EHI

CHAPTER-FOUR

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Months had passed since Ehi was almost beaten to death.
She was taken to a healer among the prisoners, who cared for her until she became strong enough to move around on her own.
"Iye Ose" was the healer in her village before their capture and her son Ose, was a few moons older than her.
Although they had never spoken to each other before their capture, ehi recalled how his handsome looks and strength made him popular among the maidens.

He was a remarkable wrestler and a good son.
Ehi and Ose have been bonding over the time she spent being treated by his mom.
They talked about life before the capture and prayed to Osanobuwa (God) for their rescue.

They would sing moonlight songs as the ship swayed through storms.
Ose would always give her a part of his meal, arguing that she needed it more to recover from the damage Marcus had done.

Ehi smiled as she saw Ose walking over to her with a tired look on his face.
She didn't fail to notice the limp in his step, caused by the new sets of chains that were used on them when they boarded the ship.

They were all in a large room, all the prisoners were cramped together. There was barely space to move around.

Men and women were separated by a large iron pole demarcating the room.
A few buckets were given to them to clean up and urinate and even then, they had to do it in the presence of everyone.

Her eyes slid down to the tiny traces of blood that were around his ankles from dragging the chain across the room.
Moving around with it was with great difficulty and pain she noted.

Ose sat next to her, gently lifting her chin causing her to stare up at him.
"Don't be sad dear one"
"I am a strong man, I can take the pain", he stated proudly.

"I just need you to feel better".
"Here, take this," he said as he stretched stale bread that had already started to become rotten, as that was all the guards gave them once a day.

Ehi felt her heart flutter as she shyly looked away. She snatched the bread from his hands knowing better than to reject food.
"You should get a balm from your iye (mother) for those injuries," she said, referring to his ankle.

She could already see the signs of an infection brewing on his skin.
Ehi couldn't help the tiny feeling of fear that sprung in her chest, she didn't know if she could bear to see her only friend sick.

"I will, but first I wanted to see you," he said.

She looked at him as she admired how selfless and caring he could be.
She spaced out as he continued to talk about what had been going on in the ship.

Apparently, many of their kinsmen are sick and are being treated by his Iye, while some were recovering, others were not.

Ehi subconsciously prayed for them to get better.
Ose leaning towards her snapped her back to reality, as she leaned in instinctively to listen.
"I want you to sleep near that iron pole from now on."
"I need to watch you from where I sleep because, men and young girls have been disappearing at night, taken by the pale-skinned men and most of them never return".
"The ones who did, came back with their tongue or limbs cut off," he whispered quickly.

Ehi's eyes went wide like saucers, her mind immediately went to Onose's gruesome death, and she immediately felt a chill on her skin.

No matter what happened Ehi did not want to die like that.
She held his hands and whispered back,

"I will do exactly what you ask only if you promise never to let them take me."
At this point, her eyes started tearing up.

Ose stared at the beautiful maiden he had come to care for since he saw her slap a guard.
He had rushed to help her when she was being beaten, but his mother held him back.
He instantly admired her for the bravery she displayed and was immediately drawn to her.
"I promise," he replied.

He moved his hands to wipe the tears that were making their way down her face.
Ose felt sorry that she had to go through so much pain at such a young age.
He silently made a promise to himself to protect her as long as he could.

With her head buried on his shoulder, she let the whole world fade as they shared stories of their childhood.
Ose grinned widely as her giggles could be heard from across the room.

800 words in this chapter guys
I need your comments guys what do you think about "Ehi" so far?
Another new male character 😌 Do you think Ose and Ehi will have a future together?
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"Iye Ose" means: Ose's mother
From where I come from, mothers are referred to by their children's names.