The Sword And The Lovers

Chapter 7

"The Narati?" the king of Kojo appeared to be talking to himself. He rose again from his thrown and looked around. Aboli and Onochie looked at each other and avoided the King's eyes. They appeared to be avoiding him because his eyes looked like he was going to pounce on someone before him. As he walked pass them they avoided him and he stopped in front of Aboli and Onochie.

"You say that you have decided I should go and ask the Seers of Bara for forgiveness. This is a slap on my face, a spit on my honor and a disgrace to my grace. I will go to the land of Bara to ask the Seers for forgiveness then for if I do not they will rely on their Chi, the Narati and come knocking on my door to bring upon me madness. I would not have listened or paid any attention to their threats if The Chi Narati had not entered the picture" As he said this he made a way to the inner chamber but before he was gone entirely he said to Onochie, "Prepare for a trip to Bara land then" And he was out of the sight. Immediately he left Onochi raised both hands in the air to thank his Chi. He then looked at Aboli and Aboli said, "It is now down to you. Prepare for the trip like he said and maybe, just maybe you will be able to hinder him from capturing and killing another Bara Seer simply because he feels insulted" Aboli said and left.

Onochie raised both hands and thanked the gods once again. Before long he too was out of the throne room.

Before long Onochie with the king of Kojo and some other men in the palace headed towards the land of Bara. From the room of Kote she was watching as they leave and one of the maids entered to invite her to the dining table for dinner. She refused to listen to her and the maid in return refused to leave. At the point Kote realised that the maid was still at the door and insistent turned to look at her.

"I said I do not want to eat anything. Are you finding it hard to understand me or you are mad?" Kote sounded for the last time and the maid bowed and left.

The maid returned to the dining room to inform Kote's mother that she was through trying her best to get the attention of the princess. She bowed before the Queen and left. The Queen sighed and decided to check on the princess by herself.

On the road heading to the village of Bara were the king of Kojo, Onochie and the men they went with. At a spot the king asked them to stop the carriages and Onochie suspected that something was wrong somewhere. Then the king said, "I am still unable to believe that I'm actually on my way to the land of Bara and to beg those filthy looking men for forgiveness. I mean I am the king of Kojo and I demand that..."

"The Narati" Onochie reminded him and he stopped speaking at once, turned to look at Onochie and then to the carriage riders and said, "Go on" The journey continued.

Inside the village of Bara and in the home of the brother of the Seer whom the king of Bara murdered he was inside the room where he was having a meeting with two of the Seers that came to visit him. He was not seated but the two Seers were seated. He was mumbling some words and one of the Seers sat transfixed. The second visitor looked up and then broke the silence. He was telling the brother to the late father of Chere that he had located the position of the king of Kojo. He then told the brother to the late father of Chere whose name was Asaga that the king of Kojo was on his way to the square of Bara where all the Seer meet for their morning and evening prayers. When the Seer had finished. Asaga then sat down. The first visitor then spoke, "I saw as I was meditating while the king bragged again but was reminded of who made him to change his mind in the first place and then he was humbled once again. We all know that when your brother was murdered we were vindicated. Who fights for us when we are troubled or hunted? Who comes to out rescue when things work against us or when men of this world try to intimidate us? Who stands for us?"

"The Narati" responded Asaga and then the second visitor smiled and said, "Then I must tell us that there is no way the people of Kojo will be at peace if Bara is lacking justice. We demand nothing but justice for the death of our beloved brother whose life was snatched from him untimely. Now I must tell you Asaga son of Okotu, you can not fold your hands and watch the king of Kojo come and go free"

"I know your grieve and the extent of your pains dear brother but we do not intend to harm the king do we? He decided to come as we told him to and to come to apologise to us and the fathers of the land of Bara. His apology is all that we need and nothing else. If he had not decided to come and honor our invitation by apologising we could have taken it upon ourselves that he chose to touch the tail the tail of the sleeping tiger and it was not a mistake. We will wait and receive him. His apology will cleanse the land and console us. We will not have to harm the king or harm anyone he might come with for If we do we will then be accusing and condemning ourselves before The Narati" Asaga then rose and served the two visitors with their usuals and retook his seat. Asaga who had not been so caring towards the father of Chere while he was alive suddenly became vengeful against those that had a hand in his death. During the time Chere's father was alive the two brothers had not been in good terms. Now that he was dead Asaga had become much more concerned to bring down those that were involved in his death and he would not mind if the person in question was a king or a farmer.

The arrival of the king of Kojo in the land of Bara was like the visiting of a strange beast for the people were coming out from their homes as if they had seen someone different from the rest of the humans of the earth. It would not have been any less a spectator for the king was arriving in his full regalia and those with him moved like him. Before long he was at the Square and was told by the village announcer that the Seers of the land of Bara would soon be with him and so he waited, with Onochie seated beside him.

"I hope the men are well armed?" the king asked his general and the general nodded.

"My king? Are you planning to fight the Seers? If not why then do you ask your general if the men are well armed? We agreed that they should hold any weapon inside the Square why....

"Onochie hold your peace for I know what I am saying. My men should be well armed not to start a quarrel or to kill anyone who has not made any attempt on my life but to stay on guard in case anyone tries to attack me. I am still the king of this people called the Barans but they have grown so diabolical that everyone fears them"

"My king, calm yourself for the time shall come when they will recognise the power you wield and then come to respect it. I can not say of the Seers of Bara but the people of Bara respect you. You saw how they all walked out of their houses to witness the arrival of the great king. Your presence commands respect" After Onochie had finished praising the king the king turned to look at him and something in his eyes that says "No matter how hard you try to please me I know that the Barans hold no respect for me neither do they fell overwhelmed seeing me so do not try to patronise me Onochie" Onochie then looked away and looked up to see that the Seers of Bara were arriving in their great numbers. The King's men gave way for them to pass and enter the hall where the king and Onochie with his general were standing and waiting for them. It was not the whole Seers in Bara entered the hall but it was the whole Seers in the land of Bara that attended the meeting with the king of their land.

Inside the forest Chere had gotten tired of running and had held onto a tree to rest. He wondered why he had found it impossible to escape from the forest. The forest was endless and there was no way out of it. He was still panting when someone tapped him from the back and he screamed and nearly fell. His looking back and the hand that came on his face came at the same time and he was on the ground once again and unconscious.

Standing before him were a patrol team from the palace of the king of Kojo. They had recognised Chere to be the son of the Seer the king of Kojo killed and that he was on the run.

Inside the room of the princess of Kojo her mother who had come from the dining to know why she had refused to come out for dinner found that she was in tears. She sat beside her and without a word cuddled her to her bosom. The princess wetted her cloths with tears.

"Daughter mine, your tears will not make me understand what you carry at heart. Out with words and let me know the level of the pain in your heart and so I will know how best to console you with soothing words" The mother sounded.

Kote wiped the tears off her face and then sniffed.