The Queen Within

Chapter 12

Charlie

Danny and I had finally landed in Kenya, and the heat was sweltering. We had to take three different flights just to get to a remote town, then a car picked us up from there and we drove for over an hour deep into the forest. What surprised me, was that there were different scents of shifters surrounding us. It wasn't just werewolves. I caught the scent of panther and jaguar and many many others.

After some time, we came to a break in the forest to reveal what looked like a Palace surrounded by dazzling houses. The esteem and luxury of it all took me by surprise. I thought I've seen wealthy people in my life, but this was way beyond that.

As we drove up to the ginormous mansion, a flood of people came out. Each one dressed in jewels and the finest of fabrics and design. Full of vibrant color, everyone was astoundingly beautiful. The last person to come out was by far the most dazzling of them all. He wore a beige suit that was perfectly fitted and stood out against his midnight complexion. His skin was so smooth, and he smiled at us as they opened our car door, practically blinding us.

He wore what I assume is some kind of scarf that draped over his shoulder and around his side. He wore giant gemstone rings and a necklace that had a moon and sun pendant. He spread his arms wide as he got closer to us.

"Welcome to our home!" He had a thick accent but his voice was baritone. I got out of the car first and extended my hand. He smiled brightly as he shook it.

"You must be Charlie! I am Sarki."

"Hello Sarki, it is a pleasure to meet you. This is my mate, Denise." I said as I gestured to Danny beside me. To my surprise, she courtesied.

"It's an honor to meet you Sarki."

Sarki shook Danny's hand as well and gestured for us to follow.

"We have much to discuss but first, your trip must be tiresome. Let's retire to the lounge area and we can talk there."

We both nodded and followed him inside. My jaw almost hit the floor. There were gold and white marble pillars, a glass floor that revealed a, what I assume, river that flow at the bottom, priceless artwork, and statues with ceilings so high I was sure a giraffe could fit and still have room.

"I am terribly sorry for the accommodations. Our main estate is undergoing construction for the annual ball in a few months. This is our second home. Not as grand, but it's enough for the time being."

Not as grand?! This was a low standard?! How much money do they have?!

A knock on the floor, yes the floor, startled Danny and I and we jumped back. Looking down, I was yet again blown away. You don't see many mermaids back home, but there one was. Beautiful and stunning with her blue and green complexion. She knocked again and Sarki looked down.

"Is it time already?" He asked. The mermaid nodded and then swam away. Sarki turned to face us with that brilliant smile of his, "I am sorry my friends. Some urgent matters to attend to. I'll have one of our attendants take you and serve you some refreshments." He clapped his hands and very, very tall woman came and bowed slightly to him.

He spoke to her in a language I did not know and walked away. The woman bowed to us slightly and gestured for us to follow her. We walked down many hallways, the glass flooring was clearly throughout the entire bottom floor. Every now and again we would see mermaids swimming along underneath us. I hadn't realized there were different kinds. Back at home you only saw the ones that looked like normal fish.

The ones that we saw here, looked like tropical fishes, or sharks. Some had tail fins and skin with every color of the rainbow. Others were had huge dorsal fins and razor-sharp teeth. Danny and I were in awe and had to constantly pull each other out the way so the other wouldn't run into a pillar.

The lady showed us into a very large area that had a beautiful painting of a woman with an Afro so large and elegant with a glowing light behind it reminding me of the moon. She wore a neckless that had the pendant of the moon and sun, and in her hands is what looked like a ball of clay. She had the same color of midnight that Sarki had, and her eyes, even as a painting, seemed all-knowing.

I found myself staring at this painting. I couldn't move away from it, and something about it seemed so... familiar. Even though I know I have never seen this woman a day in my life, nor have I ever seen this painting. But... I was so drawn in.

It wasn't until the attendant announced that refreshments were served did I even notice that Danny was staring at the painting too. We reluctantly pulled ourselves away from it and sat down on the ivory armchairs that all looked like mini thrones. They were so soft.

Finally looking around the room, I saw multiple paintings of the same woman, each one was almost identical, except for the clay ball that was in her hands. In one painting, the ball was a wolf. In another, the ball was a bird. So on, and so forth, each painting had a different animal.

