by Amarie Avant
“Fight!”
She lets go. In an unspoken agreement the two of us stand up. Ava’s spiky heels click against the ground as she moves around me slowly. She kicks up a leg, the heel of her stiletto slices off the left side of my camisole. I gasp. My shoulders are squared tightly, hands in fists, ready as I’ll ever be.
“You had Abayomi murdered for no reason, he was a good person,” I say through gritted teeth. “You are gonna wish you hadn’t given me the chance, Ava,” I sneer.
Ava laughs. She does a roundhouse kick, this time the air swooshes past my face, and the tip of her stiletto is a fraction of an inch away from my nose. Highly intimidating. “C’mon, I won’t render you blind, Mikayla, I may be a bitch, but I called a fair fight, and fair is what you’ll get.”
“Fair?” I say through gritted teeth, from my peripheral I’m searching for anything to put this bitch down.
‘Listen to the birds, Princess Mikayla…’ The silent words whisper against my skin. There’s a churning in my chest, as I start to hear the sound of the Song Thrush that I just focused on during target practice.
Ava’s leg comes up and straight down. She’s toying with me, like a lion pawing at its prey. In her mind I’m no threat to her. Well, underestimating me is just fine.
I continue to hear that calming sound until… the spirits begin to make my skin hot. Not, in pain, but can be comparable to a calming heat that transcends over me…
***
For most of my life, I have ignored the spirits no matter how patient they were, I just have never had the strength to let them in. Today, for the sake of saving my life, I let them take control. When Ava enjoys my fear by, kicking up her leg, it feels like I’m sitting in the front seat of a theater watching. With supernatural power, my hand thrusts beneath her calf. Her leg is in a fully erect position, sending her onto her back again.
Without thought, I’ve straddled her and I’m using my elbow to bash against her mouth. Ava pushes back on her heels. Like a primitive animal, I hold on. I press my elbow, and then the bone of my forearm, into her nose. That’s the only spot I target.
I continue. Elbow. Forearm until I hear a crack as she screams. Blood is rushing from her nose into her mouth. Ava presses back again!
Now, I force all my weight onto her. My hefty hips hold her lean ones down as the back of her head, her hair and neck become wet with water. The fish begin to latch onto the nape of her neck, holding tightly.
The warming sensation ends, and my tongue is loosened. The hold the spirits had over my body ends.
“That’s for Abayomi!” I scream as her body begins to convulse due to the poison pouring into her bloodstream. And then my thick hips and ass are no longer necessary to hold Ava down as she’s let go of my arms.
“Ouch…” I cry out, for the first time noticing that her talons had clawed deeply into my biceps.
An engine roars vicariously close to the front door. Jagger is lunging into what was once the entrance to his home.
His eyes are a dark blue storm and the worry etched across his golden skin makes me burst into tears with an array of emotion. Shock. Sadness that I’ve taken my first life. Relief. There are undertones of happiness for vindicating Abayomi’s death, but not nearly enough.
He scoops me into his arms. Jagger starts by kissing my forehead. Then his lips seek my mouth in a way that takes my breath away. Our tongues greedily seek and twine around each other’s until I’m gasping for air.
“You did this?” He asks, glancing around.
“Well, not the door–”
“I mean Ava? You killed her?”
I lick my lips in thought. Ava had made it seem like they were in love. “Yeah… she started it.”
“I’m proud of you, Mikayla.” He paws at my cheek. “Uthando lwami, I left you early for something very important. I just didn’t expect Ava to be here. She was supposed to be in Sri Lanka.”
“I’m okay.”
He sits down on the couch with me in his lap. “You’re strong enough, Mikayla. You can do anything.”
My beam is bright, despite the circumstances. There’s nothing like motivation from the one you love.
“And now, I must tell you what happened to…”
Jagger
Engine. 1.2-liter. Volkswagen Polo. Late model. Climbing the hill to my home. With Mikayla in my arms, waiting for me to finish my sentence and Ava Sinclair dead on the floor one room over, I place Mikayla in the seat beside me and rise.
