Saba: Under the Hyena’s Foot

Angel Voices

Somehow, Saba manages to get herself out of the hall and back to the empress castle. The servants bring her sweet honey tea and honeyed cakes, but she can’t eat and she can’t stop shivering. Two things cling to her. Her father is alive. And her, Saba, is not only the blood of Makeda, the mighty Queen of Saba, but she is somehow related to the King of Kings now on the throne.

Over and over, Saba tries to untangle the knot. Her grandfather had married a daughter of His Majesty Emperor Tekle Giorgis II, and had a son. This son is the man the soldiers are searching for, Saba’s father. But if Saba’s father is not dead, why did Emama say he is?

Saba’s brother had said there were thirteen different emperors between Emperor Tekle Giorgis II and the current emperor, who is Saba’s great-uncle. Where are her grandparents and her parents during the reigns of these emperors? Why did Saba’s brother and Saba live with their mother’s parents, so far from Gondar? And why had Emama and Ababba never said any of this?

All of these thoughts chase around each other in Saba’s head. For the first time, it occurs to her to also wonder whether her brother might be destined to become an emperor. She asks the servants to see her brother, but they do not know where he is. Probably he was taken to one of the other castles. The servants will try to find out which one.

How could Saba, a little spider alone in this big castle, be brave? The answer came to her immediately. Surely Saba, descended from and named after the Queen of Saba, she could be brave. But if only Emama was there to soothe her and whisper “Ayezosh” in her ear. And Mesfin had promised to take care of Saba. Where was he now?

Saba did not sleep well that night. When the old woman came to her room the next morning she told her that today is New Year’s Day and Saba must go to church with the rest of the royal family. Of course! It is now the month of Maskaram. How long it seems since Saba stood at the stream thinking of just this day. She could never have imagined this.

The old woman helps Saba dress. She carefully places the beads of amber around her neck. The woman offers Saba to wear the beautiful shoes, but Saba des not say anything. Instead, she puts on her sturdy berebaso. These shoes, and the silver cross, are the roots to the life that Saba had before Gondar.

When they go downstairs, three servants approach Saba, bow, and put flowers into her hands. The old woman slips Saba three silver coins, and Saba understands that she’s to give one to each servant, along with her thanks. When Saba goes outside, there’s no blinking in the sun because the young servant girl immediately holds a red umbrella over her head and steps with her every step. Saba looks at the small red sky and doesn’t know what to think. Everything that’s happening to her is frightening, and she’s desperate to see her brother. Hopefully she’ll see him in church.

The emperor and empress themselves walk far along ahead of them, sidestepping to the beating of a huge drum. Saba’s heart fills with sorrow; she doesn’t see a head that looks like her brother’s.

Saba had never been inside a church before, and had only heard of Emama’s descriptions as she showed Saba her book on feast days. But all of Saba’s feelings of nervousness fall away the moment she climbs the stone stairs, removes her shoes, and steps into the church. How many times had Saba asked for a miracle and nothing happened? Now one did. Saba gazes in awe at the ceiling. Angel after angel after angel looks down, catching Saba’s gaze in their own. Saba didn’t know that angels have such kind faces, with wings curling up at their cheeks. She didn’t know their eyes are so wide and warm with encouragement.

In the round church, Saba listens to the ancient language of Ge’ez for the first time. She hears the low chanting and soft thrumming of the priests using the palms of their hands on drums. She sees their dance and smells the incense that fills the church with a sweet and pungent mist. Above it all, Saba seems to feel the fluttering feathers of hundreds of angel wings.

They stand through the whole service. When it’s time to go, a priest stops Saba. Saba kisses his cross and he whispers a blessing. As they leave the church, Saba smells lovely, dark juniper trees with a spicy smell. Beyond them, sun pours down like rippling gold, and pink, red, and orange flowers spray out of the earth and tumble over the walls.

Saba thinks of the angel voices. Why should she be afraid? No one made any move to hurt her. On the contrary, they fed her well, and put her in wondrous clothes and jewelry. As Saba walks home, she feels as if she has one foot in another world. It was the first day of the week—Wednesday the day Yesus Cristo was born. It was the first day of a new year, and Saba is blessed and new, too.