The Virgin Princess; Pregnancy Rumor
(At dawn in the palace of Masinissa Linette Duah II, seated are Zibo and Amari with their clothes wrapped about them as a protection against cold. They requested for the audience of the great King of the Kingdom to express the concerns they made regarding the princess, Nala, about some changes she has been going through. This is also set to make the acclaimed rumours true or false)
Zibo: Do you think he told him?
Amari: Why do you ask?
Zibo: The way he contorted his ugly face when he rudely asked of our mission, and you said we wanted audience with the King. (They both giggled in laughter)
Amari: Oh that, do not worry yourself. That is how his face looks each time he wakes up from bed… (Says mockingly)
Zibo: And his wife is able to lie down by his side in bed. (They both stifle laughter as it was funny)
Amari: Well, that much I do not know, but what I do know is that a man is at his most ugly best when he has just woken from sleep.
Zibo: Amari, you know it all.
Amari: Oh yes, it's true.
Zibo: Tell me then. How did you all that since you claim to know it all.
(They start to hear some foot steps coming towards their direction)
Amari: (Whispering some inaudible words to her ears) Sh…sh…sh…someone is coming. (Enters Emissary Boateng carrying a bigger stool and a pillow on his head and drops it at the far end to where they are seated)
Emissary Boateng: The King will be with you in a moment. Until then be at your best.
Amari and Zibo: (Together answering) Thank you very much, Emissary Boateng, for you are a noble man.
Emissary Boateng: It is my duty. Aaah, there comes the King. (Amari and Zibo do obeisance to the King as he enters to take his seat before them. The King now turns to Emissary Boateng)
King: Emissary, are you there?
Emissary Boateng: My King, I am on my feet at your service.
King: Hear and let it reach our women that our elders say if you have an important piece of advice, you offer it with a mouth that has not yet tasted pepper or salt, and dawn is the best time to have such an undefiled mouth. So, when I heard they wanted audience with me, I knew it would be filled with wisdom.
Emissary Boateng: (He then turns to the women and starts to speak) Aaah, women, so says the King. He says the early morning mouth smells, but it is full of wisdom and since a King needs wisdom to govern his Kingdom and wisdom is not the monopoly of one head, he is ready to listen to your advice. Do not keep the ears of the King waiting.
Zibo: Well, Emissary Boateng, relay this to the great King of our noble Kingdom that we…I mean Amari and I, have come to inform him about an observation we have made on our daughter, our mistress, the Princess, Nala. (A long pause)
King: Go on, I am listening
Emissary Boateng: Go on, the King is all ears. Pour it in.
Zibo: We have observed a change of complexion in her.
King: (A bit alarmed) Did I hear you correctly? (Pause) Did you say my daughter the princess has changed colour?
Zibo: A bit my King, yes. She has changed colour a bit.
Emissary Boateng: Hold it there. If she has changed colour, then she has changed colour. If she hasn't changed then she hasn't changed. Whoever heard of a woman being a little pregnant, if you are pregnant, you are pregnant, and if you are not then you are not. Which one of them are you saying?
Amari: The whole thing.
Emissary Boateng: My King, you've heard them. For what they have brought forth is a grave one my King.
King: (Very calmly) How do you know? How did you come by what you just said?
Amari and Zibo: (Casually) Oh, but you know we are women…
Emissary Boateng: (Furiously) Foolish!
You are women and so what? The King asked a question and expected a more sensible answer than that. Perhaps you have forgotten the penalty that awaits a salve that slanders a person of royal blood. Have you? Or it should be reminded by example.
Amari: No, your noble one, we are very much aware of the penalty that awaits such an act.
King: Fine, to my question. How did you know and come to the conclusion that my daughter is pregnant? Or should the answer be forced out of your mouth?
Amari: As for me I was sitting my somewhere when…when…I…I…mean Zibo (Pauses and stares at Zibo) came to tell me.
