Before her mother could respond, she added, “Didn’t Queen Winona have children of her own?”
"No, she never had any children. She never was interested in marriage again since her childhood sweetheart ran away with her best friend to set up home together.
“She felt bitter and betrayed and lost faith in marriage and had very little tolerance for children too. Your father used to get clipped around the ears if he crossed her path, ooh, she had such a temper on her!” the queen reflected.
“Anyway, we will see what happens between you and Tamura, only time will tell,” said the queen and carried on darning her craftwork with a large needle, which looked like a hook.
Leona sighed and threw herself into a stool besides her mother and escaped into her thoughts, sighing every now and again.
Her mother knew exactly who she was thinking about and broke a silent smile as she remembered her youth and how she felt when she met King Gama.
She remembered how she used to hide behind the trees waiting for him to come and meet her out of her parents’ sight as they didn’t approve of her wasting time with local boys and becoming the village gossip. According to her parents, the place for her as a young woman was to work hard assisting her mother in the kitchen and darning, not hanging around with boys. The room became silent with both women lost in thought, Leona biting her fingernails and her mother darning absentmindedly at her craftwork.
When Tamura finished eating in haste, he thanked the king repeatedly and stood up to leave, but the king told him he needed a good night’s sleep and a proper rest before he could continue walking to Nengara Mountains where his relations were meant to be dwelling.
The king was a kind-hearted man and had offered to arrange an escort for Tamura to take him past the perilous patch before he could be safely delivered to his relations. Tamura and four men were to leave at dawn the following morning.
Early next morning, the four men and Tamura were to set off on their journey to Nengara. The route was treacherous and swampy with deadly reptiles and creatures that came out day and night and was a no-go area for the Goza people as they had no business there.
They, however, had gone to surrounding areas of the mountain hunting for game as animals of all kinds lived in the rich lustre of the planes. A volcanic eruption which occurred many years earlier had created a haven when it spewed rich minerals on the ground and made it very fertile for plants and animals alike to thrive.
Leona didn’t sleep at all that night, she started playing the events of the day in her head and realised that she had fallen in love at first sight with a stranger, whom she might never see again when he would leave at dawn.
She felt a strong tug at her heart to talk to him and get to know him better, but what excuse would she have to go and see him? She quickly leapt out of her bed, put on her dressing gown, which her mother had carefully made for her using an especially reserved silky material – leftover from the one the queen had used to make her wedding gown years ago.
She tiptoed to the guest room where Tamura was half-asleep and half-awake. He heard her come in and jerked himself up to sitting position, struggled up and pulled up his covers to his chest and whispered in case someone would hear them.
“Why are you here, princess?”
Leona stammered and fumbled with her dressing gown as if she was thinking of what to say.
“Are you always this abrupt?” she snarled at him to cover up her discomfiture at his direct question.
“Pardon me, miss, I didn’t mean to be rude, only surprised that’s all,” Tamura said calmly. She was still fumbling with her gown and he told her to come and sit on the bed beside him.
She managed a smile and sat beside him. “Is something bothering you or you just can’t sleep like me,” he asked her.
“Liar,” she retorted, “I found you asleep.”
“No, I was just resting my eyes, but my mind is wide-awake!” he mused.
“Why?” Leona asked, “Are you worried about the journey tomorrow?”
“No, not the journey, it’s what I am going to find when I get there that worries me. I last saw my uncle when I was five years old and I don’t know any of his family. These are people I have never seen all my life, what if they reject me?” he said with a worried look in his eyes.
“I don’t think they will, they are your relations, remember? How come we took you in and yet we are strangers? Think about that,” Leona said reassuringly.
“You are right, but sometimes strangers are better than relations,” said Tamura with a downcast expression on his face.
“So, if they reject you, would you come back here?” said Leona with an excited gasp.
“That depends on the king, if I would be welcomed again, otherwise I will just head back home to Huru and continue with the life I know. Besides my family needs me, back home,” Tamura said sorrowfully and continued, “I also happen to be the eldest in my family and my young brother and sister can’t do without me. I couldn’t just abandon them; this is mainly why I am seeking to find my uncle to help me bring them up.”
Leona said pitifully, “I am sorry about what happened to your parents, it must be awful not having them around.” She continued when Tamura didn’t respond, “How old are you?”
Tamura answered, “Twenty-one, going on to twenty-two, and how old are you?”
Leona said, “You are just a year older than me; I am twenty and soon I will be twenty-one.” They both smiled.
“Tell me about yourself, Leona,” Tamura said.
“Well, there’s nothing to tell really, my father is a king as you know.
