Celestial Nymph (Complete)

VI

The prince was shocked at who he was seeing. The very girl he met at the stream and in the bush. He felt that she was a spirit and now he knew why. Now that he thought about it, he didn't see her at the gathering of the maidens. Why wasn't she there? Did she think she was above their orders? He fumed as he glared at her. Isioma looked around the shrine, confused as to what the Ifa priest just said. Feeling the glare directed at she, she turned her head to stare back, only to be met with the cold eyes of the man that intrigued her. The man who would not leave her thoughts. Remembering where she was and how important this was, she looked at her mother, then her father who was standing with the chiefs and then at the Ifa priest.

"Ezemmuo what are you saying?" She asked

"Why are you here?" He asked her. She looked warily around, not sure if she should tell everyone why she was here. "Speak up child. Why are you here?

With the question being repeated, Isioma looked at her mother who nodded. She looked at her father who gave her a slight nod then taking a deep breath, she looked the Ifa priest dead in his eye "ever since I was a child, I have dreams of a woman, dressed in white, wears beautiful beads and carries a staff. She keeps saying that she is my mother. I told nne and we agreed that when I was old enough, we would come to see you. This afternoon, I saw her again in my dream and she told me to come to you immediately I wake up. So we came"

The prince stared at her. So after all, she didn't know she was Ani's daughter. He noticed that she dressed up a bit. Everyone did that when coming to the shrine. Her body markings looked like they were recently done, her eyes were steady and shone brightly, she had done a new hairstyle. It was beautiful and she had beads and cowries in them. Her bright red wrappers made her look royal. Her fair skin glazed. She stood straight, not afraid that she stood in the presence of chiefs, him the prince or the Ifa priest. He admired her bravery. He slowly looked at the Ifa priest who turned to Obidiya

"Woman, is she your daughter?"

Isioma looked at her mother, and opened her mouth to reply when she was hushed by the Ifa priest. The Ifa priest stared pointedly at Obidiya, who was shaking. Being in the presence of all these powerful people was intimidating her and she wondered how her daughter wasn't affect. She was Ani's daughter after all. She looked at her husband who have her a nod. "No. She is not my daughter. When she was a baby, I saw her lying on the floor on my way to the farm. I took her home and my husband, Ichie Obidiegwu accepted her, my son Obinze accepted her, so we kept her. We raised her like our own and kept it a secret from her because we did not want her to feel bad or like we did not love her"

Isioma felt sad that the people who she knew as family all along were not her family, but they still loved her and she loved them. She was grateful that they took her. She couldn't imagine another family picking her. She took Obidiya's hand in hers and smiled at the woman. Obidiya was relieved her daughter didn't hate her for hiding the truth. She sighed in relief and held her daughter's hand.

"Ani told me last night. She fell in love with a human and lay with him. She bore a child and because the child was human and couldn't be with her, she left her child here. That is why you always see her in your dreams" he referred the last part to Isioma who was surprised.

"No wonder she kept telling me she is my mother. In my dream this afternoon she said I should come to you for you to explain. That I would not believe her." Isioma's hand quickly flew to her mouth in horror "is she angry with me because I did not believe her? Does she hate me? Hei what have I done?"

Both Obidiya and Obidiegwu had never seen their daughter this shaken up. Isioma dropped to the floor and Obidiegwu quickly ran to her side and caught her. Her mother kept running her hand on Isioma's back to soothe her and Obidiegwu kept whispering in her ear, telling her to calm down. When she finally calmed, she looked at her parents gratefully and they helped her stand up. She wondered why the thought of a woman she saw only in her dreams hating her hurt. Yes the woman is her mother but their conditions made them separate from each other. She took a deep breath, then looked at the chiefs. She felt embarrassed that she behaved like that in front of them, especially in front this unknown man. Her gaze quickly went to the Ifa priest who was already looking at her, with pity in his eyes.

"Ani is not angry with you. She is grateful to your parents for taking care of you and she is sorry for leaving you" then looking around "let us get to the problem"

Everyone nodded and looked keenly at the Ifa priest, who looked uncertain of how to tell Isioma why she was being surmoned "Isioma this village needs you"

"How?" She asked in confusion. Obidiegwu rubbed her arms slightly to comfort his daughter

"Our king is dead. You are the chosen maiden that will cleanse this land of the abominations of our dead king. If this cleansing is not done, our village will suffer death" the Ifa priest replied, still looking at her like there was no one else present.

Isioma, letting go of her mother's embrace and her father's hand stood up straight and returned the stare of the Ifa priest "what must I do?"

Obidiegwu was filled with pride as he looked at his daughter. She was indeed his daughter even though not by blood.

"In four days to come, you will be prepared in the shrine here, and on the night of that very day, you will walk to the palace. You will be in the palace for ten days. On these days, once every living being is sleeping, you will come out every night to cleanse the palace. For five nights you will cleanse the palace and five nights, the village. Very early each morning before anyone has risen, you will go to wash at the Ifaku stream. No one is allowed to see you before you wash because the person may take the bad luck from your body. After all these, you will carry the statue of all the gods carved in one, and walk into the Orudu forest and dance the dance of restoration. After all these, our land will be cleansed. You are a human talisman. You shall know no man. You are to be treated like royalty, or even better than royalty. And finally, this ritual may lead to your death" the Ifa priest proclaimed, making everyone present stare in shock at Isioma, holding their breath to know her answer.

The Ifaku stream was a stream, believed to be owned by the gods and no one was allowed to go there except the Ifa priest. The Orudu forest was a place on one dared to go. No human who entered there came back alive. Yet the gods chose to send her there. Even the dance of restoration has never been done before and it was said to be tiresome and usually done in a group to reduce the stress on the dancers. Isioma did well to hide her shock when the Ifa priest spoke. She was surprised that she wasn't scared of going to these places where she might not come back alive. She looked at her parents and gave them a reassuring smile, then turning to the Ifa priest, she face void of all emotions, she spoke "I will do it"

Everyone present, the Ifa priest included all let out a breath of relief. They felt she would refuse. Most of the elders had called her names or tried to make her an addition to their wives, which in turn made their wives hate her but she still wanted to sacrifice her life for them. She looked at the prince, still unsure of why he was here. The prince stared at her in wonder and admiration. Then he finally spoke "why were you not at the gathering of the maidens?"

She sighed, glanced at Ichie Okonta, whose gaze she had been avoiding since she came in, then she looked back at the prince "I was betrothed to Ichie Okonta when I was a child. So I had no reason to be there"

Ichie Okonta was happy that he would marry the daughter of Ani. He had won the prize and he held his head high when Isioma had spoken. The prince was filled with fury when he heard this. He opened his mouth to speak when the Ifa priest silenced him with his own voice

"You cannot marry him. You shall marry a man chosen by Ani. A man worthy of you"

"She will marry me. I have paid her bride price. She is my betroth" Ichie Okonta bellowed.

Isioma was so happy that she didn't need to marry the man she hated. She smiled as she hugged her mother, who hugged her back. Obidiegwu could not contain his joy as he heard this. He thanked Ani and Chukwu okike for saving his daughter.

"Ichie Okonta do not question the gods. Do not offend them. They are still angry with you for the abominations you committed with the king. Do not test them" then turning to Obidiegwu "return the bride price. If he rejects, Ani will take care of it. Also tell your son to meet me this evening. He has a lot of work to do"

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Ghe ghen.........

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So guys today is my sister's birthday and I'm so happy...... Also happy Palm Sunday to all the Catholics out there