$LNBP presents: The Flower Queen and Her Elephant

 © Copyright 2020. Lebogang K Tlou. The Flower Queen And Her Elephant

 

Before the days of Covid19, a long time ago; in the age of clans and tribes who bowed to the King of Kings who ruled from Auld Ethopi; in the land of PAN: there was a humble clan of Flower People who tended the lands at the very other end of the Great Kingdom of Pan, which existed before the invasion of ships in c1600.

The Chief of the Flower People had only sired daughters, which meant that his kingdom would surely fall into dispute over the next ruler, for surely no female was allowed to rule in those days.

At the meeting of the Flower Council, the Great Chief, who was aged drastically, allowed his eldest daughter the seat beside him. Violet was the name the tribe knew her by, for she was small, Beautiful, wise and brave - all qualities revered in her father, but shunned in her, for she was a girl. The Lords hissed and shouted at the chief for this decision, he merely raised a finger, and they all fell silent immediately.

Violet listened passively as the lords of the the trees bickered as to who would succeed the chief when he died. The Chief, annoyed by the bickering, then spoke at last and said:

"In a dream, our ancestors said to me, that soon a war will come, and our lands will be taken. Only the One with the power to tame the Elephant may succeed me, for that is the One person who truly lives to serve our humble legacy."

"Liar!" said the lord from the Valley of Poison Ivy, and with a glance, the Chief turned him to a yellow flower, and all the chiefs sat up, and listened intently, for not only was their chief wise, but also very magickal indeed was he.

"Father, I can do that too, may I be Chief?" Violet asked, speaking for the first time. The Lord from the valley of Thorned trees shushed her, and Violet shot him a glare, and turned him into a Daffodil. This enraged the council, and her father the chief as well, who turned the Lord from the valley of Thorns back into a mortal.

They all agreed at once that Violet should be punished by the chief, and turned into a rose that she learns her place among their clan. The Chief agreed, and said he would surely on the very next day.

That night, when the moon was full in the sky, Violet knew that the night was her last as one of the walking unless she left immediately.

She took nothing, for the lands had all she would need, and silently crept out of the Flower Clan's mountain, which opened and closed at the break and close of every single day. Mount Ntunjambili, the Warrior Clan of Zulu knew it as, yet to the Flower Clan, it was home.

Sneaking out wasn't easy, however Violet knew where the mountain stayed open when the moon was full in the sky. What she did not know was that the Lord of Thorn valley also knew what she had kept her secret since she her Blooming day and the Lord had sent Thorns to bar the way, in case the little witch tried to get away.

Not letting this stop her, Violet crept through the thorns, which scratched and hurt her sorely. The thorns went for nearly five kilometres, and Violet knew the Lord meant to kill her with his evil trickery. Yet, she crept and crawled and clawed her way through, till at last, she was free.

It was early morning, and the moon was preparing to leave the sky that the sun of a new day could shine. Bloodied, sore and thirsty, Violet kept walking, the thorns were no longer visible behind her, and her clan was now in her past, she knew.

She looked to the sky as the sun broke through the top of the highest peak.

"Father in the Sky, would you leave a Flower die so mercilessly?" Violet wept. Still, she walked. Violet walked until the hills and valleys turned to flat, level grounds, which lead to a big stream of water and a gigantic waterfall. Still sore, and bruised and bloodied, Violet ran for the waters and dove in.

She floated on the surface for what felt like days, as the sun’s rays healed her body. At the shore, she saw a tree filled with peaches from bottom to top. She swam to the water's end and climbed the tree till the very top, where she knew the best ones would be found, the ones tasted by the birds who rose early to feed. She knew which ones were safe, and which had rot, and she feasted heartily, and at the top, she fell asleep.

Violet was woken by a violent commotion down below. She glanced over a branch to see a young elephant fighting for its life against five young lions with freshly grown teeth, eager for the taste of the young elephant, who met each would be assailant valiantly, kicking one, goring another, kicking and goring and stampeding the young lions to surrendering, and backing away. From the top of the tree, she watched as they ran towards their mother, who was watching, bemusedly enjoying her sons working together so well. An elephant alone meant the mother was far away and this one had surely gone astray, and would die that day.

