When Mulokozi asked the old lady if she was not lying, the old lady laughed as seemed to be a habit of hers. Mulokozi's heart sunk thinking a cruel trick had just been played at her expense. The old lady swore until she was out of gods to swear upon. That was enough to calm Mulokozi's heart. Once the trade had been agreed upon, the old lady gave them gowns to change into and then some meat to eat and a gourd of warm milk. As they boarded her son's ox cart, tears rolled down Mulokozi's cheeks. No person had ever done so much for her. She knew that this was not a trade but an answer to her prayers.
'Good old lady, may I know what your name is?' Mulokozi asked.
'Hahaha…' laughed the old lady, 'I am just a stranger by the roadside who cheated you out of your magnificent garments for some fruits and meat. Need I be more?'
'Thank you, stranger.' Mulokozi cried. The old lady waved and smiled as the cart disappeared into the hills.
'Haha…run away, dear child.' Said the old lady seemingly to herself, 'We are all too aged now to have blood of innocents in our palms. We'll meet the gods with our hearts torn but hands untarnished. We'll ask them for you if at all you earned their desertion.'
And then, she walked away to the direction Mulokozi and the boys had fled from.
The third and final day went by rather fast for those who believed that sacrificing the few for the many was the right thing to do. As time ran out, they misused their useful energy spreading terror throughout the Eastern region of the kingdom. They rummaged through the homes of the elderly believing that perhaps they were sheltering the subjects of the search. At times, there was violence involved causing injuries of various degrees of seriousness. In one very sad incident, a young woman was killed with her two young sons on suspicion of being the one they had been looking for. The young men unconscionably justified even those deaths reasoning that even a thousand would be fewer than three thousand. At some point, they must have realised that their actions could not be right but it must have been too late by then. Nevertheless, time ran out and they did not find any one of the three. Oh how they trembled at the thought of being burned among the three thousand to face the gods for their unholy acts.
As time ran out, the tall man sat at the centre of the court with an insincere smile on his face. Deep down, he must have been afraid that the citizens might defy him or even rise up in revolt. To his relief, a group of mostly older people arrived in the palace grounds.
'Have you brought them?' he asked.
'No.' one of them answered, 'your majesty, we have had no such luck.'
'Then, why are you here?' the tall man asked.
'We are three thousand.' Responded the elder. It seemed he had been given the task of speaking. They had all arrived visibly scared, almost shivering, he seemed a lot less frightened than the rest.
'Let it be us.' He offered. The tall man was a bit surprised. He took a moment to think before he could respond.
'Why should it be you?' he finally asked, 'Shouldn't I as King decide?'
'Why should it be anybody else?' the old man responded. The fear in him and everybody else diminished the more he spoke, 'We're too slow. We can barely see beyond our own hands. If we had not been shrivelled by the years, much better searchers we would have been. You could blame the years for it but those are long gone and yet here we are. Of course, the King should decide but Kingliness is fairness. Fairness is assigning blame where it belongs.'
'Are you not afraid?' the tall man asked.
'We're led by fear before you at this hour. Our old bones are pushed up the hill, to your presence, by fear. Fear surrounds us and fills us from within.' The old man mumbled, 'We're overwhelmed by fear but it's not what defines us.'
'Hahaha' laughed the tall man, 'So, you're afraid. Very well, prepare the stakes. The old people will burn.'
Few would know of their courage. Having sworn their families to secrecy, no one would mourn them. As they stood bound to the stakes, they seemed to have completely overcome their fear of death. Perhaps, it was because they would not have blood on their hands and that is what they had most been afraid of. As the soldiers carried the torches to ignite the firewood beneath the old people's feet, they could not help admiring their unflinching resolve. The tall man must have seen it too and that was likely the reason he took his time to give the order for the pyre to be lit. Eventually, he did give the order and the flames ate through the pile of firewood rapidly as if to catch up for lost time. A thick white smoke son obscured the faces of the burning people. It must have been a very painful ordeal as the cloudy air seeped into their lungs and yet they remained silent. As the tall man watched the brave elders in bewilderment, he decided that no one would ever know of their demise lest a passion for rebellion be ignited so soon in his reign.
As the fire raged on, there was a commotion at the palace entrance as a young man tried to force his way in. the soldiers overpowered him and he failed in his mission.
'Your majesty!' He shouted, 'your majesty, please stop!'
His voice was quivering. There was a certain pain in it, perhaps from mourning and a bit of guilt too. It took a while but the tall man eventually heard him.
'Let him in!' he ordered his men. The young man rushed in pulling a cart behind him. He tried to speak once he arrived in the tall man's presence but his breath failed him. The tall man furled his arms on his chest.
'What can I, Gankambwe, do for you?' He asked boastfully.
'Your majesty,' the young man spoke as he caught his breath, 'you don't have to proceed with the executions…'
'I found them.' He revealed as he pulled back the bark covering his cart to show three bodies. A young woman and two boys who all appeared to have been clobbered to death. The tall man inspected the bodies carefully.
'Well, they seem to be of about the right size.' The tall man concluded, 'and I should have no doubts you're telling the truth seeing as it is you. But the deed is done now. I am afraid you're too late.'
The young man fell to his knees sobbing uncontrollably. He had tried so hard to save three thousand but the only thing he ensured was that three more were added to the count.
'Come now,' Gankambwe said as he touched the young man's shoulder, 'it's unbecoming of any man to cry. Look ahead to the days to come.'
There was a city just by the shore built on five hills and the surrounding lands. Four of the hills, which were of lower altitudes, surrounded the highest one. Each hill had a big structure on it, likely a temple, a fort or a palace. Trees had grown around each of the structures in such ways as to obscure their bases where they connected with the hills. Every one of the four hills had a road leading up to it and another leading to the structure in the centre. On the four smaller hills, there were houses from right where the trees stopped to the foot of the hill and then more in the surrounding valleys or plains. The biggest hill was different even in that respect. There was more vegetation where the trees stopped, perhaps farmlands, and then a few scattered houses at the foot.
Just outside the city, to the east, there was a swampy area where a river met the sea. All sorts of clay artefacts were moulded here as well as crafts from papyrus including mats and baskets. The fishermen with smaller boats worked in the river while those with bigger ones ventured into the sea.
To the west, there was a large quarry where once had been another hill. Large rocks, smaller ones and pebbles all needed for construction were extracted from this site.
The tax man moved through all these businesses at intervals to ensure that everything was in order and all dues were being paid. There was order all around with well-kept records and government oversight. Everything was done fast and efficiently. There was no room for anyone who was unable to contribute to the processes.
People came from different areas for different reasons. Everyone had their expectations for the Eastern kingdom; Sika. And yet, every single time, on first arrival, Sika's main city just by the sea never failed to exceed expectations. As they marvelled at such sights to behold, all new visitors could not help feeling that they would never belong but many were wrong in the end.