People were beginning to gather in the Obong's palace -- not the ordinary folk though. The gathering was to consist of the royals, the high and tribal chiefs, the priestesses, and the missionaries. So, sitting among the people who arrived first was Priestess Umang.
There were different places for different ranks. On the left side of the Obong's chair was where the tribal chiefs sat, and on the first chair, Effiong Edet sat with his head held high and his back straight. Effiong had an intimidating aura and he was well aware of that fact. And on the right side of the Obong's chair, the high chiefs and kinsmen occupied the chairs there.
An extension of the left-wing sat other chiefs and different priests and priestesses of their several gods.
Priestess Umang was stunned as her eyes were so wide open looking at Effiong Edet. "How?" she whispered. Umang was expecting this day to be the day they would all notice the absence of Chief Effiong and then, all would proceed to his house to mourn his departure from this world.
Her jaw remained slack. [the gods of our land have never failed before. What is this? How is he still breathing the same air as me?], her mind reeled with several thoughts. Umang was as confused as a fish on land.
"Close your mouth please, before a fly goes inside," one of the chiefs sitting beside the priestess said.
Umang shot him a look that made him tremble.
"Your mouth was open for long," he said as he quickly urged himself to shut up before him too, doesn't wake up the next morning.
Umang's reputation preceded her.
Effiong could feel someone's gaze burning into the left side of his face. He looked around and saw Priestess Umang bent over, gaping at him. [What is this woman's pro-], as that thought crossed his mind... a memory flashed through his mind as well. Something occurred to Effiong.
He thought for a while, then smiled... a very wide smile that flattered his facial features. Effiong turned on his chair, facing her, and winked. [She is shocked to see me here], he thought.
"You thought I was dead?" he mouthed the words clearly, so she would not have a hard time reading his lips.
About three minutes later, Father John and his entourage walked into the compound.
A messenger that had been assigned to arrange people on their allocated chairs, ushered them to where had been prepared for the missionaries. Mary walked closely beside Father John, assisting the old man because of his dimming sight.
"Red hair?", Effiong mused.
Effiong Edet had forgotten all about the priestess and was staring at the tall red-haired lady who was assisting an old man with so much care and concern.
"Who is that woman?", he whispered to the chief on his righthand side.
"Which one?", the chief replied, looking around... trying to figure out who Effiong was asking about.
"One of the white people. The one with hair like the setting sun," Effiong said as he used his chin to point in their direction.
"Oh. She is one of the missionaries. You have not seen her before? Her name is Mary."
Effiong nodded. He had plans... after the meeting. [I will ask her myself], he thought.
* * *
And so, everyone was settled... sitting comfortably on their various chairs.
Priestess Umang's mind wasn't in that meeting at all. Her legs were vibrating. Umang was in a hurry for the meeting to be over. She wanted to go and check in on what went wrong with the order she gave for Effiong to be killed. Umang kept wiping the sweat on her forehead. She was the only one sweating on a cool morning.
"THE OBONG."
Everyone got up.
As they bowed their heads, they chorused, "Obong! May you live long"
It was the first time Mary was seeing The Obong. [So young], she thought.
Father John saw the expression on her face, "That is how power is. Even the young can be bowed to so long as he has the power and authority," he whispered as they took their seat.
Every five to ten minutes, Effiong's eyes would go to Mary. No woman had ever held his interest as she did.
One of the high chiefs got to his feet and opened the floor with his slow speech. The man was old... very old, and it was on the minds of many present that he had better rest. The work of the title he held seemed tedious.
"My Obong, I greet you. May you live long. My chiefs... You are all welcome. The messengers of the gods of our land, welcome. And our visitors... I welcome you also," he said and coughed for another four seconds.
The people were patient.
The old chief continued, "This meeting was called based upon the request from our visitors here. Now, let us hear what they have to say to us," He sat down, and someone rushed to give him water in a wooden cup.
Father John wanted to stand up when he remembered that the only person fluent enough to communicate with the Ufik people in the native tongue was Mary. He nudged her to begin.
Mary nodded and got up. "I greet you, Obong. High and tribal chiefs, I greet you all..." she trailed off.
Effiong was amazed. The way she spoke their language. Even with her accent, it was still so good. [When did she learn our tongue?], he thought. Effiong was immensely impressed. A smile was plastered on his face. Apparently, he couldn't hide the pleasure hearing her speak gave him.
Mary continued, "The purpose of this meeting, my people, is to ask for your permission to introduce the Western Education," she said as she tried to hide her distaste and anger towards all of them sitting there. As Mary spoke, she kept seeing the little skeletons in her mind. She wanted to yell 'YOU MURDERERS!'. But she was biding her time, one step at a time... she told herself.
Murmurings could be heard everywhere. One of the high chiefs on the righthand side of The Obong whispered something in the young boy's ears.
Mary looked around, she saw that some of them were nodding their heads while some were shaking their heads. Ignoring their body language, she continued, "It is a good thing, my people. Just like I have learned your language and can communicate well, it will be good if the people of Ufas can learn other languages too. The world is changing. It is opening up. More missionaries are com-"
"To where?!" shouted one of the high chiefs. Chief Dion had always been against allowing the white strangers into Ufas. But most of the chiefs that had voted for them to come didn't listen to him.
The first set of missionaries to enter Ufas, the set before Father John and his people, had died mysteriously.
After two weeks of their arrival, women who were gravitating towards what the missionaries were teaching found their corpses all purple and swollen all over the compound that they resided in.
It was like a mini genocide, and Chief Dion was the one who masterminded it. He didn't have any issue with eradicating these ones, just that the high chiefs had come together to openly warn anyone who had plans on harming this set of missionaries.
[Little by little. I will not do it massively this time], Chief Dion thought. He hated the white invaders who he thought were trespassing on his dear land.
"More of you people, coming to where? Are the ones here not enough?", Chief Dion spat.
"Let the woman speak," Chief Effiong said.
Mary's blue gaze landed on the man who had just defended her, she gave a small smile, and began, "Obong, I hope to get your blessing on this matter". Mary didn't think it wise to bring up the killing issue here. A plan was already forming in her mind. [If I am granted the permission to teach, I can begin telling the women how wrong it is for them to kill their children. I have to make the locals understand first, then we can rally against the leaders], she thought.
The idea had just occurred to her, and it gave her some form of relief. Peace coursed through her veins.
She watched as The Obong signaled the high chief that was beside him. He spoke into his ear and the old man stood up again, cleared his throat, and said; "You have been given the permission to teach to interested people. Do not force anyone."
Effiong smiled and looked at Mary who curtsied gracefully to the young obong.
Mary was elated. [They will hear from me soon], she thought.