Episode Seven: To Kill, To Love, To Live

The atmosphere was changing. The wind was charged, blowing powerfully as though a heavy rain was about to fall; yet there was no rain. Not a drop of water accompanied the sound of thunder and the whirlwind that raised sand, sticks and stones and tossed them about in a twisted dancing session.

A dirge was being sung by women who sat at the corner of the palace. They were not allowed to come for the burial – no woman could be a part of the rituals involved in burying a king, but their songs were required to bid him farewell.

Adeyeri was dressed in white from head to toe, his head bowed as he walked out of the palace alone, on his way to the grave site before the others. Osi and Iyalode were waiting their turn outside the palace to join the Chief Priest and the procession of men that would carry the body of the late King and lead the Abobaku to the grave site. Adeyeri passed them by without looking at anyone or offering any word of greeting. You could tell he was overwhelmed with grief. Iyalode kept looking at him even as he disappeared out of sight, while Osi’s gaze was riveted on her.

“Why are you looking at him like that? Do you think he’s… That he might have…?”

He didn’t need to complete the sentence, Iyalode understood him immediately. “He certainly has a motive, but I do not know what to think. Kabiyesi’s death seems to grieve him,” she surmised.

“If he actually killed his father, would you expect him to throw a dance party?”

“People love Adeyeri. He looks good, he’s friendly, and he has a generous heart. Investigating him will be difficult. But his father died on his birthday, in his presence while eating the same food. I say it’s all suspicious and we cannot simply sweep it under the carpet,” she stated, and Osi nodded in agreement.

“Keep all that suspicion to yourself. The King deserves a peaceful burial without you pointing accusing fingers at his beloved son,” Otun said, having heard the last bit of their conversation. “I will go and stand with Adeyeri. He needs our comfort now. Iyalode, stop this talk of doom with Osi. Go and stay with the Queen. Do your duty,” he added, and walked away.

Iyalode rolled her eyes at his retreating back for scolding her. Osi gestured to her to calm down. “This one may be compromised. We must keep our investigations to ourselves until we have proof and become allies on the side of truth,” Osi said and Iyalode nodded in agreement.

“We must also delay the coronation. Until we are sure that Adeyeri is not a murderer, he must not ascend his father’s throne,” Iyalode chipped as a group of men, led by the Chief Priest emerged, all dressed in white wrapper and wool scarf. Tadeyanju was also on the line, wrapped from head to toe in white, ready to go with the King. “Will you miss him?” she asked, and Osi didn’t need to be told who she meant. Tadeyanju was his very close friend.

“It is sacrilegious to talk about missing a man that is on an assignment for the gods. He was never really one of us on this earth, he was only biding his time here. Now, it is time for him to go and do his duty; to answer his calling in life, and I wish him well,” he replied, and Iyalode sighed.

“Sometimes, I wonder about some traditions, but who am I to question the gods? He was your friend,” Iyalode said, her voice breaking as she struggled to keep the tears from falling. “He was our friend, and I do not know how you can be this cold and indifferent.”

“Get a hold of yourself, woman. Like you said, he was our friend. That is in the past. Tonight, he dies with the King for the posterity of Iludoyin Kingdom.” The voice of the eulogist interrupted them briefly as he sang a dirge to the King, and followed the procession to the grave site. Osi joined them. “Iyalode go and be with the Queen and let us think about sending an emissary to Nnewi to get Tadeyeri, the Abobaku to Prince Adeyeri or whoever it is that we will crown the next King of Iludoyin.”

Iyalode nodded and left. They were about to be inundated with political drama, and she wondered whose side she should be on.

Tade woke up with a start. She had not been dreaming, yet she woke up suddenly, and without cause. Maybe it was because of the pressure her Aunty was putting her under, she thought.

Shade had been waiting for her when she got back from the palace, and had known without being told that she had met the Prince. “What is wrong with you? Why have you decided to court trouble?” she asked, livid.

“I am sorry, Aunty, but I am doing what I believe I must. I am on duty.”

“Whose duty? Never mind, don’t answer that. If you choose to put yourself in harm’s way in the name of duty, then I must do my duty to you too,” she said, and then proceeded to call her son, Dele, to join them in the room that Tade had been using alone since she arrived. “From now on, you will stay in this room with your Aunty every night till I say otherwise. During the day, you will be with her as well. She is not allowed to go anywhere without my permission,” Shade declared and Dele and Tade scowled at her.

“It’s a boring assignment,” Dele protested.

“Boring or otherwise, you must do it. Now go and bring your wrapper,” she instructed, and Dele went away grudgingly to do her bidding.

“You can’t do that, Aunty!” Tade protested as soon as Dele was out the door. “ I am not a child, neither am I your prisoner. I can go wherever I please,” she stated, trying to be calm, but losing her patience.

