THE ROYAL

The evening sun spread violent rays lazily through the beautifully crafted lawns making Butita palace even more magnificent. Afew ralations to King Arosa Xavi the second tried to busy themselves with small market talks, afew elders tried to force smiles but their efforts yielded no more than sheer disappointment. The king watched it all from the bedroom window upstairs, scratching his bald head which had not more than twenty grey hairs. His glass was still full of nut wine despite his gross appetite for the drink, the dark was almost strolling and as the old man believed, the early bird never crows late. He adjusted his sleeves and made his way downstairs. A baby had been born, against all the odds and wishes of the whole tribe, against the prestigious aura of his holiness king Xavier, a girl who was named Eddy. Instead of illuminating rays of joy and satisfaction, the child had sparked more chaos and unexpected drama. Phille, the king's mother was already threatening to disown his own son if the news crossed the palace walls. It was customary that the first child had to be a boy, healthy, who would in turn inherit from his old man. A catastroph was brewing and the elders knew better than warm their loincloths and watch the glory of their kingdom sink to the seemingly bottomless abyss. "So ladies and gentlemen", the king paused as if to express the importance of his appearance. "You know what brings us here, with all my respect held over your wisdom unending", Darkness was already spreading. The boardroom was parked meargerly by about ten officials who occupied the inner circle in the palace. " We all know the rules of nature, no human makes prime decisions when it comes to gender in child bearing", Arafat, who was the clans spokesman was already fidgeting. He could only attribute the misfortune solely to the king. How could a man of statue, well with all the energy produce a girl as the fist born? Had they not performed all the necessary rituals? The automatic lights were already tormenting the bald heads of the old generals. A grey moth was circling the central bulb as if it were perfoming some sacred ritual, behind the heavy curtains some light flashes were landing softly on the crimson blue flowers at the lawn. All like nothing was happening. "It is very sad that despite all the care we've taken, ill-luck has still found a way of offsetting our efforts" "As you all know, there is nothing we can do..." "There's alot we can do, alot, but you !" Arafat was almost shouting, he was shaking like a reef in the midday breeze. "Watch your tone, Papa", another elder supplied with all the cool he could afford. Papa was the common name Arafat was referred to. "But look, it's already two nights and nothing has been done, nothing, absolutely nothing", he was almost losing mind. "If we don't make a decision today, the child becomes legitimate and then what, tell me, what?" He asked no one in particular, who anyway could answer the question. " I have a suggestion , maybe a solution ", that from Puth. Arafat's eyes were already sparkling with hope, atleast he was not taking the battle all alone. "Go ahead, sir", for the first time the power thirst spokesman addressed someone with the tittle 'sir'. "It's not every child born who sees the light of the day, maybe we could do something, besides no one past our own people do know of the delivery". King Xavier was almost losing breath. "Do you suggest we kill my very own child, the only...". "it's either you let go one little lad who could grow into a w***e or kill the whole tribe, kill yourself , kill me, kill your mother and the thousands of kings who guarded this kingdom Jealously", Arafat was quick to supply. " My elders, I'm sorry but...", "No buts, my son, there's more reason to this than mere pride of the so called humanity", Eli, who supported almost all of Xavier's proposals cut in. King Xavier was now visibly shaking with rage, things were really happening fast. Godspeed, like his late father would call it. For the first time all the members present voted for the idea except the king, who had no choice but accept the path fate had placed him. The implementation part was the most devilish thing one would ever imagine. The child would be taken in the depths or the evil forest which was largely inhabited by dangerous animals, a cover up plan would be formulated that the child-a boy according to the plan, was born dead and that he was buried at the town cemetery. There would be a whole week of mourning, a period which people will be allowed to pay the king a visit for condolences. The fate was sealed, but the future had much in store! It was already late but all the elders stormed out without a word, the air outside was heavy with mist and the concrete ground was shinning with moisture. Some owl was hooting while another late night animal made a creaking sound. ****** The fifth day of the week was dominated by heavy fog and the air was chocking with humidity, from the palace monster entrance you could have a giraffe view of the whole extent of Butita kingdom. Dark smoke marked different homesteads as young mothers tried to busy themselves milking and pretending to be more busy than the famous desert ants. Hannah watched all this with heightened anxiety, would she go against his very own master, the very man who had given her life at the verge of death? She remembered the previous evening conversation, one she had overheard about the verdict made the previous night, she remembered how king Xavier had made love with her despite being a mere maiden, the fruit of their illicit relationship? An abortion. "Hey ma'am !", Hannah never realised she had been stuck at the entrance for nearly an hour, the sun was already paving its way up the sky and young boys were taking out herds to the pastures. "Have you swallowed the kings masai fakason", Job jerked her back to senses. They used to joke about the noisy tractor of their boss which they referred as masai fakason for marsey furgason. "Couse your shaking than it's loud smoke pipe". "Can't you see I'm much okay than your loud mouthed boots", Hannah joked back mocking the young man's shoes which needed more material for repair than the original one. Job was one of the palace guards. "Listen, you self proclaimed queen, take your hate to that fat boss of yours and tell him I need a pay rise", Job was always complaining about his wages. "I will if you make your way to the queen and tell her she's less curvy than your Halloween ears", She said with pretended hatred. " Speaking of which, have you seen her recently", he looked more serious, "I heard she's near the month, we might be getting a young master", that was his way of extracting gossip. "Look here Mr. tell-me-all, I don't feed on gossip like that old girlfriend of yours", She made her way into the palace with finality. "I'm much better than the princess who has not even a single dog l*****g her angles!", Job was laughing like he had just won some mega jackpot. Inside the palace the king sat uncomfortably at the edge of his gold coated chair, made by the best blacksmiths Butita could fetch, the curtains had been drawn and some early rays were filtering through the lavish garden outside the magnificent building, some birds were making funny jumps near the rear window. King Xavier was staring squarely at all this without seeing a thing. The events of the previous night had happened like a dream, he was still at the verge of loss when the first group of people entered, knelt down with tears all over. Yes! The ploy had worked perfectly. Before the first c**k crow the elders had already set their feet at the palace, the child was taken and everything played as had been plotted afew hours prior. The elders had spread the "news" of a miscarriage to the unsuspecting subjects with tears and grief written all over. Ofcourse no one could doubt the group, you never mock them the very log that helped you cross the river. The elders were the rule and as the saying went, the rule is always at the path of justice. "Look at you Hannah, has these news stuck the brains out of your old head", Helen, another palace staff hit after observing the absent nature of Hannah. "I'm as fit as the word, these things happen dear", she replied with much delicacy than necessary. Her mind was burning with fear, the plans she had were adding weight with time. She heard voices deep in her head and almost shouted to one of the visitors, or maybe I'm running mad? Not even time could solve her confusion. "Aaact, action!", She was shouting! Afew maids were surrounding her and that's when it dawned on her that time was moving, the voices were getting louder and all her innate felt like melting. She walked out the house, out of the palace gate and far into the village path. Only one place would silence all those voices, and that destination was the most feared place in all Butita kingdom!