King: And Zibo, how did you come by that judgement?
Zibo: I was also told by Yaa Birago…but…but…my Lord, if you take a closer look at our mistress's feet you will notice that they have swollen, and her heels have turned white…
Amari: A bit…
Zibo: No, white!
Amari: A bit…
Zibo: No white!
King: (Laughs) You two amuse me indeed!... (Laughs again) Do you not think the princess is only putting on weight?
Amari and Zibo: From the feet upwards? That is impossible my King.
King: So, is that why you think she is pregnant then…
Zibo: No, my Lord, I am not yet done. The other day I took a careful look at her palms when she was sleeping, and they looked very pale and…
Amari: And her veins stand out most of the time.
Zibo: She has also become very quick tempered,
Amari: And ready to shout at anybody at the least provocation. They are all that amounted to our judgment.
King: She has too much blood in her system, that is all.
Emissary Boateng: I think you are right, my King. It is too much of blood in her system.
Zibo: She vomits very often and looks sluggish; sleeping at the very least of opportunity she gets.
Emissary Boateng: My King, that must be fever. Yes, its fever, for that, I am sure. Let's get the root of the nim tree and boil…
Amari: What of her eyes?
Emissary Boateng: What about them again?
Zibo: They have begun to sink in…
Amari: Leaving the cheek bones more pronounced. (Pause)
King: Emissary Boateng: what is your take on that?
Emissary Boateng: (Thoughtfully) My King can't it be…jaundice?
Amari and Zibo: No, my King, it couldn't be jaundice or fever.
King: Why are you two so sure it cannot be fever or jaundice?
Emissary Boateng: Are you two herbalists?
Zibo: We are not, certainly. But we believe if it were fever, Emissary Boateng, there will be a resultant loss of appetite.
Amari: But here is a case where she wants to eat a lot of delicacies almost all the time…
Zibo: An insatiable appetite for white clays…
Amari: And spits about indiscriminately…
Emissary Boateng: So, you are sure it is pregnancy
Amari and Zibo: Yes, we are.
Emissary Boateng: And not fever or jaundice…
Amari and Zibo: Never.
Emissary Boateng: Or any curable ailment.
Amari and Zibo: (Stating emphatically) No, we are sure of what we are saying on our observations. We are sure it is pregnancy.
Emissary Boateng: My King, those were the clear tones of the sound of conviction issuing from the mouth of your two subjects, Amari and Zibo.
King: (Having thought for a while) Very well, I shall summon your mistress into our presence here and find out the truth for myself.
Emissary Boateng: If she denies,
(He makes a fast gesture denoting decapitation) you understand?
Amari: (Obviously frighten) Wait a moment Emissary Boateng, not so fast. Zibo let me talk to you first. (Amari and Zibo confer briefly. Amari is scared and Zibo reassures her)
Amari and Zibo: Yes, Emissary Boateng, you may send for her, my Lord.
King: Emissary Boateng, go to the women's quarters and ask the elderly woman in the palace, auntie Chika to allow Nala into my presence…
Emissary Boateng: Yes, my Lord.
King: And come with her now.
Emissary Boateng: Yes, my Lord. (Exit Emissary Boateng into the palace)
King: This is interesting. That a girl of royal blood should get pregnant out of wedlock. I don't seem to believe this and hoping its not true. I simply do not want to bring myself to believe it. It is an abomination that the gods would not condone. And to think that it is my daughter, the princess of Ptolemaic Kingdom, who should be the one to do this. I shudder to think that of her.
Nala is too pure to drag the name and sanctity of the stool in such disrepute.
(Enters Nala and Emissary Boateng)
Princess Nala: Father, I understand it is you who sent for me.
King: That is true, my daughter. Sit down here. Emissary, you and the women must wait outside for a brief moment. I shall call you when I need you.
Emissary Boateng: Yes, my Lord. Women, this way please. (Exit Emissary Boateng and the two women)