The sun was blazing and scorching Tamari’s skin but the princess persisted. If she was going to die in this mass desert, she wasn’t going to die without fulfilling her mission. Tamari pulled her headgear over her head, wrapping the loose end around her nose and mouth to avoid eating sand for dinner. Three days and she hadn’t come to the kingdom she sought with every drop of her blood and now, she was going to die in some random desert.

Tamari fell to the ground, the loose sand below her gave way and buried her a few inches in and Tamari closed her eyes in acceptance of death. Well, that was the end of Tamari and her quest for the god-slaying kingdom. Tamari lay in the sand for hours and eventually, she started dying; her eyes didn’t work, she couldn’t feel the hot sand inside her traveling gear, nor could she feel the smiting sun drying up her skin.

What she could feel was her brain kicking in and activating her hearing.

“Get the body out of the sand, we’re bringing it to King Asani.”  Those were the last words Tamari heard before she blacked out completely.

_____________________________

Tamari woke up in a dungeon. Her hands were chained to the wall and they ached from the extremely tight cuffs. She was lying on a bed or what was supposed to be a bed but was some sort of wooden slab. The princess looked round her prison, she couldn’t even remember how she got there all she wanted was a simple answer to her question so Tamari screamed.

“Hey! Who’s there? Get me out of these chains! I need to know where I am!” And Tamari heard a response to her frantic calls.

The sound of clashing armor and pounding of spears on the floor revealed the finest set of grey eyes Tamari had ever seen, then again, she had never seen a being with grey eyes. The person in front of her looked as humanlike as possible but those gray eyes, were not human and Tamari could feel it in her bones.

“Wh…where am I?”  Tamari stuttered. She had never stuttered in all her years on this earth, and now, the strange feeling that erupted from this being in front of her had suddenly made her speech impaired.

“We found you in the middle of the desert, you looked like you were dead.” The grey-eyed being said, he seemed to be happy Tamari was alive.

“Yeah, well I had kind of hoped to die in peace.” Tamari tried to move from her wooden bed but her chains kept her in place, crashing her body into the wall.

“Oh my, the chains! Let me help you with that.” The grey-eyed being fumbled with the keys on his belt to open the bars of Tamari’s prison.

The grey-eyed being walked in with caution, one hand on his spear and the other gently slipping the key into Tamari’s cuff.  Tamari didn’t tell him that she wasn’t going to kill him, she didn’t smile back when he lifted his head and offered her a friendly smile. She didn’t say her thanks when her cuffs were removed and she rubbed her sore wrists in relief, Tamari didn’t say anything because she was awe-struck.

She thought his eyes were grey but when he was so close to her, Tamari had felt it, she had felt her very soul being drawn into the voids of his eyes, she could see the euphoria in his eyes, the world and things she wanted becoming clearer and it was a blissful euphoria. But that was the problem, it was for a fleeting while. For the more Tamari gazed upon her grey-eyed prison warden, she saw great darkness, something from the very pits of hell.

“My name is Daniel.” The grey-eyed being did have a name!

“Daniel.” Tamari whispered the name, feeling it roll off her tongue, she whispered it again and more quietly, like it would give her an answer to what she had seen in the eyes of its bearer. “What a holy name for eyes so unholy.” Tamari whispered to herself, slowly backing into a corner.

“I didn’t get that.” Daniel smiled cheerfully at Tamari, he looked so innocent.

“I asked where I am.” Tamari lied.

“You’re in The Sands…?”

“Tamari, my name is Tamari.”

“Well Tamari, welcome to The Sands.”

_______________________________

“I am in The Sands? The very same Sands that Bedreel was slain?” Tamari questioned her warden.

“Yes miss Tamari, the very same kingdom ruled by Queen Eliza.” Daniel smiled, he seemed to have good memories of Queen Eliza and Tamari noticed.

“You sound like you know the queen personally? Is there a reason for that or are you one of her adoring subjects?”

“Adoring subjects? You must not be from around here. Queen Eliza died five hundred years ago. The Sands is ruled by King Asani. The only thing we have from Queen Eliza are the legends, the tales, the glory, and stories. Stories of a queen who fought for a better cause.” Daniel’s eyes shimmered, like he was still in Queen Eliza’s era, like he was beside this legendary queen, accompanying her on her mission for The Sands.

“Where I’m from, we know a lot about Queen Eliza. She’s a legend, most of the young girls see her as a hero.”

“Yeah, Queen Eliza is pretty famous, I mean she did kill a god just to save her kingdom. That’s pretty legendary if you ask me. King Asani wants to see you when you wake up, I don’t know if you’re good enough for that, or would you like to wait for a little?” Daniel rose from the wooden bed.

“Yes, I’m ready to meet your king.”

“We’ll have to get you dressed then. “Daniel smiled with joy, this was going to be painful for Tamari.

Tamari was escorted to a small, white room. There was a small bath in a corner, a decently sized bed in the opposite corner, a massive wardrobe that was too big for the room, and a cabinet of bottles. Tamari was greeted by another servant; her name was Malundama.

“My name is Malundama, and I’m your helper. I would prepare you to meet the king, you need to be cleaned up and looking presentable for King Asani”. Malundama held a proud and disgusted look. She seemed to resent Tamari for reasons best known to her and her alone.

“I am princess Tamari of The Gates.” Tamari smiled at her rude helper, stretching her hand out for greeting.

