The Wound from 11 Years Past (3)

Emeravwe blinked in confusion as her eyes adjusted to the light. At the bottom of the steps were Mudiaga and two Eunuchs she had never seen before. They were middle-aged with lined, stern faces, and were dressed in brown robes and the red headcloths of officials of the Ministry of Justice. Their robes and headcloths were made of shimmering silk. The headcloths adorned with a singular emblem of the Heavenly Bodies revealed them to be Osiebé. Mudiaga stood just to the side of them, looking very uncomfortable.

Emeravwe turned to the officer, but he simply bowed in a digwe to the two Eunuchs, then strode back into the Bureau of Interrogations.

“Agaenaye Emeravwe,” one of the Eunuchs at the bottom of the steps called to her, “you are to come with us.”

Emeravwe descended the steps, gripped by the hardness with which the Eunuch addressed her. At the bottom, she bent her knees in a low butu, greeting the two, “Miguo, Oniri.”

“Vrendo,” they answered.

One had a thick mole above his left eyebrow, the other a wide, flat nose.

“Come,” the one with the mole said, “we are not the only ones you must kneel to.”

The Eunuchs tucked their hands into the sleeves of their robes and turned, making their way from the Bureau of Interrogations. Following behind them, Emeravwe caught Mudiaga’s eye. He looked scruffy, his coils matted, a shadow of red stubble on his chin and circles under his eyes. She doubted she looked any better, and could smell the stench of the cells clinging to her as it did him.

She questioned with a look, What is going on? He shrugged, his lips pressed worriedly.

They made their way through the Compound of the Ministry of Justice to the Bureau of Court Affairs. Emeravwe did not know what to expect and wondered if she should be glad that they were released from the Bureau of Interrogations. Instead, though, they had been delivered to these somber Eunuchs. Osiebé were officials who worked closely with heads of departments and ministers. Emeravwe did not think they would be better off with them, and the severity of Mudiaga’s own bearing told her he felt the same way.

When they reached the Bureau of Court Affairs, the two Eunuchs led them to the office of the director of the bureau. Emeravwe and Mudiaga gazed at each other with apprehension as they stood outside the door.

“Orori Taikiru,” the flat-nosed Eunuch called, “we have escorted the two from the Bureau of Interrogations.”

“We fear they are in no condition to see you, however,” the one with the mole added, wrinkling his nose at them.

“No matter,” came a deep gruff voice from within, “send them in.”

The door opened, and they stepped into a rectangular office containing a wide curtained window on the wall opposing the door. There were several armchairs on either side of a rich oval rug in the center of the room. On the far wall was a desk before which stood the elegant, towering figure of a man clad in blood-red garments and headcloth. His skin was as dark and smooth as burnished onyx, his eyebrows low and eyes hard like the chalcedony stone. He had the physique of a man in his thirties and sported a neat, short tapered beard. His silken red robes and headcloth were brocaded in gold and silver with miniscule motifs of the Heavenly Bodies. The brocade was something only ministers and Ólórógun* wore, Emeravwe knew.

The man was not alone in the room. The chairs were occupied, and Emeravwe recognized Eunuch Ejerute, Aye Chioma, and Eunuch Otase. Across from Eunuch Ejerute sat a small, tense man with a pencil mustache and anxious brown eyes. He was dressed in silken red robes and headcloth, as well, but his robes were unadorned, his headcloth embellished with three gold bands. From his attire and the vague memory of having met him when she was appointed to the bureau, Emeravwe perceived him to be the director of the Bureau of Court Affairs.

“Insolent wretches!” he cursed, practically foaming at the mouth. “This is Orori Metitiri O-Jiban Taikiru, director of the Ministry of Justice! How dare you stare directly at him! Lower your eyes and pay respects!”

Emeravwe and Mudiaga immediately bowed their heads, bending deeply in a butu and digwe. “Miguo, Orori Taikiru.”

