Betrayed

by Ifeanyi Esimai

  Enitan and I walked back to the palace. The croaking of frogs and chirping of crickets accompanied us all the way as darkness approached, reminding me of Nuso.

  Enitan talked nonstop about what she did that day. What she liked and didn’t. I was barely there. My thoughts were all about Ashe, the force. How come I have this gift? What's the old woman's connection to all of this? Soon, we were walking through the entrance to the palace. Enitan led the way to my room. I could usually go somewhere once and memorize the directions, but I still hadn’t grasped the lay of the palace.

  “I have to go,” said Enitan once we arrived at the door to my room. “I’ll come to get you for dinner in about an hour.”

  I jumped into the shower as soon as she left and washed all the sweat off from the gym and helping Mama Rikki. I put on a buba and was thinking about Enitan and dinner when Ronke and Bisi showed up. Enitan had sent them to get me. I tried to hide my disappointment. I’d wanted to get information from her about Mama Rikki.

  “Where did she go?” I asked.

  Bisi and Ronke exchanged amused glances but said nothing.

  They led the way downstairs, chatting amongst themselves. We entered the dining room to the sound of people eating and talking. My mouth flooded with saliva at the smell of fried plantain and tomato stew.

  Tables dotted the room. Bisi ushered us towards one of the square tables with four chairs. Some of my classmates from Kintola’s class sat together. I recognized Olajuwon from our brief exchange. Was I too harsh with him? He’d asked for it. With his condescending look. Where was Mole Face? Next time, I promised myself, I would get the better of her.

  Within a minute of taking our seats, a servant brought plates of food and placed them in front of us. I was right about the fried plantain. But there was also rice and beans. I dug in.

  “Have you seen Princess Bonetta?" asked Bisi out loud. “She’s pretty.”

  I nodded. I didn’t want to tell them I had breakfast with her.

  Ronke lowered her voice and leaned in. “They say the girl with her came as a bodyguard.”

  “Why?” I asked, shrugging my shoulders. “She’s not safe in her own father’s house?”

  Bisi glanced around and leaned in. “It’s not that; the word is that the crown prince in Qtari is in love with her. He sent his own people to keep an eye on her, to make sure no Oloye snags her from him.” She gave a throaty chuckle.

  “They’re just wasting their time; the king would never agree,” said Ronke.

  Bisi lowered her voice, dancing flames from the candle on the table reflected in her eyes. “If Nuju here and Prince Segun can bring back the stones and restore magic, things will definitely change. By then, nobody will care.”

  I looked at them and thought they must be crazy. It was close to impossible to succeed. Let alone the king letting a foreign prince marry his daughter.

  Maybe the years they’d spent at the palace had softened their brains. They probably believed that the Harvest of Blood was a necessity, good for the kingdom. I shoved food into my mouth. I was hungry, and also scared I might say something that could get me into trouble.

  As if on cue, the hustle and bustle in the room died down. I looked up; all eyes were on the door.

  Rahima stood by the door, then strolled in. She walked over to an empty table and sat down. Slowly, conversations picked up again. Should I talk to her? What if she doesn’t recognize me? I only met her for what, two minutes before she escorted Enitan out?

  Bisi spoke with her mouth full, her hand over her mouth. “The steward said the girl is Princess Bonetta’s bodyguard for sure.”

  “Lower your voice,” scolded Ronke. “She’s like what Enitan is to Nuju.” She turned to me. “Tell us about your day. You trained with Kintola—”

  “Enitan said she took you to the bush to meet the old witch, too,” said Bisi, interrupting Ronke.

  “Don’t call her a witch,” Ronke admonished in a whisper and looked around. “She’s the king’s sister.”

  “Sister!” I said out loud and clasped my hand over my mouth. I couldn’t believe my ears; the king’s sister out there in the wilderness all alone. “Why is she there?”

  Ronke shrugged. “I don’t know. She was already there when I came here. What did you do with her?”

  I remembered what Mama Rikki had told me, not to tell anybody about the force, my Ashe. Lies sometimes catch up with you. “Well, she had me clean her hut and fetch water for her and—”

  “No!” the two girls said in unison and recoiled in disgust.

