MAIDENS

MAIDENS 14

Wura watched the sleeping Adelola quietly. They had been visited by many of their classmates and their teacher who had been blaming himself for not noticing anything strange about Adelola. Her father had been the one to comfort him. "You can only see what they want you to see in the classroom. Many of them hide these things," Father had said.

Teacher Alakola had further blamed himself for not having enough trust from the students that they could tell him these things and Father had smiled fondly as one would smile to a child and told him that only a few in the Àwon Asónà community had been favoured with the gift to see into the secret of people's homes. Finally, Teacher Alakola had allowed himself to be convinced by Father to go back home and return later. He needed to rest and classes were still ongoing.

Wura had learned one thing from her father's and teacher's discussion- Teacher Alakola belonged to the same community her father said she had been called into and the community was a bigger one than she had thought. The special healers in their kingdom had been contacted for Adelola's case because of her head injury. They handled these cases that had the possibility of hurting the victims later on in life. When the Oluwaosan Oba, that was what father had called them had come they had used the Iwe-Mimo to treat Lola too.

She had been surprised as she watched them discuss amongst themselves and then consult the book before their head administered the treatments. This experience also taught her to have a deeper reverence for the Iwe-Mimo. It had everything! It had been what had saved the maidens and helped them get here safely and now it was helping her friend too. Maidens. She had forgotten about them and it had been four days already. She had some duties to perform to these maidens but here she was. They would need to manage until she came back. She wished her friend would wake up so they could move on with this. Oh, and she also really wanted to carefully continue her reading of the Iwe-Mimo; she still had a lot to learn from it if she would help others...

Wura's train of thought ended as she perused her friend one more time and found her eyes open, staring at her.

Wura jumped. "Lola!" She knelt in front of the bed. "How are you?" Father stood too and moved closer.

"Fine."

"No, like really really. How are you feeling? Your hand? Or your legs, do they hurt or..."

"I am fine, Wura." That tone. "Oh, okay." She went back to her seat and stared at the spot above Adelola's bed. Father also sat back down after monitoring her eyes. He must have been satisfied with what he saw because he sat back down.

"Wura," her friend called after many heartbeats.

"Yes?" Wura answered without taking her gaze away from that interesting spot at the top of Adelola's bed.

"I am sorry." Was the small answer.

Wura finally took her eyes away and to her friend's. "For what?"

"Everything- the letter, the work...Akin."

Father decided to join the discussion because he asked, "What happened to you? Why did we find you in such a place? Why were you alone there?"

Adelola answered without looking at anyone. "Akin said he knew the way to a small village far from ours. He convinced me to go there with him and he also said not to tell you, Wura, so I did not. I'm sorry." She looked at Wura briefly with a silent apology in her eyes. Wura nodded acknowledging it and Adelola looked back at her nothing. "When we started going through bushes and dead trees, I started getting afraid but he kept convincing me at each turn to keep going because the road got better at a point. Later, he said he needed to get something to drink for the two of us and I should wait for him in that place so I did."

Lola looked at Wura again, "He never came back." She touched one of the fading bruises on her face and grimaced. "When I tried looking for him and following in his direction, I stepped on something. No matter how hard I called, he never came back and I never saw him."

"Adelola, there is something else about Akin you need to know." Wura started, looking at her father. With his nod, she continued. "You might have started to notice this strangeness now."

"Tell me," Lola said boldly. "I'm ready to hear anything."

"Akin is not really who you thought he is. I also just found out that same day he did this to you."

Adelola gently sat up on her bed. "Say what you need to say, Wura."

"There are creatures loyal to Olóròógbò, the enemy of our land. He sends them into our kingdom as spies and contractors to get slaves for him but for them to succeed; they need to change their appearance to be one of us. Nobody has found any physical difference between us and them except through careful study of their activities and behaviours which is why they try not to be seen around many persons easily..."

"That makes sense," Lola cut in softly. "That was why he never wanted us to meet with others, even you, Wura. He always wanted us to keep our relationship a secret. It was only a few times you met him. Go on, please."

Father interrupted her narration. "They can be seen in public but those are usually the strongest ones amongst them. They have been known to defeat entire towns too. Adelola," he called. "His plan was adding you to his quota of conquered ones. I believe when he left you that he waited around for you to fall into a trap then when you could no longer fight him take you to his master, dead or alive. Eku-Emó..."

"Eku-Emó?" Lola asked.

"That is what they are called in this region. They are known by other names in other regions but it does not stop that their mission is to steal, kill and destroy anything with the identity of Aiyélojà."

Silenced reigned as they allowed Lola to process this new information. She broke it herself. "I feel so foolish..."

"No, don't say..." Wura began.

"Don't!" interjected Father. "Allow her." Then he rested again.

"I feel like...like...I do not ever want to see him again in my life. He stood and watched me suffer. Waited for me? He spent many hours saying he loved me...I feel so foolish."

"We all feel that way in this life but what matters to me is this, Lola: What will you do when you see him again because he will come." Father did not sound so convinced.

Adelola smiled for the first time. "I want him to. I will be waiting for him."