OJADILI The Mystery Boy Episode 12 by Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor

OJADILI The Mystery Boy Episode 12 by Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor

**Misjudgement**

The celebration of the victory of the competition champions went on as Ojadili observed with a tinge of fear.

The princess was a bit uncomfortable at this time because it just began to dawn on her that Azuanuka may pick her as his reward and trophy. Out of the blue, she suddenly began to be feverish even without knowing what caused it.

Ojadili amid the celebration, noticed the princess’s discomfort, so he stood up, making everything to be at a halt.

The tension was high because Ojadili was yet to gain the people’s trust, so the guards were on alert.

Ojadili rushed to the princess as he noticed that she was about to fall, but the guards tried to shield him thinking that he wanted to hurt her.

Notwithstanding the obstacles, Ojadili rushed to the princess and held her before she dropped on the ground.

“The princess isn’t feeling well!” Ojadili shouted, making the people mob her to know what was wrong.

The king rushed at the princess to know what was wrong.

The queen who was in her chamber suddenly rushed to the scene, jostled the crowd until she got to her daughter. She held the panting princess and began to jab her neck to make her open her closing eyes but her eyeballs were seriously rolling back into her head.

“Nwam, what’s wrong with you?” The queen moaned and inspected the eyes of the daughter, “where is the palace physician?” she yelled weepingly.

“Oborochi! Oborochi!” The king yelled and stood in anger and anxiety, “where is he, where is the physician?”

“Don’t bother about Oborochi,” Ojadili said to them but the chief physician was there already; with his team to attend to the princess.

“Take her to her chamber, please,” The king shouted on the guards making everyone to be afraid of what was about to happen.

“Kill the antelope, steam it and bring some water used for the cooking to revive the princess,” Ojadili said, making everyone to be surprised.

The queen angrily looked at Ojadili and hissed disgustedly.

“I said it but no one believed me,” Ichie Utaba shouted with his hands on his head, “Ewo! He’s about to execute his plans,”

The queen angrily got up, looked at Ojadili and shouted: “Take this evil creature from this palace right away. Arrest him, and make him pay. He has charmed my daughter and now wants to finish her up. I never trusted him,”

Onodugo who was observing became so furious and rushed at Ojadili; gave him a hard blow on the head.

Ojadili fell and passed out.

There was confusion everywhere because the man that they wanted to arrest was already helplessly lying on the ground beside the princess.

“Take this man to the cell and don’t allow him to escape,” The queen ordered.

The king remained mute and indecisive. He was so confused at this point. He wasn’t sure if he made the right call by accepting Ojadili or made the wrong move. He was bereft of ideas. He simply watched as Ojadili was dragged out to the cell while the princess was taken to her hut.

The confusion created by the unforeseen incidence brought the competition to an end. The guards dispersed the crowd back to their different homes to control the tension that overtook everyone.

The king and his cabinet members entered into a serious meeting for brainstorming; to know how to tackle the situation at hand.

The queen went straight to Chino’s hut to ensure that she monitors whatever was being done there. Ugoeze was so restive and wished that Ojadili be given a swift execution by hanging.

After a series of brainstorms with the cabinet members, the king and his members decided to bring Ojadili in their midst to know his role and who sent him.

Being that Ojadili had regained consciousness, he was brought to the king and the cabinet members for interrogation.

As Ojadili stood in the middle of the elders with his hands and legs bound, he didn’t talk but listened and looked wearily.

Ichie Okafo looked intently at Ojadili and said: “For the last time before your execution, who are you, and what’s your mission in Amachara?”

Ojadili shook his head in dismay and said: “He who doesn’t know his location when the rain starts dealing with him would hardly know where and when it stops,”

“Arrogance!” Ichie Utaba yelled and got up angrily pointing his walking stick at Ojadili, “Nwata nkea bu efulefu (this boy is a ne’er do well),”

The king, for the first time, couldn’t fathom if he made the right decision or not. He wanted to speak but had to allow his cabinet members to handle it first. At the moment, he believed that he wasn’t capable of making a good decision.