At the mention of the word princess, Malundama changed her countenance and offered Tamari a fake smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, princess.” Malundama said in a high-pitched, faked tone.

“Your name, it means hidden things, doesn’t it?”

“Yes princess, how did you know? You speak Xhosa?” Malundama’s ass-kissing couldn’t be more obvious.

“I did learn a little before I started my journey to The Sands. You should learn to act your name, hide your vanity better.”  Tamari walked past the vain being towards the bathtub and began her cleaning.

“Imazi yenja esisidenge.” Malundama cursed under her breath.

“Nam ndiyayiqonda lonto.” Tamari smirked at her annoyed helper. “Just say what you have to say plainly, don’t speak Xhosa in the hope that I wouldn’t understand you, because I will.”

Tamari and her maid didn’t speak to each other after that. Malundama just stood by the door and watched as Tamari prepared herself to meet the king. When Tamari was done, she had a bright red, evening dress on, it had little crystals all over and it made Tamari shine as the sun bounced off the crystals on her dress.

“Well, shall we go see the king?”  Tamari asked her vexed servant.

“Right away princess Tamari.” Malundama frowned, opening the door for Tamari and pointing in the direction of the throne room. 

The throne room was made of pure gold and so were the armors and weapons the guards held. Tamari walked down an aisle leading to the throne with golden guards on both sides of the aisle. On the golden throne sat King Asani, he was everything but a humble man. He had maidens fluttering all around him, he smelt of wine and his eyes traveled all over princess Tamari’s body lustfully.

Tamari began to feel self-conscious, it was plain obvious why all the outfits in the wardrobe had been so revealing. It was all for the king’s lustful desires.

“Ngubani na oma phambi kokumkani uAsani? ~ Who stands before king Asani?” The proud king bellowed through the great hall.

“NdinguNkosazana uTamari. ~ I am Princess Tamari.”  Tamari held her stance, never wavering or showing fear.

“Ufuna ntoni uTamari? ~ What do you seek Tamari?”  King Asani bellowed, looking at Tamari with even more lust in his eyes.

“NguNkosazana uTamari, ubungangamsha bakho. ~ It’s Princess Tamari, your highness.”

“Ungowalapha? ~ Are you from here?”  King Asani eyed Tamari, he could sense that she wasn’t giving him the pleasure of making her feel uncomfortable.

“Yini na ukuba ubuze, Kumkani Asani? ~ Why do you ask, King Asani?” Tamari held her confidence, she refused to be belittled under the gaze of a perverted man, a man unworthy of her respect, a man unfits to be called king but Tamari respected authority. As much as she was so repulsed by King Asani, even if she had stayed only a few minutes in his presence, he was still king.

“Uthetha kakuhle ngomntu ongazaziyo ukuba uphila njani esantini. ~ You speak fluently for someone who doesn’t know how to survive in the sand.” King Asani was mocking Tamari, a childish thing for a king to do.

Tamari was annoyed by the childishness of this lustful king. The anger boiled in her and she tightened her fits, grabbing a piece of her not-decent-enough dress, threatening to rip it but Tamari wasn’t going to rip her dress no matter how angry she was. That dress was the only thing between her body and King Asani’s lustful eyes so no matter how childish or repulsive the king behaved, Tamari would make sure she had that dress on; every single piece of it.

Tamari gained her composure, letting go of the red fabric and placing her palms together just below her bosoms.

“Andingowalapha nkosi uAsani, ndingowaseGates. Ndilapha ndikwiphulo lokufuna… ~ I’m not from here, King Asani, I’m from The Gates. I am here on a quest…” Tamari was cut short by the loud laughter of the king.

The laughter shocked Tamari, the maidens beside the king giggled in quieter tones and even the guards seemed to laugh within their helmets. Tamari didn’t understand what made them all laugh, she didn’t see what was so funny that king Asani could almost fall off his throne. What annoyed her more was the maidens who had no dignity in her eyes were also laughing at her.

“Yintoni ehlekisayo? ~ What is funny?” Tamari asked, angry and a bit frustrated.

“Wena! Umfazi! Ebukumkanini bam ekufuneni? Uxolo kodwa akunakwenzeka. ~ You! A woman! In my kingdom on a quest?  Sorry but that is not possible.” King Asani regained his composure and sat on his throne with a scowl.

“Kwaye kutheni kunjalo? ~ And why is that?”

“Ubuya kuthetha ulwimi iwakho olumdaka mfazindini! ~ You would only speak your dirty language, woman!” King Asani screamed in anger. Filling the throne room with intense sunlight and causing the gold to shine brightly and hot.

“I didn’t mean to offend you; I am just stating my business here.” Tamari lowered her head and shielded her eyes from the bright lights bouncing off the gold and the sunlight coming in through the windows.

“Awunamsebenzi apha mfazi! ~ You have no business here woman!” King Asani barked. He was growing angrier by the second and he ordered the guards to take Tamari from his sight.

“What wrong have I done!” A struggling Tamari screamed, struggling to stand on her feet and finish the conversation with the king.

“Abafazi abazenzi ngokuthanda kwabo ebukumkanini bukaKumkani uAsani. Hlala ukhumbula oko, Nkosazana Tamari. ~ Women do not do as they please in King Asani’s kingdom. Always remember that, Princess Tamari.”