THE ROYAL

CHAPTER 3

The sixth day of the week found Eddy seated beside her mother at the train station. The weather was bitingly cold to freeze the teats of a frog, afew passengers grabbed this and that while others exchanged hugs and goodbye kisses. A young man had come to meet her wife only to lose breath after finding out she was heavily pregnant. A group of school kids assembled at a corner listening carefully to who could be said to be a teacher, their school uniform neatly pressed. No doubt out for an academic venture. Eddy watched all this with anticipation, two years at the approved school had changed everything and now she was a young responsible lady. Brilliant and beautiful than ever. She pictured her grandmother from whatever her mother had painted in her young mind, she pictured a village she had never set foot at and it's children who she imagined had never seen pen and paper...

Hannah remembered her mother, was she still alive? Was Fache, her elder brother still tending the old lady? Had the king...

"Hey mom, better grab your luggage!"

"Someday you'll kill your old lady with that trumpet voice of yours", Hannah protested.

"Do I have to show you the way home?" Eddy teased.

"Pass my greetings, tell them their Hannah is as fine as the word", she feigned seriousness.

The long train was already making a stop, the two ladies grabbed their few belongings and made their way in. Each with different stacks of expectations.

The village was almost the same as she had left it more than fifteen years ago, everything was running smoothly, the sun was already up and boys could be seen up the hill commanding herds of cattle. Little girls were helping at the garden while afew old men staggered out of Hamisi's brothel, it was planting season and the land was all covered with rich green vegetation. Eddy had never seen anything before.

"Why did you leave this beautiful vacation destination to the slum, mom?" Eddy asked as they crossed the last stream to Hannah's matrimonial home.

"Because it was necessary", she was tired.

"How necessary, did they force you out of your very own home", Eddy always had more questions than answers.

"None of that, you'll understand with time".

"Will you take me to the evil forest..."

"Enough, we're home".

At the papyrus gate, they were met by two almost identical girls of about five who ran into the house immediately after seeing them. Hannah searched her mother's hut and could only see the remains of the place she had grown all her life. One thing seemed almost clear, Paula was gone. A tall man came out of the hut the two girls had entered holding two kola nuts in one hand. He looked very strong with dark hair and a weathered mustache, Fache, her brother.

"Oh sweet sister, I heard of the earthquake and though it had gone with you, but still I hoped, I heard of the Polar m******e and thought they'd taken you captive, but still I prayed, oh dear, tell me it's well with you". Fache was ever cheerful, the same Fache Hannah had seen ages ago.

"It's all super with me, your prayers have been feeding me daily loves", she said wrapping her arms tightly across his athletic figure.

"Tell me she's gone, tell me she cursed me on her last breath, tell me..." Hannah was now shaking uncontrollably.

"She lay to rest five seasons after you left, she said she saw you seated at the high table at her last breath, she called you, 'bingwa' - the heroine, nobody understood anything ". Fache said emphatically rubbing her back softly.

"We have alot to say, I see you just brought us a princess", he said hugging Eddy tightly.

"Eddy, pleasure to meet you uncle".

"Welcome home".

With time she came to learn that king Xavier had a son who was about ten, the pride of the whole community. Part of her heart was already burning with eager about the unthinkable while another part warned her. The voices she was hearing years on the go started threatening again. The very gods which had sent her to the evil forest were passing another message.

She would confront the King, she would place the cards right in front of his paws, she would declare Eddy father's mission over and watch all the kingdom burn into ashes, she would avenge all the pain, affliction....

But how !

*****

Eddy was undoubtedly the most learned girl in the village, maybe in the entire kingdom. She was now a beautiful tower with an average height, brown eyes, curvy figure and long black hair which made her an object of interest in the entire land. Within the first few months she had already made friends with afew village girls and was already homeschooling them on different subjects. Crochet, home science, housekeeping above many other practical lessons she had acquired at school. Girls had very little to do around Butita safe from collecting firewood and preparing dishes, sometimes preparing farms when the season was ripe for planting assisted by young boys. This was the reason parents found it easy to release their girls for Eddy's classes, the sessions were informal and no girl ever dreamt of missing a single class. They were also attracted to city stories and upcountry gossip which Eddy was more than willing to share.

"Eddy, will you give me a smile?" Fache asked one evening with his face ashone.

"I won't donate smiles to an uncle who keeps bad secrets", Eddy joked.

"Actually I might be having the most heart lifting news of the century", he continued creating attention. When it came to drama, Fache had specialized in it.

"Unless you tell us there's a new dinosaur breed in the village that wears pressed pants", everyone burst out laughing. Eddy was a comedian by the sense of it.

"Actually, it's not about animals".

"Will you go ahead or keep us guessing till we knock our heads, then you'll have a mental lot to tend".

"Okay, the king just sent me".Everyone was now all ears, Fache had become a junior elder and was a frequent visitor to the kings palace but this, this was exceptional news.

"He says he has heard alot about the beautiful work you're doing, and would like you working from his palace", Fache concluded enjoying the attention he had just created.

Hannah remembered the voices which had now settled abit, she remembered the evil forest, she remembered her affair with king Xavier and almost lost control.

"Well, my daughter won't work from the palace, tell the king she's busy over here", Hannah remarked with a background hatred.

"nobody says no to the king, lovely sis, the dice is cast", Fache was more heartbroken than worried.

"Okay mom, maybe there's an hope, maybe he will avail much space and material for my sessions which are growing exponentially, maybe he will approve my work and get more teachers from the city to help, and who knows, I might even start earning". Eddy was an expert when it came to convincing, and who could deny such an innocent girl opportunity for growth?

So it was then that Eddy found her way to the palace, no one doubted her almost mirror image with the prince who was abit younger. The king who was now ripe with age watched the girl with admiration, whose daughter was this brilliant girl? He wished he had a daughter. Eddy got more materials from the king and her school grew to major proportions. More girls were coming and as she had predicted, she started getting stipend and afew favors from the palace.

Time passed out smoothly, planting season came and passed without much event. The queen had found a soft spot for Eddy and was mostly helping her with administering the housekeeping lessons, Eddy inturn tought her how to count and abit Swahili which was the city's mostly used language. The two were getting on real good. Then it happened, in one of the elder summit meetings it was decided that the king could not only survive with one son, what if he was hit with a log and died, what if a strong wind carried him to the ocean? The queen was already past child bearing age and so it was decided that the king find a young girl who would atleast add seed to his lineage. A couple of elders were already mentioning Eddy loudly and the king was already into it. For was she not the most elegant girl in the whole kingdom?

Hannah sat uncomfortably at the veranda of her new hut, her mind felt like an hot turbine, she felt like her body was being carried on some busy conveyer belt. She had to act or lose it all. The following Monday the summit would be meeting, maybe that was the last chance she had !