The Sword And The Lovers

Chapter 11

Chere got recovered and was still in the room of the Palace healer. The healer kept telling him each time he wanted to go outside that it was better for him to remain inside the house and rest and not to show the whole people in the palace that he had recovered. According to the healer, showing that he had recovered would make the king to send him to work immediately. When the healer had made his reasons known Chere shook his head and got up from the bed, insisting that he must go out there and feel the fresh air. At a point the healer had to let go and Chere stood up from the bed and dashed outside. His mind was filled with the thought of the people of Bara; he was still surprised of how they came to his rescue and how they paid respect to his late father. He also thought about his uncle whom he had always thought to be wicked and smiled. He might be wicked but at the point when his wickedness was needed he showed it, and to the deserving people. The king of Kojo Kingdom did not see it coming. He had been humbled by the same people he said were nothing.

As Chere was walking by he saw the princess of Kojo, Princess Kote as she was walking towards him with her maids. At first he thought the princess would be kind to him but when the princess stood before him she watched him from head to toe and then said, "It is a pity that my father had to suffer humiliation for your sake. You expect me to take the fact that you will soon become one of us? Staying inside this palace and eating the same food I eat? No! you will be treated like a dog that you are and nothing more. If you think I will forget in a hurry how my father climbed that platform and your uncle stood right there with the rest of all those stupid elders from your village then you are mad because I will not and as long as you remain in this palace I will make your life a living hell" The princess left him standing there and went upstairs with her maids. Chere stood there for a while and shook his head before walking down the gates of the palace.

The king of Kojo was with the Queen inside her chamber when the princess knocked and walked in. The king was about to leave when she stepped in and the princess said she had something very important to say. The king sat back and the princess spoke of how she saw Chere coming out of the healer's chamber which meant that Chere had recovered and was now capable of being in his duty post and serving in the palace. When she said this the king sighed and said. "I know my daughter that you have been trying to prove to me that you are now on my side and that you have realised just how bad your mistake was and how I have been hurt badly too. I and your mother have heard you but like I told her before you came in, because we actually brought his issue up before you came in, I would not want to have anything to do with that boy. I must have said that he will be serving me personally but I have decided to change my mind. You all must understand that I killed his father and because of him I suffered shame and disgrace. Please I do not want to talk about him again. Now that the issue of The Narati has been put to rest I would like to tell you my daughter to have the boy Chere serve you as your personal servant. You must keep an eye on him. I heard he carries the same gift as his father and such a person with the kind of memory that he has can become dangerous. He will serve you as your servant while you monitor him. Remember who his people are and do not sack him for any reason" The king then left. The princess sat beside her mother and the mother held her hands.

"Your father is right my dear. I trust his judgment. He does not make mistakes when he talks about the things that matter. He has been my husband long before you were born and there is something that no one has ever told you because we your parents never told anyone. You were born because we did not want to spend the rest of our lives childless. We had to do whatever it could take to secure the throne of your father. You see my daughter, before you were born I was not suppose to have children because I did not have a womb. I was born without a womb but your father insisted I must be his wife. It was a terrible battle between him and his father, the late king who swore to have me killed if I did not stay away from his son. According to him his son would not be allowed to marry a woman that will not be able to give him an heir to the throne. He said I bewitched your father and nearly had me killed. Listen, we did not want to separate, I and your father, we insisted we must marry and so one night he sneaked out of the palace and came to my house. I was shocked to see the Prince in my house and I wanted him to come inside my room before he was seen and me reported to the king but he said he did not come to me for us to go inside but for us to go to the land of Bara. I thought he was joking at first because the land of Bara is a far away land, so far from the land of Kojo but he refuses and I could sense the voice of a man who had already made up his mind hundred percent before coming to my house. Seeing that he would not give up I decided to redress and we left Kojo Kingdom that night. in the morning of that day news circulated around the town of Kojo that I had deceived the prince into tuning away from his duty as heir to the throne of Kojo but that was not what really happened. Your father actually brought up the issue of Bara and wanted us to go there because he wanted me to have a womb. He had heard many times that in the land of Bara nothing was impossible because it was a land of Seers and sorcerers. When I and your father arrived in the land of Bara we stayed in the house of one of the greatest Seers of that time. He was known as Achete. He was very tall and very scary looking. He came into his shrine as me and your father was waiting for him the first day we arrived in his house and said to me without a word from me, "You will have a daughter" I was shocked and my husband who happens to be your father had his hope ignited. We waited and your father explained what took us to him. The man did what he did in front of your father and my womb was restored. I came to know about it because from his shrine after two days we went to the house of one of the physicians of Bara and he conducted a test on me and confirmed that I had a womb. I was shocked to the brim and your father was very happy. We then thought about how we will be able to return home without your father's father cutting out throats open. Your father then decided that it would be better to take the Bara physicians with us as we went back home. He said he would pay the physician any amount he mentioned as long as he agreed to follow us back to Kojo and the physician agreed. We left Bara and entered the boat heading back to Kojo palace. When we reached the gates of the city I was apprehended by some of the soldiers from the palace. I had been accused of luring the prince away from home but the prince did not say a word to them as we all marched to the palace.

That day your grandfather was happy to have his son back but asked the guards in the palace to throw me into the cell. Your father refused and told your grandfather what really happened and how I was now with womb. The physician had to conduct his test again in front of everyone and it was proven that I had a womb. The prince told his father everything and how he insisted I must be his wife before deciding to take me to the land of Bara where I was made to have a womb. After his explanation your grandfather sighed and then gave him the go ahead order to marry me then. I was the happiest person on earth and that was how I came to be your father's wife. Something strange happened after that. Your father did not meet me and I became pregnant. He was furious at first until he was told by the palace physician that he was the father of the baby. It was confusing but a test was conducted again and it proved you belong to your father. You father went back to meet the Seer that made me have a womb in Bara but the Seer gave an explanation that was even stranger. According to him the sperm that your father released inside me before I had a womb hid somewhere in my body and waited for a womb. Your father did not believe but had to forget.

Why i am telling you all this is for you to know that the boy Chere is from the same place where I was helped to be able to conceive you. You should not hate him. We were on a mission to have another child, probably a son when this whole issue came up. Never forget that he is from Bara land and you came into existence because of his people my daughter"