Skip to main content

Chapter 26: The Queen Mother


26

The Queen Mother was living in a sort of self-imposed exile.

A strange sort of exile, though, holed up as she was within her suite of chambers inside the Grand Palace, the Royals' family home far outside of Chakiti Enzi, the Capital city of the Long Plains Kingdom.

She spent most of her days there in darkness, with the drapes drawn and the lights turned low.

Malikia Azari, the duly appointed Queen's Regent, and currently the most powerful and influential person in the Incata, was in mourning.

Her eldest son, the once future King, was dead, while her youngest, the wayward Prince, and currently the rightful heir, had been held captive and powerless in foreign lands; where his shame was complete.

And now her kingdom was in jeopardy, the very fabric of the land, many of the major Elementals, the very glue which magically held the Incata in place, under attack and dying. Meanwhile, there were enemies veritably at the gates, aided, no doubt, by traitors rampant within her very own house.

All of her well lain plans had turned to ash.

“Best,” she thought. “To have left well enough alone.”

But, it was much too late for such regrets now. At whatever cost, those long laid plans were fully in motion and a delicate balance must be maintained in order for her to assure the survival of the House of Askai.

She was certain that before all was over, she'd be labeled a monster and much of the blame for the ruin to come would be lain at her feet.

It was a burden she was willing to bear.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter 1: Run Bealz Run

1 Bealz was 11 years old. His dad had been gone, locked up since before he was even born. Bealz's mom never really said anything about him, his dad. She would just kinda start looking real sad and say stuff like, “I don't know, baby,” or “I wish I could tell you more, honey,” or “leave me alone, lil nigga!” Or something like that. Bealz was sad a lot. He didn't show it, though. At least not like they do in the movies and on tv. Like the white kids get to do. He couldn't act like that. Not where he was from. He often noticed the kids on tv. They had lawns and always had huge, over-sized boxes of colorful cereals that the Arabs down the street from him didn't have on the shelves and they had brand new bicycles and giant smiles. They also had moms and most of them even had dads. Bealz did too. Just not like theirs. Bealz's mom was around sometimes. He mostly stayed with his grandma, Ms. Penny, though. She was
Post a Comment
Read more

Chapter 2: Dakari

2 Chicago sat atop the State of Illinois like a jaunty, precociously donned cap. Serving as the State's primary economic engine, amongst its greatest exports, its main contributions to the downstate economy, was a steady stream of bodies to fill the many prisons spread throughout the rural areas. And while this provided a financial boon for these sparse communities, it meant hours and hours of separation from the families left behind. It was hard enough to take the El to a real grocery store. Many of the kids around here, where Bealz lived, were just like him. Their dads were housed in prison units hundreds of miles away. They were basically left behind to figure things out on their own. Especially the boys. The girls tended to have more intact maternal structures within their families. Their main problem was dealing with the well-armed, dangerously confused preteen and teenage boys raised in a rape culture in the middle of an urban war zone.
Post a Comment
Read more

Incata Homeland Definitions

Many of the words and phrases used as names and descriptions have been drawn predominately from Swahili as well as several other African languages in keeping with the overall mythology that I am constructing around Bealz, Monie and Askauri's world. I have taken liberties with pronunciation and word formations, attempting to create a unique language structure for the Incata that honors its ties to Africa, as both represented within this fictional framework, and in its creative influence on me. Here's the list of words and phrases so far. I'll add to it as the story continues. The root words, unless otherwise noted, are Swahili: Belozi Bin Askuari = The Emissary, Son of Askauri Balozi – Consul/Ambassador Monique Felani-Kakua Binti = Daughter of Earth, The Undying Warrior Munyika (Shona of Zimbabwe) – Earth Fela (W. African) – Warlike Kokumo (an Oriki name) – Undying/This one will not die Binti – Daughter Askuari Bin Qwana = Graceful Warrior, So
Post a Comment
Read more