  Ronke let out a deep breath. “It must be filthy out there. I mean, she lives alone and all that.”

  These girls were ready to give me a bath every day, and they found it distasteful that I was cleaning for Mama Rikki. “Is Enitan coming to meet us here?” I asked.

  “No way,” said Bisi. “She would eat dinner at the king’s quarters and then continue with her job.”

  “Enitan has magical fingers and can use them well,” chimed in Ronke with a smile while cracking her fingers.

  I looked around while Bisi and Ronke bickered about something else. Most people finished their dinner and left. Olajuwon got up from his seat and walked over to Rahima. She looked up, saw him, and a crease crossed her forehead. He stopped and smiled. I couldn’t hear what he said to her, but she smiled and gestured for him to sit with her.

  I turned away from them and looked towards the door just as Enitan walked in.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Enitan walked over and pulled out a chair. “Sorry I couldn’t come to get you; the king needed me. I had to give him a full body massage.”

  The king's face flashed through my mind. A shiver ran down my spine. I pushed my plate away, my appetite gone. I looked at her and looked away, ashamed of what the king must have made her do.

  “How’s the food?” asked Enitan.

  “Delicious,” I said with a lot of enthusiasm.

  Enitan paused, looked at me, and then at the plate of food placed in front of her. “Okay.” She dug in. “So what have you people been talking about?”

  “Nothing much,” said Ronke quickly, not wanting her to catch on that they’d been talking about her.

  Enitan swallowed. “You won’t believe what happened.” She put some plantain in her mouth and spoke as she chewed. “I get to the king's chambers. A few minutes later, Taka walks in. He and the king argue.”

  “About you?” asked Bisi, her eyebrows shot up.

  Enitan stared at her for a second longer. “Don’t be stupid.”

  Ronke giggled and elbowed Bisi in the ribs.

  “Don’t you two have things to do?” asked Enitan, putting some authority in her voice. Her spoon suspended in the air.

  Ronke and Bisi scrambled to their feet.

  “Yes, just about to leave,” said Bisi.

  “Good evening,” blurted Ronke, and they walked away.

  I watched them go, then turned to Enitan. “Can he do that?”

  “Argue with the king?” She lowered her voice. “Of course, they’re father and son. After visiting the oracle at Ijebu a week ago, the king thought of sending an expedition to find the stones. That was before yesterday. Before all the instructions from Ifaka.”

  “So what was the argument about?”

  “The oracle said uniting the stones was a way for the king to atone for his sins, but Taka doesn’t agree,” said Enitan. “He said it would leave Ode weak and open for a hostile takeover. King Kenzi disagreed and argued they still had a strong army.” Enitan bit off some meat and started to chew.

  So Taka doesn’t want us to recover the stones. Then why was he so helpful earlier in the day at Bonetta’s apartment?

  Enitan swallowed. “Prince Taka was mad. He said if they pursued that, by the time it was all over, he’d inherit a smaller kingdom or lose control altogether.”

  I nodded.

  Enitan did an upward nod in my direction. “To complicate things for Taka, Princess Bonetta comes back
and wants to put an end to the Harvest of Blood, too. By the god’s sanctioning through Ifaka that the stones be found and united, it gives more weight to what the Ijebu oracle wants the king to do.”

  If Taka has his way, they might reinstate the harvest of blood and stop us from trying to retrieve them, I mused. If the king has his way, which is more likely, then we have a chance to unite them or die trying. It would mean freedom for all the enslaved people, and the other kingdom with magic could fight Ode if they chose to.

  I watched Enitan take a long drink of water. I doubted the king or Taka called her aside and told her what was going on or asked for her opinion. She was eavesdropping.

  “But Prince Taka likes to follow the rules,” said Enitan. “He’ll grumble, but he won’t disobey his father’s wishes or those of the gods.”

  I thought of the sensation that passed through my body when I felt the Ashe at Mama Rikki’s touch. Was that a sample of what magic felt like? Enitan’s voice dragged me out of my reminiscing.

