2.
Aphiwe's eyes opened when Chuma's rubbing became slapping. There were three women standing over her. The big Cold Stepper gripping Chuma's tail, before lifting both girls. One of them shut her mouth before Aphiwe had the chance to scream.
It was dawn, light's first rays starting to fill the room they were quickly exiting.
"You know, you don't have to be frightened." Came Liyema's voice.
They were at the dining table. Chuma lay on Liyema, but her tail wasn't having it, trying all it could to fight its way to Aphiwe who'd been placed on a chair she knew nothing about. It was remarkably comfortable, therefore her mothers, but didn't answer the original question. What chair was she sitting on? Chuma was laid on Aphiwe, the tail locking them together.
"We just wanted you to know something before we left. We wanted you to know, that yes you are a hero." The Prime said.
Aphiwe gaped.
"Despite being hurt, no. It's because you were hurt. You could have left your friend to die. You didn't. You could have blamed her, said it was her fault, she shouldn't have pushed you. She should have woken. But you helped her, staying behind for her sake. It's something every parent teaches but few children take in, because it's born in you. Everyone else will ask themselves if they had the courage and never have an answer. Heroism is not something you do. It's something you are. This pain you feel right now? That's the cost. We pay something when we do good, it's why people like me and your mom train to get strong. So we can carry that pain."
The Prime suddenly got up and sat on the table, looking down on her, she pulled her night gown up to reveal silver streaks on her thigh and stomach, they glittered.
"My perfect body, sacrificed, in the name of making babies who'll grow up to hate me because I made them. Not as a miracle of love, but as future workers. That's my pain. Liyema?"
Liyema unbuttoned her armour, taking off her top. She was as big as her mother, the only disappointment lay in her skin, which were covered with lashes.
"You know how Abesanté grow their voices? Not by speaking, but by being quiet. Keep your mind quiet and you'll be able to extend your voice. You have to learn to clear the noise through the pain. I don't have Ufele skin but, I get to help thousands, making sure those who are with my matriarch are honest. We accept pain generously to have something we're good at. I'm curious… before this."
She touched Aphiwe's lips and cheek.
"Was there something you became amazing at?"
They stared at each other unblinking.
As though she were Chuma's tail, Liyema stood and stopped by a wall panel and pushed. It split in half and inside were graphite sticks. Aphiwe shut her eyes, the matriarch looked up and saw Liyema writing and even drawing. She stared in stunned silence as a full diagram of a Yetsimbi hand, with dozens of labels, formed. Liyema wasn't stopping. It wasn't just the Chui Yetsimbi, it was their cousins, the Sterena, the Khetse and the imosi. She started drawing what looked to be the beginning of an Abesante skull when Liyema jumped up, grabbing her head, screaming.
"Stop!"
It wasn't isolated, or soft. It was a thunderous crack. The matriarch jumped, snapping her fingers. All parties dispersed, leaving Liyema, who pulled a chair next to Aphiwe. The matriarch sprinted, diving into the master bedroom, leaving Liyema drawing. First Aphiwe's name, then her mother's, her father's.
The door to the dining room burst, Thato rushed in, eyes wide door handle in hand. She looked down and breathed a sigh of relief, snapping up her child, squeezing unmercifully.
"What happened?" Thato yelled.
Before she could say more there was a commotion outside. Then… the most chest smashingly thunderous boom Aphiwe had ever heard. Everyone dropped, Chuma clutched onto Aphiwe as though she were going to fall off the universe when Thato appeared to be the one left standing.
There were screams, the doors crashed, the sound suggesting it had just burst into splinters. Marking the third door destroyed. A brick wall of a woman had just run into the room only to be scooped up into the hug of Thato who'd jumped up from Aphiwe to tackle the giant.
"What's going on? I detected an attack." The wall of a woman began.
"It wasn't." Said Liyema. "I felt myself being overwhelmed, there were so many words, structures and violence, so much!"
Hlalumisa appeared, applauding.
"My, my what impressive power! This is what it is to be a wizard! So expensive to raise and so time consuming! And if you give servants too little, they work for their own upliftment because eventually all wizards without exception will ask-"
"If I'm doing it alone then why should I be doing for you?" The giant said.
"Once that happens, the doors close, they leave to live their own lives. Wizardry is the death of duty." The Prime finished.
