Family Reunion (78 page)

Manny couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. "'You little hellion, you're sore? I'm the one who has had the devil beat out of me." Lena's head dropped in regret. "Hey, hey, hey... stop that, look at me." He insisted, lifting her chin.

"I can't, how could I have done and said those things to you. I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to be with me again." She sniffed in self reproach.

"What did I say? Look at me!" He ordered mildly. Hesitantly, Lena lifted her eyes to his. For a moment Manny could only stare into hers, "Do you honestly believe that I could possibly go on without you? You're stuck with me, through thick and thin, for better or for worse. I'm not going anywhere, without my Miss Lena, understand?! I promised, remember? And I have always been a man of my word." He held her, gazing with love filled eyes, meaning every word. Tearfully she nodded. "Now...give me a kiss, only a peck though, on the cheek-..." He pointed to it, "…-cause my lovely lady, you need a bath!" Lena gasped as her lip rolled out and under. Manny threw his head back and laughed, "I love you still… a bath is a quick fix… the hard stuff is over." He teased.

She pouted
, leaning forward, delivering the peck on the cheek. "I'm hungry." She complained. "You should be, you haven't had anything solid in your stomach that would stay for days."

"Where are we!? Oh Manny, the kids, do they know...Oh God."

"Calm down, they know nothing and never will. I've almost stopped the ship, to weather the storm within and out, we had another one while you were recovering. You don't remember it do you?"

"There was a storm?"

"Yes, but all is well…we've weathered them my wife, we've weathered them all." He informed her, standing from the floor and holding his hand out to help her up. She stood with his help, dizzy and starving.

"Now you sit over here, I'm going to fix you a bath and bring you something to eat, maybe even feed you while in it; you've lost weight you cannot spare." Lena sat, nodding obediently. "Afterwards, you're getting into that bed so that Gaitsu and I can fatten you up. You are to eat everything we hand you! Do I make myself clear?" He asked, at the door, with both buckets in hand. "Yes, loud and clear milord." She looked at him with adoring eyes. "After our bath, will you ... come to bed with me?" She asked hesitantly. Manny raised a brow at her. "To sleep madam, only to sleep, for once I fear you have truly worn me out."

* * *

Makia Island…

"LuMaden, ah been tellin'yah, gi'outa that bed this very mo-men'. There no'a'ting wrong' wid'ya! Ah won'be lukin' at'yah mopin' roun' till'ya life be gon'! Get up ah say!" Austeao ordered the grumpy old man as he lay in his bed.

"Woman! I say for the last time, leave me in peace! I am king here, this is my own chamber in my own palace, and if I wish to mope, leave me to it!" He barked and with a wave of his hand ordered, "Be gone with you now, and take that ugly waggin' tongue with'yah!"

"You'ah dis'picable king! Frettin'n'moanin'!"

"Did I not say leave my room? Go!" Lu’Maden bellowed with his fist waving as he sat up on his pillow cushioned bed, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back with a disapproving scowl on his face.

"Dai'mon-vatamil! Yah' think I'm Keiva, Pancie, Tenizay, or Chia evon! Ho no! If yah'do - den yah'wrong! Y'cannot chase m'off with yah'bellerin'! Nor by wavin' yah'fist!”

“
I wan'yah pullin' from that bed and now! Yah'not gon'be layin' ‘round for da'lords summoning! Yah'got to go sum'udda place, na'moveit ol'mon!"

"Goddamn your bloody soul! Woman, I tell you I am sick! Sick to the core of my bones! Leave a man to ail in peace! I'm sick I tell you! Sick, sick, sick, sick! Now leave me!"

"Yeah! Yah'be sick ah'right! Sick in'da head! Udda'wise, yah'never feel a pain yah'whole life…an' I knows it!"

"You cannot tell me what pain I feel inside of my body, I don’t share it with you, now do I? Therefore, you cannot know! You don't care do you?! No one care about my heart…how it beats in madness here in my chest! Only my sweet little Esa, she is the only one who love me! The rest of you only wait about holding your breath, praying today that I drop dead so you can be rid of me for good!"

