by Reni K Amayo
‘What are you doing?’ she whispered angrily into the hut. Madi replied with a series of louder noises, which, to Naala’s dismay, drew the gazes of concerned eyes. She smiled nervously as she brought out a large colourful fan from her pocket and coughed in an attempt to cover up the commotion.
‘Madi, if you don’t get out here right now, I’m coming in for you,’ she hissed and, after a short pause, she rolled her eyes in disdain before turning around, readying herself to storm into the small hut; only to be confronted by a flustered Madi on his way out.
He stood tall, with a thick extravagant skirt of striped leather wrapped around his waist, and thick white fur bands on his large upper arms and head. A necklace spiked with fangs hung around his neck. His broad chest was bare, save for the red handprints that Naala had placed minutes before, using the red paste that they had found in the couple’s luggage. His face was covered in a darker red paste, with bright white symbols sprawled across. Naala’s attire matched his, but rather than having handprints on her chest, she wore a large, thick, feathered necklace that came down almost to her navel.
Madi stood flustered at the entrance of the tent, holding one section of the tent cloth in his left hand. Naala could see the dark forms of two bodies lying side by side and propped up against feathered pillows, a far cry from the haphazard position that Madi and Naala had originally found them in.
Naala knocked the cloth out of Madi’s hand and let it fall to the ground, shielding the couple that they had drugged the night prior.
‘This is why you were making all that absurd noise?’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘Ensuring that they got their beauty sleep?’
‘I was just ensuring that they at least kept some dignity. It’s not fair what we have done here, Naala. It’s very deceptive and sneaky, like a filthy snake coming to poison you in the night, rather than fighting you in the day.’
‘Snake bites are not just reserved for the night,’ Naala replied drily.
‘You know what I mean.’
Crowds of people walked past on their way towards the grand mountain. Madi’s eyes scoured the crowds, but he had yet to see his little brother. As distasteful as it was, Madi had to admit that, for the time being anyway, Naala’s plan was working excellently.
The day before, Naala had ground up the ụra leaves with an assortment of herbs that she had picked from the nearby shrubbery. Madi had lost track of them after the fourth herb, but he had followed Naala faithfully as she sniffed and inspected them before plucking the ones she wanted.
Naala had put together the mixture that she used to make with her grandmother for Hanye during his particularly restless nights. Depending on how bad the episode was, they would make a mixture that would knock him out for one to three days straight. When he awoke, he would be refreshed and well again; that is, until something else set him off.
That night, Madi, using a makeshift slingshot, had fired pellets of the mixed herbs into the soup pot of a relatively isolated couple that they had identified as most similar to the two of them. Now Madi stood in the midst of the Obis, the generals, and the Eze; disguised and free to find Emeka.
Naala walked up beside him.
‘Look towards your right at the far end. The men with the long golden ofo sticks tied to their matching gold belts are in the head general’s squad,’ Naala muttered. She looked away in an attempt to remain inconspicuous.
‘Yes, I recognise their uniform,’ Madi said darkly, as he tried to block images of his brother in that same uniform covered in the blood of their neighbours. ‘He is not with them.’
Naala scanned the landscape.
‘Well, I’m sure they are scattered around the place,’ she reassured him quickly. ‘There must be more of them. I see only ten men here. I’ve heard that the general’s platoon has at least thirty officers.’
‘Yes,’ Madi said quietly. ‘Okay, let’s go.’
AN HOUR LATER, Madi and Naala found themselves towards the front of the procession of people climbing the base of the Udi mountain. The Eze couldn’t have been more than a stone’s throw away from them. He stood out with his extravagant attire consisting of a beautiful, rich collar of black fur with two gold-plated oryx horns sprouting at both of his shoulders. On his head sat a large, feathered headdress, on top of his neat uniform locs, tied at the nape of his neck with a gold band. Around his waist he wore a skirt of striped leather and various brilliant furs. This was not the only thing that made him noticeable. His very presence was intoxicating, as though he was radiating a new kind of energy, like light or heat, only far more powerful.
