Queen Of Queens

Queen of Queens episode 19 – 20

Queen of Queens

Episode 19

The heat of the sun rose from the clouds and reached where she stood, casting a shadow behind her. That was it, she had waited enough for her sister, she was tired of the scorching cruelty of the sun.

She rose to her feet and moved towards the door, but paused immediately. There was something odd about the way the door was, it was slightly parted; Mma couldn’t have left the door this way.

Her heart raced as she wondered if Nkoyo, her stepmother had found out that Eka had been sheltering her; what if she was right there in the house?

‘May the gods protect me’ Mma pushed the door open at once.

She felt glued and greatly shaken by the scene before her; there was a dark patch in the middle of the hut, reddish and in plenty.

‘No’ her legs gave way and she fell to the ground. Something bad must have happened to her sister.

‘No…Eka’ her l-ips trembled as she realized the red patch was indeed human blood.

She was greatly shaken and afraid; she felt confused, was Eka still alive? Where was she?

‘Abasi ooo’!!! She wailed and the loneliness of the trees spread her loud voice through the forest and beyond it.

He had chosen to stay behind not just because he wanted to keep watch with the men; he yearned to see her again; to see the maiden that had left a mark on his heart.

He hoped she would visit the river again, he needed to see her; he had never felt this drawn to a woman.

‘Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about her, my prince’ Emana, his closest friend, and warrior stepped into his tent.

The warriors had built tents with raffia and the floors were covered with dried goatskin They had enough food supplies to last them for two market weeks before they would move to the king’s palace.

‘Who’? Prince Udo sat up.

‘Don’t play with me, I saw the way your eyes ran all over her’ Emana replied.

‘I still do not know who you’re talking about’ Udo replied.

‘Okay then, food is ready, are you hungry’? Emana asked.

‘What’s for “food”? Udo scoffed.

‘Our men fished. So it’s roast yam and roast fish’ Emana replied.

‘I’ll eat ….’ he had not yet completed his words when a loud and piercing scre-m filtered his tent.

He quickly jumped to his feet, the warrior in him came alive.

‘Did you hear that’? He turned to Emana.

‘Yes, it seems like a maiden is in trouble’ Emana replied boldly.

Her face flashed in his mind; he could see her right now, looking so helpless and weak; he didn’t know why but he felt it strongly that the girl that occupied his thoughts was the one scre-ming.

‘I have to go’ He quickly fetched his machete.

‘Not alone, I’ll come with you; the rest of the men would keep guard’ Emana said. His job was to protect the Prince with all of his heart and strength.

‘As you wish’ Prince Udo replied and rushed out of the hut.

‘Stay here all of you and be alert, we would be back’ Emana instructed the men before leaving with the prince.

‘What do you think happened’? Emana felt nervous, he didn’t know what lay ahead and talking would make him feel better.

However, the Prince was not in the mood to talk; he was in the mood to find out who was scre-ming and why.

They moved a good distance away from the camp towards the forest, it was really confusing, what would a maiden be doing in the forest?

‘My Prince, don’t you think we should turn back? What if it was the voice of an evil spirit’? Emana suggested. He had heard stories of that nature, where evil spirits would lure people into a trap and kill them.

Once again, the Prince ignored him.

As they neared the edge of the forest, Udo paused and bent on the ground. They were footprints on the sand and he decided to follow them.

‘They could be your brother’s own, he followed this path too’ Emana said.

‘No. My brother left with ten men; so if they had treaded this path, I would’ve seen a lot of footprints around here; come with me’ Udo’s hand firmly guarded his machete as he followed the footprints.

‘Besides, those prints belong to someone who is not very tall, we both know we don’t have short people in my family’ Udo continued.

This provoked a laugh in Emana, a dry and nervous laugh but with the stern look of the Prince, he shut his mouth and focused on what was to come.

‘Do you see that’? Udo pointed at a large hut a few miles from them.

‘Yes. But why would there be a hut at the edge of the forest, isn’t that suspicious’? Emana wondered.

‘Of course, it is, keep moving’ Udo ordered.

Her sobs grew lower as both men reached the hut; the sound of her cries had mellowed into gro-ns.

‘My Prince, are you really sure about this’? Emana knew there was no going back once they both stepped into that house.