“Someone’s here.” In a few strides I’m at the opposite side of the sitting room, opening the China cabinet by placing my finger onto the handle. The partition slides open.
“Could be friend of hers,” I say while grabbing my .357 and the .38 special that now has a place next to it.
“Okay… but…”
“But, you go upstairs and lock yourself in my bedroom. I’ll come up when done.”
She purses her lips and cocks her head. “No, I’m not leaving you…”
“Kayla!” I bark. “I just said you are ready. Easy to know certain things. And do certain things. But if the people arriving now are part of my organization then you are not ready at all. Go.”
She takes the gun. Mikayla steps back on her heels and then stops.
“Go!” I bark.
There’s footsteps behind us. My gun is pointing the accurate direction before I even turn to see what she’s staring at.
Fucking Zane Solarin. And he has a woman at his side with dark skin. Her hair is gray but her face doesn’t have many wrinkles. She’s holding a cane.
“Lalumi…” Mikayla murmurs just as I place my gun down at my side. My woman hasn’t taken her eyes off her old caregiver, so I rub my hand along her shoulder before softly removing the gun from Mikayla’s hand, that’s now hanging down at her side.
The woman nods. MamLalumi enters. Mikayla runs toward her, and around Ava’s dead body, in second to give her a hug.
Zane stares at me and then the dead body. “The moment you mentioned Princess Mikayla, I messaged for them. We came as fast as Chumi’s car would go. They refused to drive in mine. But is this woman… did you do this…”
“I did it.” Mikayla speaks up.
“I don’t want to hear that,” he says. “I’ve been breaking a lot of rules today, might as well turn a blind eye, too.”
Behind them, is another man. Mikayla’s eyes narrow
“You! You are not welcome here,” Mikayla shouts as she lets MamLalumi go. I hold my gun up again? Clicking the hammer back ready for her statement.
“Princess Mikala, this is elder Chumi,” Zane advises. “Please, we all need to sit down,” he glanced nervously at Ava, “somewhere other than in this room and talk.”
“Not with Chumi, he’s with Qaaim,” Mikayla says. “You were the one who co-signed his statement when I was in Nivean. Jagger, you can put your gun down. But I’m sorry he will have to stay outside.”
I reluctantly do as told.
“Princess Mikayla,” Chumi holds up a hand. “I’ve been waiting for you to be the confident royal that you are. When I spoke, I expected the daughter of the great King Bannan to speak up for herself. Instead you gave in.”
Mikayla scoffs. “Qaaim had Abayomi murdered. Half the people hate me for it. I… gave up the throne.”
“Pft! Queen Makuachukwa would have never done that. You are not listening to your ancestors!” He shouts.
“And again, I mean no disrespect, Elder Chumi, Princess Mikayla, MamLalumi, take it to another room.” Zane cuts in.
I step back so Mikayla can take the lead. The silence between everyone seems to last forever before she nods. “Watch your step,” she says before heading into the dining room.
Mikayla sits at the head of the table. MamLalumi is to her right, and Mikayla has moved over a bit, as she holds her hands. Zane is to the left and Chumi is opposite him. I allow my Magnum to glide through my trigger finger, the revolver twirls in my palm as I stand, anxiously waiting for the truth.
“Young woman,” MamLalumi speaks up, “you have broken my heart every day for twelve years…”
Eyebrows furrowed, Mikayla ruminates over her words. Her eyelids flutter shut and understanding floods her beautiful face. “I begged the spirits to leave me alone. Lalumi…I’m sorry, MamLalumi, I didn’t want my new parents to give up on me.”
“Girl, you were ten years old. They’d already had you for most of the first half of your life by that time. Why would they give up on you?”
Mikayla’s eyes meet mine, her cheeks redden and she glances down. “I cried all the time. Woke up in the middle of the night.”
“You did that for five years. That was your choice, too.”