The young elephant was wounded, and so retreated into to the waters, for all the animals and clans knew the great river to have waters which soothed all wounds as a balm surely would.

Violet saw the danger the elephant was in, yet the young elephant was far from home and obviously alone, and the Lioness mom was watching, waiting for the young elephant to come to shore, where she knew his small tusks and developing hind feet would be no match for her gait, which was mighty, and never missed its mark.

Violet knew what had to happen next, and respected the laws of the natural world enough to allow it to be. She felt the tree shake a little. One of the young lions had caught her floral scent, and knew how to climb any tree. She saw its eyes, flashing green, and threw peaches at it till it lost its footing and fell to the ground with a loud thud which woke its brothers and mother, who had decided to rest, for the elephant by now knew there was no way out. Violet was trapped too, atop the tree, as the lions felt a human would make a lovely treat before they could feast heartily on the young elephant.

Violet acted quick as the lions climbed. She used her power to extend a brand from the tree, which grew taller towards the stream. With peaches as her weapon, she walked backwards on the branch, hurling peaches at the lions as they attacked, hitting the eyes, which would cause them to lose concentration and fall. The Lioness was too keep, and she reached the top of the tree. Violet had only one peach left, and the Lioness was preparing to pounce.

Violet, sensing the branch had grown enough, lifted her hands sideways and fell backwards, praying the waters wouldn't hurt too much when she reached them from such a high altitude.

The Elephant saw everything, even the lioness, and with his great trunk, he caught the falling Violet before ever she touched the waters.

"Hurry," Violet said once on the Elephants back. "The Lioness intends to kill you for her sons, hurry, she is too high up to jump, we must flee while she climbs down, I know a safe place."

Violet spoke fast, with her mind, and was grateful that the elephant heard everything, and reacted swiftly, leaving the stream, goring the young lions who Violet felled from the tree as together they left the flat lands and hurried back in the direction of Violet's home.

The Elephant ran for dear life, and Violet raised thorns in their wake - a trick she learned from the Lord of Thorns. As daughter to the Flower Chief, Violet knew she was magick from the day she bloomed.

To her astonishment, as they reached the first valley leading home, Violet saw in the distance all her people. The Lord of thorns had magicked his thorns away, and was showing the chief the trail of blood his daughter had left as she fled, and the Chief had to honour his word. Violet wasn't scared, because her father had remained chief mostly because of his great sense of honour.

Everyone stood in awe, even the Lord of Thorns, as Violet returned riding a beautiful elephant. The chief smiled, and bent down to one knee when Violet and Her Elephant came to a standstill before the company which was pursuing her to force her father to honour his word.

Everyone knelt, but the Lord of Thorns. Violet shot him a glance, and he was once again turned into a Daffodil.

She stood atop her elephant, who trumpeted majestically.

"I am Violet, daughter of the Flower Chief, and I am the First Flower Queen," she roared. The Lioness and her sons had followed, and now each lined up beside the elephant and the girl, and growled ferociously before even they bowed, and went back in the direction from whence they came.

"Tamer of Lions! Elephant Rider! Queen of Lords, and Flower Queen!" Heralded the Chief, who now no longer had to turn his brave daughter into a rose, and could at long last retire and smoke the magick herbs he had been harvesting for his retirement from regency.

"All Hail the Flower Queen and Her Elephant!" the former flower chief turned advisor to the Queen barked, and cheers of "Long live the Flower Queen!" filled the air.

The Elephant Trumpeted loudly.

"May I call you Bloom?" Queen Violet whispered into the Elephant's ear.

"How did you know that this is what my mother used to call me?" Bloom whispered back when he was certain no one else could hear.

"Same way I knew you could speak," Queen Violet said, and she lived to rule her clan and valley righteously.

