CHAPTER 6
904 Words
"Homa, what are you doing here? Go back to work," shouted the Queen.
"Yes, ma," said Homa, happy that she was not questioned by the Queen.
Kune heard the Queen's voice and she wondered what Homa was doing there.
But she continued with what she was doing.
Homa is walking to and fro plotting a wicked scheme in her mind.
"The medicine will expire tomorrow morning, meaning, it must not trespass this evening. Hahan… if I poison the medicine the Prince will drink in the evening, he will definitely die and Kune would be held responsible for his death," she said to herself, then, she let out a wicked smile.
"Kune, give the Prince his medicine. Make sure it's warm," instructed the Queen.
"Okay, ma," Kune replied.
Homa overheard them. She thought to herself, this is the perfect time. She watched Kune serve the medicine and she lured her to leave the medicine.
" Hmmm…..Kune, the Queen is calling you," Homa lied in an attempt to lure Kune to leave the medicine so that she could poison it.
"Okay, I will be back soon," Kune said, leaving the medicine.
Immediately Kune left the kitchen, Homa rushed to pour all the poison into the medicine. Then she left.
"Ma, you called me," asked Kune.
"No, I did not," replied the Queen.
Kune left there wondering why Homa told her the Queen called her.
" Why did you say the Queen called me when she did not?" asked Kune.
"Ohh, I thought she did," replied Homa while letting out a fake smile accompanied with a fake hug.
Kune leaves and takes the medicine to the Prince.
"Here, my Prince. Drink," Kune said, handing the medicine to him. He drank and slept off.
Kune left the room to continue with her work. After three hours, the Queen ordered a guard to check on the Prince. Upon his arrival, he discovered that the Prince had died. He immediately informed the whole family.
The king called the Doctor to run an autopsy test on the Prince's body and it became clear that he was poisoned
Doctor breaks the news to the family.
" No, my son cannot be poisoned. How come? This is not possible," cried the Queen.
" Who could have done this?" the King asked.
"I know who did it. It was Kune. She was the one who gave the Prince the medicine that killed him," Homa accused with fake tears.
"No, I cannot kill. I did not kill the Prince. I did not," Kune cried.
"But all evidence points toward you," the King said,"take her into the prison until the village council decides her fate," concluded the king.
The guards drag Kune outside to the prison where she is given a reduced allowance of food. The Prince is buried after three days. But his death is still the talk of the village.
" Ohhh, what a nice Prince. He is dead. I can't believe it. It is still like a dream to me. Why don't good people like the Prince love long?" one of the girls in the group asked.
" It is because of the evil eyes lurking around," another girl replied.
" I even heard that Kune killed the Prince," another girl said.
"Abomination!!!!," they all shouted.
People around could hear their incoherent voices.
A young man in the village goes to inform Kune's mother of her daughter's imprisonment. On his way there, he met her dead, not knowing that she had already been informed of her daughter's imprisonment by another person.
The news of Kune's mother's death spread across the whole village including the neighboring villages. Some began fleeing to the town because of the calamity that befell the village. Many were scared that something similar would not happen in their family.
Kune also got the news of her mother's death. She cried the whole day without eating anything. Her father had died seven years ago when she was just thirteen. Her father was a palm wine tapper who had his own palm tree plantation. He was on a palm tree one day when he fell down and died. His death shook the whole village. He was such a good man. His elder brother took all that belonged to him. Kune and her mother were left with nothing. They ate from hand to mouth. Kune flashed back and burst into tears again.
Her mother was all she had.
"Hmmm…
This girl, Kune, lost her father just seven years ago and now she has lost her mother. The only person she had left. Oh, what a life," an old man said to his friend.
"Hmmmmmmm……. That's it. My brother. Death is a respecter of no person," the old man's friend replied.
The Queen begs the King to forgive Kune
"My King, I doubt if Kune is guilty of the crime she is accused of. That girl is so innocent. She can not even hurt a fly. Please, let her go. My heart bleeds whenever I remember her. I am a mother. She is now an orphan. I really feel for her. At least, we have a daughter, God will protect her for us," the Queen said.
" No, no matter how innocent she looks, all evidence points toward her," replied the king.
"But…..," the Queen interrupted.
" Not one more word from you. Not any more", the king warned.
The Queen was left speechless.
- Writer
