Celestial Nymph (Complete)

III

Isioma was awoken by the same dream again. She sighed and stood up, careful not to wake her mother. She quickly went to the back of the huts, she checked the pots to see that four were empty so she decided to fill them up. She walked back into her hut, took out a new set of wrapper she would change into when she washed at the stream and left.

Her clay pot under her left arm, she sang softly as she walked past the bushes for the last time this morning. She knew that she would be the only person going to the stream by this time but she loved the silence. She was always alone at the stream, even by the time she was done fetching her pots of water. She danced a little and smiled to herself, then resumed walking. Getting to the stream, she carefully walked into the water, then put in her pot and water began to flow into it. She smiled and hummed a song as she looked around, but the rustling of the bushes and footsteps close by stopped her humming. She looked towards the direction of the footsteps and waited to whoever it was to show their self. Immediately, a man, who looked to be older than she was walked out of the bushes, panting heavily. She looked at him as he staggered towards the water. He tensed when he saw her and turned around to leave

"Who are you?" She asked softly, forgetting the pot in her hand, but still held onto it. Her soft voice sounded so melodious that he turned around to see her face, which he couldn't see because it was dark. He walked closer to her, carefully entering the stream to stand before her. He was entranced at her appearance. Her fair skin glowed under the moon, her body looked so soft and her skin so smooth that he wanted to touch her, the black uli marking on her body stood out, her hair, tied into four different bantu knots, her eyes shone brightly that he wondered if it was normal, her lips which were painted black, were so full and parted ever so slightly, her breasts covered and tied securely in the wrapper on her chest, her stomach flat and her waist small, her hips a little too wide, her legs looked so long that he wondered where they ended. She was so beautiful that he wondered if she was human. No maiden in her right senses would come to the stream by this time.

"It is only a foolish maiden who would walk around, alone by this time" he stood confidently, his shoulders squared, his hair a little grown out, but tied expertly, with some cowries on it, his wrapper tied securely around his waist, a few beads hung around his neck and his wrist. He looked fit like a warrior. His muscles were a little bulged and he had a bead around his upper arm. She saw a small knife which hung on his waist, confirming her thoughts of him being a warrior. Isioma noticed how handsome he was. He was not so dark, but he wasn't fair either. When she noticed she was looking for long, she looked at her pot and saw it was nearly full.

"Maybe I am not normal" she carried the pot steadily and walked past him to the bank of the steam and gently placed her pot gently on the floor. She turned around to face him to see that he was already looking at her "why are you here so early? Who are you?"

He was surprised that she did not recognize him. He wanted to tell her who he was. He opened his mouth to talk but then remembered that she didn't seem like a human and she was so confident for a maiden. He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at her "are you human?"

She let out a small laugh and he was enchanted by the sound of her laughter. She surely couldn't be human. She was too beautiful to be human "of course I am. I am Isioma, the daughter of Ichie Obidiegwu" then placing her hands on her hips she stared at him "so who are you? Are you human?" She teased

He shook his head lightly to remove himself from her spell. Spirits were known to cast spells on humans to get them do whatever they wanted and he didn't want that to happen to him. This girl was not human. He was sure she lied about who she was. He wanted to leave but he also wanted to be around her, at least long enough to know her. "I came to wash" he lied and turned around so that he would not see her face

"I want to wash too, but since you are here, I'll wash when I come back again" she replied. She bent down down to carry her pot, deciding to wash at home.

"Don't worry. I'll leave now and wash in my hut" he left before she had the chance to stop him. She was sad because she didn't even know his name. She sighed and walked back to the water. When the rustling had stopped, she looked around but saw no one. She closed her eyes, trying to know if anyone was close by. She could always sense when people were around. She felt alone so she went to one edge of the water, untied her wrappers and washed her body. When she was done, she dried her body with the wrapper she removed, then skillfully, tied the ones she came with. Once she was done, she walked back to dry ground, gathered her things, carried her pot on her head and walked home.

IN THE PALACE

The prince walked into his father's room once again, and saw the body. He needed to call the Ifa priest to know what needed to be done before his father was buried. His father had not a been good king. He was hated and he knew that the villagers would be happy to hear about the death of their king. He was happy that his father would not hurt the people again, but he was sad that he died. After all, he was still a father to the prince. The prince walked out of the room, and walked to the head warrior

"Go to the shrine and call the ezemmuo. Tell him that the Ebi one of Umuomu has joined his ancestors." The guard nodded and ran off immediately. A king's death was not to be toyed with. Their king was a terrible one so he wondered what the gods would ask for in order to cleanse the land.

The prince walked into the throne room. It was made of thatch, and stood higher than all the huts in the palace. It had a wooden throne, which was carved by Obinze, the son of Ichie Obidiegwu after the last throne was desecrated by his father. Beside the throne was a similar carved chair, but smaller for the queen, who had died. Then there were stools which were arranged, on each side of the room for visitors. He sat on one of the stools and stared at the throne, which would be empty for a while. He sighed as he waited for the Ifa priest. He heard the jingle of the bells that were on the Ifa priest's staff so he knew the Ifa priest has arrived. He stood up immediately and looked at the Ifa priest who stood outside the throne room

"Ezemmuo thank you for coming" the prince walked out to meet the Ifa priest who nodded solemnly.

"I heard the cry of an owl last night. I knew we would wake to bad omen this morning. And we woke up to this" the Ifa priest lamented. Raising his staff, he hit it on the ground getting it stuck. He ran around in a circle then stood still. The prince stood still, watching the Ifa priest's display.

"Ezemmuo, please consult the gods, let us know what needs to be done" the prince suggested to the Ifa priest who began his incantations. He stared into the sky for a while before he screamed and jumped

"I need to be in the shrine. I'll get back to you" the Ifa priest turned around and left the palace in a hurry, leaving the prince in utmost confusion.

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Uli is black substance that is used for body markings