Authors: Njedeh Anthony
As the elders left, Ihua thought,
That was easy
.
Chapter 29
The three chiefs were present in the palace on the day they had agreed to meet, which was the eighty-first day since the King died. They all came with their sidekicks, who were now all chiefs still temporarily under their masters—Tunde of Alloida, Boodunko of Ogwashi and Mukembe of Abogima.
Odagwe was the first chief to arrive with his son, Mukembe. The other chiefs assumed he came a day before to humbly beg them to vote his choice. They were all received by Queen Ifrareta, whose pregnancy was ripe for delivery, but she insisted on them being shown into the rooms where they would sleep, have a bath and then she gave them food to eat, before she allowed them go to their meeting.
The chiefs were tense and they did not know exactly what was on the other men’s minds. They knew that if one chief decided not to conform to their general decision, then they all would die. The three men were not ready for that. These kinds of meetings between chiefs were to try to convince the other party to accept your candidate.
At times a chief might be adamant and refuse to accept any other person’s candidate, eventually leading to their death at the hands of the high chiefs. That would leave the high chiefs to choose the most suitable candidate as King. At times, if a particular chief strongly held to his candidate, the remaining chiefs eventually changed their choice to have an unanimous decision.
The three chiefs—Odagwe, Oludu and Ihua—entered the same day to prevent surprise attacks. Their meeting took place in the palace, where it was forbidden for any man to kill another except by consent of the King. As the chiefs were meeting, the whole palace was aware of what they were discussing. Time started taking short paces.
Then the three chiefs abruptly came out with expressionless faces. No one could deduce what had happened in the meeting and they had no way of finding out. The first thing the chiefs did when they left the conference room was to send for their sidekicks.
*
The eighty-second day arrived and the six chiefs were all seated around the conference room awaiting the high chiefs. Queen Ifrareta came earlier to make sure they were well taken care of. She was still the number one woman until the new King got married and she didn’t hesitate to show it, whether she was pregnant or not. Going back to her palace, she felt dizzy, the baby inside her starting to kick and pushing its way out. Her maids and Ikuvamees surrounded her, knowing there was no way they could move her as the baby was about to come.
The high chiefs all came together in the same entourage. They were laughing and very cheerful when they arrived. After they stepped into the conference room, their expressions went dim. On entry, all six chiefs got up to greet them. After they all took their assigned seats, the Head-of-Government asked the messenger to call in the two Hurdenes and their sons.
The women around the queen had a hot bowl of water with a cloth in it and they used their wrappers to make a fence around the pregnant queen. They were on the road connecting the palace with the queen’s palace. There weren’t any spectators around the area, but the women still held the fence high. Ifrareta did not even need to be told to push; she already had five daughters. As she pushed, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen that stretched down her thighs; the child was too big. The women dabbed her head with warm water. The queen kept pushing and the head of the child finally found its way out into the world, but the child’s body was still in the belly.
The two Hurdenes were present with their sons and five Omees surrounded all four of them. The Head-of-Government got up, slowly looked around the room and then began.
“This is the second time we meet like this and I am aware that we have three new chiefs. Congratulations, but you still have to undergo a confirmation ceremony that will require the blessing of the King. Before we start what we came here for, I would like to announce that the Ifa priest and I are retiring as high chiefs and we will no longer disassemble your modern society with our ancient ideologies.”
Odagwe said with careful sarcasm, “But why would great men like yourselves retire at your prime?”
“Our retirement is when the King has been crowned, so if you have not reached a unanimous decision,” he said, ignoring Odagwe, “we will still have to kill you before we retire. But you are all mature men and I am sure you have reached a decision.”
Both Hurdenes’ heartbeats were like wild horses and neither was sure of the fate of her son.
“I will name the province and I want your decision. You are all aware that at this point there can be no more negotiations, so whatever decision any chief makes is permanent. Do you all understand?”
All the chiefs answered in agreement.
