"Aku Nkegbe! Come out here. How dare you? If you think you will stab me in the back and go Scott free, then you must be dreaming. If you touch as much as a single hair on the body of my granddaughter, we will both dance to the tune of the music of the gods this night." Afi Gbaga screamed. The youth gathered there exchanged looks shock and utmost disbelief. Is Afi out of her sense? How could she talk to the queen like that? Why has her arrest not been ordered already? Where are the two most dreaded people in this kingdom? What will become of Afi once the King and Queen get here? These and other questions went through the minds of everyone present there on that calm Tuesday night and not even one of them could confidently say they have an answer for any single one of the questions?
"Where are you Aku? Have you suddenly gone too deaf and dumb to hear and respond to your own name? What have you done with my granddaughter? If anything happens to that child; hats, huts hearts and crowns will be torn, burnt, broken and lost." Afi said with a cheeky smile which in itself spoke a language of war.
When the princess heard the screams from the compound, she asked the guard stationed at her doorway what was going on. The guard who had been there since mid day, told her that he had no idea. The princess then told the guard to allow her to go out and find out but the guard declined.
"I have a very important message for both my father and mother and if I fail to give them that message tonight, my father will have your head in the morning trust me. Your blood will kiss mother earth and your head will hang on a mast as a deterrent to invaders somewhere on one of the four mountains that hide this kingdom. The choice is yours" The princess said sternly.
After a rather long pause, the guard responded: "If you have information for the king and queen and this information is as vital as you say, I will take you to them."
The princess, realizing that she had successfully tricked the palace guard, followed the huge and clumsy looking figure as they make their way to the compound.
At the compound, both the princess and the guard were taken aback by the multitude that was gathered there. The moon lit the compound enough for her to notice the abstract disbelief written on the faces of everyone present and before she could say anything, Afi who saw the princess, screamed: "If you harm my granddaughter, your daughter here will have you to blame."
This statement hit the queen exactly where Afi intended it to. The instincts of a mother are the best strings to pull when planning an ambush for one and Afi despite her age, still remembers how to do that perfectly.
The queen catapulted out of her chambers and before she could even step out, fumed: "Why are you back here barking at me Afi? Why do you keep issuing threats even after I gave your grandchild to you? Who are you to threaten my daughter the princess of Adako? How dare you Afi? Oh so you mistake my silence for weakness and my patience for cowardice I presume but you must know that the lion kneels before it leaps." She stopped in front of Afi and both women looked each other in the eye for a long time. In this moment, the things they both did, the deep secrets they swore to die with and the acts of defiance that changed the history of this kingdom flashed through their minds.
"Enough already!" Ametefe screamed from the direction of the king's chambers. "I demand to know why these two guards were ordered by the queen to kill Ganyo my friend." He revealed himself and the two guards that he held firmly by their Bull-skin-rappers.
Everyone gasped in disbelief. "What are you saying? Did you just accuse our queen of murder?" Gatsriku queried.
"For the last time, I demand to know why you ordered the death of my friend by the hands of these two guards" Ametefe asked, ignoring Gatsriku's question.
"Someone better begin giving me a reasonable explanation before I do my worst right now" He continued. Afi Gbaga took a step towards her granddaughter who was half visible behind Ametefe but stopped abruptly when Ametefe flashed a cold look at her.
"You will do nothing son! The only thing you will do right now is go home and sleep." Fiato who was inside the King's chamber all this while, said as he stepped out.
"What are you talking about? Don't tell me you know of this wickedness father" Ametefe said.
The silence that ensued henceforth, made a single hoot by an owl who was definitely out hunting, sound like the most deafening sound ever heard in the entire kingdom. The hoot immediately preceded the sound of the bells and gongs that hang from the priest of Agumenu's staff. The entire gathering was startled by the petrifying sounds of both the owl's hoot and the priest of Agumenu's rather dreaded music. The diverging thoughts that instantly filled the minds of them all about the situation at hand seem to be emanating from their faces as the look of shock and disbelief that was previously on their faces metamorphosed sharply into terror. They were witnessing a nightmare in real life and none of them ever thought a day like this will be upon Adako.
"This night is just beginning; did I leave my keg of wine at the village square?" Gatsriku asked out loud but no one responded.
"One path in the middle of it all,
One needle lost in this haystack.
Who visits the wise one without it?
Who? I said who visits the great one without it?
How will one reach Amita the stream goddess without it?
Just one path and it is where all is said" The Wise one sang as he made his way to where the two women were standing. Kaleta who despite his health was listening to everything that was transpiring beyond the walls of his chambers, could not wait for this little reunion to degenerate into a blood bath. As the adage goes, 'The elder who sits idle while children eat snake meat will equally be counted among the consumers of the meat.' He gathered his strength and dragged himself slowly out of bed and out into the compound, holding the walls as he went and finally leaning by the doorway. The people at this point struggled to decide which to marvel at; the queen and Afi Gbaga's banter, Ametefe's accusing fingers that are being pointed at the queen, The chief priests spectacularly terrifying entrance or the king's once elegant figure that was humbled by a sudden illness that could be seen written all over him. Everyone stood as if they had suddenly grown roots, wondering about what more the night could bring.
"Why am I not getting any answer from anyone? If I have to ask again, then I will start by hanging the heads of these two murderous guards from stakes and everyone else implicated by them; and even Agumenu will be proud of me for cleansing this land of evil" Ametefe threatened.
