*
QOPHELO
*
"What is wrong with her?"
Themba: She is starting to remember her powers. Something must have triggered her when she was talking to Princess Nompumelelo. I think she saw what I saw.
"What do you mean?" I ask him, in the verge of losing my patience.
Themba: Nompumelelo is carrying a dark energy, it is using her to get what it wants and right now what it wants is you. Her father wants you to marry her to unite the Kingdoms but the question is why now? That Kingdom has never given us problems. Something is not right there.
"We need to find out what is going but right now my priority is Iyana."
Themba: Let her sleep now. She will wake up when she is ready. Prepare yourself, we have unwelcome guests.
"What do you mean?"
Themba: They found her.
"Fuck! this is the last thing we need right now."
Themba: She is safe as long as she is in your wing. I'm sure for now they are just hoping she is here. Let's go hear what they have to say.
*
NTSIKA
*
"I can't sense her. Are you sure she is here? I can't even sense all of them. Shouldn't I be able to sense all of them.
Muzi: The surge of energy I felt yesterday, led us here and you should be able to sense all of them, maybe they are not here or something is blocking them.
Elder Luthuli: King Buthelezi and family. Welcome to our Kingdom. To what do we owe this surprise visit?
Nkosinathi: We apologize to drop by unannounced but the matter is urgent. We would like to speak to the King.
Just as my dad says, I sense him. Out of no where I sense him and he appears with the Seer and the Queen right by his side. Just as I am focusing on that his brother appears out of nowhere. They were really not expecting us. How come he has the lion skin on his shoulder. Shouldn't Bheki be the one that is King? What is going on here and where is Bheki?
Qophelo: Unexpected visitors, to what do we owe the visit from the Manzini Kingdom.
Nkosinathi: We are looking for someone and the information we have leads us to your Kingdom.
"She would have arrived here not to long ago. She is young, beautiful, short, dark with a big afro. She is my future my wife."
Qophelo: And what happened that would make her run and find us and I am also surprised that you were able to find your way here.
I watch his seer whisper something in his ear after he says that and a small smile creeps on his face. God knows what that man said to make him smile like that.
"We had a misunderstanding and she ran off."
Themba: No person would run off just because of a misunderstanding.
Nkosinathi: In this case, it was exactly that.
Just as I am about to say something, I feel her, I freeze and listen and yes it is her. She is stronger now. She appears wearing a big t-shirt and shorts. She looks beautiful. She stands frozen the minute she sees me. She slowly walks towards the Queen and stands next to her still looking at me and suddenly she looks down. I can see the fear, I can smell it from her. That's good, this will make getting her back easy.
"Here she is. I've been looking all over for you my dear." I say trying to walk close but she takes a few steps back, stepping away from the Queen. That's not good. These people cannot see that she is scared of me. "I'm glad I found you. We'll have to go back and prepare for our wedding." She shakes her head no which infuriates me.
Nkosinathi: It looks like we won't be staying long now that we know she is here. We might as well go back as soon as possible.
Qophelo: You come into my Kingdom unannounced and you expecting me to let her go just like that. She is not going anywhere. Now, you can go back on your own just as you came or I'll have you escorted to your Kingdom.
"I am not leaving without my intended."
Qophelo: You came here without her, you will leave without her and you will follow proper procedure to be granted access here again.
Themba: Stop Muzi, your spells will not work here. You might think you are powerful, but not here. Stop what you are doing before your hurt yourself.
*
QOPHELO
*
I watch Iyana from the corner of my eye. I can see that she is scared but there is something else going on with her. She is doing something with her finger and the energy changes fast. I feel like there is a shield around us. As look at their Seer, he is sweating and slightly shaking, maybe Themba is doing something to him, I look back at this fool, he is trying to transform and I watch Iyana move slowly to stand behind me and suddenly their Seer drops to the floor and their Queen runs to check on him.
Her: What happened?
Themba: I warned him to stop what he was doing. This is not your Kingdom, you cannot come here and think you can do as you please.
"I would stop that transformation if I were you, because you won't make it out of here alive if you continue disrespecting me in my home." He pounces trying to reach for Iyana who is holding onto my jacket so tight. But I am quick to move and grab him by the neck, throwing him to the ground. Mxolisi and Zwelakhe have transformed into their lion form and I spot mom holding Sthembiso's hand stopping him. Ntsika gets up and looks at the two lions on each side of me ready to attack.
Nkosinathi: Ntsika stop it. Can't you see what you are doing? You ruining everything.
Ntsika: Dad, Iyana is mine. She has to go back with us and I am not leaving here without her.
"Then say your goodbyes to your parents, because you are leaving here in a body bag if you don't leave now with your parents. You have no power here. This place is called The Hidden Kingdom for a reason now LEAVE!!!!
Queen Thobile: Ntsika stop it, let's go. Guards, take Muzi to the car. NTSIKA!!! We are leaving now.
Ntsika stops and looks at like he is ready to kill me. He looks behind me, where Iyana is and he smirks. His father pulls him by his arm as they walk out. I can feel loosening her grip on me. She was really scared of these people.
"Iyana do you remember what happened, why you ran away?"
Iyana: I remember. I remember everything.