enemies from Aro and beyond.
Agumba had occupied his mind with these thoughts while he sat under the mango tree.
Who could be these her enemies? Are they still alive? They must be alive, because the restlessness of Ajuka's spirit, shows that the culprits are still alive and kicking.
"Hey, Agumba, the son of a man who thinks that he fell from the sky!" he looked up and saw his friend, Akika, whom he had waited for all these while.
"Akika, must you always provoke me with that infernal statement," he frowned in a way to show how hurt he was in his heart.
"Don't get hot in anger, my dear friend. I just don't feel justified to call my fellow man an immortal."
"I have a convinction that you're just jealous of me. Else, you won't keep on resurrecting this matter." Agumba teased.
"I can't be jealous of a self-acclaimed immortal that would go hot at the mere sight of a woman's curves." Akika gave a wild grin at his joke.
"If that was a joke, then you should stop it, because it's not funny at all." he warned sternly.
"Hey, Agumba, you're taking this too personal, haven't you tried stirring the mystical pot to divine for yourself? You help others to know the truth about themselves but you aren't bothered to know about yourself." Akika said passionately.
"Alright, Akika you want to test me, isn't it?" Agumba said readily.
"Yes, if you wish." he retorted.
"I'll show you why i'm called Agumba, the indestructible immortal in human form." Agumba jumped from one place to the other, and took powder from his bag, and made a diagram of a snake with it on the floor, he took kolanut, chewed it and spilled it on the white substance, and the diagram on the ground transformed into a giant live green snake. He picked the snake by its tail and lifted it to the sky, while the creatured danced round its arm, as if it was trickishly looking for a way of escape.
He, then took the snake, and washed it in a concoction, and chanted some incantation. After he had done that, he threw the snake into the bush.
And next, the face of the cloud in one part of the sky turned black with cloud and one part deep blue. Heavy rain and storm hit that part of the bush which he threw the snake, and where they stood was scorching under the intense heat from the sun.
Agumba praised his stunts, but was surprised to see his friend, not moved a bit by all that he had done.
Akika laughed wildly to Agumba's utmost revulsion, he could be annoying sometimes.
"Nice try, friend." he was still laughing, "that you did a regular magic with virtually all spiritualists do for pleasure, doesn't make you immortal."
"You just want to mock me, isn't it?"
"Now, tell me. Why were you chanting and calling on the name of Chiekpe and Nee Ajuka? Why not use your immortal powers instead of calling on other immortals? Is it possible for Nee Ajuka to be calling on Chiekpe, or vice versa, for powers to perform magic?"
Agumba was dead silent, and was very confused this time around, he didn't know what should be his next reaction.
"Answer me, spirit!" Akika mocked loud.
"Stop that, it isn't funny!"
"Know your root, Agumba!" that was the last word Akika dropped with Agumba before they parted.
Agumba sauntered back to his court, looking depressed by his friend's statement. It sounded like an advice on one way and insult in the other way. How could a powerful and well renowned spiritualist be told to know his root.
He is a friend anyway, he thought.
While he got to his home, he was surprised to see a damsel seating on one of his stool which he'd used to welcome Akika, his friend. She was nursing a big injury which she'd sustained on her way. The lady he'd seen was Ulumma, but he didn't address her as such because this was their first meeting ever.
Agumba noticed that she'd been running from something, no doubt she was the murderer that the king's family had been searching for.
"What should a filthy girl be doing on my sacred stool which I use for welcoming only sacred men. You have no fear?" he asked rudely.
Ulumma lifted up her eyes and saw a young man speaking, he spoke like he was a spirit. But surely he was not, Ulumma tried to assure herself. She threw back his words at him, not minding she'd find herself in his house.
"And you disrespectful and ill-mannered boy, you should be remorseful for setting a trap on people's way and not opening your dirty mouth to say rubbish."
"Why should I respect a murderer?" this rhetorical statement shocked to her bone marrows.
How could somebody in Aro, already have heard what transpired between her and Mba at Ozalla. She began developing cold feet, all she was to do now, was to leave that place immediately. She ignored the pains she was going through and started making her way out of his presence.
"Come back here, young lady," Agumba stopped her, "have your sins finally caught up with you." he laughed. Ulumma ignored his call and still pushed further, but before she could make more three steps, Agumba brought out an offor from his goat-skin back and point it towards her direction.
"I command you to stop there!" Ulumma felt heaviness from her ankle down to her toes, the heaviness gripped her that she could move no further. She fell to her feet when she felt the grip on her ankle, she must have talked to the wrong person. One voice in her was saying apologize and the other was saying that Agumba should be the one to apologise.
