None of the king’s counselors believed that there could be survivors, since the annihilation of the Kingdom of Assongou, as with other African nations, was virtually complete. But King Tenkamenin ignored them. The miracle was now a reality. Sema and Kibibi were rescued and carried to the Kingdom of Saveba.

King Tenkamenin and Queen Malia immediately fell in love with the handsome boy wearing a curious black amulet around his small neck and his outspoken little sister. Without hesitation, the royal couple decided to adopt the children as their own. That night Sema and Kibibi were given a quiet place to rest and plenty of food. On the following day, a magnificent feast was held in their honor. The whole kingdom turned out to mark the arrival of the king’s new boy and girl. Everyone in Saveba was swept up by the whirlwind of celebration—everyone except one—the king’s eldest son, Tamar, who hated the very idea of the two newcomers.

Although Tamar had other brothers and sisters, he considered himself the favored child of King Tenkamenin and Queen Malia. As the firstborn of the king—the next in line—he was admired for his prowess in everything requiring strength and agility. No one could beat him. Tamar was determined to prove to his father that the interlopers—Sema and Kibibi—were worth nothing. Unlike Sema, Tamar’s heart was filled with poison and his head with confusion.

It was not long before Sema and Kibibi began to adopt the ways of their new home, becoming beloved members of King Tenkamenin and Queen Malia’s family, despite Tamar’s coldness toward them. Five years passed swiftly, and all seemed well. For King Tenkamenin, however, there was just one problem with his new son—Sema’s fondness for art and the creative ornaments of life. The king shared with his wife his concern that Sema, unlike Tamar, lacked an appreciation for boyish activities like wrestling and hunting.

Despite his anxieties, the king was proud of the young man. Sema’s ability to create magnificent objects with his bare hands or with his sculpting knife, and in some magic way infuse life into the pieces, was a mystery no one could explain. The king had not seen it for himself, but several people in Saveba swore that they had witnessed Sema speaking to ferocious animals—lions, tigers, and serpents—coaxing them into calmness. Tamar, his adopted brother, scoffed at such silly tales. He thought that Sema’s so-called strange powers were useless. Never would he be convinced of the boy’s worth. Not only did he have contempt for Sema; he was jealous of his father’s fondness for him.

Just a few weeks earlier, Tamar overheard his parents bragging about the gift Sema had presented to them. With his small crimson knife, Sema sculpted, from alabaster stones, a sprawling translucent city that radiated in the sunlight and gleamed softly under the luster of the moon. Sema had spent several mornings and afternoons carving the varied-shaped buildings, adding tedious details such as doors, moldings, windows, and staircases. Dominating the middle of his cityscape was a towering eight-sided building, a perfect place for handling the imaginary city’s important affairs. No one in Saveba had ever seen such an odd, complicated structure. Framing the entire metropolis was a gate guarded by nine strategically spaced warriors. The stone men were clothed in claret-colored wraps draped across their shoulders. They wore high boots fringed at the top with layers of metallic roping. Around their waists hung amulets, trinkets of gold, and massive swords.

The king and queen were proud of Sema’s architectural wonder, judging it to be the most precious possession within the royal shrine. One evening, they invited all the villagers to view Sema’s work. Although the people were impressed by Sema’s exquisitely designed pieces, some could not help feeling disturbed by the colorless buildings.

“What is this place?” One woman whispered to a young man standing beside her. An old man was heard to say that the whole thing seemed strange—not of this world. As they left, the people thanked the kind king and queen but could not shake the feeling that Sema’s stone city was a sign of bad things to come.

King Tenkamenin was truly fond of Sema. His adopted son had been a good son. More conscientious than any of his other children, Sema joyfully fulfilled his duties as a member of the king’s household, always putting the well-being of others ahead of himself. Today was such a case. The young man was determined to keep a promise he had made to Kibibi that he would take her deep into the forest—to a magic place—where he would build a magnificent castle for her. He had also promised to carve her portrait into the earth. Yes! He would make her beautiful. For the past few weeks, he had been busy designing exquisite artifacts for other people—especially for King Tenkamenin and Queen Malia. Just yesterday, Sema had surprised the queen with a beautiful fire agate necklace that matched her deep-brown eyes. But today he would create only for Kibibi.

His little sister was excited and impatient as she woke up early, bathed, and put on her new, bright yellow dress. The mother of her friend Ekwifu had made it for her just two days ago. Kibibi quickly ate a meal of pecans that she had saved just so that she could sneak off without telling anyone of her day’s journey with her brother. As soon as she left her hut, Kibibi spied Sema waiting for her at the edge of the clearing. Although the morning sun had not risen completely, she could see that her brother was wearing the handsome bow-and-arrow set given to him by old Mojintu. Since Sema refused to pierce animals with his gift, many villagers wondered why he carried it with him all the time.

Kibibi laughed at the thought. There were many things people did not understand about her big brother. But right now she was too excited to think about it. Today would be a great day! Not only...