“The boy has not been found guilty yet,” Ichie Okafo entered, “Even though, for the first time, I agree with Ichie Utaba that this boy has some arrogance and pride in him for replying me with a proverb. Ika bukwanu nwata (you’re still a kid)” he added and went closer to Ojadili, “Ozowaraonaa, what’s your mission in this kingdom and who sent you?”

Ojadili didn’t talk further but kept mute, making the entire cabinet members to be angry at his unequivocal silence. They believed that Ojadili was arrogant as purported.

“Young man speak,” Ichie Agwanti said in a low tone, “I’m sure that you love your life too. Why not save yourself the stress or make your punishment less severe by speaking up?”

Ichie Utaba felt that they were wasting time, so he rushed to Ojadili and slapped him.

Tears of humiliation dropped from Ojadili’s left eye to his cheek. He wanted to clean it but his hands were bound with akwaraike rope so he allowed it dry up on him.

Even though the king was angry with Ojadili, he wasn’t in support of the slap.

“Utaba, why?” Azuamailo asked angrily, “why did you slap this boy?”

There was grave silence at this point as the king looked angrily at Utaba who tried to avoid eye contacts with him.

“With all due respect, Igwe,” Utaba said with a bow of respect and reverence, “We’re using every measure possible to get the truth out of him. But I apologise for the slap,”

“Way forward please,” Ichie Agwanti added, “As we speak, the princess is still unconscious. So, why are we wasting time?”

”That’s the reason why we should force the truth out of his mouth to make him undo what he’s done,” Ichie Utaba opined.

Looking intently at Ojadili, the king said: “Dont you have a defence to the accusations or a reply, or even a confession. I promise to give you a kingly pardon if you reveal your mission and revive my beloved daughter. I accepted you because you mentioned my good friend that healed me. Why are you paying me back; evil for good?”

Ojadili felt that the king was the one he owed an explanation, so he heaved a sigh of relief and said: “The name of your friend that sent me is Ojadili…”

“Yes, my daughter told me that already because she met him at Obiakpo shrine,” The king interjected, “what else do I need to hear?”

Ojadili nodded thrice and said: “The man Ojadili foresaw this moment, that was why he gave me the antelope to give to you. I’m not his servant but a messenger sent to deliver this message. If I try to even find my way back to him, I can’t locate him. He said that the competition is being done at the wrong time, therefore should be cancelled. According to him; how can a great figure like Ifenkili be yet to be buried but the jubilation and championship are going on?”

“Ha-ha,” Ichie Utaba laughed aloud, “I said it. This boy is prankish and knows how to get into the skin of the gullible victim. But this time, he has failed kpatakpata (woefully). Because I attacked him with the superfluity of my wisdom, he tries to deny my pretty daughter of her victory. Try harder boy because this is a cheap lie,”

There was serenity as silence abounded in their midst.

The king and the cabinet members were confused at this point because it seemed as if Ichie Utaba was right.

“My king,” Ichie Okafo said feeling indifferent about Ojadili’s sincerity, “I think Ichie Utaba could be right about this…”

“Gbam!” Ichie Utaba shouted and raised his hands victoriously, “Okafo is now reasoning like a man should,”

Ichie Okafo didn’t find that insult funny, so he looked angrily at Ichie Utaba. He wanted to attack him with words but felt that a more pressing need was before them, so he shouldn’t waste his time rebuking him.

“Can we allow this boy to talk?” Ichie Agwanti suggested making the king to nod in agreement to that.

“Go on, child,” The king said to Ojadili and listened.

Ojadili took one step forward and said: “My king, your child dies soon. Kill the animal and do as you’ve been instructed. If she fails to be revived, cut of my head,”

Ichie Utaba looked scornfully at Ojadili and let out an implike grin.

“Your head isn’t of a match with a great one like the princess of Amachara,” Utaba blurted, “You have no value. I now know that what you came for is a suicide mission. You already know the worthlessness of your life, so you came to kill the princess and kill yourself too. Ogaghi eme (it won’t happen),”

“Igwe, you may wish to believe Ichie Utaba,” Okafo said to the king and sat; even though he felt bad for accepting that Ichie Utaba could be right.

