The messenger said further that Saduko, the husband of the King's
daughter, Nandie, and Umbelazi's chief induna, was to be put upon his
trial on the morrow before the King and his council, together with
Mameena, daughter of Umbezi, and that my presence was desired at this
trial.
I asked what was the charge against them. He replied that, so far as
Saduko was concerned, there were two: first, that he had stirred up
civil war in the land, and, secondly, that having pushed on Umbelazi
into a fight in which many thousands perished, he had played the
traitor, deserting him in the midst of the battle, with all his
following--a very heinous offence in the eyes of Zulus, to whatever
party they may belong.
Against Mameena there were three counts of indictment. First, that it
was she who had poisoned Saduko's child and others, not Masapo, her
first husband, who had suffered for that crime. Secondly, that she had
deserted Saduko, her second husband, and gone to live with another man,
namely, the late Prince Umbelazi. Thirdly, that she was a witch, who had
enmeshed Umbelazi in the web of her sorceries and thereby caused him to
aspire to the succession to the throne, to which he had no right, and
made the isililo, or cry of mourning for the dead, to be heard in every
kraal in Zululand.
"With three such pitfalls in her narrow path, Mameena will have to walk
carefully if she would escape them all," I said.
"Yes, Inkoosi, especially as the pitfalls are dug from side to side of
the path and have a pointed stake set at the bottom of each of them. Oh,
Mameena is already as good as dead, as she deserves to be, who without
doubt is the greatest umtakati north of the Tugela."
I sighed, for somehow I was sorry for Mameena, though why she should
escape when so many better people had perished because of her I did not
know; and the messenger went on: "The Black One [that is, Panda] sent me to tell Saduko that he would be
allowed to see you, Macumazahn, before the trial, if he wished, for he
knew that you had been a friend of his, and thought that you might be
able to give evidence in his favour."
"And what did Saduko say to that?" I asked.
"He said that he thanked the King, but that it was not needful for him
to talk with Macumazahn, whose heart was white like his skin, and whose
lips, if they spoke at all, would tell neither more nor less than the
truth. The Princess Nandie, who is with him--for she will not leave
him in his trouble, as all others have done--on hearing these words of
Saduko's, said that they were true, and that for this reason, although
you were her friend, she did not hold it necessary to see you either."