(The palace of Masinissa Linette Duah II. Amari assisted by three other female slaves bearing large wooden trays containing earthenware bowls of various sizes, comes in to set the stools and the tables for the evening meal. She sets the bowl on the table and goes to the far corner to fill a calabash with water from a large pot. Enter Masinissa Linette Duah II. Flanking him are Nala Masinissa and Akinidad Linette. They take their seats behind the tables. Amari and two slaves quickly bring the calabash of water for them to wash their hands)
King: Who prepared the meal?
Amari: Your Majesty, it is Fatmata Binta who did but we assisted her.
King: What sort of meat was used for the soup?
Amari: My Lord, the smoked antelope thigh the hunters brought three days ago.
King: I see, and has the meal been tasted?
Amari: Yes, my Lord. My colleagues and I have tasted it, and we are still alive.
King: Very well children. We can now eat. (They begin to eat. Amari and the other attendants go to stand at the far corner of the room watching them have their meal)
Princess Nala: (Authoritatively) Sister Amari? (She calls out to Adjoa)
Amari: Yes, my princess.
Princess Nala: Did you say you also taste the food? (Asks with a furious look)
Amari: Yes, my princess. I tasted the food before bringing it for your consumption.
Princess Nala: And you satisfied with the salt in it, weren't you?
Amari: My princess, I swear I tasted it with my own tongue and I…
King: Will you stop bandying words with your mistress and run for the salt before I get furious? (Already getting furious towards Adjoa)
Amari: Yes, my Lord. (Amari runs back to the kitchen for the salt)
Princess Nala: There is always one thing or the other wrong with the meals this woman prepares these days, and yet she is supposed to have come from a family of cooks.
King: I wonder what they have on their tongues that makes it difficult for them to detect whether there is too much or too little of salt in the food they prepare.
Amari: (She runs in with a bowl of salt in her hand while shivering) Here is the salt you requested my princess.
Princess Nala: Let me have it. (She snatches the salt from Amari with a furious face while Amari goes back to her station at the corner of the room to join her colleagues)
Akinidad, will you need some salt as well. (Nala asks with little bit of care and smile)
Akinidad: No thank, its fine with me.
King: You are very quiet today. What is the matter son? (The king asks the quite prince)
Akinidad: Tiredness. I am completely exhausted and done for today. The training in the forest today was really strenuous. (He replies)
King: All the same, you went through with distinction, I am told. From the reports I have been receiving, it is evident that you are doing fine and coping so well with your studies. This really puts my heart at ease. (The king ended with his statement with a sigh of relief and accomplishment)
Akinidad: Well, I am doing my best my King.
King: You can now play the fontomfrom drum and dance the royal dance too.
Akinidad: It is so, my King.
King: The reports also indicate that you did well with your lessons in battle strategies.
Princess Nala: This is time for meals. Can't you discuss these things with him later after meals? Allow him to eat. (She interrupts with concern)
King: Alright…Alright, my all-knowing princess, lets eat. (They continue eating)
Princess Nala: Akinidad, you don't seem to be eating your food. Don't you like it?
Akinidad: The training has taken away my appetite, moreover I am not feeling too well. Can I be excused to go get some rest. Maybe I might feel a bit better after a good sleep. (He requested)
King: It is granted. You may go and rest. Tomorrow, we shall meet to talk about the next stage of the physical endurance exercise. (Amari comes to wash the princess hand perfunctorily and dries them with a clean napkin she keeps around her neck)
Akinidad: Yes, my King.
Princess Nala: I may call in at your chamber after meals to see how you are feeling.
Akinidad: Thanks, but you don't have to bother. I shall be fine. It isn't all that serious.
(Exit Akinidad into the Palace. Masinissa Lenette Duah II and Nala eat for a while till Nala holds out her hand and calls out)
Princess Nala: Sister Amari. (She calls out to Amari)
Amari: Yes, my princess.
Princess Nala: My hands. Wash them. (Says Authoritatively)
Amari: Yes, my princess.
(Amari washes Nala's hands thoroughly and cleans them with another clean napkin and does the same to the King. She calls out to other attendants who come to help clear the table in no time)
King: You may all go.
Amari: Thank you, my lord.
King: And keep that door shut when you go out.
Amari: Yes, my lords.
(Exits Amari and her colleagues)
King: My daughter.
Princess Nala: Yes, father.
King: How do you find your cousin?
Princess Nala: How do you mean?
King: Doesn't he appeal to you?
Princess Nala: (Shyly) Oh Father, don't ask such questions.
King: You still haven't answered my question.
Princess Nala: But you already know my feelings about my cousin. I do not have no I'll feeling towards him. I don't hate him.
