Episode Eight – The Whiteman’s Kinsmen

Tade stared at Adeyeri for a few minutes, waiting for an explanation to the drama she just witnessed, but he was quiet, looking confused. She had a thousand words about how shocked she felt, but it didn’t feel wise to say them now. He might be her husband, but he was also King, and tradition permitted him to be with as many women as he desired. The love she shared with Adeyeri gave her the permission to relate with him in a way most wives in Iludoyin could not even begin to dare, and she had expectations of a partnership that would leave no room for others, but it seemed as though she was not enough for him.

Tade took a deep breath, shook her head, and finally said coldly, “I will meet you in the throne room. Your Chiefs are waiting.” 

She moved to leave, but Adeyeri quickly grabbed her wrist. “The Chiefs can wait. Let’s figure this out.”

Tade shrugged out of his hold. “Figure out what?”

“That lady is trying to… Hmm… I don’t even understand what is happening?” Adeyeri scratched his head.

“What were you doing alone with her here?” Tade asked pointedly, willing him to tell her the truth.

Adeyeri paced the room. “Why are you even asking like that? As though you think something happened between us?”

“What were you doing alone with her?” she asked again, not relaxing her expression.

“I don’t know how she got here. I came here to clear my head, to rest a bit. Everything felt fuggy, and I needed to think,” he said, stammering in frustration.

“Isn’t that when you come to me? Am I not the one you come to when you need to clear your head and find peace?”

“But you have been distant. Your hands are full. You barely even let me touch you,” Adeyeri grounded out in frustration, and Tade saw that he regretted his statement as soon as he said it, but it didn’t stop it from hurting.

“I just had two babies, Adeyeri. I almost died if not for God’s intervention. If I haven’t let you touch me, that’s why. I hurt all over.” Adeyeri moved towards her, trying to pull her closer, but she moved back, her voice also getting louder. “That is my excuse, what is yours?”

Adeyeri rubbed his palm on his face, then let out a deep sigh. “Tade, I don’t have any excuse because I don’t need one. I was not with her in the way you think I was. I came here to clear my head, but I slept off. I woke up to a nudge to come to you, but found her leg on me. I jumped up immediately, but she…”

“Can you listen to yourself, Adeyeri?”

“I swear to you, that is all that happened!”

“And how would you know?”

“Ever since the day I set my eyes on you, I have not been physically attracted to another woman. There is no way I could have touched her, Tade. She is not you, and I was not drunk. If I slept with her, I would know.”

Tade rolled her eyes, struggling to believe him because his confession had been coherent, but it was unrealistic.

“How did she get to join you here? Who gave her the audacity to invade a royal room without permission?”

Adeyeri didn’t get a chance to answer because Atoyebi stepped into the room without knocking, then jumped in shock at the sight of both of them.

“I am sorry, Your Highness. I didn’t know you were here, I would have knocked. I have been looking for you for a while now. The Chiefs are waiting.”

“Let them wait!” Adeyeri bellowed, but Tade shook her head.

“Thank you, Atoyebi. We will come shortly.”

Atoyebi nodded in gratitude then left, Tade at his heels, but Adeyeri pulled her back. “We are not done here!”

“I need to think, Adeyeri, and I can’t do it by staying here with you alone.”

“Trust me, Tade. Please!”

“Trust is earned,” she said, then left the room.

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Toriola knew from the way Adeyeri had reacted with certainty that there was no way she could fool him and pretend that she had slept with him. When Oluawo had given her the love charm, what she had held back from him was the fact that she already missed her period, and if she succeeded in sleeping with Adeyeri, she already had the baby to pin on him. She had not told him because she did not want to give him a secret he could hold over her in the future, and because his son was the father of her unborn child.

However, at this point, she was convinced that she was fighting a losing battle, so she decided to play her game right. She decided to find Yemi and tie herself back to him, because to be pregnant in Iludoyin without a husband was tantamount to being an outcast. The villagers would treat her like a sinner.

“Where do you think you are going?” Oluawo, called out to her as soon as she crossed to the bush path that led away from the palace. Toriola jumped in fright, afraid that Adeyeri had sent his guards to arrest her for her audacity. “Where do you think you are going?” Oluawo asked again, impatient this time.

“I can’t be here, and we can’t be seen together. You can get into trouble,” Toriola said, panicking, but Oluawo waved her away.

“I already took a risk walking out on my Chiefs to chase after you when I saw you leave the palace, and I won’t go back without knowing why you are leaving. We had a plan!”

Toriola looked over her shoulders, hoping no one could see them. “I need to be far away from the palace. The King must not see me. I have overplayed my hands.”

“What happened? Nothing you do can be worse than allowing two wrong men to see you at the wrong time.”

Toriola sighed. “I tried to rectify it by sneaking in to join the King in his private room, but he was asleep as soon as I got to him. I put my leg on him, hoping he would sleep with me unconsciously before noticing that I am not his wife, but he woke up and flung me away.”

“Is he a dog? Why wouldn’t he fling you away? Did you even try to seduce him?”