As Queen Ifrareta pushed, the upper body of the child had found its way out. Soggy blood was all over the child’s head, not a sound came out from its lips. Everyone urged Queen Ifrareta to push faster because something had to be wrong for the child not to cry. The queen pushed harder and harder and the child kept slipping out without an expression. The women could not take the child’s silence any longer, so they added a little pressure to pull the child out. When the child was out of the mother, they cut the cord, expecting the child to at least cry, but it still refused to make a sound. Then the women turned the child and tapped it. They still did not hear a sound. Slight taps became heavy slaps on the child’s bottom, but he refused to make a sound. They looked at the baby’s eyes, which were open. His heart was beating, but the child was not crying while the mother had fainted.
The Head-of-Government started.
“Ahoda.”
The Chief answered briefly, “I am in favor of Hurdene Onyela’s son.”
“Alloida.”
Chief Tunde got up and said, “I am in favor of Hurdene Onyela’s son
“Ndemili.”
Chief Oludu rose with these words on his mind, Agreshi my debt is paid. Take your candidate and do what you wish. I have completed my end of the bargain.
Oludu said, “I am in favor of Hurdene Onyela’s son.”
“Ogwashi.”
Chief Boodunko rose, answering before getting on his feet, “I am for Hurdene Onyela’s son.”
“Ekpona Hills.”
Chief Odagwe rose sluggishly, taking time to decipher the power of the thoughts in his head.
How can you hold a scorpion in your fist without it stinging you? I was lucky I came the day before, to see the eyes of the child that prostitute called my son.
Odagwe said, “I vote in favor of…Hurdene Onyela’s son.” Weruche, you are a scorpion and you sting because it is your nature. I saw the eyes of Onyela’s son and they were mine. He is my boy and my son will be King. That is greater than any Head-of-Government position I need.
“Abogima.”
Chief Mukembe got up and answered rather enthusiastically with his squeaky voice, “I vote in favor of the Hurdene Onyela’s son.”
The Head-of-Government ordered the Omees outside the conference room to imprison Weruche and her son until their execution, the next day.
When the Omees grabbed her, she realized her son was not going to be King and the both of them would soon die. She tore off their grip and pounced on Odagwe like a cat, using her bare hands as her weapons. As she clawed the chief’s neck, the Omees pulled her away. She struggled with the viciousness of a lunatic.
The Omees found it hard holding onto her while she kicked, punched, slapped, scratched and shouted. All the men in the room were positive she was deranged. The only person who understood her instant madness was Onyela, because she knew she would have been doing the same thing if she were in her position.
As they led her away she kept screaming, “Odagwe, tell them how we poisoned the King together. The bottom of the fowl must show!”
Odagwe shouted back at her, “You are a mad woman, a deranged excuse for a human being.”
They tugged her from the conference room, but her screams were still audible.
“You did not seem to bother about how deranged I was when I slept in your bed.”
Odagwe faced the men in the room. “The woman is definitely mad. She is looking for someone to share her predicament.”
The men in the room nodded in agreement, but all of them believed every single word the supposed mad woman said.
When Queen Ifrareta gained consciousness, she saw herself in her palace. Lots of women were all lined up outside to congratulate her. The first thing she asked for was her child. The maid rocked the child, playing with the baby as she took it to the mother.
The queen screamed at her to bring the child. When the queen got the child, she looked at his lower body and then asked the maid if they had started the meeting. The maid replied they had finished and told her who the new King was. Queen Ifrareta raised her son, with her weakened hand, admiring what came from her belly. The maid told her that the child refused to cry. She ignored the maid.
You my son. The flesh and blood of Obi will be King, even if I have to die making you it.
*
Weruche and her son died the next day. Onyela’s son was crowned King and his name became Iwureshi. Gbangba retired as Head-of-Government and the Ifa priest followed him later. His Head-of-Government was Oludu, who initially refused the position, but was later forced to take it. Odagwe claimed not to be offended by the position being forced on someone else when he was available, making his hatred for the Hurdene multiplied. Ihua retired and moved away to another kingdom. Otuturex’s envoy became the King’s envoy, through Odagwe’s constant recommendation to the Oludu. Odagwe died two years later from the same poison that killed the King.
