The revelation

Bakoena Kingdom

The chief priest stood outside the throne room, chanting and praising the Bakoena ancestors, his bag of bones hanging on the side on this shoulder with the sling going down his hip and moving around as he paced granting and chanting the Bakoena clan names. Inside the throne room the tension was raising with each passing minute, as they anxiously waited for the chief priest to enter and deliver the message from the gods. The chief priest finally went inside, he was dripping wet from the rain, he went and stood in the middle of the room facing the king. " My king, the gods have shown favour on you this day, they gave you a gift, a rain queen and as of today this land shall prosper because of her but she is to be treated well for you shall shed tiers should you make mistakes with her" said the chief priest to the king " My thanks eye of the gods, what do you mean we must not make mistakes with her? because every child gets naughty and has to be disciplined" said the king worried that if he is not allowed to discipline the princess she might grow up to be a spoilt child that knows no value of things or people. " I hold no knowledge of that my king, however there is a deeper meaning to it but for now that is all the gods revealed to me." said the chief priest leaving the king with more questions than answers. " My thanks eye of the gods" said the king sounding defeated. "One more thing my king, you must name the child Mapula then the rain will stop after naming the future queen." the elders were stunned by the revelation that the child will be the future queen of the kingdom, they wondered what will happen to the prince if the princess is to be queen. however, no one dared to voice their concerns.

"Let the will of the gods be done, I shall go at once and name the princess" The king left going to the hut where his queen and princess were and stood outside " Is it safe to enter?" asked the king. "It is safe my king, you may enter" said the midwife from inside the hut. The king entered and saw his queen laying on a grass mat with the princess in her arms. She looked tired and drained, that made the king's heart heavy. " My beloved queen how are you feeling my dear? you do not look so good." said the king worry laced in his words. "I am well my king, just a bit tired, nothing a good slumber can’t fix." said the queen with a low voice. " That is good then my dear, may I hold the princess please?" the midwife stood from the corner she where she was sitting and took the princess from the queen and gave her to the king. " I am here to name her so that the rain can stop, I am sure my people are scared they have never seen such." he held the princess delicately in his arms and gazed upon her, his lips curved into a smile looking at his gift. " What does my king mean when he says he has to name her for the rain to stop?" asked the queen not understanding what a naming of the child can do to change the drastic weather conditions. "We shall discuss that when you are well rested my queen. The princess's name is Mapula, a name given to her by our ancestors" Mapula means rain, the king went outside with the princess and stood in the rain with her held up high " Gods of Bakoena, today you have blessed this kingdom with a gift of a princess and as per your will I give you Mapula the rain queen of Bakoena" said the king, thunder rumbled and the rain came to a stop, the wind went quiet and the dark clouds parted giving way for the sun to appear. When the rain stopped the king smiled content and went back inside with the princess, who was blinking repeatedly because of the drops of rain that managed to fall on her face.

The people of the kingdom could not understand what had happen as the storm suddenly stopped. They got out of their houses to see what was going on but when they got out no one could tell that it had even rained, the only evidence that it indeed rained was the floods of water still running on the roads making small dams here and there. Other than that, no one could tell there was a storm in the kingdom, the people dismissed it as one of the witches doing as they are known for their evil ways.