“Soon, she dies,” Ojadili reiterated and didn’t speak again no matter the persuasions and mockery from the panel of judges.

Seeing how obdurate the boy was, the king felt that it was better he does what the boy suggested than see his child die.

“Guards!” The king yelled making two guards appear forthwith, “take the antelope to Ugonnia, the Akanri (the hand of food). Let the chief chef steam the meat meticulously and bring a cup of water from the water used in boiling it,”

The guards did as instructed while Ojadili remained where he was as he waited for the result of the experimentation to be out.

After a few hours, the water from the cooked antelope was brought to the king. He looked at it and said to the cabinet members: “What choice do we have? None. Since there is no way to revive the princess, let’s give the boy’s suggestion a try. I don’t want to lose my precious Anyanwu ututu. (morning sunshine)”

”You have a point, my king,” Ichie Okafo said looking at the other members for a nod of approval. ”Okwanu ya? (Isn’t it),”

Other cabinet members nodded in agreement except Ichie Utaba who frowned at the decision.

”I think we all should witness this because Agwo otu onye huru bu eke (the snake seen by one man could be a python),” The king said and stood while others joined, ”Let’s all head to the princess’s hut and clear our doubts,”

The king and the entire cabinet members came to the hut while the guards dragged Ojadili along with them.

When they got there, the princess was still unconscious while her mom kept weeping.

Seeing Ojadili again, the queen was infuriated, so she rushed at him and tore the fine Nwankwo cloth that Ucheadi gifted to him.

“Woman, control yourself because what we came here for is a serious business!” The king screamed at her. “But why is Ujuamara not here?” he asked and looked around.

“But this is true,” Ichie Okafo said and looked around as if he expected seeing him in their midst, “he’s in the best position to tell us if this boy is real or fake,”

“Before the chief priest arrives, no matter how fast he is, the princess will die,” Ojadili said audaciously and looked at his shackled hands, “Unbind me let me feed her with the water. This would be according to the instructions from Ojadili, the diviner,”

There was confusion everywhere because they didn’t know if the boy was saying the truth or wanted to kill the princess.

“What choice do we have?” The king rhetorically said and personally began to unbind Ojadili but the guards helped him out to tie him loose. “Go ahead now that your hands are free,” he said to Ojadili.

The queen wasn’t okay with the decision, so she looked away.

In an exceedingly short time, Onodugo entered the hut angrily. He was breathing threats against the stranger. “What’s going on here?” He growled angrily looking at his dad, “Is this supposed to be an execution of my beloved sister as ordered by her father?”

The queen then ouctried: “Tell him ooo. He wants to kill my beloved daughter by listening to the voice of a stranger instead of him to heed the advice from his family,”

“I think it’s time to kill this rat myself,” Onodugo shouted and unsheathed his sword. He was prepared to kill Ojadili because he was earlier informed by Achikolo that the king concurred with the stranger’s suggestion.

The guards held Onodugo so that he wouldn’t act against the king’s order.

“Go ahead, son,” The king said to Ojadili making Onodugo and the queen to be angry.

Ojadili went to the princess as the tension was high in their midst. He opened her mouth and poured some of the medicinal water therein.

After a while, the princess began to cough aloud.

The people were afraid because the coughing was hard that they thought she was about to die.

The guards held Ojadili so that he wouldn’t escape. As they bound his hands and legs again, the princess became calm.

In a jiffy, princess Chinonye opened her eyes and exhaled a deep air. She looked around in surprise and saw the clustered crowd in her hut. “What happened?” she asked dazedly.

The queen rushed to her daughter and embraced her. “I thought I almost lost you. Thank God you’re alive,”

The princess was surprised to see Ojadili with tears in his eyes, so she got up to meet him.

“Why is our noble visitor’s hand bound with akwaraike rope?” The princess asked looking confused.

It was surprising to the people that Ojadili destroyed the ropes without a struggle and began to leave in anger. No one could unbound akwaraike by himself but Ojadili did that effortlessly.

