And The Gears Turn (4)

Agaenaye Fatima was silent a moment, then chuckled, “Let us hope the Royal Secretariat took diligent notes over the years, instead of scribbling nonsense while pocketing our taxes. Else we might misconstrue blatant lies and hidden truths. I think Oga Mudiaga would say something along those lines in this situation.”

Emeravwe did not like the sound of it, but it did sound like something Mudiaga might say, though not so pleasantly. She thought, Mudiaga would also charge ahead regardless of any limitations. That is the kind of person he is. The thought brought a smile to her, and she turned, charging for the podium. “We shall find out how diligent the Royal Secretariat has been!”

The guide revealed a total of seven noble clans which answered the name Achojah—two of the O-Jiban Tribe, one of the Imodu, three of the Iwaka, and one of the Beliko Tribe—and specified how many families were in each. Emeravwe and Agaenaye Fatima jotted the details onto notes, then went through the room, perusing the records for any clues that might indicate the Achojah they sought.

As they scanned the records, Emeravwe also scraped for any cue that might lead her to her own family’s history. She flipped desperately through the pages, hoping something would catch her eye or jog a vision. Her tension mounted as she searched, till she forgot the purpose of her search and indiscriminately selected records from the shelves, frantically riffling through them, though she had no idea what to look for.

“What are you doing?” Agaenaye Fatima called and Emeravwe started, dropping a book to the floor. “Those are not the records of the O-Jiban Achojah clans. We were instructed not to touch anything unrelated to the assignment.”

Emeravwe’s heart drummed as she bent to pick up the book, dismay gripping her. “Yes, I was mistaken.” She replaced it on the shelf and returned to the row of records marked “Achojah.”

They were only able to look through the records of one of the O-Jiban Achojah clans before their allotted time ran out that day, and Emeravwe left the department crestfallen. It did not seem as if she would be able to get anywhere if she continued in her current manner. It was like trying to scrub the pillars in the main entrance hall of the Ministry of Domestic Affairs with no ladder or scrubber; she could get nowhere and would only skin her hands trying.

And was there any use trying? She had long since given up the idea of finding her family. After all, she had waited years for them, until she realized that if they wanted to find her, they simply had to return to the palace, where they had left her. She always wondered about them, but had also thought, what use would there be in finding a family who abandoned her?

But what if I have been wrong all along? The image of the woman sitting in a pool of blood flickered at the back of her mind, and she thought, What if they are dead?

The thought had never occurred to her before, and it chilled her to the core. If that was the case, then was she not setting herself up for failure? All her worries, her anxieties and effort, would be for nothing. The thought made her even more anxious. She did not know which was worse; if her family had abandoned her or if they were dead. This second notion, though, made her stomach churn, and she became even more desperate to find the truth.

In the days that followed, she and Agaenaye Fatima pored over the annals of the Iwaka and Beliko Achojah clans. They found that the families of the clans were established in the provinces, some even active in government. Emeravwe continued to scour the records for anything that may give her a clue in her own search, looking through the other shelves when Agaenaye Fatima was engrossed in her work or in a separate room.

She was doing just so on the eighth day they went to the department, when Agaenaye Fatima called to her from one of the rooms holding the records of the Imodu Tribe. Emeravwe replaced the record she was looking through and crossed into the other room. Agaenaye Fatima sat on the floor with a thick volume opened on her lap and others strewn around her.

“Look here,” she said, moving one of the books from one side of her to the other so Emeravwe could sit. “I think this is it.”

Emeravwe settled beside her. Of the two pages to which the text in her lap was opened, one had neat script a quarter of the way down the page, while the other stood empty. She turned questioningly to Agaenaye Fatima. The Agaenaye regarded her pointedly, then quickly flipped through the rest of the pages which were crisp with emptiness.

“There are no more entries.”

Agaenaye Fatima’s expression said that this was something to be marked, but Emeravwe looked puzzled. They had come across several records in which new entries had not been made for some time. Emeravwe said, “I suppose no notable events have occurred in this family in the past few years.”

“But it is not just this family,” Agaenaye Fatima said, putting the text aside. She lifted a couple more from the floor, flipping through them in turn to show Emeravwe their blankness. “And it has not only been for the past few years. It is understandable if a couple branches of the clan experienced no notable events for a few years. But that the entire clan experienced no marriages, births or deaths for a decade is extremely dubious.”

Riffling back through the pages of the text in her hand, Agaenaye Fatima arrived at the last entry and shifted the book eagerly onto Emeravwe’s lap. “Look. This is the most incriminating part. The final record of the events of all branches of the Imodu Achojah clan end in this way. Oh, and note the year it was recorded.”

Balancing the book on her lap, Emeravwe read, “Year sixteen of the reign of Orodje Otaroghene.” She paused, turning to Agaenaye Fatima, who nodded. The sixteenth year of Orodje Otaroghene’s reign was also his final, and it was in that year, too, that the Insurgence of Onorogu occurred.

Emeravwe continued, “On the twentieth day of the eighth month of this year, it was revealed that the clan Achojah, of the Imodu Tribe, was a strong proponent of the party accused of treason. As the Achojah were not directly involved in the treasonous act, their lives were spared by virtue of Her Royal Majesty Ovyeraye Ofere. However, as of this day, the third day of the ninth month of the reign of Orodje Otaroghene, all branches of the Imodu Achojah clan are hereby relieved of their nobility and relegated to the caste of Ivyogbere. Their lands and properties shall be seized, and their names stricken from the House of Nobles. So it is decreed.”

Emeravwe looked up with rounded eyes.

Agaenaye Fatima beamed. “Let us return to the bureau and report to Oga Otase!”

As she moved to rearrange the texts back on the shelves, a shadow fell over Emeravwe. They had accomplished their assignment, but she still knew nothing about her family, and the doors to the records would close behind her.