Chapter 31

"Ewatomi, I do not address you as a mother, but as your ruler! My verdict has been declared and will not be retracted! You are banished, Ewatomi! Banished from these waters for twenty-five years! Now off with you!" Osun ordered.

"I'm going nowhere, mother!" Ewatomi remained adamant. "You can't just kick me out! This is my home! I'm the heiress and you can't send me on exile! I'm not moving an inch!" Ewatomi resolutely stated.

"Very well then, I shall have to use force on you, dear grandchild!" Osun rose and pointed her scepter at Ewatomi, stripping her of most of her powers while Ewatomi screamed in pain. Seeing the agony that she was, Labake and Adunni tried to come to her aid by begging Osun but Osun sensed it and barked at them. "No! Let her suffer! Stand back!"

Meekly, the maids obeyed and retreated with bowed heads. When Osun was done removing a majority of Ewatomi's powers, the young mermaid weakly fell on the floor. 

"Now, leave my presence!" Osun ordered, her eyes white with fury at her granddaughter. "Leave now!"

"I'm not leaving, mother." Ewatomi remained stubborn, despite being very weak. "Not like this...please..."

"I'M QUEEN!" Osun stomped her trident again. "AND YOU ANSWER TO ME! GIVE ME YOUR BREATH!" Osun struck her again, seizing her ability to breathe underwater.

Ewatomi's hands flew to her throat now and she began to gasp for oxygen, almost clawing at her own throat. Anytime she opened her mouth, only bubbles floated out and she had to hold her breath. Labake and Adunni grew anxious now as they watched the young princess struggle for dear life.

"If you don't leave, you will die here Ewatomi!" Osun stated.

"Queen mother!" The maids suddenly exclaimed, shocked at Osun's apathetic treatment towards her own granddaughter.

"SILENCE!" Osun barked and they flinched and cowered.

Unable to hold her breath anymore, Ewatomi turned and swam out of the palace with speed and was gone. Immediately she left, Osun let her trident fall, then she threw herself down at the foot of her throne and wept. She had been acting so tough to intimidate Ewatomi, whereas she was dying inside. Now that her granddaughter could not see this weak and emotional part of her, she let down all her defenses and wept like a helpless mother. Her understanding maids surrounded her now, feeling sorry for her.

"But Iya, why? Why would you do that to her?" Adunni asked softly.

"This is the only way to teach her a lesson, Adunni. This is the only way. It's my fault that she turned out this way. I spoilt her. I shouldn't have pampered her the way I did. I love her so much that it hurts to see her go but this is for the best." Osun said tearily. "Labake, Adunni, follow her and make sure she makes it safe to land. I want you two to keep a watchful eye on her always."

"Yes, Iya." Both maids bowed and swam out of the palace.

Ewatomi struggled to get to land, and by the time she crawled out of the river and threw herself down on the river bank, she was totally exhausted and was coughing seriously, spitting out all the water she had swallowed on her way. She noisily dragged air to fill her lungs while her tail flapped in the river. 

She still couldn't believe that she had almost drowned. She quickly sat up in alarm when she heard a dog running towards her and barking fiercely at her. Turning her head to the side, she saw a man in his late forties staring at her in awe while he tried to restrain his barking dog with a local leash.

When Ewatomi's tail fully transformed into human legs, she glared at the man as she struggled to her feet, completely naked and hissed. "What are you looking at?!" She tried to strike him, but nothing happened. Trying again, nothing still happened. Remembering that her powers had been seized by Osun, she hissed indignantly and started to walk away from the bank while the man's eyes followed her. 

Having no choice, Ewatomi made her way to Ireti whom she found still lying unconscious in the bush path. Without hesitating, she transformed into a small ball of light and shot into the woman's belly that the force of her entry woke Ireti up. Confused about where she was for a moment, Ireti soon got up, dusted her wrapper and continued her journey home, not even knowing that she had fallen pregnant.

                                                                                 ★★★

Nine Months Later...

Babatunde, the Christian husband of Ireti paused his pacing as another loud scream erupted from Ireti's room. He was very nervous and apprehensive and all efforts by his brother and male neighbor who had come to comfort and make him relax were in vain. Babatunde didn't want anything to happen to his wife. 

In as much as he was desperate for a child, he loved that woman so much that he didn't want to lose her because of childbirth. As he resumed pacing the compound, arms folded under his chest, he began to mutter prayers to God, his head hung down. 

He knew that he served a living God who would never forsake him and he wanted God to intervene in Ireti's childbirth. In fact, he immediately made a vow to God that if the mother and child would survive this, he would convert them to Christ and even have the child baptized and given a Christian name.

Inside the room, Ireti was surrounded by two midwives who were assisting her with the labor. She was laid on a wrapper on the floor, and kept panting and gasping as the midwives kept encouraging her to push. It was indeed a painful birth, but Ireti was determined to have the baby and hold him or her in her arms. 

She was sweating and breathing hard, and more fluid and blood spilled out of her vagina, announcing the imminent arrival of the baby.

"I can see a part of the body but I don't know which part it is yet." Said one of the midwives kneeling in between Ireti's open knees. "Ireti, push this baby with all your strength...please push as hard as you can. You have been in labor now for the past forty-five minutes."

"Yes Ireti, once you get the head and shoulder out, the rest of the body won't be a problem...it will come out smoothly without any hitch" The second wife encouraged her, fanning her with a local woven fan. "We know that this is your first childbirth and that's why it's so difficult for you, but please, push as hard as you can."

Ireti squeezed her eyes shut and with all her strength, she gave the hardest push she could, screaming through clenched teeth and out popped the baby, feet first. The first midwife exchanged looks with the second while Ireti who had collapsed tried to catch her breath after being relieved of such agony.

 She didn't even fully recover before she lifted her head again and asked with hope in her tired eyes, "Is it a girl? Please tell me it's a girl." She said to the first midwife.

The first midwife swallowed hard as she carried the baby in her arms, the baby's umbilical cord still attached to the placenta that had slipped out of the mother. "Yes, it's a girl quite alright...but..."

"But what?" Ireti asked, now noticing the nervous expressions on the faces of the midwives.

"She came out feet first." The second midwife quietly answered. "Ige." She mentioned the Yoruba name tagged to babies who come out feet first during childbirth.

Ireti knew that there was a superstition surrounding such birth but she didn't let that bother her

"Igba yen nko? (And so?)" Ireti asked in indifference. She had waited this long for a child and didn't care if it came out of her feet first or ass first, as long as the baby was alive, that was all that mattered.

The first midwife simply sighed and just then she looked down at the baby as she was about to tell the other midwife to cut the umbilical cord. "Ha!" She suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"Ki lo sele? (What happened?)" Ireti and the second midwife asked in unison.

"I don't know if I'm only being delusional but this baby seemed to be staring at me." The first midwife answered with fear written on her face. "Abi, Tinuke, are babies not supposed to be blind until a few weeks old?" She asked her partner in a perplexed tone.

"Beeni (yes)." answered the second midwife, rising to see for herself but when the baby shifted her gaze to her own face, the woman suddenly gasped, placing her hand on her chest. "By the gods, she can see!" She exclaimed. "This child's eyes can see!"

This made the two midwives more nervous but they tried to act composed. It was however difficult to remain unperturbed, especially because the baby was yet to announce her arrival with a cry which was supposed to alert the men waiting outside, and this was rather unusual for newborn babies. "Let's just pretend that we are the ones imagining all these..." Said the first midwife, already eager to be on her way. "Let's just severe the umbilical cord, give her a bath and hand her over to her mother so that she can be breastfed and we can return to our homes." She finished anxiously.