The grand prince was the previous empress's son. He wasn't able to become the crown prince because the current empress wanted her son to be in power. He as a person disliked the power struggle wars and decided to give up the post willingly.
But everyone in Pidah knew that if he was to decide and fight for that post, he would automatically become the crown prince.And for this reason, the empress was so wary of him, but at the same time, she couldn't do anything to him.
He was the strongest man in the whole of the kingdom. Stronger than the king himself. So, she couldn't risk anything for the love of God.
This was the person who was staring at Sheja the whole time. She didn't notice it though since she was so engrossed in her slice of pie.
The next day, Malaika and her kids were all sneaky. Sheja's intuition told her that something was being planned. They were planning something sinister, something so devious that the demons would also cringe at the thought.
She could feel it in her bones. The whole of her body was tattering, whispering onto her, pouring thoughts into her mind.
Telling her to run. It was like she had someone else in her, a soul in her speaking to her. Telling her what to do. But sadly, she didn't heed any of that.
And until day now, she wonders. What if she ran, what if she really left. Maybe everything would have been different, or not really. No one would really know the truth.
By evening, the feeling had intensified, but by the time she wanted to act on her previous thoughts, it was already too late. She was already trapped.
"Hey Sheja, dad is calling you." It was Nkunda who came for her.
He had on a fake smile that only I could identify. Even if my bones denied my body strongly from going there, I still did. Maybe I wanted to give this family a chance. Just one more, maybe they were the best thing that had ever happened to me.
"Why is he calling me?" I asked
"I don't know, but he wants you in the worship hut as soon as possible"
"Worship hut?"
"Yes, I saw the strongest mage in our kingdom move in there." He said 'excitedly'. Thou I could see that it was all fake.
"Okay, I will be there in a bit."
"No, dad said that I should take you with me. He will punish me if I don't take you with me."
At that moment, I noticed that they didn't even want leave me any leeway. I could run. After all, I was stronger than Nkunda. But I didn't.
"Lead the way then."'I had a feeling that something sinister was going to happen, but I still went.
I still followed Nkunda to the worship hut.'The worship hut was like an ancestral shrine. Every noble household had it. It was mostly used to communicate to the ascended Gods, wherever they were.
Only a specific group of people could do this. And they were called the 'Trok'. It was a special spirit they were born with that allowed them to communicate to the gods. They could also at times talk to the dead, so I heard.When I entered the worship hut, I came face to face with an elderly man whose age did no justice to his face.
He was a cutie, one that a lot of young girls would drool over. They would definitely die to be this guy's sugar baby.
He had greys in his afro and thick beards. He had beaded eyes that were so clear. But his eyes had not one but two irises. They were so magnificent. This was the symbol of his spirit. The 'Trok' all had this characteristic. One of their eyes was bound to have two irises where one was black and the other was of another colour. The black iris was the normal one but the other was the spirit carrier just like my twigs. They were a bit lucky since this special iris of theirs could be hidden at will. They could easily slide it into their skulls.
When they did this, no one could be able to distinguish them from all the other local folks. This 'Trok' flashed me a mesmerizing smile and invited me. The smile wasn't pure, but that's how all betrayers are. They show you a fake act of love followed by their hurtful betrayal.Inside, there was every one of the family.my stepmother, father, Hirwa and Nyota too.
Malaika flashed me a smile and said, "Come here my sweet daughter."
The creeps I felt at that moment left my body covered in goose pimples. She had never called me sweetly, ever, even in the presence of Dad. My feet betrayed my resistance and moved towards where she was. She led me to sit right opposite of Hirwa.
"Fold your legs and sit in the meditative position darling." Malaika said.I did as she said. That's when I noticed that Hirwa also sat the same way I was told to sit.When I looked at her, she flashed an excited smile.
"We are ready to start." Said Malaika to the 'Trok'."If it fails, please don't force it." Said NyotaThis earned him an annoyed face from Malaika.
As I was sited there waiting for an explanation on what was currently taking place, the 'Trok' began chanting in a language I couldn't ascertain. Actually, I think nobody could ascertain it too. I wondered if he also understood what he was saying.
That's when something happened, something I had never seen in my life. His special eye started shinning, it was blue in colour and thus it produced a deep blue light that covered both me and Hirwa.
"Is this really okay, is it normal. Is it even supposed to happen." I heard Nyota yelling. Was that panic I heard in his voice? What a surprise.
"It's okay, everything will be fine. Right everything will be fine." Malaika kept on chanting to herself.
In the blinding light, I could see everything. The light formed a sharp light that targeted my head. It dug one twig from the roots of my hair. This was the most devastating pain I have ever felt in my life. It felt like someone was drilling into my head in search of oil.
Only that I had no oil, I had twigs. But other than that, I felt like my soul was broken apart, and a bit of it was taken away. I was never going to be complete ever again. My eyes became blurry.
But before I lost my consciousness, I saw the knife transferring the twig to Hirwa's head.
And at that moment, I understood.
The aim of all of this was Hirwa, getting what she wants.
Like always.