The pained sound of her gro-ning and sobs really touched him and he immediately rushed into the house, he felt more shocked as he realized that he had been right.

‘What are you doing here’? Mma jumped to her feet as she s₱0tted the Prince she had earlier seen.

Suspicion was written all over her face; what if his men had come and attacked her sister while she had been away. She felt horrible; she was mad at herself for leaving Eka alone in the first place.

‘I am sorry, I heard you scre-ming’ The Prince could see she was suspecting him.

His eyes strayed to the deep red patch in the middle of the hut, he was a warrior and he knew blood even before feeling it with his hands. Something bad had happened here.

‘Please go, leave me be’ she moved towards the door, she didn’t know who to trust or who to turn to right now.

She was in deeper trouble than she could ever imagine; how was she going to explain this to the land? To Nkoyo and Ekpo? What if Eka was dead?

‘Please, tell me what happened here, I could help you’ the Prince could understand why she was weary of him. He was a stranger to her and it was not advisable to trust strangers.

‘My sister…’ she paused and looked into his eyes, she found genuine concern and care for them and for a fleeting moment, he reminded her of Ono. They had the same dark and brooding eyes.

‘Yes, what happened to her? Is she injured or something’? He focused on the ground.

‘I don’t know, I went out and I returned to an empty house; I kept calling her name but she wouldn’t answer me’ tears poured down her cheeks as she explained all that had happened.

‘Where did you go’? The Prince moved away from her, he couldn’t bear to see her cry, it hurt him.

‘I…I went to see someone’ she quickly wiped her face.

‘Who’? He asked.

‘Why are you asking me all these’? She was getting irritated, she had thought he had come to help her; why then was he asking her questions?

‘I am a warrior and I came here to find the attackers of the princess; I am also here to help people that are in trouble’ he replied.

‘Then stop asking me questions’ she snapped at him, even more, surprised at her outburst.

‘My Prince…’ Emana who had been quiet all along stepped into the house. His eyes had been focused on the red patch since he walked in; he noticed something there; something was buried in the blood.

‘Yes’? Udo turned to him.

‘I think I have found a clue that may help us solve this puzzle’ He drew out his machete and lifted the tiny object that was buried in the dry patch.

‘A wrist bead’ he fetched a piece of cloth from one of the baskets he had found in the room and wiped it.

Mma stared at the red beads in surprise; she had never seen Eka wearing it.

‘That does not belong to my sister’ she replied.

‘I thought so too’ The Prince nodded.

Episode 20

He had thought of all sorts of stories he would tell his mother when he reached home; his conscience pricked him as he realized that his sister had died by his own hand.

He would never forgive himself as long as he lived and this made him more determined to carry out vengeance on Mmaffiong. It was her fault that his sister died.

Eka was not supposed to die; she had not been the one to fall but Mma and now this happened.

‘You are back from the farm early’ she said as she shredded the pumpkin leaves.

‘Mother…’ Ekpo called in a broken voice.

‘My son…what is it’? She sensed the pain in his voice.

She had discovered that her daughter had eloped from the house but she had not really been bothered as she thought she must have gone to hide at one of her friend’s house.

She dropped the leaves in a basket and stepped out of her kitchen hut towards her son.

‘Ekpo, nsido? What is it’? She stared into his eyes.

‘Eka…’ he licked his l-ips nervously.

‘Yes? What happened to Eka’? She wondered.

‘I found her body in the forest where I went to collect firewood; she was attacked by a wild animal’ He broke down into sobs.

‘No, that is not possible, are you saying that…No’ Nkoyo laughed, she didn’t want to imagine it.

‘Mother, I am so sorry but you have to accept this….’ He clapped his hands and his gang members dropped her body which was wrapped in a mat before his mother.

‘No! Abasi mbok! Why? What is happening to me? What is happening to my family’? Nkoyo threw herself on the ground and sobbed.

‘First, it was your father and now Eka, truly, the gods have shown me hatred’ she sobbed in a loud voice.

‘Go, we’ll meet later’ Ekpo said to his men.

‘I am so sorry mother’ Ekpo moved towards her and held her in his arms.

‘No, this is my fault. I shouldn’t have sent Mmaffiong out of the house, Eka was angry with me and that was why she ran away’ Nkoyo cried.

‘Mother, don’t cry; everything would be alright’ Ekpo whispered.