Naala couldn’t help but feel drawn to the powerful man. Whilst there was no doubt that she wanted him dead, a growing part of her also wanted to marvel at him, as though he were a long-lost treasure that she could keep safe and locked away forever, only visiting when the urge was too great and she needed to stand in the presence of a god.
He is not a god. He is a murderer, Naala thought bitterly. She hated this man; he and his army had stolen her loved ones. How on earth could I be drawn to him?
Naala rummaged through her mind for answers, but found none. Rather than continuing to fret, she decided to push whatever this feeling was to the back of her mind and focus on her ultimate goal: find Emeka.
Naala turned to look at Madi’s expression for what seemed like the hundredth time during their journey up the mountain. She was looking for a glimmer of recognition, a sign that he had finally found his brother, but so far all she had caught was his face becoming increasingly sour.
They had started at the back of the parade of people. They would inspect the surrounding faces before increasing their speed and pressing on once it became apparent that Emeka was not in their current section. Madi and Naala had continued this process and edged further and further up the procession. Their feet ached from continuously trying to overtake those around them and their heads were hot and sticky with sweat. They were approaching the front of the group, with no one left to overtake but the Eze himself. Yet Emeka was nowhere in sight.
Naala took a deep breath before turning to Madi once again and tugging at him softly. He brushed her away absentmindedly, and continued to scan the crowd. Naala cleared her throat loudly.
‘Biko, my leg hurts. Can we pause for a moment?’ Naala gestured to one of the crevices on the mountain wall.
‘Now?’ Madi replied impatiently, his eyes darting back and forth between her and the crowd around.
‘Yes, now,’ Naala replied coldly, her patience also beginning to wane. Surely he should know by now that his brother was not there.
‘Listen to your wife, brother! Trust me, it will save you a headache later down the line,’ one man chuckled, as he jovially hit Madi’s back and winked at his own wife who smiled.
Madi attempted a smile back, but gave up halfway through. He took one last sweeping look at the group approaching him before sighing and moving towards Naala, who had edged closer to the face of the mountain. She directed them towards a small crevice she had spotted earlier. As they drew closer to it, Naala realised that it was far deeper than she had originally thought; to her surprise the small opening led to a cave.
‘Why are you stopping?’ he asked quietly, his voice shielded somewhat by a distant stream rushing over what sounded like rocks deep within the cave.
‘Madi, he’s not here,’ Naala said quickly, not wanting to drag out the conversation any longer than it needed to be. She could already see that it was not going to be an easy one.
‘Hey, you don’t know that for sure. Not yet,’ he pleaded, more so with himself than Naala.
‘We were among the last people coming up this mountain, and we have travelled up to the front. We’ve looked through all the people and he’s not here,’ Naala replied, and, as the words tumbled out of her mouth, a wave of sadness hit her. She had really wanted to find Madi’s brother, not solely because of the part he would play in avenging her family, but because she wanted to see them reunited. She wanted to k
now that the Eze and his army had not completely succeeded in destroying families.
‘I could have missed him,’ he said softly, as he closed his eyes tightly.
A thick lump formed in her throat and her eyes felt tight and prickly. Naala wanted nothing more than to reassure Madi. She wanted to agree and give him the hope that he desperately needed to cling onto, but before she could say a thing, loud voices rang through the cave. They were not alone.
‘What are you two doing in here, eh?’ said one of the emerging shadows. As he drew close enough to the light, Naala noticed gold gleaming on his belt: they were men from the general’s squad.
‘I think it’s clear that these lovers were looking for some privacy. Well, don’t let us stop you! Heaven knows I’ve needed a good show,’ another resonant voice added, followed by a rumble of deep laughter.
Naala’s blood grew hot. She was unsure whether she felt anger or shame; whatever it was, it made her clench her fists and narrow her eyes.
‘Oh, no-no-no,’ Madi replied cautiously. ‘We’re just here to take a break from the sun—my poor wife needed a rest.’
‘Who said that?’ a raspy voice said from the shadows, as Madi looked around, confused.