"Enough killing has already been done in your name my son" The priest of Agumenu responded sharply. He danced jerkily forwards and backwards, came to an abrupt halt and shook his staff with all his strength.
"In my name? Why will anyone kill in my name wise one? I am a warrior and I have served the war drums of Adako more skulls that the entire army of Adako combined but I have never killed a man away from the field of battle. Why then do you accuse me of murder?" Ametefe retorted.
"It is not in my place to accuse or assume, I am the mouthpiece of the gods." The wise one stated briefly.
Before Ametefe could say anything else, Afi Gbaga cut in very emotionally: "It is my fault, I planned it all."
Everyone turned towards her as she paused briefly. Every detail of the past replayed itself in her mind's eyes like in a dream and she couldn't tell if she should smile or sob at the images so vivid and glare.
"Years ago when that mango tree was just a seedling, I was a maid in this palace." She said pointing to a mango tree that stood in the middle of the palace yet no one turned their heads in the direction of the mango tree.
"The then king was a very good man who was loved by everyone in the kingdom. His wisdom as most of you may have heard in some folk tales, traveled far and wide hence attracting unending admirers from far and wide to the palace. One bright morning when the first light of the sun shone on the palace, the king came out of his chambers and instead of ordering me to water this mango tree, asked me to bring some water to him. I brought the water as directed and the king of Adako took it and began watering the mango. It was in that very moment that a stranger appeared at the entrance of the palace. The lion skins that the stranger wore were so worn out and his feet so dirty that even the palace guard could not see that the man was either of noble birth or of high standing. The king asked the guard to let the man in when he realized that the guard was preventing him from entering. The stranger whom I later learnt goes by the name Hamelo walked past the guard who followed him closely and when he got to the king, greeted him. 'How dare you talk to the king of Adako without bowing before him?' The guard who was clearly not enthused with the posture of the stranger fumed.
'Are you blind? Did you not see the marking's on the body of this man? Can't you see that this man is the last of the legendary sages of old? A sage of old does not bow before any mortal. Apologize to him at once and leave us' The king said sharply.
The guard quickly knelt before the stranger and said: 'Forgive me great one, my father said his father told him of your kind; your greatness goes before you.' He stood up and left after the stranger placed his hand on his head and uttered some words of blessing.
The stranger then turned to the king who invited him into the royal court to dine and rest. However, the stranger strangely declined this offer and said to the king: 'I bring you news, one you will love and one you will hate.'
'Give me the news you bring please I am all ears' the King said even without asking me to leave them alone and even the stranger did not seem mindful or perhaps did not care about my presence. 'Give me that which I will hate, let me drink the bitter medicine before having a taste the honey' The king said.
'Indeed you are a wise king and I have confirmed every story I have heard of your reign of wisdom. but I doubt if even you could stand the naked truth' Hamelo responded. He paused for a while and realizing then that the king was still waiting for an answer, continued: 'You have no son and you will have none. Despite the impending royal politics, competition and evil, making arrangements for the throne and the crown is not a job for you but the gods.'
In silence, the king looked at him sternly as if he was extracting some kind of truth out of him spiritually. 'I have been an ardent fan of your kind since I was just a young prince because my father told me tales of your legend. He always drew images of your marking in the sand to teach me of your kind and advised me to seek wisdom as much as you do. I will never doubt the words of a sage of old' the king finally said. '..but tell me wise one, you talked about another news, one I will love. Who does not love to hear the soothing prophecies of a better tomorrow?' He continued.
The sage looked up into the early morning sun and smiled as if he had just been shown a beautiful scene from tomorrow and for the first time, I noticed that he had a sure kind of control over time. He seem to know more about yesteryear(s) and tomorrow as much as he knew of today.
'A storm is coming but your daughter, the woodcutter and his billionaire son will paddle the raft safely home.' He said.
The king turned his back on the stranger as he digested everything the sage had just told him. 'My daughter, the woodcutter and his billionaire son will paddle the raft safely home' He mimicked '… but I don't even have a daughter and even if I finally do, how can you refer to her as a 'he' and how can she be a woodcutter?' The king thought out loud and turned around to face the sage as if to demand an answer to his own rhetorical question. The sage smiled at him and responded: 'the message has been delivered, I must be on my way now.' As he said this, he walked away from the palace, onto the main path and towards Amita the stream. The king also went into the royal court to brood in solitude over what he had been told and remained there for a very long time.
I thought a lot about everything the sage said and with the passage of time, I felt burdened by the barrage of understandings I got from the message. One day while going about my chores in the palace, a thought struck me. 'Why have I not thought about this all this while?' I asked myself.
I ran out of the palace to Klogo; the king's brother. He was preparing to go to the farm when I got there but my beauty and feminist charm helped me to seduce and invite him onto the path that faced Awato, the mountain which hosted the deadliest battle ever fought in the history of Adako. I discussed my plan with him when we got there and even though he was not very much interested in the plan, he was very excited at the offer of having me as his wife. He obliged and worked with me to out the most evil plan ever orchestrated in this kingdom. We acquired some widow spiders and also purchased some crocodile bile from a hunter from the Kpegbadza kingdom. With these, we successfully poisoned the king's food and framed the queen for her husband's death." Everyone gasped when she said this and the two parallel lines that her tears made on her moonlit cheeks sparkled.
"That is enough already you slanderous old lady would you rather have your laundry at the market square?" The queen screamed at her.