QUEEN AMINA

CHAPTER 1 cont.

The next day, they wake up in a house full of captured people with some of them gathered around them in a circle looking closely at their faces 'arrgh' Amina stirs and wakes up slowly holding unto her head, she pulls herself up to a sitting position and finds curious eyes staring at her, they whisper to one another 'is she? 'Princess Amina? From their outfits, she could tell that they were her people, the remains of them. Asher wakes up suddenly and turns to Amina 'my princess are you OK? he said coughing and a young man moved closer 'is she indeed princess Amina? Asher nods and the people whisper among themselves 'well at least the gods have not forgotten us' they bow in obeisance to her and she stands up slowly to address them, clutching to her arm which still hurt 'i do not know what the future holds for us but I want to plead with you all to be patient with me, I will try my best to make sure that our children and children's children break out of this slavery, mark my words...it will not always be this way' Amina said fighting back tears as she looked around the faces of the people, who looked up to her, trying to give them hope 'long live princess Amina' the people chant and Amina calms the noise with the wave of her hand 'i do not know where they are taking us to and for that sake I would not like to be addressed as princess publicly, understood? 'yes my princess'. The slave traders storm into the room and make them file out in a straight line with binds on their hands. They led them through the desert for seven days. They headed to the east and finally arrived at a kingdom belonging to King Harold Alexander. The guards stop them at the gate that leads to the kingdom and interrogates them. 'Good day, the king is expecting me' the slave trader said and the guard examined him carefully 'drop all weapons here and follow me'.

'Clitus, I hope you have good news for me? King Harold says with a straight face as they walked in 'yes my Lord, I'm here to pay off my debt' he says and drops a bag of loot at his feet 'and also my kind lord, I have quite a number of slaves outside just for you' 'i see' King Harold says rubbing his chin thoughtfully 'from what kingdom did you acquire all of this? 'my Lord we happen to stumble upon the remains of the Awilla kingdom, they were invaded and I have captured the people who are left as slaves' 'wow! 'yes sire' the King turned to his special adviser in surprise and back to Clitus 'is the great kingdom of Awilla really fallen within a twinkle of an eye? 'yes my Lord' Clitus replied 'hmm' the king said and his special adviser whispered in his ear 'but my Lord, do we really need more slaves? 'i believe so, because if what Clitus has said is true about the downfall of the Awilla kingdom, that implies that we must get ready, we must make sure the building of our empire is hastened to avoid any sudden attacks, therefore we need more hands' 'hmm I see your point' his special adviser said thoughtfully and the King dismissed Clitus with a nod 'you can leave the slaves with the guard at the gate, you are free from your debt and you can go' Clitus bowed happily and left.

Alexander the second walked into his father's throne room supporting himself with a cane. A guard bows and opens the door for him and he walks into his father's chambers.He meets his father seated at the large table with his special adviser, discussing about Jordan's last attempt on their kingdom, it had been fierce but they were able to overcome because they were prepared. Alexander had been at the forefront of the battle and had led them to victory, he had been injured on his leg and was just recovering, but as a prince, he had lived up to the fullest expectations of his people and as a leader, he was never scared of new challenges. His father had worked really hard to bring their kingdom to the state in which it was, an envy of all neighboring kingdoms and he was determined to do even more for his people. 'Good day sire, I bow' Alex says with a grin and his father opens his arms to him for a hug 'how are you doing son? 'i'm good father and you? 'i'm great' 'morning my prince' the special adviser says bowing 'morning Gad' he takes the seat next to his father and looked at him expectantly 'what's happening? 'well I decided to call this short meeting to honor your effort at last week's battle, you are indeed a true son of your father' the king says smiling with pride 'it's OK father, this is my destiny and I will protect my people and our kingdom as long as I live' 'hmmm, well said my prince, all the young men aspire to be like you and to command the respect of our great people' Gad says with a bow 'yes yes of course and I will throw a feast this weekend in your honor' the king adds and Alexander laughs 'Father you don't have to do that' 'no I insist' 'OK then do as you please' Alexander said with a smile 'but do we have any updates yet on Jordan, any other plans for attacks against us? 'well yes, our men are on that but you have to take a break first my prince' Gad says in reply.

Some guards walk into the commoners quarters and the people scramble about in fear 'all the men stand up to your feet now!' a guard says with authority. They arrange them in two files and lead them out to the farms to weed them, another guard lead the women to the field to harvest the plants 'get down to work, all of you' he commands with a loud voice. Amina works for a while then notices an old woman struggling to harvest the field, she walks to her and assists her 'you should rest mother, this is no job for an old woman like you' 'no my princess, God forbid that my princess should work in my stead' Amina looks at her closely 'are you Hannah, fair one? 'yes princess Amina, I am indeed the one who was your nanny as a young child' 'then you should rest ma, unfortunately I do not own powers in this territory to rid you of such cruel treatment' Amina says calmly and a guard approaches them 'and what is going on here, would you get on your knees and work old lady? 'she is too old to do such, I expect that you should know such seeing that you do have a mother at home' 'excuse me and you are who? Defender of the masses? he says sarcastically and the other guards laugh 'no I am...' Amina says standing on her feet but stops half way through her speech 'no go on, you are....? The guard says getting into her face 'ohhh of course you know that you are just a slave who needs to have her pride checked! Get back to work now or you will face my wrath! he said shouting at her. Hannah takes Amina's hand quickly 'it's OK, let's work my child' she says and Amina sighs and reluctantly bends down to work.

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