"You, cannibal, you've done your worst, can you let this pain go off my feet," she blurted out. Agumba was amazed at her fearlessness. So she still had the guts to say more words in her pains. He went close to her, and looked at her in a scary way. She thought that he was going to strangle her, her body quivered while he drew closer to her. But he wasn't there to harm her, he came to give her a helping hand. He drew her up to her feet and was leading her towards his house. She felt her leg moving freely like she had no control of it, when she even tried pulling away from him, her leg became stiffer, so she could do no better than yielding to the young man. She hated how he gained control over her, and how he ordered her like she was his kid sister.
"When little boys acquire small powers, they will always be in a hurry to show off." she mumbled.
"You talk too much," Agumba replied with disdain, "there's no remorse in you as it should be in the heart of a murder." Ulumma was stricken shock in her nerves, but she did her best to conceal her shock.
"What are you talking about?" she said with anxiety in rhetorical denial. But Agumba feigned insouciance, and continued with his haunting speech.
"I wonder what you're going to tell your child about his father."
Ulumma trembled in herself, she wondered what child he was talking about, albeit his idioms wasn't difficult to understand.
The point he was making was that she had a child in her, which might be correct. But yet her surprise wasn't hidden as to how he knew about this, he might a seer, she thought. A voice in her urged her to give up the fight, but she still reassured herself with the thought that he was been fortunate predicting her ordeal with a serendipitous guess. Nevertheless, she never relented.
"You foul-mouthed spirit in a lad, could you just pity the boy and let loose off him. His case is turning to madness." she said.
"One more nasty word from you, I'll give you a life-lasting dumbness. Ingrate!" he was sparked up in anger this time around that he raised the offor . Ulumma was silently trembling but pride was not completely diminished in her, though she tried concealing it.
Young seers could do their work with zeal and passion and could harm their subject out of curiousity to test their powers, she thought.
"Now move in," he said pointing towards the hut.
"Why?"
"You are now my captive!"
It was barely one week (4 days) after Konaso's death, and the whole palace was still in total confusion on the next line of action to take.
Olieze was totally disappointed in her brother's nonchallance over it all, she believed that her father's death was not natural, having died in his sleep, and her brother wasn't helping matter by investigating their father's sudden death, but instead, wasting the whole day, trying to woo a murderer of a lady. Oh, how she hated the every sight of that lady!
One morning, she decided to go on search for her brother who had left the house, as early as before cöck crow. All her maid had sent back message of their futile search of her brother's whereabout, so she decided going herself. There was nowhere he would be if not in that dungeon as usual, where he spends time wooing that same lady. She must have used love potion on her brother, but she wouldn't watch that happen. Not that she was jealous of her or her brother, but why Uju amongst all ladies in the villages. Why would he want to marry someone that should be facing the law on account for their brother's death. How sure is he that she was not responsible also for their father's death.
She put on her plain black wrapper, wearing no bead or indigo on her as it was done when mourning. The first place she barged into was the dungeon where Uju was held hostage, and unexpected, was the absense of her brother. Where else could he have been? Things were now getting worse than the normal circumstance.
Uju herself was perplexed, seeing her drip tears easily. It was easy to understand the trauma she went through after her father's death, but the drama she displayed especially now she looked at her saying no word but dripping tears profusely. It was clear that she wanted to say something to her, but could be overridden by her emotions. Uju felt sorry for her, and made a move to console her, she held her close to her like she would do to her younger sister. Olieze, nevertheless was like a younger sister to her, afterall, she was younger one amongst them.
Olieze soon realised whom she'd been in her arms all the while she'd been swerved to subconsciousness by her emotion. She pulled away suddenly from her with revulsion. Had she suffered slight neurosis, finding herself in the arms of her most hated person at the time.
"You reprobate!" Uju eyes dilated astoundily over her sudden outburst, coupled with the sordid words. She forced catharsis on herself in order to placate the rage her counterpart incited in her. Despite that, Olieze didn't mistook her harsh and piercing words for the opposite of it, but she raised her voice even higher.
"You've done more than you were to do. You killed my brother, and surely you've done the same to my father. Now its my only surviving brother you're targeting. Have you not done enough? Why not kill me now, blood sucking demon!" Uju landed her cheek with a resounding slap, more catharses weren't sufficient to curb her outburst.
"You don't talk to me with disdain," she warned, "I swallowed this from your father and I wouldn't take such insolence from a spoilt child like you."
