OJADILI The Mystery Boy Episode 9 by Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor

OJADILI The Mystery Boy Episode 9 by Erasmus Ugochukwu Okafor

**The great revelations**

Grave silent overtook the palace as Eze Azuamailo remained in a coma. No one could proffer a solution to his problem; even Ujuamara couldn’t. It was as if the gods have deserted Amachara village by not even allowing them to enjoy the crumbs of their supernatural blessings.

The princess and the queen were already tired of crying. They’d lost hope. Onodugo whose wife was back to life was happy but his happiness wasn’t complete because of the incapacitated king.

According to the tradition, once the king is pronounced dead, kingship leaves the family of Azuamailo because the supposed heir had no child yet.

Onodugo felt tortured by the gods because he had no child. It was more heartbreaking because he couldn’t do anything about it. His wife was battling with the first trimester of pregnancy, though. If she didn’t deliver her baby before the king dies, he wouldn’t be made king. The only thing that could buy more time for him is for the king to recuperate and continue the rulership of Amachara. He still had hope that Chukwu Abiama would bless him someday before the king dies.

Onodugo had gone far and wide to seek a solution for the father but all his efforts were no fruition. He was already giving up as he thought of the number of market days still left for his wife to give birth to her baby. At a point, despair engulfed him. The shameful and disappointing part of it was that Onodugo couldn’t even be an acting king because he had no child yet.

The throne was empty while the deadline given for the revival of the king was fast approaching. If after the Oge Obibiamara (the final grace period) the king remains in a coma, the kingship leaves Azuamailo. The king had just four market days before Obibiamara is over.

The effect of the kingship being taking away from the Azuamailo family wasn’t just being felt by the royal household alone. The entire numerous workers in the palace would automatically lose their jobs, even those that had been bragging about being palace workers. Nobody was ready to face the shame, so they all kept bombarding the palace with suggestions for the revival of the king.

Princess Chinonye that always has revelations in dreams couldn’t even dream, let alone seeing a solution. She wakes up angry all the time because her nights were dreamless. Dreams were like a weapon for the princess to fight daring situations but it seemed that the gods had stripped her of the gift. She felt powerless and couldn’t even see her dad convalescing anytime soon.

The queen mother had formed the habit of cleaning the cold body of the king; thrice daily. As she does that, she sings and prays for him but the condition keeps dwindling. She wasn’t concerned about kingship anymore but for her darling husband to come back alive. Others were concerned about retaining the royalty while Ugoeze was concerned about the life of his life partner.

That late-night as others had gone to bed, it was just two market days left. The queen went into the king’s chamber, as usual, to clean him and pray for him. As she sang and prayed to Ibini Ukpabi for his mercies upon the king, she slept off with tears in her eyes.

The princess knew that her mom would be crying; which was becoming habitual, so she came to meet her for consolation. She always forces her mother to bed, if not; the queen wouldn’t sleep till morning. When Chino arrived at the chamber of her parents, she slowly opened the door and saw the queen napping by the feet of the king. She was sympathetic as she felt so piteous for her poor mother. Looking at the king who was just there without moving an inch, she sat by the corner and kept watching over them. Chino wanted to wake her mom since she wasn’t comfortably sleeping by the edge of the bed. On second thought, she decided not to wake her up. She sat on a wooden deckchair adjacent to her parents and began to sing solemnly. She sang in a low tone; to avoid disturbing them but was so melodious that the song could send someone to deeper slumber.

The song titled “Akwa nderi” (midnight cries) has sorrowful lyrics. Anyone who listens to it must cry, no matter how strong-hearted he is.

As the princess recited the sorrowful song tearfully, she wept bitterly to the extent that her entire body got soaked with her tears. Her eyes were closed as she did this, so she kept on singing and going deeper into meditation.

Since the king entered into a coma, the princess had never been sorrowful and solemn as she was that very night. As she sang, the shrews came disturbing but she didn’t heed to the distraction. Many strange sounds lurked in the dark but she still didn’t stop.

She kept singing until the cawing of the crow began to drone from a distance. This time, she was concerned and disturbed because it was obvious that death was beginning to call the attention of the king.

