“Ona, I’m so sorry,” Okem said after he returned to the parlor.
“Why?”
“I feel responsible for all this pain.”
“You’re not to blame, Okem. Albert is responsible for this evening.”
“I don’t know.”
“Okem, I’m so scared.”
“There’s no need to be scared,” he assured me, reaching out for a hug.
“We could have died tonight. Our lives could have ended.”
“Let me take you to your room. You need your rest.”
* * *
Safely in my room, I sat on the bed, and Okem walked to the balcony. He spread a mat on the floor and invited me to lie beside him. The light outside had since disappeared, so we lay down silently, gazing at the star-lit sky.
“This reminds me of those days we used to sleep out here on hot evenings,” Okem said to break the silence. “Those were the good old days.”
“Before my grandma thought it was dangerous for us to be so close to each other.”
He laughed.
I turned to look at his face. His silhouette and the mere fact that he was right there caused my heart to skip a beat. He turned and smiled before grabbing my chin and kissing me tenderly on the lips.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
We lay face to face in the dark, listening to the sound of each other’s breathing and taking in each aspect as though the world could end right then.
“Do you think your grandmother will be okay?” Okem asked after a while.
“She will be,” I said, after pondering for a second. She’s been the head of this family for a while, so she knows how to handle tough situations.”
“I hope she understands that she has to let me handle this one. It’s such a complicated affair.”
“I think she does,” I responded.
“I’m curious. Why did you avoid any mention of your grandfather or Luenah to her?”
“Oh, that? Would she have been able to handle it? I don’t think so. I’ll eventually tell her. There’s an unwritten rule in this house: no-one talks about Papa. I’m lucky that I get to see him once in a while in Luenah, otherwise, can you imagine how miserable I would have been?”
“If you had shared your experience with your grandmother, it would have helped with her healing too.”
“I disagree.”
“Well.” He shrugged. “You have to tell her at some point.”
“I will, but I can’t help thinking about Albert. I hope he recovers soon.”
“I hope so, too,” Okem said. “I feel sorry for him, but when I consider that he may have come to the Palisir hotel to kill me or even you, I feel relieved.”
“That is so true. Albert may not have been part of this conspiracy from the get-go, but he became lethal to our existence the moment he found out he was an impostor.”
I shivered. The wind had suddenly become cold.
“Let me take you inside.” Okem offered.
* * *
Soon after Okem left, I slipped under my covers and lay down for hours on end ruminating on the eventful day we had. The horror of Albert’s wound was enough to rob me of sleep for a whole month. There was no way of knowing what would happen from then on, and what would happen to Albert. Would he live or die?
Chapter Twenty
IT’D BEEN TWO weeks since Albert received that bullet wound on his neck. Two weeks since he’d been in intensive care. Two weeks since he gave me those dirty slaps that sent me running to the Palisir. Yet it seemed like yesterday. The surgical procedure to remove the bullet from his neck left him unconscious. Although he’d bruised and abused me, I prayed day and night for his recovery but swore to never live with him as man and wife. Okem was back, and he was all I ever needed. My years of dreaming and hoping were over. The kingmakers were carrying out a secret investigation into the allegations that Okem and Albert were switched at birth. It didn’t matter if Okem turned out not to be the rightful heir to the throne because nothing would make me turn my back on him. Nothing would make me ever lose sight of him again.
Our lives became chaotic from then on. When we were not at the police station, the police were swarming our space to repeat the process of interrogation over and over again. Okem and I were exhausted from the badgering, and then the fear set in. What if Albert recovered and tried to implicate us? What if he kidnapped me and forced my hand in marriage? What if he had hired assassins before his accident to kill Okem? The questions were endless, and I started to doubt myself again.
The situation made it impossible for us to make plans for our future. As Albert battled for his life, Ekema, whose influence we were sure kept us within the police radar, tormented us. She barged into Grandma’s house late one evening and demanded to see Okem. From my position in the study, I could hear them fairly well as she confronted him in the parlor.