All the clans and all the tribes from across the whole continent were invited to the coronation of the queen, which was set to take place at the next full moon – as was a widely celebrated custom. In some places and tribes, Violet soon learned, it was not uncommon for a woman to lead the people. The night before the coronation service, Violet and bloom decided to walk through the valley. They had begun climbing mount Ntunjambili at dusk, and soon the whole forest was illuminated by moonlight before them. They sat at the top in silence for a while. Violet remembered the first time she had climbed the mountain. They took a path which spiralled upwards to the highest peak. Violet used magic to increase the walkway as they went so that Bloom wouldn’t fall off the mountain side. It was her way of making her giant friend feel welcomed in his new home. She had always been alone growing up. Even though her sisters always wished to accompany her on her missions, she had preferred to journey alone. Her youngest sister, Setlare, had sometimes followed her. Violet knew Setlare was almost always there, watching her and learning what she could about her sister. Setlare, Violet knew, could turn into any tree. Nobody but Violet knew her secret. Tonight, however, Violet wasn’t paying much attention to her surroundings. Only Bloom mattered. She wanted to know how he had come to be separated from his mother, where he was from and why he had spoken to her. They sat on the highest peak atop Mount Ntunjambili and stared down at the valley beneath them.
“I do not understand how I knew you could speak, Bloom,” she said, leaning against the already large elephant, who lay serenely beside the Flower Queen.
“When I was small, my mother always used to tell me that I was special, and that I was destined for something,” Bloom said in his soft voice. “Mommy and me and our family were walking, and then we were running – being chased by lions. They caught my brother, who was smaller than me, and he stood no chance. He was two moons younger that I am. In the confusion, I lost my family. They followed my scent, the five from the other sun time; and they caught me up. I fought them off for five suns. I met you on the fifth sun, when they bowed for us. I remembered my mother’s words when I watched you fight them off with soft sweet fruit from the soft sweet fruit tree.”
“We humans call them peaches,” Violet said, failing to keep laughter from her voice. “And we call sun time day.”

Setlare was watching her sister and her elephant, and could not help but laugh too – which sounded like leaves rustling in the wind. Violet looked back at the tree whose leave were rustling in the windless night.
“Come out, Setlare.” Violet said exasperatedly. Setlare turned back into a girl, very small, with coarse hair which fell all the way to her knees. The little girl looked ashamed at having been called out with such authority by her sister, who was now the queen. Setlare straightened herself and walked up to her sister, who, surprisingly, smiled and ushered her down beside her.
“Very powerful people are coming tomorrow,” Violet said to her sister. “Some may not appreciate being spied on, Setlare.”
“I’m sorry,” the little girl said softly. Violet took her hand gently and looked her sternly in the eye.
“Whatever shall we do with you?” She said softly, relenting into a smile.
“Your elephant can talk,” Setlare said.
“I can,” said Bloom softly. “You have magic like your sister, so you can hear me.”
The little girl could not help but laugh, and she hugged the giant elephant’s trunk. Bloom gave a gentle trumpet, keeping it soft and low so only they would hear. Violet rose and picked some branches off a nearby berry bushel.
“Peaches,” She said, and the all the berries on the branches turned into peaches. The girls took it in turns feeding Bloom, who could have fed himself but loved the attention he was receiving. The three of them fell asleep under the light of the moon.

The Cow peoples of the planes arrived late at the coronation ceremony, and they were bound in chains attached to wagons belonging to pale-skinned persons unlike any Violet had ever seen before. Time seemed to halt as their company made their way slowly into the Flower Queendom. Violet did not like what she saw and took immediate action to free the cow people, however she and her clan were heavily outnumbered by metal stones which flew out of fire sticks. Some of the Flower People took refuge within the great mountain Ntunjambili, while others fled into exile. Setlare, Violet and Bloom were the most vicious combatants – yet the first wave of the war ended with Setlare’s body lying broken and bleeding beside a tall pine tree. This was one of the first battles for freedom by the Camissa persons of Southern Africa, before their entire existence was wiped from the face of the earth by a force the Kingdom of Pan had never before seen. The invaders took everything from Violet but Bloom, who grew old beside the Queen who stayed His queen till the end of her reign when Pan was made a colony.