King: Fine the. And have you considered the possibility of winning his heart.? (He asks with curiosity)
Princess Nala: (A bit embarrassed) Oh Father…
King: Well, can't help being blunt. If you haven't won his heart yet, I say you must do so. You have my fullest backing.
Princess Nala: You know my cousin is the quite type, very reserved, shy-looking always prefers to be in his shell.
King: I know all that my daughter. You must use your female charm to entice his heart out of its shell. The mother has fed him with a bit of her stubborn leopard nature., I know, but go ahead. (Conspiratorially)
I ostensibly brought him here under the pretext of studying the art of kingship, but the real reason is for you to win his heart forever. That way, when he succeeds me as king, you shall be his wife, a queen.
That is the hidden political angle of this whole scheme.
Princess Nala: I understand you father; but his eyes and heart interest are far beyond me. He seems to be blind to feminine charm.
King: Just keep pestering him and do not stop any time soon. There is a saying that a heart is like a fence, and every fence comes with a whole in it. Find out where that hole is and widen it so you can go through and touch him softly.
Princess Nala: I understand you, father. I shall do my best to find that hole of the fence.
King: Let us go in then. (Exit the King and his princess. Amari now enters to tidy up the place. She is setting things in order when Akinidad came in)
Akinidad: Let me have that chair.
Amari: Is there anything else my lord wishes me do for him?
Akinidad: (With a broaden smile) Not now; I will call you when I do need your service. You are freed from your responsibilities for now.
Amari: (Smilingly) Thank you, my lord.
(Exit Amari. Akinidad looks worried and utters some inaudible things and gesticulates wildly to himself. After a while, he sits quietly gazing into the sky thinking widely. Nala enters the chamber from behind him dressed in a single piece of shinny cloth, looking all charming and tempting. She tiptoes in, and covers Akinidad's face from behind)
Akinidad: Who's that?
Princess Nala: Guess who it is. (She imitates a male's voice)
Akinidad: And if I guess correctly what will be the price for it?
Princess Nala: The price will be my heart. I will give you my heart. All of it…Every bit of it.
Akinidad: You are…Ade Dakarai. (Jokingly)
Princess Nala: No!
Akinidad: You are…Isia Abasi.
Princess Nala: (Turning to her normal voice) Oh no, just listen to my voice then.
Akinidad: If you are not Davu Ade, then! You must be Kwame Adjei.
Princess Nala: (Exasperated) You are wrong. I am a girl and not all the ugly names you mentioned.
Akinidad: (Feigning surprise) Oh! I see…Then its Abiba Alaja!
Princess Nala: (Very Exasperated) You are wrong. Try again
Akinidad: (Still teasingly) Hadiza Hibo!
Princess Nala: (Lets go her hands) it's me, Nala.
Akinidad: Of course, I knew it was you all long.
Princess Nala: (Disappointed and hurt) And…And…you…you…pretended you couldn't recognize who…
Akinidad: Well…well…
Princess Nala: You shocked me.
Akinidad: Too bad for you then. I have told you to spare me some time to myself.
Princess Nala: (Softly) And I have tried hard to stay away from your charming eyes for seven whole market days without success.
I have therefore decided to come back and appeal to you.
Akinidad: (Sharply) Appeal to who? (Smiles softly)
Princess Nala: Oh, what a sweet smile you have. Smile like a sunshine after a heavy downpour, that spreads out its million fingers. To fill the living and non-living alike. Sharp stiletto fingers that carry warmth, real warmth that caresses the wetness off the earth and puts real life, sweet life, sweet-sweet life that warmth the blood. Just listen carefully. You can feel it creeping…creeping softly through the veins…creeping up to the tender heart. (Nala moans out of excitement) Where you feel a sweet tick-tock-tickling at the very core of the heart. A sensation that is sweeter than any meal you've ever tasted.
Akinidad: Incredible
Princess Nala: Yes, my love. A sensation that only the selfish will want to hoard, but the selfless will most willingly share with their beloved, like I want to do. (She continues seductively)
Akinidad: And who, if I may ask, is this beloved that you seem so willing to share yours with?
Princess Nala: Need you ask… You are the fortunate man, my love. (Akinidad breaks into a loud laughter)
Akinidad: Look Nala, I will prefer to live in my state of misfortune, if you don't mind
Princess Nala: Oh, why? Am I not fit to be the mother of your children? Every body in this palace agrees, that you and I are made for each other.
Akinidad: I don't like everybody. (He replies with a soft smile) I think and do things like myself. I please myself…and perhaps my mother (With a bit of a saddened face)
Princess Nala: Well, my father thinks we will be a very good pair.
Akinidad: (Teasingly) So he sent you here to…to…to…hahahah (Laught out loud