Chapter 46

"Since you won't listen to me, I'll simply tell Father Thomas to talk some sense into you, and maybe then you'll understand the true meaning of submission which will come from the very mouth of an anointed man!" 

"Oh, so it has gotten to the point where you report me to your priest, right? Okay, report very well, you'll get tired! All I know is that your Reverend father cannot do anything to me!" She stated then added, "Now, this is where this discussion ends! I need at least one more hour of rest to make my morning a wonderful one. By the time I wake up, I want breakfast in bed!"

"Breakfast in bed? Are you in any way suggesting that I cook and serve you in bed? Me, a titled man?" Nduka felt even more disrespected.

"Was my English too hard for you to comprehend or is it that you don't even know how to cook?" She questioned.

"I've not cooked for the past fifteen years! I only cooked during my bachelor years and there's no way I'll go into the kitchen again, especially not when I have a new wife!"

"So, who has been cooking for you for the past six years ever since your wife died?"

"My son." He answered.

"Then tell your son to make some breakfast. As for me, I have not had enough sleep yet! If you want to starve, so be it." She fluffed her pillow and laid down again, turning her back to him.

Shaking his head slowly as he stared at his wife in disbelief, Nduka got off the bed and left the room to go wake up his son.

                                                                                   ★★★

"Oyediran!" Ewatomi called happily as she ran through the bush towards Oyediran's secluded house. "Oyediran!" She called again as she neared the house.

In alarm, Oyediran rushed out of his house, holding a spear which he was sharpening with a carving knife. "Ewa, what is it?" He asked in fear, glancing around to see if anyone was chasing her.

"Look what I found!" Ewatomi cheerfully jumped, holding up a bead bracelet so that he could see it.

Oyediran drew closer to scrutinize the item. "Where did you find that?"

"In the stream, it was trapped between two rocks. Doesn't it look lovely?" She asked with her eyes bright with a smile.

"It does, but you are not one who prefers anything that's not white." The man said curiously. "Why did you take it?"

"Well..." She said coyly now. "I kind of like this one, there's something rather mysterious about it and I also feel that it's not from around here because I've not seen its type before."

"I see...let me have it." Oyediran stretched an open palm towards her after switching his knife to the other hand that was also holding the new spear. When Ewatomi placed the bead on his callused palm, he instantly went into a trance that lasted for seconds. When he regained himself, he said with a sober expression, "It's indeed not from around here, Ewatomi... It came all the way from the East."

"Is that all you saw?" Ewatomi asked in curiosity, stepping closer to him, eager for more information concerning the bead.

"No, child, that's not all I saw. I saw a lot more..." He stared at her then said. "Your destiny is tied to the young boy who threw this precious bracelet into the river. He's hurt and has been silently grieving for six years now." Oyediran revealed.

"But if it was that important, why would he throw it into the river? And how did it also find its way all the way here?" Ewatomi asked, a bit puzzled.

"It was given to him by his mother, but he threw it away because he is angry that she left him! He is angry that she took her own life without considering him. He is yet to forgive her though and I fear that he might live with that for a long time." He explained. "Concerning how this bead got all the way here, that's still a mystery to me, Ewa."

"How do I find this boy?" Ewatomi asked softly now in empathy. "How do I find him and comfort him?"

Oyediran gave her a surprised look. "This is the very first time you have shown empathy concerning someone whom you don't even know, especially the opposite sex, Ewatomi. What has changed?"

"Don't go thinking anything, old man." Ewatomi said, sheepishly looking away. "I'm still a child, remember?"

"You are a child quite alright, but the heart of an adult woman still beats within that chest of yours." Said Oyediran.

"Will you tell me what I need to know or not?" Ewatomi asked, being evasive.

Oyediran stared down at the bracelet again then answered. "You can't meet him, Ewatomi. He's too far away for you to reach him. If this bracelet can take six years to get here, think of how long it will take you to reach him on foot? Besides, even though I know that you can take the shape of a bird, you can't maintain it for long; you don't have your full powers yet, remember?"

"Why then did you now say that my destiny is tied to his if I'll never get to see him?" Ewatomi asked in annoyance and disappointment.

Oyediran smiled now. "Calm down child, calm down. He will eventually come to this village and you'll probably be the first to see him."

"And how will I know that he's the one when I finally see him?" She asked.

Oyediran smiled again, placed the spear and knife on the ground, took Ewatomi's right hand and slipped the bracelet on her wrist. "You ask too many questions, dear child, but trust me, when he comes to this village, he'll be the only man you'll be curious about. There'll be an instant connection between you two."

