THE NASTY

Chapter 7: Love Betrayed

Lade Square

The story shocked the whole of Lade.

It was a calamity.

Prince Nana, that huge, lovable boy devoid of guile, the one many had wished had been the first prince because of his uncanny resemblance to his father, was now accused of the most heinous crime to befall the land.

He had always shown a nonchalant attitude towards the throne and had always thrown his weight behind his brother. All he wanted were his books and his sojourns. Lately, they knew he had fallen in love with the delectable Ama from the First Ebus, the only female he seemingly wanted.

That he had schemed in such dark ways to kill his brother, Prince Biko, and take his place as the next king of Lade shocked and angered the Ladeans. Secondly, Commander Atorku of the Ladean Warriors had been loved and respected through the land. The fact that the prince had let a foul creature kill the good warrior in a vain attempt to escape from the dungeon filled the people of Lade with wrath.

Such was the bitterness against him that the Wisemen and Kingmakers decided to hold the Truth Proceedings in the Lade Square instead of the Royal Chambers as should have been the case.

The Lade Square, located in the Royal Ebus, was filled with a chanting crowd that fine morning. There was a raised platform in the middle of the square with two long, polished, wooden tables on opposite sides. Comfortable stuffed chairs were behind the tables, and these were filled with Kingmakers on one side and Wisemen on the other.

Between them, at the head, was another beautiful table behind which sat the Queen, the Sage and the grey-haired Oracle Kubi.

The Oracle was a judge, a spiritual leader who took control and acted in the stead of the king. He was filled with wisdom and knew the ways of the land, and he would be the ultimate determinant of what would happen to Prince Nana. He was a wiry aged man in a long white gown and a headful of grey hair, grey beard and moustache that almost hid his lips. His rheumy eyes watered frequently, but there was alertness on his face and grim resolve. He was a strong man and never allowed emotions to usurp what he had to say, be it judgement, advice, or opinion.

The Oracle was answerable only to the king and was an authority in Lade.

The space in front of the platform and beyond was filled with the furious crowd.

The warriors had formed two rows facing each other, creating a lane between them for passage to the platform. They were in black uniform to portray their grief over the deaths of the king and their commander. Their faces were painted black, and none of them smiled. Most of them, noticeably, had tears in their eyes.

They were ready.

They were all waiting for the arrival of the two princes of Lade.

One would be the next king, and the other deserved nothing but slow, agonizing death!

***

The Palace of Lade

Prince Nana blinked when he emerged from the dark underground dungeons into the bright forecourt of the palace.

There was an awful odour around him and bristles on his handsome cheeks. He could not shade his eyes from the glare because his hands were tied in front of him with spare rope left for the warrior holding it to drag the prince along.

He was barefooted.

He could see a big carriage with a barbed-wire cage trailer in the middle of the forecourt drawn by three sturdy horses. The horrible Nasty was already inside the cage trailer with its tail curled between its hind legs and its eyes darting around with fear.

It was scared!

It was hardly the same ferocious monster that had maimed that horrible beast and also put so much fear into Sage Dusu.

Beside the cart was a two-horse luxurious golden carriage which had always been reserved for the two princes when they had to accompany their parents on events.

One of the seven warriors present was called Temi. He had been Atorku's assistant. He was a tall, lean, brooding man with a clean-shaven rugged face. His eyes were puffy from mourning his boss, and his eyes blazed sheer hatred when he looked at the dishevelled prince.

He shoved Nana fiercely in the back.

"Get a move on!" he hissed. "Into the cage!"

The hard shove almost made Nana fall, but he regained his balance and looked over his shoulder at the warrior coldly.

"Surely, that's no way to treat a prince, Temi!" Biko said as he poked his head out of the door of the golden carriage. "Remember that until court ends today, he is still a prince!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Temi said dourly.

Nana's eyes locked with Biko's.

Prince Biko was wearing black beautifully-designed garb with his golden crown on his head. There was no regret on his face, only grim determination and resolve. Nana knew that Biko had primed himself for this, and would gladly sacrifice an innocent man for his sins.

Now Nana was at par with the open door of the golden carriage, and he saw her!

Ama!

