Chapter 139- A Home Between Nations
Lusimba shimmered in the morning light—its red-brick homes and clean roads alive with movement. Children played in wide courtyards, kicking hand-stitched balls and chasing each other around makeshift goalposts. Women laid out vibrant fabrics to dry under the sun, while smiths clanged away in open-air workshops. The scent of fried maize and sweet fermented milk drifted from household hearths. Lusimba was no longer a prototype village. It had become the heart of Nuri’s promise, a living testament to what a united people could build.
Khisa stood at the edge of the newly built town square, overlooking the eastern road. He was restless. It had been nearly three months since he left Abyssinia. He had thrown himself into projects since his return, but now the stillness of waiting left him uneasy.
A messenger, breathless and flushed, approached. "A delegation from Abyssinia has arrived. They are being escorted by the Watchers from the north barracks."
Khisa nodded. "Bring them straight here. Prepare the new guest wing. Have the cooks lay out a proper welcome."
He turned just as the first glint of silver caught his eye. A caravan of finely adorned horses and polished wooden wagons rolled in from the eastern road. The standards—silver-trimmed with the Blue Lion crest—snapped in the breeze. And then he saw her.
A figure poised atop a chestnut mare, cloaked in royal indigo, gold threads glinting in the morning sun. She dismounted with practiced grace. Her smile was calm but unmistakably pleased.
"Azenet?" Khisa murmured, momentarily frozen.
She walked forward, lifting her veil slightly. "I heard Nuri had a capital rising. I wanted to see it for myself."
Khisa stepped closer, a grin breaking across his face.
"You’ve built half the kingdom and yet haven’t written to me even once." She said with mock anger.
He arched a brow. "I was saving it to deliver in person."