She places her head down onto the table and cried into her hands. My gun stops spinning instantly. I need to shoot something. My mother’s crying rings in my ears. When I blink, I’m crouching next to Mikayla. She isn’t pushing me away but returning my hug.
“You’re strong.” I kiss her forehead instinctively, then I stand up, stalk around, and twirl my gun again.
“I had beaten up a boy at school. He talked bad about me. Because of all the therapy and because one of my cousins was trying to be nice to me or something… I can’t recall. He said something. I snapped and broke his nose. That night. I had the dream. And when it was done, I begged the spirits to leave me alone.”
“My sweet Mikayla, you believe the spirits wanted you to suffer, to be in fear?”
Her voice breaks. “MamLalumi, I don’t want to remember the dream. Please… it’s bad. It’s bad. I feel it in my gut!”
I lean against the wall and fight my own tears. She was five years old when she saw her mother die. That’s what happened! Fuck, I would hate myself if I’d showed her the photos now. I just needed her to remember! I needed her to use that as motivation to murder Qaaim. To step into my world and become my equal. But, this is so much more important than the two of us.
I love her more than anything, but I initially saw her enlightenment as a means to an end.
The end of Qaaim Mthembu and the start of our lives. My selfish ambitions would have left her nation without a leader…
Mikayla
“It’s bad… it’s bad. I feel it in my gut!” I grip my stomach, and try as I might, I’m unable to stop the tears from falling.
“The spirits wanted you to always know who loved you. But you asked them to take away everything, Mikayla. Baby, that was a very bad thing to ask.”
I’m drowning in sorrow as I nod. “I wish I could recollect my mother’s hugs, her voice, her face. I have one image. I just got that image when I visited the palace, MamLalumi. I have wished so many times for a single memory with my father. Just one time where he encourages me when I was a baby. But, I gave it up.”
“You have.” My old caregiver nods.
“You need to take your strength back, Princess Mikayla,” Chumi speaks up.
I can finally glance at him without glaring. It’s probably because my eyes are blurred with tears. “How?”
“Oh, you don’t know?” MamLalumi gives a lighthearted chuckle. “They have asked you on many occasions. Each time it takes the breath from my lungs and stops my heart from beating for a while. I will spend days in bed. In fact, Mikayla, I sent word with Kmota. I was stuck in bed, beginning the afternoon the very night you told everyone in Nivean to kiss your behind, girl.”
I think back to waking up to Kmota. I had a dream that I couldn’t remember prior to her arrival. MamLalumi squeezes my hands.
She shakes her head. “Can I get a moment's rest with you?”
I nod through an even greater onslaught of tears.
“Mikayla, you will remember everything. The good. The bad. It hurts me to my soul each time you have denied your ancestors. But I will understand if you rather not. Though you should know, your parents need justice and you need to remember the wisdom bestowed on you during the few years your dear parents were able to care for you.”
“I am ready.”
And just like that every memory comes flooding back.
Thump. Thump. Thump….
Before Qaaim taps my nose and says he loves me that tragic night disappears. It’s daytime. I’m stroking the trunk of my elephant, Abayomi, when I hear a voice that brings tears of happiness to my eyes and calms my heart.
“You are a Mthembu. You will be Queen of Nivean one day, and we will always look down on you.”
I turn around, and my father is there. His arm is around my mother. They’re the age they were the last time I saw them. An ethereal glow surrounds them.
My mom says, “There hasn’t been a moment where we have guided you. Now that you can finally stand to listen…”
***
I awake on the floor, in Jagger’s arms.
“What’s wrong with her?” He’s growling at someone, while I’m suffocating from how hard he’s holding me.
“She’s not shaking anymore,” the voice belongs to MamLalumi.
I groan, recalling the other men as Zane Solarin and Chumi. The sincere concern in his eyes forces my mind to quickly sort through the last couple of moments and recall that he’s not on Qaaim’s side.