Confusion and remorse flared in the midst of the entire observers because they felt that they just misjudged the innocent one.

Ojadili was so angry at this point because he believed that the gods were not fair to him; making him move from one humiliation to the other. He reminisced on his humiliating moments in his village, Umuabani, Amirioma, and then in Amachara.

At this point, no one could stop him even when the entire guards tried.

It became obvious to the entire people that Ojadili was stronger than he seemed because the entire six hefty guards couldn’t even stop him from leaving the palace.

The princess looked so angered but still confused, so she held her father and said: “Nna anyi, what happened?”

The dad was full on pains and rue as he began to blame himself for humiliating the boy. He didn’t know what to do anymore, so he said to the daughter: “For the first time, I misjudged the harmless. The boy was accused of casting a spell on you that made you collapse. Ozowaraonaa told us to use the water from the cooked antelope to revive you but we didn’t believe him until we finally did. Fortunately, it worked. Now, he’s sad and…”

The princess didn’t wait for the dad to complete his statement before rushing out to meet Ojadili. It was surprising to the princess that Ojadili had gone far when she saw him. She rushed as fast as she could until she got to him but Ojadili kept walking away in anger until the princess fell and began to cry behind him.

Ojadili was moved by pity, so he stopped and went back to meet her. He pulled her up and held her close while the guards tried to catch up to meet them.

“Stop crying my princess,” Ojadili said as he cuddled the weeping beauty, “I don’t belong here even though I thought I did. I came to Amachara beause I was sent by Ojadili. I didn’t come to destroy the village but to save it. I am glad that you’re safe now, so let me go in peace,”

The princess couldn’t talk but felt much solace in Ojadili’s arms. She wished that the moment never ends in his arms but the guards were there already to take her home.

“Please, don’t take me away from him,” The princess cried and held Ojadili firmly but the guards had to do their duties.

Isikotebu, the chief guard carried the princess on his shoulder as they went back to the palace.

Ojadili felt as if a part of him was being torn away when the princess left but he still began to head away.

As Ojadili walked further way from the palace, he kept thinking of what the young version of him told him. He felt that he was walking away from his destiny. Anger blotted out his sense of judgement at the moment, so he continued to walk away until he met Ucheadi on his way.

Seeing Ucheadi didn’t deter him from his motives, so he kept walking fast.

Ucheadi tried all he could to stop him but couldn’t until he shouted saying: ”What about the Uriom okuko (the chick) you left in my care?”.

After some moments of stubbornness, Ojadili’s anger abated. He became sober and began to go home with Ucheadi but didn’t go back to the palace at the moment. He needed some time to think about his life’s tribulations.

King Azuamailo was so angry at his son and wife, so he left them all and went into his chamber. As he felt that they could come to beg him for forgiveness, he locked up his door in an unquenchable fury.

The king felt so foolish for not believing Ojadili. He felt that the diviner that he was indebted to would be angry and disappointed in him.

The princess angrily went into her hut and banged the door because she felt that she just lost the boy that saved her.

The queen was confused and didn’t know how to handle the situation. She went to meet her husband but the door was locked. She knocked severally but her darling hubby didn’t open the door, so she decided to go to the princess. The queen knew that in matters like this, it’s only the princess that could talk to the king to make him change his mind.

Getting to the hut of the princess, the queen saw Omasiri and Chizaram by the threshold muttering. They were singing for the princess to make her allow them to come in and attend to her needs.

The mom was disturbed and needed the princess to help her ask the king for forgiveness. Ugoeze was more concerned about her hubby, so she had to use the princess to get to him. When she noticed that the door wasn’t locked, she slowly opened and entered.

She was surprised that the princess was crying bitterly. She couldn’t get it because she was trying to imagine how a stranger would make her daughter cry. As a mother, she began to feel that there was more to the weeping than just mere pity from Chinonye.

Standing and watching the princess who lay prostrate on the bed with her face glued to the pillow, the queen shook her head in dismay. She sat quietly beside her daughter and began to caress her otukwu isi (bun) hair.

