Ancient Prophetess

Ancient Prophetess Chapter 11

The King of Oguma and his army crossed the boundary that separated Oguma and Ideje and camped.

Beyond the cliff was the king of Ideje advancing with his army and the prophetess who held her staff above her head.

The King of Ideje decided to camp as well.

That night, the prophetess could not sleep in her tent. She knew she had to meet with the King of Oguma and reveal something terrible to him. She took the risk by leaving her tent that night after using her magical powers on the two guards watching over her. They were fast asleep carelessly on the floor when she left.

She entered the camp of the King of Oguma with her face covered. Some men on their duty posts came rushing towards her with burning touches and sharpened swords.

"Who are you?" One of them asked harshly.

The prophetess opened her face and the soldiers were shocked. They knelt before her and had to take her to the tent of their king. The King sprang up from his bed and rushed to hold the prophetess's shoulders in excitement.

"I thought I lost you! Believe me I never wanted any of this...

" you married my daughter without my approval, kept her in your palace against her wish and neglected me in my shrine for years. Now you fake a smile to patronise me. You want me to believe that you have missed me. You avoided me you beast!!! The Prophetess was very angry.

"Calm down" the king begged.

"Calm down? You receive me full of smiles because you know you are loosing the war. Don't try to keep me here against my wish for it won't help you. Every single soldier of Ideje has taken wine from my sacred pot. Not even the soldiers of the Sea People can defeat them now. Serves you right for breaking the promise you made to me, destroying our relationship, killing your general believing he was my lover and marrying your own daughter!!! Screamed the Prophetess.

"What?"! The King was shocked.

"Yes. I begged to see you but you wouldn't grant me access to your palace. I begged for a meeting but you gave me your back. I promised myself that no other man would see my nakedness after you. I took in before you abandoned me. Your general was very kind and took care of me till I delivered. You were desperate to continue to punish me you mad king! You closed your eyes and married your own daughter after killing the man that helped bring her into this world! Where is your daughter now? Where are you now? I came to tell you this and to warn you to surrender else you and your army will be ashes before dawn" the prophetess sounded and tried to leave but the already in tears King knelt down and begged.

"I have sinned against the gods. I have sinned against you. I can't repay this damage. I want to die in your hands. Take this dagger and run me through and end it all! If you don't I will. For only death can free me from my sins" the king cried.

The prophetess looked at his face and her eyes too was filled with tears.

The King of Oguma still knelt, holding on to the prophetess and refusing to let her leave his tent.

"Let me go" the Prophetess cried bitterly

"I can't. Not until you kill me" cried the King.

"It is over. The king of Ideje must have this war. You have enslaved most of his people, had your soldiers r**e his women, sold off the children of his soldiers and worst of all you have his daughter in your cell. He must have this war for many reasons and I can't stop him" the Prophetess said and tried to leave but the King still held onto her.

"I will make a little amendment" he said and signalled one of his soldiers who went and brought a young lady into the tent. She was well dressed and looked lively. "Here is the daughter of the King of Ideje. Go back to his camp with her. I will personally go in search of your daughter...our daughter. I promise you"

"And what will you tell her when you see her? That you are her father? And that all that happened between you and her was imaginary?. I would rather loose you, her father than loose my daughter" the Prophetess finalised and left the tent. The young lady ran after her. The king sat on the floor and cried to his fill as his soldiers stood beside him.

****

Outside the tunnel, the Queen was seated moody . The burning logs they used to roast the last night wild meat were still fresh while the general stood beside her. His eyes roamed the forest and caught a kid standing near an iroko tree. He looked carefully and the kid signalled him to come. He hesitated, looked at the Queen but she was unaware of what was happening. He started to move towards the direction of the iroko tree. The Queen raised her head and asked, "where are you going to?"

"Just wait there for me. Don't go anywhere okay?" Said the general as he continued to move towards the iroko tree.

The general reached where the iroko was but did not see the boy there. He searched around and saw him climbing a short tree. The boy paused and said, "You must be the water that will quench her fire. She has her mother's gifts and hers is more dangerous. She knows everything. Everything that is there to know she knows. Her father is the King of Oguma and she knows. She knows everything and she has, already the blood of the troll which you used to cure her in her system. The trolls will worship her and she will seek for vengeance. Be the water that will quench her fire before it's too late" the boy said as his voice echoed and woke the general from his sleep. He sighed. It was all a dream. He sat up in deep thoughts. He looked beside him and saw the Queen sleeping soundly. He looked at the burning logs before realising that the Queen was already seated. He was scared to learn that the way she seated now was exactly how she was seated in the dream. He asked her, "are you okay?

" I couldn't sleep" she just answered.

"Why?" He asked.

"I know everything now" she answered and the general's jaw dropped in shock.

The general stood up slowly and so did the Queen. The expression on her face was totally strange and the general was scared already. There was shuffling of feet from the tunnels. The general looked back and saw in utter shock as trolls started to emanate from the tunnels. He tried to react but the smiles on the Queen's face made him stop. Seven giant trolls with heavy axes reached where the Queen was standing and helped her remove her garments before dressing her in tiger skins. The female among the trolls drew some lines on the Queen's face with a dark ink before they all knelt in front of the Queen. The general still thought he was dreaming but alas that was reality.

The Queen looked at the trolls for sometimes and said, "I need a 100,000 trolls to conquer ancient kingdoms"

"Consider it done great Prophetess" the seven giant trolls said in unison before going back into the tunnels. The general couldn't speak for a long time. The Queen looked away and asked, "why are you looking at me like that?"

"You know why. What was that?" He asked.

"Not that. They are my warriors" she said, shook her head before adding, "I know you are confused but I know quite a lot now. What the king of Oguma did to the man who nurtured my mother while she carried me in her womb. The man that helped bring me into this world. He never made it to the war he was prepared to lead his army to because the King who equally is my father was jealous of him. The same father of mine dumped my mother and got married to several women. His greed and wickedness spurred him to abduct me and got married to me without knowing I'm his daughter. You see, he can't be alive, not after all he has done. The king of Ideje will also die for dispatching the raiders that attacked your village and killed your mother. I will not forgive them. I'm The Prophetess and I will kill them all!"

The general didn't know where to start to speak.

"Should I worship you now?" He asked softly.

The Queen smiled and went closer to him. The general watched as she held him by the shoulder and gave him a Queenly kiss. "You will not worship me. You will love me" she said.

****

Dawn was approaching and there was choas in the camp of the king of Ideje. The Prophetess was missing in her tent. The soldiers were desperately searching the tents in the camp when they sighted the prophetess approaching through the hills with a lady behind her. A close look at them and the king of Ideje was full of smiles to see his daughter again.