‘Me? Are you talking to me?’
‘Yes, who are you?’ the voice replied, slightly louder as its owner advanced further.
‘I’m—well, I’m …’
‘We are Kamali and Kia, from the Kingdom of Aksum in the far east. We’ve travelled a long way to come to the Ofala festival; I imagine we are the first of our kind here,’ Naala said quickly, attempting to make her accent sound like Madi’s. Her village had received a number of visitors from Aksum; each one had been different from the last. Aksum was a region that housed hundreds of different tribes, meaning that, if need be, Naala and Madi could easily create their own.
The man drew closer, slowly materialising out of the shadows. As he came into the light, Naala had to squeeze her fists to stop herself from gasping. He stood tall in a similar, but slightly different attire from the rest of the soldiers. Across his chest he wore a large gold pendant encrusted with brilliant jewels; in the middle of the majestic pendent was an old rusting key.
The head general.
He stared intensely at Madi, before breaking into a hearty laugh and giving him a friendly slap on the back. Madi laughed nervously.
‘Young man! You gave me such a fright. Your accent sounds so much like that boy … what was his name?’ the general asked, as he looked back at his men.
‘You mean Emeka? The coward?’ another man replied with a low chuckle.
‘Yes! Yes! Emeka, I thought I was seeing an onyinyo,’ the general said.
Naala blinked and looked back at Madi who was frozen in place; his fists were clenched and his body tense.
‘Are you alright?’ the general asked cautiously.
‘Yes,’ Madi replied after a short pause. ‘It’s just the sun, and the journey.’
‘Ahh, give the man some water,’ the general ordered, before turning to leave the cave.
Naala quickly stepped in his way, causing him to halt.
‘Sorry, Ozo, but who is this man that sounds so much like my husband?’ Naala said chattily; her mouth was dry but she forced herself to power through. ‘I’d be curious to meet the man. We can tell the people in Aksum that we stumbled across another version of Kamali on the road.’
The general looked down at her with disdain.
‘Shouldn’t you be tending to your husband? Or are things done so differently in Aksum?’
‘I … well,’ Naala stuttered.
‘Please excuse my wife; the women in Aksum are practically famous for their gossiping,’ Madi managed to say once he had regained his composure. A chorus of laughter and agreement erupted through the cave as a leather flask was handed to him.
‘Although …’ Madi continued ‘… I too would like to meet this man, who supposedly sounds like me.’
‘He is dead! The bloody coward tried to run away in the night and got an arrow in the back. No offence,’ he said, turning to Madi pointedly. ‘I’m sure you’re nothing like him.’
Madi could only nod weakly.
‘Well, anyway,’ the general said after a brief pause, ‘we’re falling back—Jayamma and Debare, quickly finish collecting that spring water—the rest of you, let’s go!’
Madi and Naala stepped aside as a group of men marched by them. Madi turned to Naala with intense pain and anger simmering in his eyes.
She shook her head in response; she was so very sorry. Soon enough the cave was completely still. Neither Madi nor Naala moved or said a word to each other. Naala’s eyes were fixated on Madi’s shadowy face as he stared hopelessly at the ground. She had no idea what to say or do.
‘I wish they would stop calling that boy a coward,’ a voice suddenly said from within the cave. Naala jumped slightly and looked deeper into the cave, but she saw nobody, not even the eerie shadows that she had witnessed when the soldiers were hanging around.
The general ordered two of them to stay; they must be around some sort of bend, Naala thought, near the stream that she could hear but could not see. Naala nudged Madi, signalling that he should remain silent.
Just as Naala and Madi could not see the two men speaking, so the men clearly could not see them either, which could only work to Naala and Madi’s advantage, now that the conversation had circled back to Emeka.
‘But you know why he is doing that? It is a warning to the rest of us, about what will happen if we step out of line. Death is not enough; your name, your reputation, will be ruined as well.’
