CHAPTER 3: THE COLD WOODS AND CANDLE SMOKE

The following morning, Queen Jatau marched into young Takwaba’s chamber. She moved silently, wrapping herself in a heavy, hand-woven indigo blanket to shield against the early chill. Just as she arrived at the edge of the Gadon Laka, she saw the nine-year-old princess still fast asleep.

“Gimbiya, wake up,” Queen Jatau murmured softly.

Princess Takwaba blinked her eyes open, her vision blurry with sleep, though she could easily make out her mother's commanding silhouette. “Mama…” she muttered, rubbing her eyes as she tried to shake off her exhaustion.

Queen Jatau smiled down at her, a knowing glint in her sharp eyes. “Yes, wake up. I will take you somewhere today.”

Takwaba squinted, looking around the dim room. “Where?”

Queen Jatau’s smile faded into a tight, quiet smirk. “You know I do not like questions.”

Takwaba immediately stood up from the warm clay bed, quieted by her mother's cold authority. Karama quickly rushed forward to drape a dark blanket over the young girl's shoulders. To avoid detection from the people in the palace, the three royal women wrapped themselves in heavy disguises, silently slipping past the sleeping palace guards and stepping out of the mud-brick fortress gates.

Once they were safely past the outer walls, Jatau cast a brief look back at the sleeping guards, nodding to her maid. “You did your job well, Karama.”

They walked for hours, pushing deep into the uncharted wilderness of the savanna. The sun had barely crawled over the horizon when the terrain grew rugged and thick with towering, ancient baobab trees.

“Your Highness, I am tired,” Princess Takwaba gasped, stopping in her tracks to catch her breath, her legs aching from the grueling march.

Queen Jatau stopped and slowly turned around. She looked down at the young princess, her expression dropping into a mask of pure ice. “Everyone is allowed to get tired in this world, Takwaba. Except you. Remember that.”

Stung by her mother’s coldness, Takwaba quickly looked down at the dirt, swallowing her complaints.

After another long mile, the air grew noticeably cooler as they arrived at the border of a massive, shadowy forest. Jatau halted and turned to her maid. “Karama, you will stop here. Only me and Takwaba will go further.”

“As you command, Magajiya,” Karama replied with a deeply bowed head, stepping back to wait in the brush.

Takwaba looked at the dense, twisted treeline ahead. The forest looked black and menacing, and a sudden wave of fright crashed over the young girl. She reached out, her small fingers gripping her mother’s wrap tightly. Jatau noticed the girl's trembling hands, but her face remained rigid. She led the way straight into the woods. With every step they took into the dark canopy, the fear in Takwaba’s heart intensified, but she bit her lip, too afraid of her mother’s reaction to voice her terror.

The air grew heavy and suffocatingly tight, pressing against Takwaba’s chest. She could feel a strange, unseen presence watching them from the gloom.

Suddenly, the branches overhead began to thrash violently. The forest floor shook beneath their feet as a howling, unnatural wind ripped through the trees, gathering into a ferocious tornado that spiraled directly toward them.

“Mama!” Takwaba cried out in absolute agony as the roaring wind whipped at her clothes, threatening to rip her off her feet.

“Who dares tread in my territory?!” a booming, angry voice roared from the storm, shaking the very earth.

Queen Jatau dug her heels into the dirt, gripping Takwaba’s hand with an unyielding hold. She glared fiercely into the blinding vortex. “I am Jatau, the daughter of the late, Kanta!” she shouted back, her voice ringing with royal pride as her eyes scanned the whipping air.

The magical tornado gave a final, violent surge, breaking their grip and separating mother and child.

“Takwaba!” Jatau shouted as absolute terror finally broke through her calm facade.

“Mama!” Takwaba screamed before the world spun out of control and she slammed into the ground, losing consciousness.

When Queen Jatau opened her eyes, the storm had vanished. The blue sky was clear above her. Gasping, she scrambled to her feet, scanning the eerie environment. Not far away, she spotted Takwaba lying completely motionless in a treeless clearing.

Jatau ran to her in a panic, dropping to her knees. “Takwaba!” she cried out, her heart hammering as she lightly slapped her daughter’s face to wake her.

Takwaba slowly opened her eyelids, and the first thing she saw was the raw, trembling fear written across her mother’s features. It was a sight that deeply shocked the young girl. Her mother was always the anchor of the palace—calm, cold, and entirely unbothered even when consumed by rage. But for the very first time in her life, Takwaba saw true, vulnerable terror in her mother’s eyes.

Seeing her daughter alive, Jatau’s face softened into a breathless smile. She dragged the girl into a fierce, crushing hug. They both stood up, brushing the dirt from their wraps, looking around at the silent forest.

Takwaba glanced toward the northern edge of the clearing, spotting a faint, lazy trail of smoke rising from a specific point. “Your Highness, look at that,” she pointed.

Jatau followed her daughter's gaze, but her brow furrowed in deep confusion. “Look at what?”

Takwaba blinked, her eyebrows knitting together as she looked at her mother. “Can you not see that small house with the smoke coming out of it?”

Jatau looked at Takwaba, her brows almost fusing together in disbelief. “I cant,” Jatau admitted tightly, looking at the empty clearing. “But walk me to the house you see.”

Takwaba looked up at Jatau, giving her a sure expression. “Are you sure?”

Jatau nodded firmly. “Yes.”

Takwaba took her mother's hand, directing the way across the treeless grass. Jatau trusted her daughter's steps, walking blindly until Takwaba halted them right in front of the empty air. “We have arrived. We are in front of the house,” Takwaba said.

Jatau took a heavy breath and brought out a leather pouch from her body. Takwaba looked at the pouch, confused. “What is this?”

Jatau placed it on top of her hand as she looked at the blank space where the house supposedly stood. “Where exactly is the curtain of the house?”

Takwaba looked at the invisible structure, her eyes fixed firmly on the doorway. “Here,” she pointed to a place facing Jatau.

Jatau unleashed the pouch, taking out a handful of powdered bone, and spread it on the empty air. Just then, the house appeared—it was just as it was demonstrated to her. A smile appeared on Jatau's face. “We are here”