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Updated: May 2, 2025
Zikali would dwell in this Valley of Bones, and there and nowhere else would meet the King and the Great Council, not in the daylight but after sunset when the moon has risen." "Why," said Cetewayo, starting, "the place is ill-omened and, they say, haunted, one that no man dares to approach after the fall of darkness for fear lest the ghosts of the dead should leap upon him gibbering."
Have you heard that all the while he was a traitor in the pay of Cetewayo, and that he went over, with the regiments of his command, to the Usutu just when the battle hung upon the turn? Come, Traitor, here is my heart the heart that loved and trusted you. Strike strike hard!" "Out of the way, Macumazahn!" hissed Saduko. But I would not stir.
And so you killed him, 'Eater-up-of-Elephants, father of Mameena, you who this morning were one of the meanest of his jackals. Now, what reward shall I give you for this mighty deed, O Umbezi?" "A great reward, O Terrible One," began Umbezi, but in an awful voice Cetewayo bade him be silent. "Yes," he said, "a great reward. Hearken, Jackal and Traitor. Your own words bear witness against you.
"Saduko, with the Amakoba and Amangwane soldiers and others. I know them by their head-dresses," answered Maputa in a cold voice. "Do you mean that Saduko has gone over to Cetewayo with all his following?" I asked excitedly. "What else, Macumazahn? Saduko is a traitor: Umbelazi is finished," and he passed his hand swiftly across his mouth a gesture that has only one meaning among the Zulus.
Cetewayo took the ornament and examined it, showing it to one or two of the captains near him, who nodded their heads gravely. "Yes," he said, "this is the war plume of Umbelazi, beloved of the King, strong and shining pillar of the Great House; we know it well, that war plume at the sight of which many a knee has loosened.
"Why should this little Amangwane be allowed to marry into the royal House?" asked Cetewayo, looking up. "If he is dangerous, why not kill him, and have done?" "For this reason, my son. There is trouble ahead in Zululand, and I do not wish to kill those who may help us in that hour, nor do I wish them to become our enemies.
Now, if the old king, Panda, should chance to die, she would ask me, which of his sons did I think would succeed him Umbelazi or Cetewayo, or another? Or, if he did not chance to die, which of them would he name his heir? I replied that I was not a prophet, and that she had better ask Zikali the Wise.
Then she thrust me from her, saying: "Farewell, O Macumazana, you will never forget this kiss of mine; and when we meet again we shall have much to talk of, for between now and then your story will be long. Farewell, Zikali. I pray that all your plannings may succeed, since those you hate are those I hate, and I bear you no grudge because you told the truth at last. Farewell, Prince Cetewayo.
And if defeat should take everything from me, even my life perhaps, then what shall I have gained? I will tell you the curse of the Zulus upon my name from father to son for ever. They will say, 'Cetewayo, son of Panda, pulled down a House that once was great.
"Because I saw that the Prince Cetewayo was the stronger bull and wished to be on the winning side, as all men do for no other reason," answered Saduko calmly. Now, everyone present stared, not excepting Cetewayo. Panda, who, like the rest of us, had heard a very different tale, looked extremely puzzled, while Zikali, in his corner, set up one of his great laughs.
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