Out of fear, the princess stopped singing and opened her eyes. She was surprised that the eyeballs of the king were moving. Conscientiously, she quietly took the mpanaka (native lantern) and peered to ensure that what she was seeing was real. After a while of close observation, she dropped back the mpanaka on the table and got up. She was filled with both happiness and confusion. Slowly, she tiptoed to the king and touched him gently.

The queen was fast asleep and didn’t get up, so Chino began to sing again holding the cold hands of the dad. She started the same akwa nderi song again as she caressed the hands of the king fondly. As her lips moved to songs, her heart throbbed in prayers. She went on singing and praying until she felt as if the king’s hand moved. She didn’t stop or open her eyes but continued. After a while, the princess was surprised that the king held her hands, making her open her eyes this time.

Seeing the king awake got her so surprised. She wanted to shout but the king shushed her signally to avoid waking the queen mother.

As the beautiful moment filled with ecstasy thrived, the king smiled wearily. The princess was so happy to see him smile but was surprised that he suddenly began to shed tears.

The princess was moved to tears too because of the contagiousness of the king’s mood. She craved for happiness which she just found but the reason for the king to cry, she couldn’t explain.

Serenity blazed up as the emotional moment lasted but none talked to each other except the expression of fickle moods.

The cawing of the crow began again, making the princess bemused. The king was already awake but the crow kept lurking in the dark. As the droning of the cawing lingered, the princess tried to go out and face it but the king held her firmly. She already got the message that her dad didn’t want her to go after the evil bird, so she stayed with him.

Feeling that it was time to break the silence, the princess murmured: “Dad, so you’re finally alive,”

The king didn’t talk but smiled again and suddenly frowned. His frowns invited those tears again, getting his vision blurred.

The princess desperately wanted to know why the king was shedding tears but he didn’t talk but kept crying. The frequent changeability of Azuamailo’s mood made the princess restive.

Chino tried to wake her mom but the king shook his head; signifying that she should allow her sleep. The poor girl became more confused this time because she was just hollow and had nothing to think about or say. She was enwrapped in confusion as she tried to wrap her head around the entire situation.

“Dad, I think it’s time to talk to me if you can,” Chinonye muttered huskily but with boldness and readiness to dig into the silence of her dad. She was ready to make him reveal why he was crying. She expected the king to be happy but he wasn’t, so she was troubled and mentally tortured.

The king tried to console himself seeing how disturbed her daughter was. He sobbed quietly and fought back his tears to stifle them. After a while of some effortful battle against the inextinguishable tears, he took a deep breath and whispered: “I am alive, my daughter but I’m not happy because of the past that haunts me. I feel that I’m being punished by my ancestors,”

The princess was deeply concerned about hearing this, so she needed the details. She had to strain her ears to listen to the indistinct speech of the weary king.

“What happened and what punishment are you talking about?” the princess queried and arched forward to get her ears closer to the lips of the king to hear him well.

The king who takes time to talk heaved a sigh and said: “Sometimes we think that the past won’t come after us but we end up seeing that karma exists,”

“Karma, as concerning Nemesis?” she asked; to be sure she understood him well. The princess listened on and didn’t talk further to avoid distracting him.

The nodded affirmatively, depicting that the princess was right. “When I was young,” the king continued, “I used to hunt in the bush as a hobby, and not as a profession. My parents tried many times to stop me but they never succeeded. I always sneak out from the palace…to….to.” the king began to cough, making the princess search for water to calm him down but the king called her back.

“Nna anyi, you need to relax because you’re still unwell and unfit to talk,” The princess advised. She helped him balance his pillow underneath his head to help him relax comfortably. Looking at the sleeping queen, she noticed that her mom wasn’t ready to wake up soon, so she caressed her dad’s cheek to make him sleep too. “You need to sleep now, dad,” she urged and tried to tiptoe out of the room but the king beckoned her to come back.

“I’m tired of sleep already,” the king whispered and coughed again, “I’ve been sleeping for long but the sweet voice of your mom as she sings keeps me awake in the land of the dead. I always hear your sonorous voice too and the sweet Oja (flute) that kept my soul married to my body. I wish to thank you,”

The princess was happy to hear that, so she parted her lips into a smile. As she looked caringly at her dad, she kissed his forehead.