  “Nuju, a cowrie for your thoughts?”

  I leaned closer. “Where do I fit into all this? I’m wondering, too, what does Mama Rikki have to do with this? Why did Segun send me to her?”

  “She’s the king’s sister. Rumor has it that she’s the one with the magic gift, magic that bypassed the king. But when her only child, Rikki, and her husband died in battle, she lost her mind. The only place that calmed her was the forest, so the king put her there. Why did Segun send you to her?” Enitan paused, her gaze fixed on her cup as she rocked it from side to side.

  I waited. I didn’t want to be too eager.

  “You tell me,” she said and looked at me.

  “But the other volunteers are to see her, too,” I said.

  “They visited her after you, and she dismissed them all. She wants only you to come back.

  “Something must have happened to Segun during the trip; tell me about your journey from home, from the time you were chosen to the time you entered the gates of the city.”

  I hesitated. Even though Enitan had told me a lot, I hadn’t forgotten the change in her after I met Taka. I had no reason to trust her and confide in her. Is it a good thing for people to know the details of what happened at Nuso? Would it portray Segun in a bad light? The silence started to grow.

  “Nuju?”

  My chest tightened. What did I have to lose? I told her about Kemi and Dotan being picked. I told her everything.

  “Darkness fell in the middle of the afternoon,” said Enitan.

  I nodded. “I don’t know what happened, but after that, the head witch agreed to let me take Kemi’s place. Then there was the incident of the panther.”

  “It just went dark?” asked Enitan. “It didn’t go dark here.”

  I nodded. I told her everything. About Segun setting me free, and my refusal to go. And how we got Dotan to be taken by force. When I finished, there was silence again between us. I jerked when someone in the cafeteria laughed out loud.

  “He owes you,” said Enitan, making a sucking noise as she cleaned her teeth with her tongue.

  I looked down. “Segun set me free.”

  Enitan nodded. “But you’re still here. He’s trying to pay it back by doing everything in his power to keep you alive.” She paused and took a drink of water. “Nuju, maybe you should ask him and try to find out things about the journey. Together we might figure this out.”

  I nodded. Things were getting weird. Now Enitan was asking me to relay information to her.

  Enitan shifted her head. “Is that Rahima? Who’s she with?”

  “Olajuwon from Ekiti. He was selected for the Harvest of Blood.”

  Enitan waved her hand dismissively. “They’re both wasting their time. She would go back to Qtari.”

  She reached out and patted me on the hand. “If you find stones during the quest, someone has to be ready. I think that’s why Prince Segun sent you to Mama Rikki. To prepare you and have a reason to keep you close to him.”

  I yawned, the events of the day finally catching up with me. I looked at the door, and my heart skipped a beat.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Prince Segun stood at the entrance. He looked regal in his white dashiki. His eyebrows narrowed as he scanned the room, then our eyes locked. The tension left his face, and he walked towards Enitan and me.

  Segun smiled. “Hello, Nuju.” He nodded at Enitan, who sprang to her feet.

  “Your Highness.”

  I took Enitan's cue and jumped to my feet.

  “No, please sit,” said Segun, touching my arm. “I was just passing by and saw you.”

  I looked away, unable to meet his gaze. No, you were not, I said to myself.

  Enitan picked up the tray with her plate. “I was already leaving,” she blurted and hurried off, glancing at Segun as if he were a living god.

  Segun pulled out the chair Enitan had vacated and sat down. “Sorry for interrupting your dinner.”

  “I… I was already done.” I stammered, self-conscious, like every pair of eyes in the cafeteria was on me. “I was waiting for Enitan to finish.”

  He placed his hands on the table, fingers interlocked. He looked at me and smiled. “How are you? You’ve been here only a day, but you seem to have fit in well.”

  How do I answer? This morning, the king let me know he would have preferred me dead. The combat instructor, aka the slave driver, turned out to be a torturer, then there was Kiki. Let’s not forget Mama Rikki; that piece of work had shown me that I had a hidden talent I could not access. I kept my answer civil. “It was demanding.”

