Saba: Under the Hyena’s Foot

The Kosso Seller’s Son

The castle swirls with sound and motion when Saba walks inside. The servants seem clearly upset and afraid. General Ali had not reigned since he was twelve years old without gaining much cleverness. He has commanded bloody and swift punishment with one hand, and he’s now moving so swiftly to hold out a gift with his other hand to try to maintain the loyalty of the rest of the soldiers.

General Ali has declared that tomorrow there will be a feast for the soldiers. Saba wishes they refuse him, but she can see how impossible it is to defy such power.

That night is an anguished one. General Ali orders the bodies of the dead left where they were, and hyenas are drawn to the compound by the smell of death. No one dares to go outside. There’s no music or poetry. Only the weird whooping of the hyenas right outside the window.

Saba tosses in her bed, thinking about the spiders who sit on the walls, hoping to not be noticed as lizard tongues flick closer and closer. Perhaps it’s the spirit of the empress who built this castle many years ago. She must have once been as horrified as Saba was, watching a general give an order to kill azmaris. Finally, Saba sits straight up, knowing she must not crouch under her gahbi waiting for destruction, as she had done the night of the fire.

Saba searches under the bed and finds the things she put there so long ago. She pulls on her old clothes, lifts her torn shamma over her head, and heads downstairs. Most nights, the compound is filled with sleeping soldiers, and there are watchmen at every gate. But tonight, the compound belongs to the hyenas.

The moment Saba steps from the castle, she sees one nearby. It raises its head and growls. Saba can see the sharp teeth and the bristles on its neck. Although she wants to shriek in horror, she does not. She shakes a piece of dried meat from the bag and throws it close enough so the hyena can smell it. While the hyenas tears at the meat, Saba is already through the gate.

Perhaps there is a person somewhere in Gondar who can help her, but just as the emperor of old went to the countryside, so does Saba. She sees the light of a fire far away and heads in that direction. As Saba nears it, she hangs back. She watches the cloaked figures huddled close to its warmth. She had seen how easy it is to appear and disappear in darkness, and now she moves with care.

The people glance at her, but no one says anything. She’s wearing poor clothing, so no doubt they assume she’s another peasant. When she pulls stale bread from her bag, everyone gnaws at it, even though it’s hard. Food is food.

The people are talking of politics. She hears them recall what she had seen from her window that day. She doesn’t speak up to correct any misinformation. Then, the men talk of another named Kassa. They say that Kassa has gathered hundreds of men and many guns. He started as a robber, but he lived simply among his men. Kassa claimed that they should harm the rich merchants who traveled through the land instead of the poor. Kassa then turned his attention to land his uncles and brother had once tasted or received tribute from. General Ali had seized these lands and given them to his mother, Menen. Saba notices that these peasants don’t call her “empress.” When Kassa took back the land his relatives had tasted, Menen and General Ali tried to subdue him, but he was too brave and too bold. When they saw the power Kassa was gaining, Menen called him to Gondar and granted him the right to rule the land. Even more surprising, she arranged for Kassa to marry General Ali’s beautiful and delicate daughter. To their surprise, General Ali’s daughter is devoted to her husband. Now, everyone calls him “the kosso seller’s son.”

So, Kassa is the pinching hand that makes General Ali and Empress Menen clutch frantically at their power. Kassa’s boldness is the reason they became determined to root Mesfin and Saba from their place of safety.

By this time, another girl has come up around the fire. She has with her a bundle of firewood. When the men ask to have some for their fire, she says no. She’s collecting it to bring to Gondar to sell. Saba watches the girl go back and forth with the men around the fire, and she likes her boldness and confidence. Saba inches closer to the girl. Saba whispers that if she goes to Gondar and goes to the castle of the ancient empress, she can give her wood as a gift and tell them she heard there is a need for a girl to carry an umbrella.

Then, the men around the fire begin another story. A long time ago, there was a battle. From where General Ali watched, he saw many of his horsemen fall and he fled. But his enemy general also saw many of his men fall and also fled. The enemy general was first to get word that the both leaders had fled, and he returned and entered General Ali’s house for a feast, but was captured by General Ali’s men. The only problem was that General Ali was not there. His own men had to use spies to find him and tell him the power was his. They now call this the strangest battle in all of Ethiopia.

Now, Saba understands what the azmaris were saying. General Ali was so furious when they sang about the feast. Slowly, as silently as she came, Saba turned to make her way back home.