‘Yes, but it’s wrong. That boy did something that we should all do; he stood up to the orders to kill and tried to protect those people. All this senseless killing … women, children, the elderly. It’s evil, and it is weak. You know the general is still clueless as to why we are being tasked with committing these murders—ask him. That boy stood up for them and paid with his life, and we laugh whilst the general calls him a coward.’
The conversation came to a pause as the heavy words settled onto the dark rocky ground. Naala mourned yet another senseless death, but found solace in the fact that Madi’s brother had found redemption. Hopefully Madi would finally be able to rest, knowing that his brother was now at peace in the afterlife.
‘You need to be careful, my friend,’ a low voice warned. ‘You really need to be careful.’
‘Careful with what? My life or my soul? Which one do you really think requires more care?’ the other man retorted.
‘Enough; we’ve taken too long fetching this water anyhow. Let’s finish this off and return— now is not the time for all this,’ the other man said authoritatively, as Naala and Madi slowly backed out of the cave.
THE RIGHT QUESTION
CITY OF NRI
‘THE MOTHER!’ Sinai exclaimed, as she rushed into Meekulu’s kitchen. Sinai couldn’t even begin to find the words she needed; her mind was overwhelmed with a chorus of emotions that she struggled to make sense of.
The old woman had white thick powder scattered on her apron and all the way up to her bare elbows. Meekulu lowered her head, her glass frames sliding slightly down her nose as she peered at Sinai intently.
‘The Mother?’ Meekulu said curiously.
‘Yes! No—not the Mother, the Mother—she is so much more than this—more than what they say—and he—he … what he did,’ Sinai replied, as she drew closer to the old woman.
Him. The Eze, the hero, the liar. Sinai’s mind whirled with thoughts that she had yet to fully process.
The breathtaking Earth Mother. Her beautiful image still burnt fiercely in Sinai’s mind; her grace, her balance. Slowly those images morphed into the anxiety that filled Sinai whenever she was in the Eze’s presence. The bile that had nearly reached her throat when he had smirked over the death of his queen, Lolo Obioma. Unspoken cruelty and harsh rules marked his rule over the kingdom; how could he be the saviour when the Earth Mother had
fought for nature itself?
Meekulu raised an eyebrow and continued to search Sinai’s face for something untold. Suddenly the old woman broke into a wide smile.
‘So you have seen! You have really seen,’ Meekulu said wistfully. ‘How?’
As Sinai recounted what happened to her in the courtroom, Meekulu’s eyes widened further and further. Her powdered hands clamped tightly over Sinai’s and her reactive sounds became increasingly animated.
‘You saw her, that scene, just with one touch,’ Meekulu interjected in shock, as Sinai nodded enthusiastically.
‘And you mean to tell me that he let you touch the Ndụ crystal, just like that!’ Meekulu exclaimed again, as Sinai continued nodding. ‘The folly of man truly knows no bound!’ The old woman chuckled delightfully to herself. ‘I didn’t expect that you would to get close to that thing for months still, years even!’
‘You knew that this would happen?’
‘I did not know, but I most certainly hoped, and I worked to create situations that would make such an occurrence likely to take place. Why else would I ask you to spy on the Eze?’ Meekulu released Sinai and went over to a bucket to wash her hands.
‘Wait, you made me agree to an ọbara oath so that I could touch the crystal?’ a baffled Sinai asked, her head still reeling from the revelations about the Mother.
‘Yes, and no. I wanted you to spy on the Eze so that you would know yourself,’ Meekulu said.
‘Know myself?’
‘Yes, know yourself and develop, grow stronger and wiser, which one only does when faced with threats,’ Meekulu said, as she dried her hands and turned towards the girl. Her eyes were slightly lowered, and what Sinai could only perceive as guilt was visible in her leathered face. ‘There is one other thing that you should know—the ọbara oath,’ Meekulu began, before squinting as she gauged Sinai’s temperament.
Sinai’s eyes widened. ‘Oh no,’ she breathed. ‘Oh no no, it’s been enacted, hasn’t it? I’m going to die? But I’ve been spying on him, and, okay, yes, granted I could have gone to the Ofala festival and spied some more, but—’
