Shaka the Great by Walton Golightly Page A

reason to miss the old ways—or her brother.”
    â€œMy father.”
    â€œYour father, yes. And then there’s her great love for sangomas.”
    â€œThis is so.” A grin. “The three of us had that in common. Then again,” he adds, “maybe the sangomas were right … About twins being a curse, I mean. She was allowed to live, and now see whatshe’s up to! I saved her, gave her more than she dared dream of, and yet still she turns against me! Is that not a sign of one who is both cursed and a curse?”
    â€œAiee, old friend, no. I’d take my chances with twins, even albino twins … better, at least, that than those hyenas who claim to speak for the ancestors.”
    â€œSo why, then? Why this betrayal? Why
her
among all of them?”
    â€œYou would have me speak plainly?”
    â€œI expect nothing less, Mgobozi.”
    â€œDo not think I know more! Please, do not think that.”
    Shaka frowns. “I don’t understand.”
    â€œYou will. But since you have asked me about Mnkabayi, I can simply tell you what I think. I do not know anything more!”
    â€œYou are like a man calling to me in a gale, old friend. I cannot make out what you are trying to say to me.”
    Mgobozi holds up a calming hand. “Do not let the wind blow us further apart, then. You ask me why I think Mnkabayi moves against you, and I say it is due to this business of the First Fruits.”
    â€œBut, old friend, this is something we have often discussed.” Shaka pauses briefly as another twinge of unease shimmers through his mind, as lightly as the brush of Jakot’s shoulder on the beach. “It makes sense,” continues the King, forcing himself to focus on the matter to hand. “Let the First Fruits be celebrated by the King, and solely by the King at his royal kraal!”
    What better way of drawing the nation together! What better way of emphasizing the king’s power! Has he not protected his children? Has he not brought them glory? Has he not brought them wealth, measured in cattle (which is to say
catel
, also both “chattel” and “capital”)? Well, now, let him be the one to feed them!
    â€œThat’s not what I refer to,” says Mgobozi. “Your aunt is after all of the blood, so she would understand your reasoning, even applaud it.” Up to a point, Shaka’s power is Mnkabayi’s power—and has he not elevated her even above his brothers?
    â€œThen what is it about the First Fruits that causes her to contemplate betrayal?”
    Mgobozi spreads his arms. “This, old friend.”
    â€œThis?”
    â€œYes, old friend, it is
this
that makes her afraid.”
    Mnkabayi afraid? That’s hard to imagine.
    Precisely, says Mgobozi; and that she should decide to move against the King is a sign of just how strong that fear must be.
    â€œHai! Feared, yes, but afraid—no! Even Nobela, that old lizard, never dared to cross her!”
    â€œAnd again I say to you: read the spoor, Majesty! You are right, but listen to what you are saying! And ask yourself this: what about Shaka?”
    â€œWhat about Shaka?” asks Shaka.
    â€œEven Shaka!”
    â€œEven Shaka?”
    â€œEven Shaka, Majesty. Even Shaka does not frighten her!”
    The Zulu King grins. “This is so.”
    â€œShe knows you intend to revive certain aspects of the First Fruits that have lain dormant over the seasons. As indeed you have for, see, here we are! And she knows you intend to include those savages washed up at your feet by the Great Waters. Aiee, old friend, do you wonder that she intends to move against you?”
    Shaka scratches his chin, spreads his fingers and holds his hands above the flames. The izilwane have been coming and going for generations, but what’s different about this bunch is that they have sought him out and built a kraal so that they might trade with the People Of The Sky. This