“I will make life miserable for you,” she swore.
“Why? What did I do to deserve a miserable life?”
“What did you do? My son—my nephew is lying in the hospital because of you, and you’re acting as though you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
She had let the cat out of the bag. The moment she said my son and then corrected it to nephew, I confirmed everything Okem had told me about her. It was sad that Okem couldn’t confront her with the truth right away, but I was impressed by his extraordinary composure.
“It’s an accident, Ma.”
“Don’t call me, Ma. I’m not your Ma,” Ekema said in an exasperated tone.
“Okay, Aunty.”
“I’m not your Aunty either,” she said, raising her hand in warning. “Don’t call me that either.”
I struggled to stifle a giggle. I wondered if Okem called her aunty to see if he could elicit a bigger reaction from her. We had discussed the importance of maintaining discretion regarding everything he had told me about Ekema as it was dangerous to reveal things before the kingmakers had finished their investigation. Laying accusations without lining up all the areas of the defense against someone in her position could be dangerous. At the minimum, she could sue for libel. At worst, our lives could be jeopardized. Okem had pleaded with me to be patient. He needed a little more time to sort things out properly. I was running out of patience, though. With Ekema’s reputation, I feared that she might try again to eliminate Okem. Any hint that her actions were getting close to being exposed and that risk could go over the roof. Add the fact that her only child was stuck to a hospital bed, and we may have one evil, irrational human being on our hands.
“I can’t believe how calm you were,” I said to Okem after Ekema left. “Are you sure we shouldn’t take this issue up right now? You know she could hit again before you finalize your plan.”
“We’re on track, my dear. A little bird told me Ekema goes to the hospital every day to visit Albert, and she sleeps there most nights. She hasn’t got any time to plot. Besides, we’re not behind on our plans. The kingmakers will be communing by the end of the week.”
“I heard her threatening to lock you up. What if she succeeds before the kingmakers finish their investigation?”
“Ekema’s threats won’t hold up anywhere. You already know that. Several witnesses saw Albert banging on my hotel door that fateful afternoon. The police interviewed each of them, and their statements matched our own account. Also, don’t forget that the gun was registered in Albert’s name, and his hand, not mine, had traces of gunpowder. It’s obvious what happened was an accident.”
“I can’t wait for all of this to be over.”
“Me neither,” Okem said, shaking his head.
“Albert’s statement is the only thing required to close the police inquiry,” I reminded him.
“I pray when he eventually regains consciousness and is able to speak, he’ll do the right thing and put an end to this madness.”
“Only God knows what Albert will do. The guy is full of surprises.”
&n
bsp; * * *
I hadn’t been to Luenah in a while, and with all that was going on, I felt bare without its influence. The last time I was there, my grandfather had mentioned that nothing was ever as it seemed. I had confirmed that to be absolutely true, just like all his other predictions. All the same, something didn’t sit right with me. How did Papa become entangled in all of this? And what could it possibly have to do with my purpose? I had been groomed to be queen, and there I was queen-in-waiting to two men, one lying unconscious in the hospital, and the other at a crossroads, waiting for the decision of the kingmakers. Neither man had taken the staff in real life, although one not for lack of trying.
One quiet afternoon, a feeling of restlessness overcame me, so I walked around my room, arranging and rearranging my closet as I hummed a tune. Next, I cleaned my bathtub which had received a thorough cleaning by one of the servants earlier that day. I was willing to do anything to keep myself from thinking about the issues that were constantly cropping up in my head. I wished to be in Luenah more than anything else, as I pondered what my personal truth could be. Rather than wait to be summoned, I lay on the settee and tested the limits of my power. A familiar force erupted inside my chest, pulling me with as much intensity as I ventured towards it. My feet had found the narrow path to Luenah. The sun was bright and high up in the sky, unlike the pitch darkness I experienced one of the times I was there. I reached the tail end of the path and sauntered into Luenah. To my surprise, rather than the seashore, I found myself atop a hill overlooking a wide stretch of fields. The shrine was in the distance, its resplendence in full view, an assault on the senses. I swathed a bee off my face. The sun’s rays on the rolling hills caused the tips to sparkle like gemstones. While I admired the sheer beauty of my surroundings, my grandfather stepped out of the carriage about three yards away from me. Excited to see him, I ran down the hill and entered with glee.
