Magnifico

The tea

It was in the evening that Jonas decided to visit Sun. He had poured in the tea that Elizabeth served him into a smaller container that could enter his pocket without much hassle. When he got to Sun’s place, he knocked and the door was opened. He saw a lady, looks like a nursing mother, and was carrying a crying child. He didn’t know that who he had seen is the General’s wife, Amara.

“Good day madam. Please I am looking for the General. I assume I am in the right place.” Jonas said.

“What is your name?” She asked while trying to comfort the child so he could stop crying.

“My name is Jonas.”

“Oh. You are Jonas? Wonderful, why are you searching for my husband?” she asked inquisitively.

“My bad. I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were the General’s wife. There’s something very important I want to discuss with him” Jonas answered. While both of them were still talking at the door, Sun came out immediately and saw Jonas by the door and his wife carrying their child questioning Jonas. He knew his wife never liked Jonas especially after he had created a very bad reputation for himself.

“Oh, Jonas. You’re welcome, please come on in” Sun said as he welcomes Jonas to his home. Jonas was shown to a chair where he sat down and the General hurried and to his guest some bottles of fresh ales to drink. When he brought the wine, he also brought two cups with him and a small table where he kept all he had brought. He poured the fresh ale into the cups and shared it. Sun’s wife, Amara left the room and quickly went to another room to avoid catching the site of Jonas who she detests so much. Amara was afraid because she knows quite well that Jonas was no fun and doesn't worth her trust.

“Thank you, General. Your house looks big and beautiful.” Jonas commended as he boldly took the wine to drink even though his mind was telling him not to, but he trusts that the General isn’t so petty.

Sun smiled as Jonas commended his well furnished and arranged home, he said “Thank you. We just renovated it, it wasn’t as beautiful as this before.” Sun said.

“Yeah. Em, what are your plans for the scroll? You know I have not heard from you concerning the scroll so I want to really know what your plans are.” Jonas said.

“Oh, yeah. I wanted to come to tell you about it. The king said we should leave for Sytrits tomorrow or next. But tomorrow won’t be possible so I have plans for next tomorrow. I wanted to ask you to come with me since you have more experience than anyone in Quinax concerning the scroll and Magnifico.” Sun said.

“I would love to go with you. But the journey won’t be as easy as it seems so we should……” Jonas paused as he saw Elizabeth come inside the room from the backyard. Elizabeth saw him and was surprised, shocked, and felt like going back to where she came from but couldn’t because it would seem suspicious. “Hi,” Jonas said and grinned as he waved to Elizabeth. Elizabeth didn’t talk back to him nor wave back at him. She just walked fast and passed and she went and from the room through the front door almost immediately.

“What, have you seen her before?” Sun asked.

“Yea, we just met,” Jonas replied.

“Oh, is that so? I’m surprised. You knew she leaves here?” Sun asked.

“Yeah, she did mention something like that.”

“Was she the reason you came around?” Sun asked as though he was so sure of the answer.

“Ah, no,” Jonas answered almost immediately without much hesitation. He drank the remaining wine inside his cup and started thinking of what to do next. He wanted to get to the bottom line of this matter, he knew someone wanted to get him killed but he just doesn’t know who the person was. He didn’t believe Elizabeth was working alone, he believed she was working for someone. He remembered something suddenly and he said “General, I need to go now.”

“So soon? Feel free Jonas.”

“I’m free General, I just want to visit someone right now,” Sun said.

“Okay... No problem, we’ll talk soon.” Sun replied. Jonas stood up and left. When he came out, he was almost certain that Sun isn’t responsible for what happened. From the responses he got from him, he could sense innocence from what he had discussed with him. Jonas headed straight to see Lucas. He met Lucas at his house where he was doing nothing. Lucas was surprised to see Jonas in his home, he wasn’t expecting anyone and certainly, Jonas was the last person he would think of.

“Good afternoon Sir.” Jonas greeted Lucas immediately he saw him.

“Good afternoon Jonas. Why have you come?” Lucas asked.

“Can I sit down sir?” Jonas asked. Lucas felt a little bit embarrassed by the request Jonas just made. He rushed him too soon he guessed, he would have offered him a seat first before asking him why he came.

