The Enchanted Castle (Shioni of Sheba Book 1) (17 page)

If you have read this far, congratulations! I hope that you had as much fun reading
Shioni of Sheba: The Enchanted Castle
as I had imagining and writing it.

Ethiopia is a magical land. It is the place where I live
; a land to fall in love with. The backdrop to
Shioni of Sheba
is the Simien Mountains, north of Gondar; a spectacular, fractured volcanic landscape where unique plant and bird life abounds. This series is grounded in Ethiopian history, which is ancient indeed, and holds mysteries and wonders which have puzzled scholars over the centuries. I hope to delve further into these mysteries in books to come.

There are
further adventures planned for Shioni! The suggested reading order for the series is:

Shioni of Sheba: The Enchanted Castle

Shioni of Sheba: The King’s Horse

Shioni of Sheba: The Mad Giant

Shioni of Sheba: The Sacred Lake

Shioni of Sheba: The
Fiuri Realms

Visit
Marc’s website at
www.marcsecchia.com
to read more about Shioni and catch up on exclusive news and previews.

Shioni of Sheba arose from stories that I told my own children–I am blessed with 4 girls, and I have shamelessly borrowed from them to create the characters in this story. Thank you, S, E, R and A, for being patient with an author’s work! And for reading, reviewing and discussing the stories with me. Shioni belongs to you.

And if you ever get the chance to come to Ethiopia–
seize it. It is a unique, life-changing experience.

Marc Secchia

Addis Ababa, February 2013

T
he sheer side of
a tall, black silk tent rippled like oily water in the bright sunlight. Shioni was parched. Her throat felt like a ball of dry thistle was stuck behind her tongue, and any attempt to speak would result only in croaky frog speech. A sharp stone was grinding her cheek against her teeth. Her eye cracked open a slit. A long-legged soldier ant was scuttling past her nose across a field of cracked red clay, its huge mandibles waving about like a river crab’s claws searching for food to scavenge.

Her nose itched. But her hands were prevented from moving up for a good scratch. What? Where was she? What was holding her hands? These thoughts seemed to trickle through her overheated brain as sluggishly as sweet honey seeping from a honeycomb. Her eyelid seemed stuck to the eyeball. The mere act of opening it further demanded a gruelling effort.

Shioni finally realised she was lying on her left side, with her hands chained in front of her to an iron stake hammered deep into the ground. The stake could have held an elephant. It was more than enough for her.

“Wake her up!”

Ice-cold river water dashed against her head like full force of the Jinbar waterfall. Shioni groaned as a dozen hurts started to yammer their pain all at once. That woman’s voice… she knew… Kalcha! The witch-leader of the Wasabi! Her eyes snapped open. But the sunlight was so intense that she had to squint in order to see anything.

“Get up, slave!”

Kalcha’s voice was as cold and angry as the day she first spied on her at the Wasabi camp up in the high mountains. Shioni recalled her shock at upon realising the strength of the Wasabi forces, and the sheer, unnatural bulk of the hyenas that had pulled Kalcha’s chariot into battle. Her exact words that day drummed through her mind: ‘Then will I hold in my hands the power to change you all, to make you men, men such as this world has never seen! We will build our kingdom of death and destruction, and you will become kings and enslave all mankind!’ Hyenas being changed into men? Kalcha’s ambitions had been thwarted only by an arrow shot into the brain of her pet python by Shioni herself.

And
only Azurelle’s golden blood had allowed the arrow pierce her enchantment.

A cruel kick to her stomach lifted Shioni off the ground. She crashed against the iron pole and lay stunned, slumped like a child’s blanket dropped carelessly on the ground. She heard herself sobbing at the pain, and bit her lip until she tasted blood. No tears for the witch! She’d hold her tears whatever the cost.

“Kneel before Kalcha, worthless slave!”

Two pairs of hands set her roughly upright. Supporting her body against the hot metal, Shioni opened her eyes again. She found Kalcha’s beautiful face just inches from her own, staring at her with eyes as grey as storm clouds. But her beauty was like cold marble, and her smile, which on another woman might have dazzled and delighted, was so loaded with malice that it became a thing of disturbing ugliness. The hatred and cruelty in her heart was chiselled upon her features, giving her an air of wild, deadly splendour.

She seemed pleased. “You fiendish child of the snows!” she said. “At last I have you within my grasp. You stole my Fiuri! You destroyed my python! Now you will pay for ruining the hour of my greatest triumph.”

Shioni should have been overawed. But her mind seemed half-asleep, functioning at the speed of a hurrying snail. She blurted out the first thing that came to her mind: “Why aren’t your eyes red anymore?”

The witch gave a howl of fury! She shrieked, “Because you broke my curse! It was my castle, all mine, until you spoiled everything! Now I have to start again.” With hateful glee, she added, “So many more sacrifices are needed. I must have blood. Buckets, of blood, yes,
rivers
of it. My power is growing every day.”

Shioni had no answer for the witch but to shudder.

Kalcha snapped her fingers. “Have you met my pets?”

A huge, scarred muzzle pressed against Shioni’s head. Black, scabby lips parted to reveal fangs as long as her thumb. “Give us this youngling for a snack, mistress,” growled the hyena. “She will never bother you again.”

Shioni tried to pull away from hyena’s putrid muzzle, but the chains prevented her from moving far. The beast rammed its head into her shoulder, shoving this way and that, playing with her like a cat amusing itself with a field mouse. The other massive, stoop-shouldered hyenas were nosing about her too, now, yapping and whining in excitement. She had nowhere to go. Grinning fangs encircled her.

Shioni, Shioni…

Kalcha, sinking her bony fingers into Shioni’s cheeks, said, “My spies are already inside your castle. Soon I will know all your secrets–especially yours, you annoying little cockroach. No mere slave will stand in Kalcha’s path! And I am already in your mind and in your dreams. Be afraid, little slave. I will teach you the meaning of fear.”

Shioni!
Something was pinching her earlobe.

“Now, my pets, know your enemy! Taste her flesh, crush her bones. Teach her the power of Kalcha!”

“We hear, o great Mistress!” Slavering jaws rubbed drool down her leg.

“I’ll choke you!” Shioni’s voice quavered. Teeth clamped upon her leg. “No, nooooo–!