"God above, ha'long mus'we hear this! Tis long pass'due that yah'admit it! She'be daid an' gon'! Cease this pinin' pleaz 'bout yah'Esa! She gone! Nevah't'return! Leave da' chile t'rest'n'peace! An' leave us to som'peace for da'blame! Ovah an' ovah Ashtaphere, ma'very son-…"

"Stop right there! You hear!? I said to never speak that name in my palace again!! Traitor!! Traitor! Traito-o-or!” He bellowed to the top of his voice, words and response many had grown accustomed to hearing.

"He is yah’on’son!! Yah’son Dai’mon-…"

"He is a treacherous, heathenness, whoreson, mongrel of a dog! He is your son!!" He continued his tirade, his rage and the argument was on, with Austeao trying to reason with him and get him to understand why her son – their son … had sold his younger sister, Princess Ceś alena into slavery.

King Daimenvatamil LuMaden was not born a king, nor was he a born native to Makia Island. He was born the thirteenth child and the seventh son of African born parents. As a child his life had been spent roaming the plains of East Africa, a child of Somaliland. His good fortune had started out as a misfortune, to stand out as it were from his siblings, capturing the eyes of many with his gold eyes, tawny golden curls, and luminous brown/gold skin tone. Standing out as he did, made him a valuable asset to collect. From the moment the English nobleman spotted him, he was a desired addition to his growing menagerie. As a dealer in exotica, the boy Tokbuko would be a sure draw, bringing him much in his private auctions. For Tokbuko's family to see the grandeur of this explorer and his wealthy means, what better gift could they give their son, than that of a better life? In exchange for him, they’d gained land and camels.

Watching him go, they were assured
that he would only know the best things in life. It was their hope that the nobleman could be trusted to enrich their son's future. He left Somalia seeing his father, mother and siblings for the last time, true to the earl's word, only costumes of the richest silks and satins adorned his skin. After spending time observing the unique qualities of the boy Tokbuko, the earl had decided he would keep him for himself, using him as entertainment and amusement before those whom he’d sought to impress. He was a toy, a pet to dazzle the courts he had held. He was taught many "tricks" as a pet would be, that had kept the earl amused. Tokbuko's quick wit and ability to learn and grasp the meaning and knowledge of all around him had fascinated the Earl of Waitbetshire. Testing the extent of his abilities, the earl had instructed him on many languages and he’d grasped them well.

For fun, he’d directed him on the manners of gentlemen and so he had become distinguished in his stance, walk, talk and mannerisms. Going further, he had introduced him to the art of fencing to exercise and improve his own skill. Everyday he’d challenged his thinking and his intellect in conversation. Those who had observed him were amazed at the gold colored African. He was desirable to the eye, coveted by many but belonged to the Earl of Waitbetshire. In joking, the earl filled with drink, would taunt and tease his Tokbuko, "Tokbuko…you bring me such amusement, were it not for the fact that you were born of animals, one would think you the son of a nobleman, the product of a king!" He laughed, deep in his cups.

"Tell me, King Tokbuko…no…" He had laughed, shaking his head, "…you should have a far more majestic name…let me see, let me think…" He roared filled with mirth, "King…king…???...ah ah, I know…King Daimen – vata-a-a-mil…? … ah – Luuu - Maden!" He slapped his leg. "That is it, I'm impressed even with myself Tokbuko…were you a king, that would be your name." He’d joked. Unbeknownst to him, his joking, his dalliance, his way with the young Tokbuko stirred a deadly hatred in his charge; his refusal to see him as anything else but a toy for his amusements; for his intellectual amusement; for his competitive amusement; and… in the dark secret enclosure of his rooms, his perverse amusements; that refusal to see, had indeed blinded him to the hidden plans, dreams and seething hatred, that had grown in the mind of Tokbuko. For his underestimation of his charge, he’d lost not only his wealth to him, but his life. In his travels, the earl had discovered the island of Makia and decided to claim it as a port to peddle his goods. To store, house and set up his shop of exotic collections. He had been widely known to provide any and all with what they chose in animals or men; to him…they were one and the same.