“Dad, you’re all we’ve got,” She said sobbingly and smiled faintly, “we have searched through the east, west, north, and south but got no solution to revive you. I’m even surprised that you just woke up. How did this happen?” she asked looking cheerful and enthusiastic for answers.

“Ask the gods,” king Azuamailo said jestingly and let out a short-lived smile, “One day, as I was in the bush,” he continued as frowns located him again, “And hunting for games, I met a young maiden having a romantic moment with her fiancé. I couldn’t explain why I was drawn to her even though she had someone with her. On noticing my presence, the hugging lovers separated because of the fear. I wished I could love in that way as they did but couldn’t. I grew up amid a family crisis; even though I was a young prince. My dad always whips my mom in his chamber but forbade us all not to say what we saw. We grew into being so afraid of him. We feared and respected him more than we loved him. He sometimes sedates us with strange herbs whenever he wants to beat our mother; so that we wouldn’t be awake as she cries for him. At a point, the sedatives stopped working for us but we’d always pretend to be asleep. We always witnessed how he pounces down on her and makes her beg for her life but we’d pretend to be fast asleep,”

Chinonye was shocked at hearing that part. “What kind of wicked father was that?” The princess asked in an angry tone, “What pleasure did he take from beating someone that was supposed to be his wife? Was he a misogynist?”

The King shook his head as he remembered his sleazy growing-up days. “My dad was so brutal that he binds my mom’s legs and feet whenever he wants to whip her. He had a special cane that he uses to batter her. After the infliction of bruises on her, he conceals the wounds by making her wear an overall dress all the time. My kid sister and I always end up being enslaved in our own father’s house. The surprising part of this is that everyone in Amachara thought that we were the best family; no wonder they gave my dad the title ‘Anu nwere obi’ which means the animal with a heart. Once a heart is mentioned, it means a strong one. They believe that he has a strong heart from the positive meaning of it but never knew that he was a monster with the heart of a beast…”

“But that’s a strong word to be used for a dad,” The princess complained to abate the king’s anger because he was beginning to sound angry.

The king clenched his teeth in anger and said: “My sister and I hated him so much without knowing that we were gradually borrowing a leaf from his monstrous book. Yes, we were; no wonder I murdered the young maiden after taking advantage of her in the bush,”

After saying this, the king wept.

The princess was a bit confused because the king earlier mentioned admiring the young maiden. He never mentioned the details of his involvement with the girl but simply talked about homicide.

“Explain, please,” Chino said looking bewildered as sudden fears got her enveloped, “The last time I checked, you were a good and caring dad and not a killer. Daddy, what happened to you?” she asked feeling so misinformed about her dad’s real nature. She was groggy at that juncture in the conversation.

The king sobbed bitterly for a while and consoled himself as the princess watched with fright.

“I accosted the young maiden but she declined my request,” The king continued the narration of his ordeal, “I tried hard to use gifts and sweet words to make her leave her man. Notwithstanding my arduous efforts; for her to be involved with me, she was impervious to my advances. At a point, as my humility dwindled, I remembered I was of royal blood and needed not to beg for a woman’s love. I decided to take it by force. After the entire charade without success, I took the bull by the horn,”

The princess shuddered to hear this. She already knew where the story was heading, so she pre-emptively said: “And you took advantage of her in the bush?”

The king didn’t say anything further but nodded sorrowfully. He tried holding the hands of the daughter but Chino shifted a bit away.

Chino looked at her mom and saw that she was even snoring. She helped her balance her falling head on the bed to make her take a more comfortable position.

Amid the entire discussions and little drama between the king and Chino, Ugoeze kept sleeping soundly.

“I didn’t just have carnal knowledge of her virginity,” the king chuntered with deep grief, “but I inadvertently killed her while she struggled for escape and freedom,”

“Chukwu abiama eeeeeee…!” The princess yelled with her mouth agape and her hands on her head. “What have you done, dad?” she cried out as she gaped at him with great fear. “I don’t know you anymore, Nna anyi (our father),”

“It wasn’t deliberate, my daughter,” Azuamailo said defensively, “It was…”

“But you still murdered a human being,” The princess wailed, “Ewooo, nke ka njo emee! (The worst has happened)”

The king’s tears rained down his cheek as ruefulness overtook him. In that remorsefulness, he paddled the canoe of regrets and wished to take back his actions.