“My princess, why are you crying?” The queen inquired and tried to remove the pillow but the princess held tenaciously to it. “This is just a stranger and we suspected he wasn’t real. All I did was to be careful and sure. But now that I know he is innocent….” The queen paused and thought for a while and continued: “But wait, he may not be innocent after all. Yes, I could be right. It’s possible that everything was planned,”

The princess was sad but the insinuations of the mom got her listening even though she pretended not to hear her at all. She couldn’t understand how someone who was already seen as innocent would be playing games.

After a while of speechlessness, she got up and sat beside her mom pouting in sorrow.

The queen drew closer to her and said: “What if the man deliberately created an illness just to heal you with the antidote. This could be cunningly done to make him gain the trust of the king to perpetuate his nefarious activities in the palace. I think I’m beginning to reason well now,” She said thoughtfully and nodded in conviction, “Nwam (my child), what do you think about this wonderful logic?”

The princess hissed and stood to leave but the queen held her back.

“Mom, if you need someone to support the humiliation against someone that was supposed to be celebrated,” the princess uttered angrily, check next door. I’m not available as you can see. You have issues with trust and secrecy; no wonder you’re yet to tell me how you’ve turned to be my mom but I look so much like Ifenkili. What defence do you have about that?”

The queen was shocked at this punch below the belt, so she pulled the princess back to sit on the bed. She didn’t know what to say but simply shook her head in dismay because she was appalled.

Chinonye knew that her mom wasn’t being totally honest, so she looked directly into her eyes and said: “I can see that you and dad have lots of secrets but I promise you; one day and someday, my dreams would reveal yours to me too just as it revealed the King’s secrets to…” The princess just remembered that she was meant to keep her revelations about the king a secret. She had to swallow her words because she was even yet to meet the king and confront him, “I know you’re here because you want me to talk to the king to forgive…”

“What secret about your dad did you see?” the queen muttered. She narrowed her eyes as she looked intently into the eyes of her daughter as if she was searching for the truth therein, “speak now or I’ll make you speak,” she threatened.

The princess was a bit afraid of her mom because of how stringent she sounded. She couldn’t understand why her mom was bent on knowing the secret about her dad even when she has hers too.

“If I must reveal what I know,” Chino said boldly, “there must be a price you’d pay for the information?”

The queen got angry because she couldn’t understand the drummer that beats the drum for the little bird who happens to be her daughter. She was perplexed as she gaped at her; trying to find out what changed.

After a series of thoughts, she realised that there was no way to extract or harness the information she needed other than being friendly to lure her to the truth.

“What price am I to pay?” The queen said smilingly, “you’re my beloved daughter, so I can pay any price just to please you,”

The princess felt happy that she just got her mom to reveal some secrets to her too. After trying to figure out how to present her price, she said: “You’ll reveal the mystery behind my birth, and secondly, you’ll bring back Ozowaraonaa to the position he’s meant to occupy,”

The queen could easily accept the second condition than accepting to reveal what actually happened concerning her daughter’s birth. After thinking about the implications, she said: “It’s not easy revealing what I know about the resemblance because even your father doesn’t know this. How am I sure that I can trust you?”

The princess, at this point, knew that her parents were overladen with secrets, so she shuddered.

“You can trust me, Nne,” The princess promised and took an oath of secrecy using the name of Chi-ukwu (the great god).

The queen believed her daughter, so she said: “You have two conditions that demand that I must fulfill before you grant my heart desires. Mine isn’t just for you to reveal the dream concerning your dad’s secret but to accept to be an arbiter that would suppress his anger against me. My husband now sees me as an ill-wind that blows no one good. And for that, I’m concerned and disturbed,”

The princess smiled, nibbled her mom’s ear, and whispered: “Deal signed and sealed between mother and daughter,”

The queen smiled and left while the princess hoped to see Ojadili soon. She wallowed in that strange but soothing feeling as she suddenly became shy as if the stranger was already sitting next to her.

OpraDre

To be continued…

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