  Segun inhaled and nodded. “Nuju, I have to apologize for dragging you into this mess. It wasn’t my plan; you saw how things unfolded.”

  I started to object. “No, No—”

  Segun raised a finger. “Bonetta also asked me to express her thanks to you.

  With the mention of the princess, my eyes drifted to Rahima. “Rahima’s over there,” I said and nodded in her direction.

  Segun looked, then turned back to me. “Before I forget, Bonetta wants you to train with her. I understand she’s deadly with a knife, and cunning. I think she wants you to get a woman’s perspective.”

  “She kills people?!” I stole another look at Rahima.

  Segun’s eyes widened. “I don’t know, but at least she gets the person in her care out of danger.”

  “What if she’s the one in danger?”

  Segun threw his hands up. “They’ll have to call on the gods, then, to save them.”

  Out of things to say, I fiddled with my hands.

  “I can walk you to your quarters,” said Segun. “I don’t want to hold you up.”

  We left the dining area and entered the maze of corridors. This was an excellent opportunity for me to find out more about the Eternity stones.

  “So, these magical stones, where are they located?” I asked.

  “Nobody seems to have a clear answer, but Ifaka might know.”

  We left the cafeteria and walked down the corridor lit by burning torches in metal stands built into the wall. When we reached the staircase, I turned towards Segun. “Why did you send me to Mama Rikki?”

  He looked me in the eye. “Well, our mission is to find the stones and magic. I thought it would be nice to find out if any members of our team had any magic in them.” Segun gave a nervous laugh. “Opposites attract, but in the magic realm, magic attracts magic.”

  “So, Mama Rikki has magic in her?”

  “It’s rumored that a long time ago when she was a child, she had the gift.” Segun shook his head. “I thought she’d be the best person to consult with.”

  I pursed my lips and nodded. “What about the witches, I mean, priestesses who make the selection for the Harvest of Blood? Where do their powers come from?”

  Segun exhaled noisily through his nose. “The source of their magic is rumored to be the… the dark side.”

  “Dark side?” I asked.

  “Yes, like black magic.
I don’t want to put any members of my team in harm’s way.”

  I found the different realms of magic confusing. Good magic and evil magic. By this time, we were by my door. What happened to the guards by my door? I placed my hand on the handle. Do I invite him in? I didn’t want to, but what if he insisted? Despite the free-flowing Buba I wore, I broke out in a cold sweat.

  “We’re here,” said Segun. “I almost forgot; Taka, Bonetta, and I will accompany father on a retreat to visit Oluma rock oracle. We’ll be away for two to three weeks.”

  I placed my hand on the door handle, and, without warning, Segun’s hand was over mine. My whole body went rigid. Our eyes met when I looked up. His palm felt like hot coals on mine. The door opened with a click, and Segun pushed it in. Time seemed to stand still.

  “Thank you so much, Nuju, and have a good night.”

  “For what?”

  “For saving that little girl,” said Segun. He turned and walked away.

  Walking into my room, I shut the door behind me and turned the lock. Had he walked away? With my ear pressed against the door, I listened and heard his footsteps get fainter and fainter. I let out a shaky breath and headed to the bedroom, climbed in the bed, and shut my eyes.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The same dream I had on the way to Ode and almost whenever I was stressed arrived in earnest. But this time the dream progressed to a woman screaming. Her voice was suddenly cut off, followed by a sound like the pounding of cassava in a mortar.

  I woke up tired, drenched in sweat, and ached all over. The habit of waking up early over the years to hunt got me out of bed and to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

  “Thighs hurting?” asked Enitan. A smile danced on her lips as she brought me breakfast. “Don’t worry, it will only hurt for a few days. Do you want me to give you a rub down?”

  “No!” I blurted, remembering what her hands did yesterday.

  Enitan’s eyebrows shot up. “You have anything against massages?”

  “No, no. I… I’ve never gotten one, and I don’t think it’s for me.” I thanked the gods Enitan didn’t push it and we left it at that. Once I was done eating, we left the apartment.