“May you forgive us. We were flustered by your presence and did not mean to offend you,” Emeravwe added automatically. A habit of confessing her fault and begging forgiveness she had been taught in her years of learning mannerisms of a Maiden.

The tall dark man sneered. He looked from Emeravwe and Mudiaga to the director of the Bureau of Court Affairs, and addressed him, “Onori Oghonoro, so this is how you train the heads of the divisions in this bureau to educate their subordinates?” He faced Emeravwe and Mudiaga, who remained bent in greeting. His eyes narrowing first on Mudiaga, then Emeravwe. “To show complete lack of respect for authority by forgetting their place, speaking out of turn, and browsing through the nation’s confidential documents as though it were their own antique book collection!”

Onori Oghonoro and the others in the room were mute, their eyes lowered in contrition.

Orori Taikiru inhaled deeply, then slowly released the breath as he reached with a hand to massage his temples in irritation. “Regrettably, your punishment will not be carried out as dictated under normal circumstances.” He bit, fixing flinty eyes on Emeravwe and Mudiaga, “By law, you two derelicts should be rotting beneath the earth by now instead of spreading your filth through the Compound of the Ministry of Justice! If not beheaded for the unauthorized access of restricted documents, then you should be stripped, beaten, and thrown from the Sun’s Court for the immoral relationship between an officer and Maiden!”

He inhaled deeply again, as if fighting to restrain his ire. “But Ovye has seen fit to pass an edict of amnesty to usher in an auspicious new year. Thus sparing your wretched lives.” Emeravwe’s heart quickened to hear this, but she did not dare look up. “Yet you have smeared the Ministry of Justice,” he continued, pacing before the desk. “We are in place to uphold the law and standards of propriety to the highest degree. Monitoring and preventing such crimes as those you have committed. As such, I cannot look lightly upon your offense.”

He stopped, facing the others in the room. They remained silent with heads bowed. The Orori regarded them all with disgust. He said, “Since Ovye has decreed there be no harsh punishments for crimes committed from the first of the year hitherto, you will be placed on probation for the next twelve months, your wages withheld during this time. Within this day, you will report to the Bureau of Corrections and receive twenty lashes each. In the coming four weeks, you are prohibited from entering this compound.

And since you are so woefully unfamiliar with the standards expected of those employed in the Ministry of Justice, I require from the both of you a hundred copies each of the Ministry of Justice’s Book of Maxims by the end of the four weeks. Onori Oghonoro, see that you collect these copies and send them to my attendants for verification.”

“Yes, Orori,” Onori Oghonoro answered.

Orori Taikiru turned back to Emeravwe and Mudiaga. “I have spoken to the Commander of the Palace Guard and the Rode Aye regarding this matter. You are to report to them once you leave here; I am sure they have additional penalties to impose. Now remove yourselves from my sight!”

Emeravwe and Mudiaga dipped lower in their butu and digwe before finally straightening and backing from the room. As they walked the halls of the Bureau of Court Affairs, they were at first silent, then Mudiaga burst in laughter. Emeravwe stared soberly at him. She understood the relief that triggered his mirth, but she felt no such levity.

He braced a wall with his hand, bending over and gripping his stomach. “Ah! Ow! I laughed too hard.” He breathed incredulously, “We almost died, Emeravwe! Oghene bless Ovye and his timing!”

Emeravwe bent her head in guilt, her voice low, “I am sorry for implicating you.”

Mudiaga tsked. “Fool. It was a choice I made and not something you have to be sorry for.” He paused, then extended a hand to lightly lift her chin, so her eyes met his. His light brown eyes were soft. “Sorry I wasn’t a more gallant officer.”

Emeravwe broke their gaze, moving his hand away.

“Oh, that’s right! We’re still in the Ministry of Justice’s compound.” He grinned, winking, “How about we take our immorality somewhere else?”

Wordlessly, she began walking away.

“Emeravwe.” She turned to him, and he said, his demeanor completely somber, “Forget what we saw in the records.”

She felt a stab, her breath catching in her throat.

He repeated, “Forget it.”