“I was with two of my guards when this happened,” the king continued with a resolve to complete the story because he was becoming weaker, “the guards on hearing the cry of anguish of young maiden, Adadimma, rushed towards the direction where I was. They were surprised to behold what took place. I cried bitterly but she couldn’t wake up. I did all I could to atone for my sins but she didn’t wake up. The guards knew the implication and aftermath of my actions if discovered, so they had to conceal the abomination. They buried Adadimma in a shallow grave in the bush. Until now, the spirit of this innocent maiden haunts me; that’s why I’ve been afraid to allow you to leave the palace. I believe that she’s somewhere out there waiting to ambush my household. Being that a strong dibia (diviner) fortified me against strange spirits; the ghost of the girl couldn’t get to me. Even your mother doesn’t know about this. In my dream, I was cursed by Adadimma that I’ll be without a child. I went as far as Ugoloma village to meet the great Agbisi Igwe. He’s a great sorcerer and intercessor who pleaded on my behalf. He made me ask Adadimma for forgiveness. According to Agbisi Igwe, the angered maiden heard my cry and forgave me; if not, I wouldn’t have had a child at all,”

The princess became a bit frightened as she listened attentively but never talked so that the king could bare his mind.

“After some years of childlessness,” The king continued, “the gods blessed me with Onodugo, making me know that I’ve been forgiven. But shortly after, I still began to see her in my dreams as she chases me around. The only time I sleep soundly is whenever I listen to your melodious songs before going to bed. I didn’t allow you to take the sweet voice into the villages because you’ve always been a healing power to me. You have a great gift from the gods but I’m too protective of it so that I’d be using your gifts to my advantage. I pretended to you that I didn’t know what you were talking about when you tried proving your gifts to me. Since you were born, I knew you had the gifts. I’m yet to tell you about some mysteries behind your birth but not yet. Please, always keep yourself close to me because…”

“No,” the princess refuted unequivocally, “Nna anyi, you remain a killer. Maybe the spirit of Adadimma allowed you to have children just to ensure that you were made a king. Without having a child, we wouldn’t have been royalties. I need to find a way to appease her spirit, even if it means going to her grave in the bush…”

“No, please,” the king interjected and held Chino’s hand firmly in great fear, “Ajo ofia is a strong forest possessed by Adadimma’s spirit. You don’t need to go to the same enemy who wouldn’t want you to survive. The charm of Agbisi Igwe is protecting you in this palace too. If not, we wouldn’t be alive discussing this,”

Chino gave her father’s speech some thoughts and shrugged. She couldn’t just get it because she just realised that her dad wasn’t as good as she thought.

“Where is this Ajo ofia?” The princess asked looking so curious and eager to learn more. Meanwhile, I have a strong spirit that protects you all. I’m positive about this. You see me as a child but I’m spiritually stronger than you think. Father, your charms aren’t protecting me, but I’m the one protecting you in this palace,”

The king was shocked to hear how bold his daughter made her point. He gave it a thought and realised that she could be right. He couldn’t help but believe her.

“And that’s the more reason why you shouldn’t go far from the palace,” The king said shudderingly, “Meanwhile, Ajo-Ofia turned my sister to a monster she wasn’t,” The king revealed, “she’s now a slave and adorer to Ajo-ofia. She’s called Nwanyi Ukwu Ugiri (the woman of the wild mango tree) or Oke Dibia Nwanyi (the great female diviner). She succeeded in having her kingdom where she’s king. In Igbo land, it’s an abomination for a woman to be king, but she is one,”

Amid the seriousness of the situation, the princess chuckled on hearing that because it sounded funny.“Nwanyi Ukwu Ugiri,” she repeated and smiled, “Go ahead, father,”

“Whatever she does there, no one knows but I heard that she makes people forget their lineage,” The king grumbly said, “She makes her captives happy just because she was denied of happiness while growing up in the palace. In search of true love, she became obsessed with the creation of a kingdom filled with happiness. She was bent on making herself and people around her happy but forgot that she was tending to be a sadist just to achieve that. There are more things about her that I don’t know, including the location of her kingdom called Onumajuru,”

“Onumajuru,” Chino murmured, “strange name indeed,”

“So you now see why Ajo-ofia (the evil forest) should be the last place you should visit,” Azuamailo reiterated warningly, “Avoid it like a plague because the abomination I committed there remains evergreen even though it’s been many years ago,”

The princess was so flabbergasted at the entire revelations. She couldn’t even say anything or argue. She heard more than she could imagine, so she was taken aback. She felt that her dad wasn’t even the same man she used to know. She shiveringly looked absently at the king. She already had to stomach a lot of secrets.