“Oh, you can sit. What can I get you?” Lucas asked.

“No. I don’t need anything now. Without wasting time, I think I should move straight to the point about why I came to see you.”

“That would be lovely,” Lucas replies.

“Today, I was almost poisoned to death by a woman who works closely with the General’s family. She calls herself Elizabeth and she wanted to poison me with a cup of tea. I don’t know what I had done to this woman but I guessed she was working for someone.”

“Did you just mention Elizabeth?” Lucas asked.

“Yes, Elizabeth. So she said.” Jonas replied to him.

“How did you know she wanted to poison you?” Lucas asked. Jonas brought out the container he had put inside his pocket before coming, he gave it to Lucas.

“Open this container and smell what is inside.” Lucas opened the container and inspected what was inside. He noticed it was a tea mixed with a small mixture of. It was mixed in such a way that the wolfbane won’t be noticed by whoever drinks the tea. While Lucas was inspecting it to get a clearer picture of what happened, Jonas asked him “what does it smell like?”

“I could sense a little dose of the scent here. I think it was truly poisoned with wolfbane as you said. Where is she now?”

“I saw her in the General’s house,” Jonas replied.

“Alright.” Lucas immediately mobilized some soldiers to go get her arrested. He wondered why she would be so careless and also wondered why she would want to kill their most important guest at the moment. He wondered what would have happened to all their plans so far, he remembered how Seth was dangerously wounded when they needed his help by Viruz. He was happy this particular plan didn’t work out for her because it would have spoilt a lot of things for everyone.

Sun was hearing knocks at the door and it was continuous and noisy. He was carrying Grizler but he dropped him on a small bed that was always kept in the sitting room except at night. When he opened the door, he saw some soldiers, about six men standing outside his door and looked like they came to arrest someone.

“Who are you looking for?” Sun asked while holding his door with his left hand.

“Good day General. We were sent by the General to arrest Elizabeth in your house. Please bring her out for us.” Elizabeth and Amara came out to know who it was that made the noise at their door. Sun couldn’t see any arrest warrant from them so he decided to go with them to confirm if really it was Lucas that sent them.

He advised Elizabeth to follow them as instructed and also told Amara to look after Grizler while he is gone. When they came to Lucas' quarters, the General saw Lucas and Jonas already standing at the entrance waiting for Elizabeth to arrive. When Elizabeth saw Jonas, she wondered why Jonas was still alive. She also knew that her plans didn’t work out as planned and she has screwed up.

General Sun was confused and didn’t understand what was happening and he asked Lucas to tell him what was happening and why Elizabeth above all people is being arrested. He thought that Jonas had come up with an evil plan against Elizabeth or probably against someone else in Quinax who can Jonas wants to harm through Elizabeth. He doesn’t just understand why Elizabeth would be arrested and for what offense she would be convicted for.

“General, calm down. Everything will be explained very soon,” Lucas said as he directed the soldiers to loosen their grip on her...

“General, This lady here was accused by Jonas that she attempted to poison him. And he brought a piece of evidence to prove his point” Lucas said... Sun was surprised and had his doubts but had to ask Elizabeth to know what really happened.

“I doubt that Elizabeth couldn't have done something like that,” Sun was still trying to defend her when Elizabeth cuts in and said, “Yes, I could.”

Everyone looked at her, Sun was shocked. “Why did you do that Elizabeth?” Sun asked as his facial expression changed, his face confused and surprised.

Elizabeth started crying, she said “This evil man here turned me into a widow, he killed my husband and slaughtered the whole people in my Kingdom. He destroyed Dreeks General and you expect me to forgive him just like that? I have been patiently waiting for this day but he was just lucky, I wish I killed him. He deserves whatever punishment he would get whether it is in this life or the world thereafter,” Elizabeth said why she continuously sobbed. Jonas couldn’t help but feel sorry. He wished he could turn back the hand of time so he could right his wrongs, he really wished he could console her but he can’t. He realized he had done lots of bad things in the past that aren’t worth it, he wondered the height of enmity he had created with lots of people he may know or may not know in Quinax. He was afraid of his own shadow and have absolutely no idea who might attack him next or for what reason.

