The Chieftess' Sacrifice

The Chieftess' Sacrifice

The darkness of night blanketed her ebony face,
and hid her feelings from the world,
as she stood near her palace window,
allowing the air's coolness to calm her body.
The music playing below her window
quieted her harsh thoughts,
But her soul remained disturbed.
Torn between her heart and her women,
Yet the chieftess decided.

Known by all in West Africa,
Hated by many,
Feared by most,
Her Amazons defeated every tribe they encountered.
Except one.

This tribe's chief proposed a truce,
A means to ensure peace,
And alliance for generations to come,
But at a price-
The chieftess' daughter's hand in marriage to his son.
She shuddered at these terms.
Nothing was worse than conceeding to men.
Hers was a tribe that had only one reason for men.

For the first time in her life,
Her body ached from anger,
For she was at the mercy of a man,
a position neither her mother nor grandmother
encountered during their reigns.
They had only one answer,
to fight for what they wanted,
what belonged to them,
what they believed in.

She couldn't resist the thought of
another conquest and its glory.
A battle against the strongest tribe
on the coast gave no greater pleasure.
But for what purpose?
The loss of her army?
The demise of her tribe?
Even her women warriors' arrogance would not stop the inevitable.
Her tribe would one day fight and win,
but not today,
for the survival of her tribe was most important,
for that she alone would pay the ultimate price.

She turned towards the gift who laid
in peaceful slumber,
the chieftess' living blessing from the gods,
Her tribe's only chance for a future,
For the chieftess could no longer give birth.
Daugther of a queen,
Heir to a throne,
Future leader of a tribe of women warriors.
A future decided,
A fate condemned.

Her daughter would not learn of the promise
made to a neighboring tribe now.
The chieftess saw no reason to bring
anguish to her child's eyes.
The time would come when this princess
would learn of her obligations to a man,
to a neighboring tribe,
and her own women.

Already the voices of her women rang
in her head.
"Traitor" they would call her,
For she broke a cardinal law to associate
with men,
and sold her own daughter for prestige.
But she was the law, her voice the finality of the land,
to be questioned by no one,
to stand alone,
to protect her women,
to preserve the tribe,
to hope they one day will understand why
their child was given to a man,
to hope the child will right this wrong and take
back what was torn from the chieftess' heart.