“You’re okay,” Jagger cradles my face and brushed his lips on my forehead, before lifting me up off the ground. He sits me down at the table. MamLalumi rubs a hand over mine as Jagger grabs another fancy chair, places it behind and to the left side of me.
“You are in love with her,” Zane says. “Young woman, before your head had the chance to hit the ground, Jagger had you in his lap. You had some sort of seizure.”
Like my own watchdog, Jagger quietly sits. He doesn’t reply to Zane’s simple statement. So I speak up. “I’ve never had a seizure before,” I reply with a shrug.
Chumi, who is interested in exploring Zane’s revelation cushions his interjection with a smile. “You are very strong, Mikayla. For years the spirits have wanted to comfort you. Now, you are becoming a pure one. But what is this between you and he?”
I start to smile. Ready to tell Chumi and every single one of them that we–
Jagger speaks, “I was unknowingly hired, by Qaaim Mthembu, to return the princess.”
The disappointment that sparked in Chumi’s gaze the night I shunned my throne has reared itself, once more. How I had assumed he was disgusted in me.
Chumi begins making clicks, in rapid succession, in our native tongue. Jagger clutches a hand around me as if I belong to him.
Yet… I understand every word. Have the spirits unlocked my ability to remember the language?
“Elder Chumi, I apologize!” Jagger shouts.
The elder is surprised he is aware of the language. “Oh, me and my old age. Your parents, they not only stole our people, they taught you our language, and now you continue to steal–”
“It would be in your best interest not mention my parents!” Jagger’s Magnum is slammed onto the table. “Contrary to everyone’s beliefs, I am not as they were. You’d be well to understand that they had religion and gave a damn about greater humanity. I do not.” He growls. “For Mikayla’s sake, I gave my apologies for abducting your future queen, and I killed Abayomi in self-defense. He was shooting at us—most likely at me.”
“I don’t believe Abayomi would shoot toward the–”
“You stole Mikayla?” Zane rubs his chin.
I start with, “Elder Chumi, what Jagger says is true, but...”
“Where did you come from Mikayla?” Zane leans forward. “Chumi, MamLalumi, forgive me but I am a government official. Princess, your accent is westernized, and I mean that with no offense, but depending on whose aware that you’re gone…we might have a problem.”
“Wait,” I hold up a hand. I turn to Jagger. He’s no longer holding me like we’re one. “We need to talk.”
“Not now.” Jagger hardly addresses me. “Solarin, the Feds are searching for her. An agent by the name of Cartwright is on the case. A few of her friends died in the process of her abducti
on, it had to be done.”
“What about us, Jagger?” Forgive me, I’m not being a weakling, needing to talk romance while there’s more important stuff looming around. An imaginary wall resurrecting itself between him and I.
Again Jagger ignored me, “Solarin, they aren’t aware of what I look like.”
“Tsk. If this were a week back, I’d call the proper authorities myself and be the first to agree that you should be extradited for all charges but–”
“He has returned our princess,” Chumi says reluctantly.
“Jagger,” I try to move my hand into his, beneath the table, yet he’s stiff as a board. MamLalumi gives my other hand a squeeze before letting me go. The same squeeze she’d give me while I argued with Abayomi when we were children. I’d tell him that he was too skinny to keep me safe, for some reason he’d frown and she’d have the same response to get me to stop laughing at my own joke.
“Jagger, I love you,” I find myself saying aloud.
Jagger
I stand abruptly, tugging at the hair on my head. “Kayla, you will go with them and save your people. We cannot kill your uncle.”
“Kill him?” I gasp. “I’m not going to kill him. But what about us?”
She arises slowly. “Jag, I’m growing accustomed to the thought of you and I…”
“That’s not important now.” My face is dead serious. What the hell is wrong with her? Can’t she see that the end of us started with Nivean?
“Solarin, put the kidnapping on Qaaim’s charges. You have a witness now. The government was afraid to overthrow the King Regent without the rightful heir, right?”
“Well, yes, something like that…” Zane rubs the back of his neck. “Pretty much the people would refuse it without Mikayla’s words.”