Toriola was morose. “Like I said, I overplayed my hands, and now the King’s wife will not let me continue in service.”

“What does she have to do with this?”

“She caught us.”

Oluawo laughed in victory. “You have done well, why are you running away? We need to finish this.”

“The King didn’t sleep with me.”

“He was asleep, it doesn’t matter. You will find a way to convince him. He would deny it, but we would have sown a seed of discord between the royal couple.”

Toriola shook her head then spoke solemnly.  “I think I am pregnant already.”

Oluawo froze. “How? It makes no sense. The King hasn’t touched you.” Toriola looked away, embarrassed to hold his gaze. “Who is the father of your child?” Oluawo asked. From his facial expression, it was obvious he was already scheming.

“Your son, Yemi.”

“What?”

Toriola looked away. “I must go and find him to tell him. I am sorry, but this thing we plan to do with Kabiyesi is not going to work.”

“So you will forget the revenge you wanted to take over your brother’s death?”

“I have lived in the palace for three weeks, and now I know why my brother loved King Adeyeri so much. He is a good man. I wish I could be his Queen, but trust me, nobody can come between him and his wife. They are rock solid.”

Oluawo hissed. “You are a very foolish girl.” Toriola looked hurt by the rebuke. “Go and find a safe place to hide, send word when you are settled so that I will know where you are, and get ready to take your place on the throne of Iludoyin as its Queen.”

“How?”

“You don’t worry about that! Now that I know that your baby is my own flesh and blood, I will stop at nothing to ensure he becomes the heir to the throne of Iludoyin, and destroy every trace of corruption that King Adeyeri and his wife’s new god are going to use to pollute our land.”

Toriola looked away in exasperation. “I am not sure about this!”

“Just trust me and concur with everything I say. I will help you. King Adeyeri will be yours”

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Few moments later

Adeyeri tried not to succumb to the weakness he felt, but as he watched Tade sit beside the Chiefs, ready to help with translating the Igbo and white man’s language, his heart fell. For the first time since she gave birth to the twins, she could leave them without looking over her shoulders because her Aunty, Shade had arrived earlier that morning. Unfortunately, instead of them basking in the euphoria of the alone time they would enjoy now that help was here, the animosity grew. She wasn’t even looking him in the eye.

Oluawo entered and laid flat in greeting, his disposition friendly. This was a huge surprise to Adeyeri because the Chief Priest had been cold towards him ever since he declared that he was now serving a different God.

“You are welcome back, Oluawo. We have been waiting for you,” Adeyeri said, motioning the Chief Priest to sit down.

“I am sorry to keep you all waiting, I got some good news and went to confirm.” 

“What is the good news?” Iyalode inquired from him, but he waved her away.”

“Let’s focus on the issue at hand for now, we will have time to go into all that later.”

“Yes,” Balogun agreed impatiently. His men had brought out the invaders, and they were now standing before the council.

Adeyeri glared softly at Tadeyeri, willing her to give him a pleasant expression, but she refused to look at him, as though she could not trust herself. 

“Tadeyeri, please go and speak to these people. We need to know why they are here before we can pass judgement on them.”

Tade nodded in obedience and walked to meet the people. In fluent igbo, she addressed them. “Why are you here? What is your mission in Iludoyin?” she asked, but they did not answer her even though from their facial expressions, it was obvious that they heard her.

Tade moved away from them and walked to Adeyeri. “I need time alone with them. They don’t trust all of you.”

“It is not their right to enjoy our trust,” Oluawo said harshly, and Osi nodded in concurrence.

“In that case, my work here is done. I will go and be with my children.”

Adeyeri seized her hands, stopping her from leaving. “Calm down. You can’t give up this quickly. I think…”

Adeyeri was still speaking when one of the white people, a woman amongst the captives, said, “I don’t understand why we are held prisoners. I just need to know if Joseph is here.”

“That was his woman. We are in the right village. She is the Yoruba woman who grew up in Nnewi, and was popular among the dancers,” one of the men said in Igbo.

Tade snatched her hands away from Adeyeri and rushed to their side. “Why are you here? For Brother Joseph?” she asked the men in Igbo, her body shaking in trepidition.

“Where are they keeping him?” another person asked.

“Brother Joseph died in the forest, killed in war,” Tade explained sadly, and the eyes of the men widened  in horror.

“Do you know what you are saying, woman?”

“Why are you here? Who sent you?” Tade asked, afraid.

“Your people here think they have all the wisdom because they caught us, but they don’t know what they have brought upon themselves. The woman here is the sister to the man you said is dead, and she is a wife to one of the leaders of their men who have invaded our land. Her husband’s army is probably on their way to rescue her, and if they learn that this Joseph died in your land, they will burn the whole place down.” 

Tade sighed.

“I keep hearing Joseph. Is he here? Does she know where he is?” the white woman asked, but none of the men answered her, most likely because they couldn’t understand her. 

However, Tade understood, and a day that she had thought was very bad, suddenly became worse.

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From frying pan to fire. That’s my perfect description after reading this episode. 

I pray Toriola and Oluawo fail. 

What do you think?