All else
, but Tokbuko, had been captured and traded for various riches. What had begun as a grand extravagance, building a palace fit for a ruler, had ended up as the domain of the young golden boy, Tokbuko – now a man, known as the fierce and deadly, King LuMaden. If the Earl of Waitbetshire could speak, he could vouch for his mercilessly vicious streak. However, having had his throat slit, his torso drawn and quartered, his entrails ripped from his body and stretched out upon the beach one deadly night so long before, prohibited that.

All the years of service to the earl, had given Tokbuko a first hand taste for the power and glory that came with being an aristocrat. In sure mockery, he had spit on the lifeless, butchered corpse of the earl and had took on the name of King Daimenvatamil LuMaden. Because of his position, he knew all the earls secrets and all the intricate details that had enabled him to play a role that had practically been handed to him and he’d had the brass to take it. He’d never missed the slightest opportunity to further his wealth. To obtain riches, he’d played his role well, masquerading as a go between, pretending to be the earl's messenger by returning to gather more so as to grow in power. Few had believed it possible of someone such as him. While they’d believed him running, fetching and acting in behalf of the earl's cause, he had, in fact, been gambling to gain his own place as a ruler. By the time LuMaden was twenty-six years of age, he was in full power as king over the island of Makia. He had become demanding and insistent while setting up the rules and manner of his household; none had dared to veer from them. Any sort of public display of emotion had been considered a weakness in his eyes. Often LuMaden's harshness had drained even him. He thought back to the world and family he’d once known, where there had always been laughter, love and joy. His father had been a man happy to be surrounded by his children, while sad that he could not provide better for them. He had been his father's one ticket to better the lives of all the rest. Dismissing that world, that life from his mind, had not killed the longing to have for himself that which he missed…a family. Determined to that end, LuMaden had wanted to see himself replicated as often as he could, he’d worked tirelessly to that end.

With all going as he had planned, nothing had prepared him for the dissent in his own household. Ashtaphere had been the oldest of King Daimenvatamil LuMaden's many children, numbering well over forty. By his second choice wife, Austeao, LuMaden had his eldest sons, Ashtaphere and Catamon. His first choice for a wife had been Aurelia, the love of his life and Austeao's younger sister.

She
’d tried to give him twins, a daughter and son, but had lost her life, along with the male child, leaving one struggling for every breath she took.

Princess Ceś alena

Stricken with overwhelming grief, LuMaden had sobbed at his wife's death and had turned realizing that she, the small girl child was all that was left of his Aurelia. As if a means to hold his sanity intact, LuMaden had refused to relinquish all that was left of her and so
had
taken part in nursing his daughter himself. LuMaden had done all he could, including praying for her life as he’d held, stroked and cradled her, hour after hour, day after day…until the hardest battle he had ever waged… had been won.

Austeao, the older sister, was proud to have been the first to give him sons and loved her younger sister despite being second choice to her – never had there been a contest between them. She’d mourned her death as well; she had taken the child by her dead sister whom LuMaden had always held closest to his heart, joining him in the battle to save all that was left; accepting the birthright of the babe being of his first wife, comfortable with knowing that she – Ceś alena alone would carry the title of Princess.

Thus, Austeao's sons would fall below her in status so that their only rights would be to rule over the tribal warriors, with power of authority to exercise dominion over them and the village.

However, the warriors, the village and all that the eye could see, belonged to the reigning king. Upon his passing, it would go to Princess Ceś alena as a dowry to her husband when she was eventually given in marriage. The power, the riches, the treasure of their entire Island would lay in her husband’s hands, as well as the opulent palace that housed many of the king’s children, his wife and concubines. Dwelling there also, were his sons wives and children and last of all, the servants who cared for them.

Outside of the palace, on lower ground, were several huts where young girls were groomed to become the next one chosen as concubine to the king, or his sons. All that and more would fall into the hands of the man who would take his daughter's hand. Ashtaphere however, coveted all that would one day be his half sister’s and resented their father's deep love and pride in her. Ceś alena had come out with the features of her mother, but the coloring of her father. His light tawny/gold hair, his smooth healthy glowing brown skin and his outstanding gold eyes, coupled with Aurelia's vibrant beauty, had given them their Princess Ceś alena. All of Austeao's life, she could remember her father saying that Aurelia was a misplaced swan among ducks.