‘Alright? You don’t understand do you’? Nkoyo laughed, grief had really embraced her this time.

‘I am finished’! She began to weep.

Mma’s eyes dwelt on his’, she noticed the way he encircled the bead in his hands like he had seen it before.

‘Have you seen this before’? She asked.

‘Yes. When my father sent I and my brothers on a mission to one of the Annang lands, we were waylaid by a group of men wearing this’ he tossed the bead in the air.

‘What does this mean’? Emana asked.

‘The Nkuku cult is in this land and we must find them’ Prince Udo replied. He had a strong feeling that these same cultists were the ones that attacked the princess.

‘Is this were you and your sister live? Do you have parents’? Udo asked.

The Nkuku cult did not just attack anyone; they were hired by well-placed people in the society and were highly paid in cowries for their services. If Mma’s sister was attacked by a member of this cult, it meant someone wealthy was involved.

‘My father…’ she paused, not knowing where to start, how could she pour out her life’s story to a total stranger? She did not need his pity.

‘You must tell me everything that would help us save your sister and your life’ The Prince sensed her hesitation.

‘I…was sent out of the house by my stepmother. So my half sister, Eka followed me, she found this hut which used to be our fathers. He built it here for personal reasons and we have not lived here for two days’ she replied.

He scratched his beards thoughtfully.

Her heart raced as he watched him do this, Ono did that every time he was bothered about something.

‘How wealthy is your father’? He asked and found her staring at him.

‘We are not wealthy, just average’ she replied and tore her eyes away from him. He had caught her looking at him.

‘I promise to get to the bottom of this’ he could see the fear in those brown eyes and all what he yearned for was to calm them. To make her trust him, to make her like him.

‘Thank you, your highness’ she bowed her head.

‘No need for that, call me Udo’ he offered her a smile which she couldn’t resist.

His smile gave her hope and assurance that everything would be fine.

‘I cannot disrespect my prince’ she replied.

He shrugged and decided to let the matter rest, ‘Tell me your name’.

She almost laughed as she remembered how startled she had been when she had seen him earlier but decided it was the wrong time for that.

‘Mmaffiong’ she bowed her head.

‘What do we do next, my prince’? Emana quickly cut in.

‘We have to go to your house and see if your sister is there’ he turned to Mma.

‘But she cannot be there, her things are still intact’ she gazed at the baskets.

‘It doesn’t matter, let us go’ he grabbed her hand without her permission and together they left the hut.

Her hands felt warm by his touch; she wanted to pull her hands away but she quickly reminded herself that he was a prince and she couldn’t disrespect him by that action.

‘He would be better if you pay half your debt, getting those herbs from the forests is not an easy task; you must show me commitment’ the healer said to Ono as she str-de outside to meet him.

‘You have done so much for me Abia, I promise to gather some money today; you are too kind’ he was delighted that the woman had agreed to treat his brother first, without asking for pay.

‘I did it because that little boy reminds me of the children I never had, but you must show me commitment’ she warned and str-de off.

‘I will. I promise’ Ono dropped the calabash he held, it was filled with hot water.

Where was he going to get money so easily? He had not even gone to the palace to meet with the princess; he drew a deep breath and lowered himself into the stool next to him. He was lost, this situation felt hopeless.

‘You must see the princess son, even if we sold all the yams and grains in our store, it wouldn’t add up to the healer’s fee and if we do not do this, we both know how angry she could get. She may even pull out from treating your brother’ his father said.

‘No, I cannot let that happen. I cannot let my brother die. I promise you father, I will think of something’ Ono jumped to his feet.

‘There is not time for thinking son, this is the time to act’ the old man replied and returned to the hut where he stayed and watched his younger son.

He sighed and thought about Mma, he knew she would be angry with him if he asked her to return the cowries he had saved for her hand but he had no choice. That was the exact thing he was going to do.

Once he got the fifteen cowries, he would add it to the five he had with him; maybe later he would go to the palace and ask the princess to help him out.

‘I am off to the palace’ he told his father.

‘May the gods favor you there’ the man replied.

But he wasn’t actually going to the palace, he was going to the forest; just as Mma had described, he would go to the hut and find her.

Though they had fought earlier, he missed her so much and couldn’t wait to see her again.

To be continued….

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