Chapter 21

"Sit down!" The Queen ordered sternly with a displeased look on her face and the prince reluctantly complied, still grumbling under his breath. "You have no choice, you stupid boy! Except you are willing to die a very cruel death!"

"But mother, you are asking for the impossible! I cannot lay with you! It's an abomination! The king will have me castrated and stoned to death if he finds out!"

"And do you intend to tell him that you slept with your own mother? You had better stop being childish and open your ears because I'm not done yet!"

"What else is there?" The Prince asked.

"You have to find a virgin and cut out her heart."

"At this time of the night? Where am I supposed to find one when they are all within the protective walls of their father's compound?"

"You seem to forget the many maids we have in the palace, fetch one, take her into the bush and get what you need...but!" She lifted a finger. "Do not lay with her, for she must remain pure!".

The prince heaved a sigh. "Is that all?"

"From this necklace..." The Queen began, fiddling with it. "I can sense that it belongs to a mother...was this mermaid pregnant?"

"No, but the Chief priest mentioned that she has given birth for Adigun."

The Queen gasped now, eyes wide.

"What is it mother?" The Prince asked in alarm.

"Didn't you see the child?" The Queen asked.

"No, I did not, why?"

"That child should not be allowed to live, for even though we escape Osun, we can't escape her in the future! she needs to die!"

"But I did not see any child, Maami. I only saw Adigun carry something to the river."

"That must be the child! We mustn't let Osun get to her before we do!"

"Mother, you don't expect me to go to the river by this time of the night looking for a baby! There's no way I'm going anywhere near a water body after what I have done, it's suicide." The Prince said in fear.

"Adewale, I did not raise you to be a coward, but all the same, I shall go myself but after the sacrifice is done! Now, hurry! Go fetch me the heart!"

The prince rose now and put on his cap again.

"Make sure that your friends do the killing! You must not soil your hands in the virgin's blood!" The Queen warned.

"Yes, mother." He sullenly said.

"Hurry now, I'll be preparing the protection charm...the heart and your semen will be the last ingredient to the concoction."

The prince, turned, ducked out of the hut and exited his mother's hut, then he approached his nervous men who were already white with apprehension and kept warily glancing around as if expecting doom to fall on them anytime.

"How did it go?" The second man anxiously asked, stepping forward from under the shadows of the almond tree.

"Maami says that we need the heart of a virgin." The prince stated and since the men were eager to do anything to save their lives, they listened to the prince's explanation. As they followed him through the palace, the Prince saw the Chief priest who had just delivered the bad news to the King and was on his way out. None of them said a word to each other but only stared at each other as the prince and his men walked by.

The Chief priest's gaze was accusing and silently said: "I know you did it. I know that you and your men killed that poor mermaid."

The prince gaze silently spoke back: "Not a word from you old man or you are dead!"