“As long as you continue to live under my roof, you are under my rules. For now, I dictate the tune. Get on board with that,” Shade said, and left, the matter closed.

Dele had slept in the same room with her, and Tade, too tired to argue her case, purposed to pursue the conversation the following morning, determined to sort things out. Having waded through the river to get to the Prince, she was tired and simply wanted to sleep, but it seemed sleep eluded her. She woke up from a dreamless sleep with a sense of urgency  to find the Prince, but the King was being buried that night and the palace would be abuzz with people as they conducted various rites and rituals.

How would she find him? What would he need her for? Besides, it was midnight.

She decided her mind was playing tricks on her and turned to go back to bed, but sleep eluded her still, and she knew that she was not awake to watch the moon. She had to find the Prince and warn him that trouble loomed. 

Someone was going to try something terrible tonight.

The thought had come to her like a light whisper, but she felt it like thunder. It was going to happen if she did nothing.

She looked beside her at Dele who was asleep, snoring deeply. She took his leg, which he had laid over her in sleep, and placed it on the mattress then rose quietly, walking out of the house on tiptoe into the quiet dark night, determined to find the Prince.

Adeyeri couldn’t go back to the palace. 

He felt empty.

Banji and a few friends had come to give him moral support, but mostly to ensure that he didn’t lose his calm as his father was lowered into the ground. It would be embarrassing to see the future king mourn openly.

The burial was done, yet he had no clue as to who killed his father, and tried to kill him too. There had been several counsels for him tonight to take heart, be a man, and get ready for all that was coming, and he had responded with a cool, stoic expression, having drunk himself numb with wine from Banji. Even now, as he stood by the river behind his room, unable to leave and go back to the palace, another bottle of palm wine was his companion. He was in this alcohol induced haze when he saw the witch, or Tade, as she preferred to be called, tiptoeing across the back of the palace, trying to locate his room.  

On the other side of the backyard, two palace guards were standing as always, ready to capture any trespassers or watch out for any suspicious activities. They would arrest her without thinking twice. He should probably let them do it. Maybe that would teach her a lesson, and she would leave him alone, but even as the thought formed, Adeyeri knew that he couldn’t subject her to such a fate. He moved as quickly as his drunken state would permit, and tried to be quiet so as not to alert anyone. From behind, Adeyeri covered Tade’s mouth fully with one hand, and carried her with the second one while she heaved and struggled endlessly, afraid that she had been captured.

“Quiet, witch! Do you want to be arrested?” Adeyeri’s whisper calmed her, and she sagged against him in relief, and sighed. “I might have rescued you from the guards, but who will rescue you from me?” Without giving her a chance to respond, Adeyeri pulled her away from the palace onto a bush path she had passed on her way to see him. It was well hidden and no one was likely to see them. “What is wrong with you?” he asked, upset she had risked her life to the palace and could have been arrested if he had not spotted her on time. 

Tade looked away, unable to answer the question. She knew coming back was foolish, but she couldn’t help herself, and she couldn’t tell him that. 

Adeyeri glared at her impatiently, waiting for an answer. When she looked away and said nothing, he grabbed her by the elbow, and pulled her close. 

“What is wrong with you? Do you have a death wish? Why are you chasing me around?”

“I am sorry,” she said, feeling foolish, and not knowing how to warn him about the harm he may face that night.

Adeyeri noticed her turmoil as he watched her intently. He softened his voice. “What is wrong, woman?”

Tade looked around the bush in fear. By coming there, she was making things worse for him. Right there in the silence of the bush, away from the palace guards, was where he could easily be killed or kidnapped, but then again, she couldn’t tell if the palace guards too had not been compromised.

“I think something bad was planned for tonight against you. I came here to warn you to be alert.”

Adeyeri immediately looked around the bush, scoping it for signs of an intruder, but he saw nothing out of place. “So based on an instinct that you have no proof of, you left the safety and comfort of your home to come and warn me?” he asked, and Tade nodded, unable to trust her voice. 

Adeyeri put his fingers under her chin and raised her face so he could look into her eyes. As he did, he lost himself in the rich brownness of her eyes, and even though they locked gazes for only a few seconds, it felt like a long time. Tade was beginning to wonder what he was searching for when he pulled her into his arms.

She was here. She was probably foolish to be here, but her first prediction about the poison had proven true. If she thought he was in harm’s way, then coming here was a bad idea, yet she had risked it all for him. No one else was watching out for him like this. 