"Do you take sugar?"

"Huh?" I hadn't realized I got lost in the paintings again when the attendant had asked. I looked down and saw she was serving what I assumed to be tea in what looked like seriously expensive gold-trimmed teacups. "Oh, yes please, just two." She nodded dropped two sugar cubes in my cup and placed the cup on a saucer in front of me. It smelled of jasmine and something I wasn't familiar with.

"It's a Rooibos tea infused with jasmine. I find it soothing."

I snapped my head around to see a woman dressed in a yellow business-like dress that went to her knees with a tiny slit on the side. She had jumbo braids that went down her back and black pumps to complete the whole ceo look. Her body was slender and lethal and she looked poised to attack but not in a literal sense.

"It most likely isn't common where you are from." She said as she walked over to the chair across from us, waving the attendant girl over. She quickly fixed up the woman's cup and the lady waved her away after.

"I'm sorry to intrude," She said as she fixated her greenish-yellow eyes on me, "I am Laora. Queen of the leopard people. I hear you are representatives to one of our lost royals?"

I was completely dumbfounded. Laora took a sip from her cup and gently placed the cup back onto the saucer. Everything about her screamed regal and deadly. I wanted to find the words to respond, but I was so at a loss that I couldn't.

"Laora, please don't scare our guest." Sarki came into the room and walked over to us. He took the seat next to Laora and was quickly served his own cup of tea. "I am sorry. The leopard people are always this way." He said with a smirk. Laora laughed and it sounded wicked in every sense of the word.

"Can I help it that the wolf people are easy to play with?" They both smiled at each other and Sarki shook his head.

"Laora, this is Charlie and Denise. They may have the answers we have been looking for."

"Blessed Mawu our prayers have been answered."

Wait, did she just say Mawu? The lady we saw on that documentation? Who exactly was Mawu that this woman would pray to? The only thing that makes logical sense is that Mawu was a god or goddess right?

"Um, excuse me, who is Mawu?" I was fighting every single muscle in my body to stay still and to not get my usual research jitters. I felt like this was big.

"Mawu? You don't know our creator?" Sarki said with a c****d eyebrow. I felt embarrassed as I shook my head. Laora shook her head and Sarki made a disapproving clucking sound with his tongue.

"Come." He said as he stood up and made his way to the first painting we saw when we came into this room. We obediently followed behind him and were once again mesmerized by the painting.

"This, this is Mawu. She is our mother, our creator. She is of sun and moon and made all of us. Without her, there would be no us."

Sun and moon? Like... a moon goddess? But... There was only one Moon Goddess. Right?

"I'm sorry, you say sun and moon, so she is the moon goddess?"

"Some call her that yes."

"Are there other moon goddesses that deal with creation?"

Sarki laughed loudly and shook his head. "You think Mawu could be duplicated? A goddess is a goddess for a reason. She has many forms and goes by many names, but, this one is her original form."

My jaw hit the floor. The Moon Goddess that I, and everyone else I knew, grew up learning about wasn't the actual Moon Goddess or was but a different form? Everything that we learned wasn't true or maybe it was? I was trying to wrap my head around it. How do you wrap your head around something like this?

Danny placed a hand on my arm and looking at her, she was in the same state of shock that I was. We both looked at the painting again and that feeling we had, that drawn-in feeling suddenly made sense. We were looking at the being responsible for... well us. It was like being away from your mom for a long time and you finally got to see her again. It was like home.

"We didn't learn about her... Well, not this version of her. Back home, she is Selene and she's as glorious as the moon..." Danny says. "There is no correlation between her and the sun. Just the moon."

"Mawu shows herself to us as what we need her to be. This," Laora gestured to the painting, "Is her. And the version of her that you know is her as well. The version of her that your people needed the most. Mawu probably has hundreds of forms and thousands of names. But no matter the difference, she is our creator."

Hearing her say that, not dismissing what we know, but telling us to embrace it, and to embrace this version of her, somehow, made me feel welcomed. Truly welcomed. There was clearly a lot that we had to learn. Luckily, we were in the right place for it.