And The Fog Clears (3)

Emeravwe said somberly, “I am searching for myself.” She awaited Mudiaga's response, but he said nothing, and she looked to him to see he watched her sympathetically. The gaze unsettled her, and she said, a bit annoyed, “Why are you not saying anything?”

He reached forward, and her heart skipped, but he only touched the red band of her headscarf where the ruby in her forehead formed a small bulge. “You’re a valued child. That’s what Maidens and Eunuchs call those with gems in their foreheads, right? By law, all Onorogu are required to dedicate their third born child to service to the crown, unless it’s the only son, and from birth these children are slated for life in the palace and aren’t given a gem. But I’ve heard there’re instances when valued children like you are forced to enter the palace.”

Emeravwe listened glumly as they walked through the rooms. “What are those instances?”

“First, if the parents of the child initially gained exemption from the law by agreeing to pay the annual fee until the child reached adulthood, but defaulted on the payments. This is the rarest case because not only would the parents be stigmatized as disloyal, but the fees are supposed to be exorbitant, and having to pay them for sixteen years would be like chopping off a toe each year. You wouldn’t be able to walk afterwards, and besides, you don’t have sixteen toes. So most Onorogu just follow the law. The second case, which is most common, is that a valued child might be brought into the palace if it’s orphaned and has no relatives to look after it.” His eyes were compassionate. “I assumed the second was your case.”

Orphaned. Emeravwe turned from him, the echo of the word in her mind making her feel hollow inside. “I do not know. I truly do not know anything. Not who brought me to the palace or even why I am here.” Her voice broke, and she paused, stopping in the archway between two rooms. “What is your full name?”

He answered, “Mudiaga Beliko Onanojah.”

“You are Mudiaga of the Onanojah clan belonging to the Beliko Tribe.” She lifted misty eyes to him. “But I am just Emeravwe. I do not belong anywhere.”

Mudiaga raised his hand, his expression tightening as if he directly felt her pain. He gently brushed the teardrop from her cheek as it fell, his hand lingering. He said tenderly, “Then we’ll find your place. And if that doesn’t work we’ll steal someone else’s.”

Emeravwe smiled. “I can count on you for that?”

“Of course, I am a gallant officer.” He grinned, “Who trespasses and apparently also steals.”

Emeravwe shrugged, continuing through the archway, “A minor consideration, surely.”

Mudiaga asked, looking at the looming shelves and their many volumes, “How’re we gonna find your tribe or clan in all of this?”

“There is a guide in one of the front rooms which maps where things are. I am hoping it will be of help. When Agaenaye Fatima and I were here, I floundered about because I had no idea where to begin. Now, I think I do.”

They entered the room containing the guide and approached the podium at the front, where the massive text rested.

Mudiaga set the lantern on the podium and ran a finger across the gold-leaf letters. “Oh, fancy. Guide to the Chronicles of Xxene’s House of Nobles.” He looked to Emeravwe. “What were you thinking?”

She hesitated, biting her lip. “I thought I might look up the clans involved in the Insurgence of Onorogu.”

Mudiaga’s brow rose, then fell, his expression sobering. Emeravwe lowered her eyes, her nerves fraying. If her family had, in fact, been implicated in the Insurgence of Onorogu, she knew how severe a charge that would be—at least, she thought she knew. But she could not think where else to begin than with this event, which seemed the most obvious.

“Why?” Mudiaga asked.

“Because the Insurgence of Onorogu occurred in the final year of Orodje Otaroghene’s reign, and I entered the palace in the first year of Orodje Uvo’s reign,” she said, referring to their current king. “If I lost my family during that time, then it could have been due to that incident.”

Concern marked his features, but Mudiaga nodded. He turned to the guide, flipping it open. “Does this have some sort of index where we can look up events like that?”

“Yes, in the back,” she said, drawing nearer. “I noticed it when Agaenaye Fatima and I were here. There is a list of major events that occurred in the kingdom during the period of these records.”

They turned the pages to the section. The Insurgence of Onorogu was the last event recorded, and Mudiaga read aloud, “In the eighth month of the sixteenth year of Orodje Otaroghene’s reign, Orodje Otaroghene took to bed with an old illness and his condition quickly deteriorated. Upon investigation into the cause, Minister of Justice Tanomare Imodu Miriode discovered that poison had been added to medicine which was meant to recover his health. Two clans of the Imodu Tribe were the principal suspects, and they, along with six other clans known to be in close association, were tried and executed. Their wealth and properties were seized, their names stricken from the House of Nobles. These were the indicted clans...”

There followed a list of the implicated clans, among which were five belonging to the Imodu Tribe, two of the O-Jiban Tribe, and one of the Iwaka Tribe.

As Mudiaga read the names, Emeravwe’s stomach roiled with a sickening feeling. She turned apprehensively to him. “We should look up all the clans that were removed from the House of Nobles during this time. Like the case of the Achojah clan involved with Okémeh. It is more likely that my clan is among those.” For if her entire clan had been executed, it made no sense that she was still alive.

No, they are probably still living, she thought.

Mudiaga studied her, then said gently, “Yes, you’re right. But we don’t have much time, so let’s start with these.”

Tense, she retrieved a slip of paper and small inkwell and brush from her skirt pocket and jotted down the names. They then flipped through the guide, located each, and noted in what rooms and which shelves their records could be found.

“Start looking through the records,” Mudiaga said. “I’ll report to my post, so the other officers don’t get suspicious, then come back. Here, I’ll leave the lantern with you.”

Emeravwe nodded and Mudiaga went off while she took the lantern to browse the shelves.

She grimly pulled the texts from their places and tried to calm her nerves as she perused them. Searching the records of the clans involved in the Insurgence of Onorogu was her best starting point, but it distressed her to think that her family could be among the eight clans the guide listed. Surely, they could not have been involved in the insurrection. Even if they were somehow connected, their engagement was probably negligible enough that they had simply been dismissed from the House of Nobles, and not executed.

But maybe not. Emeravwe thought hopefully, I am a palace Maiden, after all, so it is possible that they are still part of the House of Nobles but simply… Simply what? she wondered. Simply did not want her?