Chapter 30
King Obi woke up, touching both his palms and his thighs to feel rugged rashes around those areas. He noticed that those areas had turned green. The King smiled and got up from the bed quietly, not wanting to wake Queen Onyela, but a certain weakness gripped him.
He walked sluggishly toward the conference room, trying to calculate the time between the initiation ceremony of the new Okpalaukwu, who replaced the last one who died of old age, and now. He found it difficult to see, but he tried not to let the Omees and servants notice. He didn’t need to see his reflection to know his eyes had turned bloody red. He was positive he was suffering from the effect of asite poison, but the effect of the poison was not his problem. How long he had to live was what bothered him. His Omees came toward him, trying to support him, which made him aware he was not doing a good job hiding his predicament. Even so, he did not want any help.
When he got to the conference room, he told his messengers to call the missionary Michael, Gbanga, and the Ifa priest. Sitting alone, he tried to figure out when he must have taken the poison. He knew it could not be from the food he ate because his meals were always prepared by his wives and they had to eat with him. He thought about who gave him what he drank the day before, but all his four wives presented the drink given to him during the initiation ceremony. They did not drink from it.
It was clear he was poisoned by one of his wives, but he did not want to believe it. He tried to analyze why they would do it and his suspects shortened to two. The Hurdene title came into his mind. He was aware that asite poison was not the kind you easily got access to. There were over a thousand kinds of poisons. Why did the person have to use the poison that his father, Ifeanyi, could not find a cure for? It was as clear as an open book to him—Odagwe was involved, but he chose not to wonder which of his two wives conspired against him. He longed to stroll all around the conference room with his hands at his back, but when he tried to get up his legs were completely dead; he could no longer feel them.
The missionary came in first, as he was a guest in the palace. The man bowed to the King. Obi wanted to use his hands to tell him to rise, but he realized he had no control of his hands, so he told him to have a seat.
“Michael, tell me why do you feel we live?” the King asked.
“To grow in the ways of God.”
“I like that. A world belonging to the gods that men play in.”
“I believe in only one God and I dance only to his tune.”
“We believe in a lot of gods and for a funny reason—they are always at war with each other.”
“Are you all right, Your Majesty? Your voice sounds croaky.”
“I will be up and jumping soon. So what do you believe about death?”
“Eternity.”
“We believe in reincarnation. If you lived a worthy life on earth, you come back a greater man. But if your life was spent poorly, you come back a lesser man, animal, or even a plant.”
The King at this time could no longer see, although his eyes were still open, he could only hear.
“It is general opinion that a good man is not afraid to die. Supposing, I mean hypothetically, if I was about to die and I want to meet with your God you’ve been talking about all these years, what do I do?”
“Take him as your only God and believe in his son.”
“That’s easy. My gods are a little bit impotent.” He attempted to laugh, but he felt too much pain. “So I take it that when I die, I will see your God…But if he has a son, then he should have a wife.”
“No Sire, he doesn’t have a wife. Actually he—”
At that time the Ifa priest and Gbangba busted in. The Ifa priest rushed to his King and the Head-of-Government gave the missionary a polite nod for Michael to leave the room.
Michael then said to the King, who was drifting further from reality, “Goodbye, Your Majesty.”
The King did not hear him with the Ifa priest’s examination on him, but he meant the words deeply. He was not a specialist, but he could see the man was fighting to live. He wanted to go to his friend and hug him, but any attempt and the Ifa priest would have killed him instantly; you never touch a King unless he touches you.
The Ifa priest was giving the King a thorough check up. Gbangba was getting impatient so he asked, “Is he going to be okay?”
In an unconvincing tone the Ifa priest turned to the Head-of-Government and said, “He is going to be okay.”
In a slow, broken voice the King said, “If you believe that, then you will believe the sun touches my head. You are talking with a dead man.”