“Congratulations on making it to Luenah by yourself. You completely let go of doubt, and your chi agreed with you.”
“Thank you, Papa. I never knew this was at all possible. Had I known, I would have come earlier.”
“Now, you must have come for a reason. What do you seek?”
I went straight to the point and asked him what had been plaguing my mind.
“Why you, Papa?”
He paused a little.
“Coming to live with me was no coincidence, and neither was Okem’s.”
“Why Okem?”
“Don’t you see why already? Our destinies are intertwined. And by our, I mean all three of us.”
“I can see that now. But, I also feel you’re still withholding something from me.”
“You’re right. I’m still withholding some things, but I had to wait for the right time to tell you everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yes. It’s time, but before I do, I need you to promise that you will act with wisdom in getting the issues resolved the proper way.”
“I promise to do as you ask, Papa.”
“For starters, how do you think I left the earth?”
“If I recall correctly, I didn’t see you before I left for school that day as I usually did, and that upset me a little. By the time I came back, they told me you never woke up from sleep the night before, and I was devastated. That was when I found out you had passed overnight.”
“That’s right. I was already dying when you and I sat at dinner the night before. They poisoned me.”
My head turned suddenly as my bewildered gaze searched his face.
“They? Poison? Who?” I muttered.
My grandfather nodded his head slowly.
“I’m here today and not on earth with you because of Ozumba and Ekema. Together, they plotted to take my life, and they succeeded. However, they would not have been able to do that without the help of someone very strategic in the household. Think about this. Ozumba and Ekema had no access to me, I had never met Ekema, and I never saw Ozumba after the day he brought Okem to live with us—”
“What are you saying, Papa? That someone else was involved? There were only five of us in the house that day: me, you, Okem, Grandma, and Ifedi.”
“There you go,”
I was aghast.
“Papa, please don’t scare me.”
“It was Ifedi.”
“Ifedi? Don’t tell me that, Papa. Are you saying Ifedi is a murderer?”
“Yes. She was right in the middle of it.”
“Oh my God,” I screamed, feeling confused.
“That might be the hardest part for you to believe, but that is the truth. Unknowingly to your grandmother and me, Ifedi came to serve at our house through a reference Ekema had provided. Ifedi was carefully instated in our home to help them carry out their evil schemes.”
I heard my heart thumping in my chest as I listened to my grandfather. At first, everything he was saying to me sounded implausible. But as so many thoughts crossed my mind, and I recalled that Ifedi had come to live with us right about the time Okem moved in, a shiver ran through my spine.
“She administered the poison that killed me,” my grandfather continued.
I coughed to clear the congestion that suddenly built up in my throat.
“No... no... no...” I placed my hand on my chest. It was suddenly so hard to breathe. “Papa, did you say Ifedi?”
He nodded.
I bit my lips so hard they began to bleed.
“You should be careful from now on. And don’t act so stunned. The people closest to you could also turn out to be your greatest enemies. Look at Okem, his aunty, his blood, tried to steal his birthright. She would have killed him if she had the power. Anointed blood would have been spilled, and she would have run mad if she dared. I believe she knew that. Otherwise, Okem would not be alive today. What she didn’t know was that his life was not the only thing out of bounds to her, but the staff was too. She underestimated its power.”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier, Papa. About Ifedi. I was in mortal danger.”
My grandfather shook his head.
“She would not have been able to harm you.”
“How? She was with me every day. She had the opportunity to do whatever she may have wanted to do with me all these years. If she could murder you, then she certainly could have done the same to me.” I shuddered as I spoke.
