The only child

CHAPTER 4

On getting to her mother's house, Kune met her sleeping inside the house. She covered her with a wrapper and made sure that she laid in a comfortable sleeping position. She immediately arranged the provisions she brought for her mother. She also headed straight to the kitchen to make some local food for her. After some hours, her mother woke up and they ate together before retiring to bed.

The Prince woke up quite early the next day. So many thoughts flew through his mind. He got up after meditating for almost an hour. He made up his mind to start the day. He had his bath and got dressed hurriedly. Heading downstairs, he met Kune.

He smiled at her.

"Good morning, Kune," the prince greeted.

"Good morning, My prince," Kune replied with a warm smile.

"How are you feeling this morning?" asked the Prince.

"I feel good. Thank you, sir," Kune replied with a smile on her face.

"Breakfast is set," Kune added while pointing to the food dish on the table.

"So, what did you make?" the Prince asked.

Kune replied while serving him a glass of water accompanied by a slight knee bend, "Eba and Banga soup".

The Prince nodded in affirmation.

The King called for a meeting with his Chiefs. Immediately the King entered, they all obeyed him. He gestured to them to sit down.

"Ahhh,"(he clears his throat), "I called for this meeting for a very important reason," he continued.

"We are all ears, speak," said one of the Chiefs.

" I called for this meeting as a result of the consistent riots of the youths in the town.

Whenever I watch the news, I see this problem happening in one town or the other. So, before things get out of hand, I decided to let the cat out of the bag. I therefore, thought of informing you all to seek your advice on this matter. As the Englishman says, 'a stitch in time saves nine', I hereby ask for your opinions on this issue as it is eating me up. Giving me many sleepless nights'', the King said.

"Hmmmm…..this is a serious issue indeed. We thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. As we all know, your burdens are our burdens. One, we need to know the challenges of our youths. Most of them are not educated. So, I believe that when education is provided, they will become useful for themselves," said another Chief.

" What is the use of education without employment? Provide employment, skill acquisition and then, let education follow. I believe that if these steps are followed, we can beat the blues," concluded another Chief.

All the other Chiefs nodded in affirmation.

"Well, you all have said well. I will see to it that these ideas come into reality. Thank you all. This meeting is dismissed," the King said, standing up.

"What about this new girl, Kune? How is she doing? We hope she is doing well," a chief asked.

"I also wanted to ask but I decided not to be too fast about it. So, how is she faring?" another Chief asked also.

"Well, she is fine. We all hope that she will continue to do better," the king replied.

"Yes, that is the main point. Some girls start well but do not end well at all," the women leader said.

"Woman, watch your lips! If you don't know how to talk, then go and learn it, okay?" One chief confronted the women leader.

"Well, it's okay. The reason why I asked was because she has been the only one taking care of her mother since her father died and I just wanted to know how she is faring. I never intended to cause a dispute among ourselves. Please, let's unite.

We are one," another Chief said.

"There would have been no issues at all had it not been for this long mouthed woman seated here," the Chief confronted.

"Hey! Watch your mouth! Don't talk too much," the women leader fired back at him.

All the chiefs left for their various homes.

The Princess received a phone call from one of her friends while she was busy getting a manicure from Kune. She immediately beckoned her to leave. Kune immediately left the Princess' presence.

"Oh, my loving friend. How are you? It's been long since we spoke to each other," asked the Princess.

" I'm good. I am absolutely fine. I missed you alot. How is everyone at home?" replied her friend.

"We are good. Thank you. I have a gist for you. Our friend, Uzo, is getting married next month. So, you know as we are the bride's friends, we would have to dress in uniform so that we will stand out on that day. The color of the day is Cream color and Gold color. We need to look very good that day. I will call my makeup artist from the town to come and beautify me on that day. You know what? I will also inform my own Disc Jockey to come and play on that day," said the Princess happily.

" No problem. I trust you. Thank you for the update. We will speak some other time, bye," concluded her friend. She ended the call. The Princess called on Kune to come and continue her duty. Kune immediately came forward to continue her work.

The Prince is about to move to the town. So, his guard came to inquire about his luggage.

"Good morning, my Prince," greeted his guard, "please, I came to inform you that we have packed your bags. We don't know if we should also take your bag which you brought from the city the last time you went," he continued.

"Oh, yes, I will also need it there, so, take it too," the Prince replied. The guard left his presence.

The Princess saw the Prince descending the stairs. She ran to embrace him.

"Ohhhh, my brother, I will miss you alot. Just get somethi

ng for me on your way back," said the Princess with a smile