Olieze felt heaviness on her cheek, like her teeth was going to fall to the ground if she opened her mouth. She looked at her with contempt, with tears unhidden from her brown eyes.
"I promise you won't get out with this. You must kill me today like you killed my brother and father," she threw herself at Uju and held her waist tightly and aggressively.
"You must kill me today! You must kill me today!" she protested belligerently. Her voice was loud enough to garner attention from the guards around. That was her main aim, to get the guards' attention in order to ensure that Uju was given a rough treatment. Uju tried skedaddle but to no avail. Olieze had almost sprained her left ankle. She felt heaviness in moving her left leg while they jostled on the bare floor. Uju managed to stand on one foot and limp quickly out from her turbulence, she didn't want her opponent know that she was injured on her foot, it would sound like she was indirectly admitting defeat. Olieze, however, wasn't willing to give up the fight, she gripped Uju by her feet and brushed her feet off the earth crust with her arms. Uju fell aggressively to the floor and hit her head to the wall. She was motionless for minutes, on the floor were she closed her eyes subconsciously, holding her aching head tightly to cool the pains. Olieze thought she fainted, hence a flawless victory for her. Everything was done for her now she'd dealt with her opponent mercilessly, it was time to leave for her. But how wrong she was. Before she could make a move backwards, Uju pounced on her from where she laid, at quick interval. She smothered Olieze, and gave her a rough beating. She was now showing her that tolerance wasn't cowardice. How could she had been silent all this while she was humiliated by her. She was going to teach her a lesson she wouldn't forget in a jiffy. She dealt with her ruthlessly like she would do to her young siblings, to teach her how children should respect their elders. But all Olieze could do was to scream like a young dog that has been crushed by a millstone.
Her voice grew louder and the guards were at the scene at the twinkle of an eye. Uju was red hot in rage that she so noone coming but still persisted in her battery offensive. Uju had never in her life beaten someone this hard, she'd of recent developed hot temper, but the genesis of this might be traced to the days when she lived in Ozalla with her sister, when they had suddenly switched from the indivisible sisters they'd been from right from their parents' home where they grew from to bitter rivalry that is also tantamount to gross enmity. If it were really true that Mba was killed in that house, it may likely be her (Ulumma) that would be responsible. She would have reveal the fact to Konaso, that she had a sister, or rather there was someone who came visiting who was there when she left. But saying that would implicate her the more, and that would be moving from pot to fire. She wanted to exonerate herself entirely from the whole issue, and feign ignorant of the dead. As she hated Ulumma so much, it was unfortunate for her that she was too strong for her to handle with ease. Now she had a spoilt child of a princess within her claws, and unlucky for her victim, she wasn't in her days of gentleness and meekness. She dealt ruthlessly with her skin and made sure she gave her the treatment she'd never received in her life.
The palace guards gripped Uju firmly out of Olieze who was becoming subconscious over the beating she'd received from Uju. The table was turned round, and this time around, two angered guards paid her with her own coins. The duo bent their hot temper on the fair lady and gave her an indelible beating of her life. The heat of the assault was much on her that it was too much for her to stand for even a second. Just as she'd never beaten someone so hard like she did to Olieze, she'd also not been assaulted this way in her life. She thought that they wanted to kill her, and she screamed to the top of her voice.
"Nne! Nne! Nne!" she wished someone would just come, be it mortal or immortal, to save her from the claws of her assailants.
Her prayers wasn't unanswered albeit, Aneke was the first to barge into the scene. His present triggered a halt in their actions. Aneke mouth was opened ajar in astonishment. He thought it was in a reverie, but nay he's just seeing it real. The "sunshine" princess, fair lady who had always lit his day with her glamorous and exquisitely made damsel now beaten to shreds and beyond recognition. As many involved in this assault most pay dearly for this.
"This tramp here assaulted your sister and almost skewed life out of her," one of them said pointing to Uju who laid unconsciously on the bare floor.
"And you decided to......" Aneke's fury outwitted words from his mouth that he made the move with whatever object he held in his hand. Luckily for him, he wasn't holding a sharp object, because Aneke would have stabbed him with anything judging his temper.
Aneke pierced his side with the handle of his akupe , so that the guard would be thanking his personal chi that it wasn't a sword.
"I'm going to deal with you myself," he beat his chest and walked away, but not without carrying the fainted lady on his arms to his room. He went outside to where the assault had occured, and ordered his chief guard to lock the culprits of the assault in the same dungeon they'd brought Uju from.