“She was part of the equation of your life. It would have done no good if I had revealed this to you earlier. Sometimes these things are allowed to happen for no apparent reason other than for us to grow. If someone really close to you has never hurt you to the depths of humanity, then you wouldn’t believe such treachery was possible. This lesson is very important in your new role, the one you’ve been prepared for. Many will cluster around and try to befriend you. Be careful of the ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’.”
“Do you think the path is clear now, Papa? Can I face the reality of this type of betrayal now?”
“Absolutely, my dear. God is faithful. The truth only comes to us when we have acquired all the skills needed to confront the hard realities the revelation of such a betrayal brings with it. Knowing the truth alone would not have saved you if you did not have the courage required to deal with it. The same courage that drove you to me in Luenah will take your pain from this betrayal and translate it into action.”
“Papa, this is torture. Ifedi may have killed you physically, but she killed my soul with her betrayal. What do you call this pain I feel in my heart? Does everyone have someone close betray them this much?”
My grandfather shook his head and smiled.
“No. Not only are you Eri, but also, you’ve been earmarked for greatness. You will be Queen. In that position, you’re considered the most important woman in the kingdom, so you needed that lesson. Only a handful of people in this world will experience that magnitude of betrayal—only the ones with a big mission to accomplish. You should consider yourself lucky. You were in the raw before now, and just like any precious stone after i
ts rough edge has been polished, you’re now ready to get on the journey to occupy your purpose.”
“It’s all making sense now.”
“You see,” he continued, “I found out what Ozumba and Ekema were up to, and I was planning to take Okem to his father that weekend and reveal their treachery, but Ifedi found out and informed her accomplices. How she discovered my plans, I don’t know, because I didn’t breathe a word of it to anybody, not even to your grandmother. Back then, I had told you Okem was to travel with me for a few days, and all Ifedi and your grandmother knew was that preparations were being made for Okem to accompany me on a business trip to Ajidi. Ifedi put the poison in the jug of palm wine your grandmother always leaves me after dinner.”
“Tufiakwa,” I said, snapping my fingers like my grandmother always did whenever she heard something dreadful. My stomach was in knots, and tears streamed down my face. “What should I do now, Papa?”
“The first step is for you to accept your reality. Once you’ve done that, you’ll find it easier to fight your personal battles. Go! I believe you have everything you need to handle this situation. Trust your instincts. Have the courage to do what they ask of you because they’ll always lead you to the truth.”
Chapter Twenty-one
I REGAINED CONSCIOUSNESS soon after my grandfather vanished. The news I just received left my body in a near dormant state. What treachery I have endured! I imagined how shocked Ifedi and her cohorts must have been when Albert and I first started dating. Our meeting in Ajidi so far away from home was one of those fatalistic inevitabilities that made me realize my position as the future Queen was part of my destiny. The same meeting played the role of bringing Albert and Okem together. I shivered as I thought about the magnitude of the danger Okem was in at the moment. Again, he was within the radar of his pursuers. I imagined their panic when he appeared out of the blue after they thought they’d heard the last of him.
Still in shock, I played our life with Ifedi over and over in my mind searching for any clues I may have missed. The red flags were everywhere. I recalled the conversation I had with Ifedi the day Okem disappeared from our lives. Her body language had been urging me to say more when she knew Okem was listening. She likely knew it would help their course if Okem were to be as far away from Ide as possible. It now made sense why she was always so protective of Albert knowing full well it was Okem I loved. She had never been nice to Okem in the past, but her attitude towards him had worsened around the time Albert came into my life. That was about the time she made it clear to everyone that cared to listen that Okem was the help. This left me confused at the time. As I began to recall the events leading up to the confrontation at the Palisir hotel, my conviction increased. There was no doubt in my mind that Ifedi had alerted Albert about Okem’s return. If not, how did Albert suddenly cancel his trip and appear in my room that fateful afternoon?
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