Gbangba did not realize he was in tears. Watching his friend helpless on the seat, skin discolored, burnt his soul. Even before he asked the Ifa priest, he knew his friend was flowing on death’s path. He was no longer seeing a King, but instead the boy he wrestled. He remembered the day as though it was part of him.
The Head-of-Government did not have anything to say to his friend, he just looked as he tried to pretend he was painless. In his heart he cursed life for making him meet his only friend, just to watch him die and vengeance burnt inside him. Someone or people were going to be punished for the atrocity that was before his eyes. He didn’t care how long, but the owners of the crime would pay for it. The day before, they were laughing like children. Now he knew he too was old.
“I feel like a roasted cock,” the King said.
“Nonsense, you are okay. You will be up and running in no time. Right, Gbangba?” The Ifa priest addressed the Head-of-Government, who was not ready to hear or say anything to anyone.
“I was poisoned. Or do you want to tell me nature wants my life?” Obi asked with a grin on his dying face.
“You were poisoned, my Liege, and it’s a miracle you are still alive,” the Ifa priest said.
“Can you hear it?” Obi raised his head to the molded roof. “Death is calling.”
“There is something I have wanted to tell you for years,” the Ifa priest said.
“Talk quickly. As you can see, I am a dying man.”
“About your two sons, I found out late that they belonged to another, but by that time you had grown deeply in love with both of them. I intended confronting you with my observation when a true heir was born, but considering the circumstances, I have to address the issue now.”
“It doesn’t make any difference now,” the dying King said.
“I am sorry, my Liege, but it makes all the difference now. Death is their destiny along with their philandering mothers. There is no place for an unclean blood on the throne of this kingdom.”
“I don’t want any of them touched.”
“I am sorry, Your Majesty, but that is one order I cannot carry out,” the Ifa priest replied.
“Ifa priest, do you think me a fool? Weruche told me her husband was impotent. She thought I was a fool. Onyela told me she had never been touched by a man. She rubbed alum on her vagina to tighten her walls. She thought I was a fool. Do you take me as a fool, Ifa priest?”
“No, Your Majesty,” the Ifa priest said, his eyes locked on the dying man’s feet.
“The Oracle gave my grandfather, King Burobee, a proverb that seemed very complex, yet elementary. The answer stared at us like the heavens. That was why it required my father, King Nwosa, killing his only son, me. I believe you men know what the message from the Oracle was. I am too weak to recite it again…But it meant that the generations of all the kings that have stepped forth into this great kingdom will end with me. That was why my life was required to change the prophecy. So no matter what happens, my heir can never rule.”
“If that’s the way it has to be, so be it, but as long as I am high chief, those two frauds and their mothers will die,” the Ifa priest said with his head still low.
“Listen to me. I prefer that one of those two frauds—let me emphasize frauds—who could bring joy to my heart, be my heir rather than anyone else.”
“With all due respect, my Liege, I cannot concur.” The Ifa priest kept firm to his decision. The Head-of-Government stood speechless.
The King tried to move as he was talking to the Ifa priest, but every part of him was no longer moving except his mouth and he fought for every breath.
“Ifa priest, when I first laid eyes on those boys, they disgusted me. I didn’t see my eyes in any of them, but I grew to feel for them like children, then eventually like sons. I trained them like Omees, taught them how to walk, talk and think like a King. I am asking both of you…those are the wrong words…I am begging both of you, as your King, but more especially as my friends, to let them be treated as my heirs when I die.”
The Head-of-Government replied first. “Your wish is my command.”
The Ifa priest reluctantly followed. “As you desire, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you,” the King said then sighed. “Can you hear her voice?”
“What voice?” the Ifa priest asked.
“That sweet voice. She is coming back to me.”
The two men looked around, but saw nobody.
“I can see her. Are you men too blind to see beauty?”
Both comrades just stood watching him.
“You are not going to run away from me this time, Amina.”
The two men were unable to hear what he was saying.
Obi saw his first wife in front of him, smiling, and he heard her calling him. He chased her and this time he caught her. He said, “Forever.”