Heir Apparent: A Nigerian Story.

VI

She was pacing around the room, nervous.
"I'm in deep trouble, what do I do?" She mutters.

The guy was seated staring at her as she freaks out. There was something that intrigued him about the whole thing, she definitely didn't seem fit to be a Vassal but her behavior with him reading the book seemed different than the way she was freaking out at the moment.
"I'm dead, I'm going to be killed. I'm not even interested in reading the book" she huffs frustratedly.

The door swings opens and Uncle Awwal walks in smiling sweetly "Hudayya?"
She turns around and faces him trying to stay calm "Yes?"

"Masoud is outside waiting for you, it's getting late and you have class tomorrow"
"I'm not in trouble?"

He smiles "I know you did nothing wrong and no one needs to know about the novel either"
Her breath hitches in her throat. She nods and walks out.
Masoud was standing right outside the door.
"What happened?"

She sniffles "Let's just go".

Uncle Awwal closes the door before he turns around and looks at Hafiz "So? What happened? Did she show any interest in it?"

He shakes his head "She knows about the book but she seemed more interested in why I wanted to read it, how I got it and who I was"

He smiles "It's not shocking, she passed"
"You asked me to help you test them but she has seen me and she knows the incident about the book, what if she tells the others?"

He shakes his head "She won't, if people hear about it, she might be suspected of tricking the system to defeat the other Vassals"

"I hope so"

::

Raudah and Masoud kept pestering her to tell them what happened. They all knew she sneaked to go read her novels but no one was expecting a call telling one of them to bring her back.

She sat in her seat quietly after finally fleeing the cafeteria. She was scared it might ruin things for her, it's not like there's a camera to prove she didn't actually read it.

Meanwhile Najib was at the basketball court playing all day, it's the only thing that gets his mind off his problems.

His brother called him that morning threatening him not to think about going back home and if it was his choice he wouldn't have bothered anyway.

He shoots the ball but misses again, he groans in frustration.
"What's with the mood?"

He raises his head and sees a guy about a few inches taller than him, probably a few years older too.

"And who are you?" He asks.
"Just helping around"

He picks up the ball "I don't need help here"
"I think your friend does"

"What do you help around with anyway? And which friend are you talking about?"
He smiles "I'm just visiting from somewhere. Your friend of course"

He raises his head staring at him.
"Have you heard of The Disentanglement Of The Old Testament, Prophecy and Traditions: The Quell Of A Tyranny? The book?"

He looks at him perplexed "Where did you say you're from? The existence of the book is not basic knowledge" He says suspiciously.

"Well I heard it somewhere. Apparently one of the Vassals was caught reading it ahead of the others, don't you want to read it too?"

He scoffs "I have no interest in that at the moment, I'm not in a rush. And if I were you I wouldn't go around asking or saying that"

"Why?"
"First of all I doubt any of us would do that, secondly if anyone hears you say that you'd be detained" he takes the ball and walks away.

Hafiz smiles looking at him walk away before he gets his phone and calls Uncle Awwal "He didn't care too"

He had better things to do than waste his time doing this but he trusts Uncle Awwal even more than his father and he knows he has a reason for doing it.

He huffs "Hope it gets better" he walks away.

::

Everyone was seated in the cafeteria eating. Najib sits, joining Raudah and Masoud.

"Hey hey"
"You're finally rejuvenated?" Masoud asks eating his cereal.

"Yup. A break was what I needed" he looks around "Where is that hyper active friend of yours?" He asks Raudah who just shrugged.

"I don't know, she's been acting outlandish since I brought her back yesterday"
He raises his eyebrows "Back from where?"

"The library"

He gasps "I hope she wasn't caught with her novels?"
He shakes his head "Bella would have killed her by now".

"She's probably really emotional, we'll be heading to the Caelian Palace in four days and then back home, she's probably just sad" Raudah says.

"Should we leave her alone, it's not really safe" Masoud says worriedly.
"Since obviously you two won't give it a rest, I'll go talk to her" she turns to Masoud "Don't forget to go meet Bella in her office like she asked you to"

He nods.

She leaves the cafeteria.
"Why is Bella looking for you?" Najib asks eating Raudah's food.
"Well I honestly don't know but I hope it's nothing serious. My brother is probably thinking of ways to end me the moment I'm back home. He said he'd rather our father perform the Cēosan than I become king" he scoffs "He doesn't even know how to raise a finger without aid and he wants to be king"

"Intense but what does that have to do with meeting Bella?"
He laughs "I have no idea, I just said it"

They both laugh.

::

He enters and sits across her desk like they always do.
He was also very eager to hear what she wanted to say to him.

The door opens and a man comes in, the guy is probably only a few years older than he is.
"Masoud?"

"Yes, who's asking?"
"Someone who wants you to succeed at all costs. I noticed your scores aren't something to be proud of"

"And so?"
"The book, The Disentanglement Of The Old Testament, Prophecy and Traditions: The Quell Of A Tyranny? Do you know you'll be studying it when you're back?"

"Yes, so?"
"I have a copy that explains the book, it can help you beat all of them without even trying"

For a while Masoud stared at the man.
Yes the book would be incredibly useful to him but is he willing to take it that far? He'll be cheating and he's not sure if he's fine with it. And most importantly that book is hidden, only a few people know about its existence so how did the man standing before him know the book and even has an explained version of the book?

"I'm not interested. Who are you again?"
"No need to tell you that, you just missed your opportunity" he walks out.

Masoud just stared at the door.

::