She Knows All?

       "Heard that the helmet of Jin paid you a visit."

   Lailah said to him. She was standing before him. He was seated on a wooden bench planted under one of the boabab trees along the route. 

  One thing was making meaning of how she knew that he was plying that route, another was how she knew about the helmet. 

   After the trauma of the arrival of the helmet, he had gone to ask around the market square for the sorcerer in the town, but he was told that the man ceased to function. 

   He was returning home to decide where to keep the helmet when he had been called upon by Lailah from behind. 

   He had wanted to lose her in the first place, but she was swifter than he ever imagined. Well, he could had done himself a favor of never imagining it in the first place. 

    "What do you know?"

   He shot back at her. But she smiled. There seemed to be a life in that smile of hers. She seemed to be enjoying herself or probably she had bagged something big. 

   He knew here quite well and could say when she was pleased and when she was quite mad. 

    "Let's not go into that details. Stay on the surface of the conversation".

   She said, looking to and fro as though she was looking out for someone. He wasn't surprised. He was acquainted with her art. 

     "Coward."

   He spat on the earth and dressed it with the sole of his light sandal. He was beginning to being dressed as the royal one. 

   The King of Havila had been exceptionally nice to him because of that lady whose role Lailah was playing. 

   The King had been providing him with clothes and sandals exchange as well as food that'd serve him for as long as possible. 

   He loved all but the twist to it kept him nauseated as well as worried. Though he was trying as much as possible to hide it. 

    She chuckled at the call of the "coward" and walked closer to him. He adjusted on the bench. He didn't want her hideous hand to smear his dignity. 

    "Talking about what I know. Do you know that your siblings have been displaced? Quite mad an frustrated, migrating from one place to another in search of a sorcerer that would kill me?"

    She quit talking. She sat next to him and touched her soft palm to his right cheek. A gentle stroke and dropped the hand. 

     "Thought as much."

   She said. Ja was trying to crush the information into particles that he could spray them into the thin air. 

  But he seemed rather too weak to house the equipments needed for the crushing. 

   "Bluffs."

    He shot back at her. He was looking towards the scanty forest opposite them. He wasn't sure if there was any wild animal around there. 

   Since he had been plying the route, he had never been attacked by one or even seen one. 

   He heard Lailah chuckle again and looked at her. 

   Oh, he had mistaking. He was seating beside one. 

     "And I also know that the helmet of Jin is causing the havoc happening amongst all the Kings. Which you should know because of your prior experiences."

    He heard her say. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He wasn't seeing her beauty at that time. He was seeing the monster in her. 

   He was seeing the oddness of her character. Trying to figure how many more hidden things about her that he was yet to know. 

   He tried to relate with the new thoughts swelling at the base of his ken. He shot at her,

    "Don't tell me that you were the one who kept the helmet there."

   She laughed that time. He didn't know what was funny really. He felt like smacking her down. He felt like smashing her head open. 

   The manner at which he loathed her, he had no idea what he would do to her that would please him. 

   Every evil thoughts that seemed to sprout in his wit tend to be the silhouette of what he wished for her. 

   He couldn't contain the hatred neither could he assert it. He was helpless as the prince of Havila. 

     "Why would I?"

   She said, tracing her finger across the bamboo stalks of which the bench was made. 

    "When I have an attendant."

   He stood up immediately. 

     "Attendant?"

     Twas more like a shout than a word. He didn't remember her telling him about some attendants of hers. 

     "How forgetful of you."

   She said smiling. He was boiling in rage and that seemed to amuse her. He was so mad that he couldn't raise his hands against her. 

    "Whatever the fuck you're up to, I don't really give a damn, eh? What I gave a fuck about was why you sent the fucking attendant to drop the helmet at my doorstep."

    He said raging. His eyes if possible would had popped out. He didn't know what was holding them back. 

    "Your doorstep? Do you even read history? You should meet Jimin."

    She said amidst a toothed smile. He felt frustrated. Why was she so annoying?

    "Are you mad?"

     He couldn't hold it back. He had tried enough. Why did she love fiddling with words?

    She didn't seem moved by the insult. She only continued what she had started,

     "That house you live in used to belong to the prince of Havila. He would go there when he wanted to shut himself away from the noises and all. You'd been given by the king before he wanted to bait you."

   She paused. He only stared at her not knowing what to think. She continued,

    "Well, I sent him to deliver a gift, the helmet to you but shame, you were not at home so he dropped it by his doorstep. Though he has no idea. He only knows whatever I want him. And I'm sure that he did have some fun before leaving the premises."

    She stopped talking and did a light laugh. 

    "Seems like you're not in a mood to talk. Came by to tell you about our meeting with the King tomorrow."

    She added and began to walk away. 

    He only stood there looking at her as she swayed her body to the height of the day. 

    He had no idea how he was feeling. Whether confused or stupefied. There was a lot to take in.