Pulling her into his arms was his way of showing gratitude, but as her arms went round his neck and pulled him closer, his need changed. She may be a witch, but she was also a woman, and maybe bedding her would calm him, and dull the pain for a while, but instead of giving in to his wild thoughts, he moved away from her. Sleeping with her now would ruin what he believed they were beginning to share, and he found in that moment that he did not want to lose it. 

Still holding her, he led her to a log of wood where they could both sit. Even after they had settled comfortably on the wood,  he still didn’t release her hands. They were soft and long, and he found he liked holding them. He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed it.

“I am very grateful to you,” he said, holding her gaze. “Thank you for bringing the warning, but you could be endangering yourself too. I don’t want that at all. Please, be careful in the future. Don’t come out at midnight to deliver any message, this place is dangerous.”

His concern touched Tade, and she held on tighter to his hands. “Don’t worry, Prince Adeyeri, I will be fine. It is you I am worried about. The force of darkness conspiring to harm you is so strong, they will stop at nothing until they destroy you.”

“What are we going to do? I cannot simply go into hiding! From tomorrow, plans will be made for my coronation. Men have already been sent to Nnewi to get my Abobaku, without whom the coronation cannot take place.” 

“Abobaku…? What does that mean?”

Adeyeri moved closer to her, their thighs touching. Tade moved away a bit, his nearness unnerving her. She realised she was becoming attracted to the Prince, and was aware of him as a man in a way she never even saw Brother Joseph, whom she thought herself in love with.

Adeyeri knew she was avoiding being touched by him, yet he moved closer. He recognised the look of infatuation from countless girls in the village, and knew that Tade was beginning to feel something for him beyond running an errand for her god. He was feeling it too. An emotion was brewing in his heart for the witch, but he refused to explore it. He had to be alive to enjoy an amorous feeling, and right now, his life was on the line.

“I will explain who an Abobaku is to you later. For now, I need us to move quickly. There must be a ritual we can perform for protection, perhaps a sacrifice of some sort to avert this evil. Or does your god simply give prophecy without protection?” Adeyeri asked, and Tade smiled.

Yesterday, he did not want to consider her God or have anything to do with Him. Today, he was beginning to consider it, and it made her feel like she was making progress.

“The Almighty God does not require sacrifice. You must present yourself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable before Him.”

Adeyeri let go of her hands. “Present myself as the sacrifice required to save myself? Woman, are you sure that you are not the one actually luring me to my death? Who do you work for? I will pay you double whatever they are paying you.”

Tade sighed in frustration. How was it that each time she tried to explain the power of God, she confused him more. If only Brother Joseph was here, he would explain it better. 

“When you give your life to Jesus, He takes care of you and fights your battles, and nothing happens to you without His permission,” she said, trying to explain. “The very word of God says, touch not my anointed, and do my prophet no harm.”

Adeyeri rose and began to leave. He was growing fond of the lady, and that may indeed be the plans of his enemies; to destroy him with his softness for her. 

“You are the anointed and prophet of this so-called Almighty God. You have his protection, I don’t, so I will leave you here to enjoy it.”

Tade rose and held his hands again, quickly stopping him, but Adeyeri shrugged her off. Her touch was messing with his head, and he had never lost his head for any woman. This convinced him more than anything that if there was a plan to destroy him, the witch was part of it. 

Naturally, he should hand her over to the palace guards for a full investigation, but he would find another way, because even now that he knew she was in on the destruction plan, he still couldn’t help the affection that was building in his heart for her. It won’t shake off, and he could never bear to watch the rigours they would take her through at the palace.

“For the last time, stay away from me.”

“At least, let me pray with you.”

“I do not need your prayers. Stay away from me.”

As Tade watched him go, she began to speak in tongues, praying fervently that God would avert the harm that she knew was coming.

Adeyeri heard the sounds of other tongues and considered it some form of incantation; a spell to ruin him. He was going to run away, but instinctively, he looked up instead and saw the shining point of an arrow then stared at the witch, feeling betrayed. She had lured him into the bush to meet his death. So much for wanting to spare his life.

“I am coming home, father,” he whispered. A sword of fist fight he could win, but an arrow was a coward’s weapon; an assassin’s option for a quick death.

In a split second, he saw the arrow go off, and a heavy weight fell on him as he closed his eyes, but he opened it back swiftly, for what he felt was not the sharp pain of an arrow, but the weight of a woman. Yet, he knew the arrow had gone off, and the assassin was running away.

“You certainly have a death wish. Why would you jump on me like that when an arrow was about to go off? He could have shot you,” Adeyeri scolded, deeply touched by her braveness and sacrifice. “I need to chase him and get his confession,” he said, shrugging Tade off, only to feel the blood on his fingers and see the arrow on her back.

“He shot me,” Tade said, and fainted, or died, he wasn’t sure. Adeyeri’s heart skipped a beat.