The dwindled caw of the crow became louder this time, making her so frightened.

“Daddy, are you giving up the ghost?” The princess asked as her eyes got blurred with tears, “why can’t I hear the cooing sound of nwa nduru (dove) but this sound of this evil bird?”

The king didn’t say anything but started feeling sleepy.

To the princess, she knew that her dad may be about to die, so she shook him vigorously to make his eyes open.

“I’m okay, my daughter,” The king said indistinctly, “I just feel like having a deep sleep,”

“But you already said that you’ve had enough rest,” the princess contested, “I know that you’re about to die. Meanwhile; is the spirit of Adadimma the reason why Uremma didn’t conceive all these years?”

The question struck the king with fear as he fought to be alive. After a while, he nodded showing that the princess was right.

“Yes, the spirit of the maiden, according to Agbisi Igwe,” The king said whisperingly, “couldn’t stop me from becoming a king because of how fortified I was. But since Onodugo is vulnerable, he’s about to pay the price I should have paid. I’m sure she wants to strip him of the position,”

“But Uremma is now pregnant because of the medicinal shrubs I used to revive her,” Chino reminded him, “I guess the spirit either fears or respects me. I’m not sure though but what I think is…”

The princess hung her speech when she noticed that the king wasn’t moving anymore. She shook him severally but he wasn’t talking anymore. In fear, she began to shout. She was surprised that her mom was so deep in sleep that she didn’t even hear her cry. It was as if a spell was cast on the queen mother, so Chinonye rushed to her and began to wake her up.

After some serious jabs, the queen opened her eyes.

Immediately the queen woke up, Chino’s eyes opened. She saw her mom waking her up from sleep in her sitting position. She couldn’t get it because she was still in the same position where she was while singing ‘akwa nderi’ song. Reminiscing on what just happened, she remembered standing beside the king.

“My daughter!” the queen cried out and embraced her sharply, “Your sorrowful song woke me but I’m glad that you did. Let’s allow the king to be. I have prayed to the gods and I believe they’d hear my supplication,”

The princess was so confused because she could remember being beside the king and was the one that woke up her mom. Seeing herself being awoken by her mom was more confusing. The worst was that she was still sitting and never left her position. It then dawned on her that she’d been dreaming.

The dream and revelations she had were so real as if it wasn’t a dream. It became clear to her that the long-awaited gift of revelatory dreams just returned. She was panting as she sweated. She became so frightened because of the entire revelations.

Remembering that her dad died in the dream she had, she leapt and rushed to the bed.

Touching him, she realised that he still had pulses just like before.

“Oh, chim ooo (OMG), so this was a dream,” she exclaimed bewilderedly, “This was so real,”

The queen knew that her daughter lost her gift since the king entered into a coma, so she was shocked.

“Dream?” she asked looking confused, “but you’ve always complained that…” she paused and meditated.

“Wait! Did you see anything, nwam (my child)? What did you see? Will your dad be waking up soon? Did you see him in your dream and what’s the revelation?”

The princess didn’t know which of her mom’s questions she was going to answer. She wanted to talk about the revelation but realised that what her dad shared with her was a deep secret. She simply shook her head.

“Not really,” Chino lied, “I simply had some chitchat with him and he reassured me that he was going to be awake soon,”

The queen was so happy hearing this, so she pulled her daughter closer and kissed her temple.

The princess was so frightened that she couldn’t go back to her hut that night. She followed her mom into her chamber and slept snuggling into her bosom.

The queen knew that something was making her fearless daughter so frightened but couldn’t fathom what it was. She simply cuddled her daughter and chanted some lullaby that transported the young princess into a dreamless slumber.

OpraDre

To be continued…