She was sitting opposite Biko and wearing a beautiful golden dress with black trimmings. Her head was lowered, and her hair framed her face. Nana's heart thudded with great torture as he came to a halt and stared at her with dismay.

Ama! What are you doing with him?

His agonized heart threw the question, but he could not voice out his pain because the Sage's curse was still keeping him speechless. Temi pulled the rope impatiently, but Nana dug his heels in and refused to move as he looked at Ama with horror.

"Ah, I see your shock and pain, little brother," Biko said with a sly curl to his lips. "Well, allow me to elucidate you. I asked the beautiful Ama to be my queen, and she graciously accepted. Believe me, she is quite horrified by what you did to our father and our beloved Atorku. She has sacrificed herself to be the future queen of Lade to mitigate some of the horrible mess your greedy ambitions have created in Lade, little brother!"

Nana was horrified!

No, not this!

Not Ama, his Ama!

He could take anything but this! He looked frantically at her and tried to call her name, but his speech was gone, taken by the whatever evil spell the Sage had put on him. He lifted his hands towards her as tears fell down his face. He took tottering steps towards the carriage, but Warrior Temi pulled the rope savagely, causing him to crash heavily on the forecourt.

The sight of him falling made Ama turn her face finally and look at him.

Her expression cut Nana to the core of his spirit!

Her eyes blazed sheer hatred at him!

"You dirty murderer!" Ama hurled down at him. "Yes, I agreed to marry your brother because I cannot associate myself with a greedy man like you, Nana! I curse the day I set eyes on you! May you burn in Hades for this sacrilege! I am praying they give you the stone sentence, and believe me I will cast the first stone!"

Prince Nana was lying flat on his back and staring at her. Her expression, the hatred in her eyes, the poison of her tongue... they cut through him mercilessly and brought hot tears to his eyes that spilt down the sides of his face.

Ama! How could you betray me like this? How could you believe me capable of this? How could you do this to me?

But he could not speak.

He only watched in dazed pain as she sat down again and the golden carriage moved off!

The prince could not move from the floor even when he was kicked mercilessly by Temi. He barely felt the bruising kicks, one of which landed on his temple and broke the skin.

Finally, three of the warriors lifted him and carried him into the cage where he sat down beside the Nasty.

He was a broken man!

The young prince of Lade was living through his first broken heart, and it was a pathetic thing to see! He was crouching in one corner of the cage shrouded with abject misery. He knew he was on a dangerous journey and could probably be dead by the end of the day. The charges against him were grievous, and he had no plausible defence against them. Who was going to believe him if what the Sage had told him were the charges levelled against him? He had become the most hated man in Lade, and there seemed to be no way out.

But this should not be happening!

His father was dead, and he had witnessed the brutal murder of Atorku. It had taken providence and mysterious interventions for the Nasty to rescue him from that beast the Sage had sent.

But who would believe that?

Worst of all, he was in no position to defend himself because he could not speak! He had thought he had an ally in Ama. His love for her – yes, he admitted it strongly now, he did love her – had been the strength that had kept him going so far. To find out that she had decided to marry Biko and leave him to his fate was damning enough, but to see that look of hatred on her face, and hear those scathing words from her was simply unbearable!

Nana knew he had to be strong to shake off the blues. This was the time to do something – anything – to ensure that his father's death would not be in vain. He could not allow three greedy people to usurp the peace that Lade was enjoying. They could plunge his beloved planet into war and destructions, and that could not be allowed to happen.

Yet, what could he really do?

Where was the spirit of his father when he needed him most? Why wouldn't he appear and tell him what to do and how to deal with the danger he found himself in?

Slowly, Nana's eyes settled on the thing in the cage with him – Hwe Kakai – the Nasty!

Could it be the answer?

It had saved him once from certain death. Could this hideous beast be here to save him from the death penalty that was awaiting him? But he could not get his hopes up because the Nasty was still hunched with its tail between its hind legs and its face reflecting morbid fear and rendering it more repulsive!

Nana took a great shuddering sigh and cleaned the tears from his face with the cuffs of his shirt.

Crying would not solve anything!

The time to take a stance was now, right here!

Slowly, the prince of Lade stood up in the cage.

This was his destiny, and he would face it standing and holding his head high!