At the palace, Ganyo and the princess were brought before the queen and just by looking the queen in her face, he realized how much trouble he was in. However, Ganyo has never been the type of man who will tremble in the face of adversity. He had on many occasions maintained that his resolve not to go to war was not borne of cowardice but of his principle that war should be fought with words and not with bows and arrows. Anytime he made this assertion, anyone who listens laughs hysterically and questions how a war could be fought with words. They therefore ended up concluding that Ganyo is indeed a coward who fears war hence his unrealistic proposal for their age old art of war to be dumped for words. The queens eyes were fixed on Ganyo and he could feel them piercing through his very soul. However, the queen did not even see a man with a soul, perhaps she did not even see a man to begin with. All she saw standing beside her daughter the princess, was a coward who wanted to jeopardize the future of the entire kingdom. The queen's fury, seemed to have rendered her speechless as she tried in vain to find the right words to use. She stepped back, sat on her stool and without taking her gaze off Ganyo, asked the princes to leave the court. "I am not going anywhere mother, this gentleman only talked to me and walked me back to the palace because I asked him to. I will not leave his side until you release him" The princess said with a very stern face. The queen who was shocked by the sudden defiance of the princess, turned her eyes and fixed them on the princess who instantly felt the heat of the gaze. "I can see he has also succeeded in poisoning you. I am your mother and I will show you why they refer to me as the knee that wears the crown meant for the head." The queen said very slowly but with utmost surety.
When he got to Ganyo's compound, Ametefe was disappointed by his friend's absence. Where could Ganyo of all people have gone in the middle of a Tuesday if not his compound? Could it be because of his rather bitter choice of words during their little argument the day before? Has Ganyo decided to stay away from him? But why will Ganyo forfeit their friendship especially when they have already made up after the misunderstanding? Most importantly, why is everyone behaving weird today? Ametefe struggled fruitlessly in a bid to find the right answers or even any reasonable answer at all to these questions. Finally, he told himself that time is the master craftsman that solves even the most difficult riddles. He will therefore return to his own compound and wait for time to solve it all. Just as Ametefe stepped out of Ganyo's compound, he saw Afi Gbaga weeping uncontrollably and hurrying at the pace of a distressed tortoise. This old lady has since his childhood been distinguished as one of the most powerful women in the kingdom even though Ametefe never got to learn how she came by so much power. Once when Amita decided to punish the kingdom for an unintentional act of defiance by drying up and there was no single drop of water throughout the entire kingdom, Afi Gbaga was rumored to have sent a message to the palace for maids to be sent to fetch water for her from a neighboring kingdom. The rumor goes that she even added that her own clay pot be filled before the maids fill the palace pots. Even though this is just a rumor, Ametefe is a warrior who will not rule out the availability of an iota of truth in rumors. He grew up to both fear and respect Afi Gbaga. Even though he hates to admit, it was due to this respect for or perhaps fear of Afi that made him overlook the slanderous nature of the old lady's only grandchild on countless occasions. He was speechless and took a step towards Afi in a bid to comfort her and enquire about what could be the cause of her sadness. However, he was quickly reminded of one of the numerous things his father told him earlier that day: "Curiosity is a double edged sword my son, it could be the mother of wisdom or the catalyst of doom." At the thought of this, he stepped back and stood there like a well fed lion as Afi Gbaga made her way past.
At the palace, the Queen asked the guards to drag Ganyo to the dungeon and lock him up until further notice. She then ordered the chief guard to escort the princess to her quarters and make sure she remains there till she is 'back to her senses'. After that, she ordered everyone to leave her alone as she drifted away into deep thoughts. "Is the past here to stab us all in the eye? I hope this is not what I am thinking because if it is, only the gods know how much blood is going to flow again. We have all fought very hard and made enough sacrifices to be where we are today. No! We can not lose our grip on the gold now. Never!" the queen thought to herself. In her deep thoughts she heard someone screaming: "Aku Nkegbe! Aku Nkegbe!! Where are you?"
"How dare…" The queen stopped abruptly when she saw the one calling her by her name. She stood up from her stool and in a moment, all the royal elegance and pride disappeared. She stepped down from the elevated part of the court and greeted the visitor very respectfully. Despite the visitor's refusal to respond to the queen's greetings, she continued: "to what to we owe this visit my friend?"
"Do not refer to me as your friend Aku, what have you done to my grandchild? Tell me she still breathes. What have you done to my only grandchild?" Afi Gbaga demanded viciously. The queen who was taken aback by Afi's rather bizarre line of questioning, paused for a while before shooting back: "How am I supposed to know what happened to your grandchild? Wait! Do you even have a grandchild or is this one of your numerous tricks?"
"Hey Aku, don't even dare play that game with me because we both know I am the better player here. People saw my granddaughter Fetri Yawa running to the palace this morning but no one saw her leaving here. Maybe you think I will not know about it but I know. I am trying very hard to keep my cool, tell me where my grandchild is now before I lose my cool." At this point, the queen was at a total loss. How come she never heard of Afi's grandchild? Could this be a dream? Didn't Afi's only son die even before he could get married and make children? "I said where is she?" Afi fumed and the queen was startled. She called to a guard and asked him to bring Fetri Yawa from the dungeon. After the guard left, she apologized to Afi and told her that she had no idea who Fetri Yawa was to her. However, Afi was more interested in seeing her granddaughter that listening to Aku's apology.
They both came a long way for her to be very much aware of the danger Fetri Yawa could be in if she stepped on the wrong toes in this palace. Before long, Fetri Yawa was brought to the court by a guard. She went straight to her grandmother and hugged her very tightly. Afi Gbaga heaved a sigh of relief and said to Yawa: "let's go home child." "Wait! The queen said. "Tell me Afi, how is this girl your grandchild? We both know your son died before he could get married and make children. How then did you have a grandchild?" The queen continued. "Yes my son died before he could get married but not before he could make children. After I buried my son, a lady from a neighboring kingdom came looking for him. I noticed she was with child and she told me that my son was responsible for her condition. I took her in and cared for her until she gave birth but died shortly after childbirth during one of her visit's to her people. This here is that child." The queen was dumbfounded and could not utter another word until Afi Gbaga and her granddaughter left the court. The pale look on the queen's face as she relived moments from she and Afi's past, scared the maids who otherwise would have flanked the elegant queen. Many people misunderstand the ancient proverb that fear indeed tames hyenas. This proverb was confirmed to be true when everyone in the palace began talking with their lips tightly sealed. No one wanted all the anger that was brewing withing the royal court to be poured on them.