The Prime rubbed her hands together.
"But it's a hell of a thing to attack a Great house. I haven't been living in North Sibini long but I'm sure that's… less than legal?"
"She's right, you know." Thato said, pulling her friend up and patting her down. "And she's absolutely under my command, so-"
"It's your crime?" The Prime asked.
The Prime grinned, so did Thato.
Aphiwe knew enough to not be afraid. Maybe it was in the manner her mother spoke, as though she were slapping down an ace.
"I really enjoy your company. I'm sure this won't be the last time we speak."
"I'd love nothing more." Thato said.
"And you? I never got your name?"
"Babalwa." Aunty Babalwa said.
"House? Clan? Anything below?" The Prime asked.
"Noma-Pikoli."
If the Prime had been bright before, she now became the sun.
"My word. Now that's interesting. Maybe it'd be possible to pay for those services."
"Possible, but I'm already paid for."
"Of course, the house known for their hired work will already have their best at work."
"Don't forget those who work for the family itself."
"Yes…" Hlalumisa said, that flash of deep, dark thinking washed over her before she smiled. "And all this time, I was thinking the gem was hidden."
With that she was on the move, stepping outside to what could only be called chaos. The grass was bruised, flattened in a set of circles, people knocked out their armour, none appeared dead, even Aphiwe felt their pain. Most
surprising were the circle of onlookers. None of them moved to help.
Thato whistled and the crowd moved in. Family friends worked together, becoming one. With a smile Hlalumisa walked on, a path forming on its own. She rushed and disappeared into a bowing and reverent crowd.
The Prime Matriarch of the Great Ndlovu House, queen over millions of Ufele across multiple God trees made her grand exit.
It was terrifying and beautiful.
It was slow work but the rest of her people ambled after. It was strangely regal. It was almost odd how thin the Matriarch was. The warriors all around her compensated.
Liyema was still there. She noticed her own existence for the first time before bowing and running to catching up with the others, nodding and shaking hands before looking back. He gaze focused directly at Aphiwe whose eyes wondered unable to handle the pressure.
Thato plucked her from Chuma and walked to her bed.
There were officially no doors between the outside and the room.
"Did she pick you up from the bed?" Thato asked. "One blink yes. Two means no."
One blink.
"So you can't walk?"
Aphiwe stared, not sure of what to say. She hadn't really tried, no that was a lie, but she couldn't bring herself to blink once. It was like selling a piece of herself. But her mother's eyes were compelling her to cut out any and all extra thoughts.
She blinked twice.
"That bitch. Doing whatever she wants. Thank you Babalwa, you're too good to me."
"I could never be too good for you." Babalwa said, smiling.
She hugged Aphiwe, Thato's shoulders dropped, and she sighed.
"Oh Mother's Nature!" Thato said covering her face in her palms. "I'm designed not for this."
"You're literally shaped and designed for diplomacy. Fighting, running, listening and most importantly talking." Babalwa said patting her back.
"I'm ninth removed in the family." Thato said.
"That's not far. And once they find out about this…"
"My entire family should show up." Thato breathed.
"Hell, my Grandma's going to want to visit." Babalwa said.
Chuma's mother appeared from inside the house.
"If you think it ends with Babalwa's grandma." Chuma's mother said folding her arms.
"I'm not insane, but I think we'll manage." Babalwa said.
"So… clean up?"
Aphiwe was waiting for that.
There'd been a lot of destruction. It was impossible to forget just what Lesanda's mom could do when push came to shove.
"No." Thato said. "I have retainers for a reason. We drink!"
===============================================================================
Pain still rules Aphiwe's body, but now it has become something stranger—a truce that isn't peace, a rebellion that isn't war.
"Clever. My perfectly created child. I've created trouble for you. For everyone."
Lifted by Chuma's tail, carried across crimson fur, Aphiwe finds her mother trembling, stripped of her strength. Thato's tears reveal a side few ever see, a woman burdened by choices, haunted by the hole left by her own mother, and terrified of what legacy she is building.
This is no longer just survival—it is inheritance. Aphiwe's pain mirrors her mother's, and together they face the truth: every child, every house, every choice carries consequences that echo across generations.
📖 Step into Chapter 4, where nightmares blur with waking fears, and the bond between mother and daughter becomes the most fragile—and most powerful—weapon of all.