Blood on The Iron Throne of Kurna

Sample · CHAPTER 1: THE LEOPARD'S DEFIANCE

“Ah! Ah! Ah!”Queen Jatau pushed with the last vestiges of her strength, her body trembling in a deep squat as her palace attendants firmly supported her weight.“Magajiya! Push harder, the baby’s head is crowning!” one of the midwivess urgd.Queen Jatau paused, drawing in a ragged, heavy breath while an attendant hurriedly wiped the slick sweat from her face. With a final, agonizing gasp—“Ahhhhhhhh!”—she threw her entire soul into one last push before the world went black and she fainted from sheer exhaustion.The palace attendants caught her sliding frame, carefully lifting her up to rest upon her majestic Gadon Laka. The elevated clay platform bed was deeply layered with soft, luxurious shadow leopard pelts, the ultimate symbol of royal comfort in the pre-Islamic Hausa era of the 1200s.When Queen Jatau finally opened her heavy eyelids, her gaze immediately scanned the familiar red, s...

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