Ewatomi suppressed a smile now. "I don't like human men, Oyediran... I can't possibly fall in love with one! They are so shallow-minded, so myopic, not to mention that they are also selfish!" She said indignantly.

"And yet, your mother fell in love with one." Oyediran teased.

"And it became her own folly!" Ewatomi said stubbornly. "I will not tread her path. I'm not as naive as she is. I can't wait for thirteen more years so that I can return to my world. When I see the owner of this bracelet, I'll simply hand back it to him and send him on his way." She said, placing her right hand on her left elbow.

Oyediran only gave her a knowing smile and said, "Until then, child, until then, time will tell."

Just then Ewatomi swung her head towards the stream in sudden alarm, her eyes widening as her heart slowly began to beat hard. 

"What is it?" Oyediran asked in concern, noticing the change in her demeanor.

"Someone is killing the fishes in the stream!" Ewatomi uttered without taking her eyes off the direction. Before Oyediran could stop her, Ewatomi turned and dashed for the stream.

When she got there, she found fifteen years old Kikelomo and her friends jumping and splashing around in the stream as they tried to stomp on some fish that kept trying to dodge them. They had even speared the ones they couldn't easily get to death.

"STOOOPPP!" Ewatomi yelled, startling the girls who turned to look at her.

When Kikelomo saw her, she sneered and said to her friends, "Fear not, it's the daughter of doom, Ige herself!"

Ewatomi went down the slopy path and waded into the shallow stream. She could see several dead fishes floating downstream. "Why are you killing the fishes?" Ewatomi asked angrily.

"Because it's fun." Bisi, one of the girls answered.

"No, we are killing them because we can!" Kikelomo stated haughtily. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Leave the fishes alone! They have done you no wrong!" Ewatomi said.

"And how does that affect you? You don't own the stream!" Kikelomo retorted.

"Neither does it belong to you!" Ewatomi shot back.

Kikelomo scoffed. "You seem to forget that I'm the princess! Any man I marry practically becomes the king since I don't have a brother and since I'll be a Queen someday, it means everything in this village belongs to me!"

"I think you have no say over this stream, Kike, I'll advise that you leave!"

Kike exchanged glances with her four friends and they all burst into laughter. "You seem to have more guts as you grow, Ige but I'm not only older than you are, I'm your superior!"

"You are just a child, Kike!" Ewatomi said as she bent down and quickly caught an injured fish from the stream and held it down on a rock that had water flowing over it. "I'll advise that you all go home to your mothers before things get ugly." She warned.

The girls laughed again. "And what exactly are you, a tiny girl, going to do against five of us? We are all bigger than you are!" Kikelomo said.

"I don't want to hurt any of you, so please leave!" Ewatomi said.

"The guts! Most of the villagers might fear you but I'm not afraid of you!" Kikelomo angrily said, grabbed a rock from the water, advanced towards Ewatomi, shoved her away, caught the fish that almost slipped back into the water, pinned it back on the rock and smashed the fish's head with the rock, splattering its blood on her face and chest, then she got up and let the dead fish with a smashed bloody skull slip back into the water.

Turning to look down at Ewatomi who had fallen bottom first into the water and was gaping up at her in horror, Kikelomo smirked in triumph, tossing the bloody rock back into the water. "Now, I've just killed your beloved fish, do your worse!" Kikelomo challenged Ewatomi, feeling proud of what she had just done.

In anger, Ewatomi slowly rose to her feet, water dripping from her white wrapper. "Speak again." She dared Kikelomo in a cold voice.

Puzzled at what Ewatomi meant, Kikelomo opened her mouth to speak when her throat swelled as if something was about to pass through it and much to her horror, a big toad emerged from her mouth and leaped into the water.

Kikelomo's friends huddled together and stared at her in shock.

With wide eyes full of terror, Kikelomo started to ask Ewatomi what she had done to her when her throat swelled again and out came another big toad into the water. Kikelomo clasped her hand over her mouth now, terribly afraid to speak.

"It won't stop until the word you want to say is I'm sorry." Ewatomi told her

Kikelomo removed her hand from her mouth and was about to say that she would never apologize to Ewatomi when another toad came out of her mouth. Unable to bear it anymore, in tears, Kikelomo her hand over her mouth and rushed out of the stream, heading for the palace and her friends who were terribly afraid, gave Ewatomi a wide berth as they also rushed out of the stream and followed their princess who was already crying and rushing home while Ewatomi's eyes followed them.