A Labyrinthine Affair: The World of Taboo

The Hunter - Part 2

May 16, 1815

My dearest James,

I don't know where to send this, so I'll write at my desk and store this letter amongst my personal things. I have no clue where you've landed or even if you're still alive. And I can't comfortably ask Father, with the way things stand.

When you left, I cried endlessly. For weeks it seems. It felt as if a piece of me had been ripped from my chest, leaving me hollow and empty. Intellectually, I should abhor what we have become. What we did. But I can't help myself. We're connected in the most natural and effortless of ways. You and I feel as inevitable as the creeping of spring upon the disintegrating days of winter.

In my careful and composed state, I see that I am not meant for the suffocating structure of London or English society. Indeed, I am a caged bird. My song remains incomplete until I fly freely with you in the wild.

In my daydreams, you now roam your beloved India, fighting in provincial wars or digging in mines for jewels and treasure hidden by the ages. I hope whether in a maharaja's palace, a Buddhist temple or a hidden village, deep within the jungle, that you taste all of the flavors and wonders that life has to offer.

Father makes every effort to present me to eligible bachelors. As much as I seek to comply, I know their affections can never truly hold my attention. You have opened the door to a sacred room within me and I am forever changed.

There's an added reason I am resistant to the affections of another man. I would write it here, if I knew for certain you could read this. It's large and frightening and yet oh so wondrous James; something I wish you and I could share together, in the dream palace we built so long ago. For now, I hold this secret close to my heart until you return.

We should pay penance to God and Father, for our transgressions; pray prayers of forgiveness and repentance. But as my heart can never hold true to that purpose, I now utter a single prayer. It is solely one long provocation that will bring you back and into my arms.

Loving and needing you,

Zilpha

********

James hadn't forgotten what he'd overheard. In fact, he was certain they'd made sure for him to hear. A man, taken to the grove, and presumably held captive. For what reason? His curiosity was scratching at the edges of his brain.

But today, a group of men and women were traveling to the capital for trade. Addai had urged James to come along. Even Akuba was coming, as she had plenty of handmade robes and jewelry to sell.

Outside of hunting, most of James' days were now consumed with learning the skills of woodcraft and metallurgy. He enjoyed the focus and concentration these skills required. Taking unrefined chunks of wood or ore from the earth and slowly chiseling, crafting and defining them into tools, musical instruments and jewelry. He'd spent plenty of time wielding weapons with the Company, but learning to create them was something more satisfying altogether. It turned out, the Ashanti had a glorious history as artists and warriors. As he solidified his craft, he was blessed to learn a new facet of this integration into their everyday life.

They walked almost two miles through the brush to main road that would take them directly to Kumasi. It was a five hour hour trek altogether, but the fresh air and the company kept James invigorated along the way.

Kumasi, the Ashanti capital, lay approximately 25 kilometers northwest of the village. This was home to large open air markets, beautiful temples and the sumptuous home of the Asantehene, the Ashanti King. While many of his Company members had studied the Gold Coast extensively, James had only studied the major port cities of West Africa. Yet here he now was in this land of riches and conquest, immersed in a culture so vastly different from his own.