“As you can see Sun, she confessed right in front of you. What do you suggest we do about this?” Lucas asked. Sun remained quiet and didn’t know what to say, suddenly he heard a voice “I suggest we do nothing” King Zulu said as he comes inside the gate immediately with a few of his guards.

“Release her immediately,” Zulu said as soon as he came in where they were interrogating Elizabeth. He continued “everything or anything she did, she did it for her dead husband. She did it for the people she loves, she did it for her people. She is a brave woman and we all know that Jonas isn’t in any way different from a predator” Jonas looked at King Zulu, he saw that he wasn’t even planning to cover up some of his atrocities in the face of everyone and he felt embarrassed.

The King continued “it takes the heart of a brave soul to seek for revenge of his or her loved ones and it takes a braver soul to seek for it irrespective of who the person that has wronged him or her is. Jonas could be a changed person or pretend to be but what he has done can never be changed. The mothers and fathers he had rendered childless can not be brought back and the children he had killed their parents, will always be orphans. So why will you try to prosecute someone who is doing the right thing, Lucas?”

“I thought she should know that we have far more important things we should focus on than a mere revenge” Lucas replied.

“That mere revenge Lucas consoles a soul. It restores the spirit of the body and the mind” Zulu said as he goes close to Elizabeth and held her by the hands and dragged her up to stand on her feet. He brought out a white handkerchief and gave her to clean off the tears on her face. She cried out more tears and couldn’t help it especially when the King said what he said. King Zulu left after he had consoled her. The General was just so quiet and didn’t know what to say.

“Elizabeth, you are free to go,” Lucas said. Elizabeth left the place and headed back to the General’s house.

He continued “You know General you have to caution her about what she did even though what she did was justifiable to her but we can take this any further”

Sun's face was creased with a worried frown and he still kept quiet and Jonas wasn’t comfortable any longer because the topic was all directed to him. Sun started leaving without saying a word and Jonas followed suit, they both left Lucas and Lucas had to go inside and go back to what he was doing.

While the General was walking home, Jonas called him and asked him to stop. He wanted to discuss what had just happened and also apologized for everything including what he had done in the past and what he did to Elizabeth. He told the General how sorry he was and also how regrettable his actions were. He told him to ask for forgiveness on his behalf to Elizabeth and also asked the General to forgive him for not telling him first about what Elizabeth did. They later went their separate ways with the General only saying “ok” as though he wasn’t satisfied with what had just happened. When the General got home, he saw Amara who came to open the door for him to enter, he greeted her but he didn’t reply. He went straight to the sitting room without even touching Grizler that Amara was carrying when she came to open the door. She bolted the door and closer and sat down watching Sun for a while before she broke the silence.

“Dear, why is nobody talking to me? I have asked Amara what happened and why she was arrested, she didn’t say a word, She just cried and went inside.”

Sun gaped at her for a while and said “She tried to poison Jonas but she didn’t succeed. Jonas didn't take the bait and he decided to report it to your father”

“Oh... But what she did wasn’t wrong and it’s justifiable. Remember that the reason why they came here the first time was that her family was murdered by Jonas and his army. We shouldn’t be shielding criminals” Amara said as she takes down Grizler who was already asleep and laid him quietly on his small bed.

“Jonas is no longer a criminal, as much as we want to paint him dark, he’s changed. He regrets all his actions and he really wishes he could right his wrongs”

“And you believe that?” Amara asked.

“Yes, I do.”

“What makes you trust this man like this? He is evil.” Amara objected.

“He was. Jonas saved my life twice and it wasn’t unintentional. Elizabeth shouldn’t have done what she did, she shouldn’t have tried paying evil with evil, she has a daughter that looks up to her. What will she be teaching her?” Sun asked.

“Maybe he saved your life to save his own self and besides, we may never understand the true pains of a widow.”

“People change and I believe Jonas could be an example. We should let bygones be bygones.” Sun said. Amara had no option than to hug him because she knew he wasn’t happy with just happened, he wouldn’t like a shame to be brought upon his family and she also remembered it was Sun who permitted to allow her to start staying with them so she wouldn’t want her husband to regret that action.