WINTERS SECRET (RISE OF OYO EMPIRE)

BOOK 5

28th August.

"Maybe I should just run away, oh how I wish I never came back when I saw you in Tamaje, I was such a full to think I could talk mom out of it" Lina said over the phone as she cries uncontrollably.

"We are almost there" Jose, Winter's driver said as we were on our way to the library again.

"I can't go through with this, 12 more days Diana I can't" she continued.

"It's fine, we would find a way" I reassured her, I know all she wants to hear is that  I've finally done it but reassuring her is the best I can do now.

"You don't understand, there is no way out, I'm heavily guarded and monitored, they've started decorating the palace and making it ready for guests, I am in trouble" she said crying.

"I'm sure gran gran has figured the secret out, and if they haven't..."

"Maybe I should step down from the throne, if I do that they would be no use of the marriage" she said in a low tone, of course it is a solution but there was no leader in oyoland at the moment so she would have to take her throne sonner or later.

"Don't be so quick to talk, I would talk to gran gran and whatever she says I would get back to you, on the main time lay low okay?" It was a tough thing to ask for but I want her to trust me with this, that's the only way I can help. And if they find out she has plans to leave, boy oh boy it would be a lot harder to get her out of the marriage.

"We've arrived" Jose said as he came down to help me out of the car.

"Take care Diana, I'm off for my 3rd fitting" she said as she hinged up the call, so her wedding dresses are getting made already? Wow this is really happening I guess.

"Thank you" I droped my phone in my purse as I went into the Winters museum, I still had a lot to read and know about and maybe after all these dust settles down I can learn ancient greek for myself so I can read what the book says for me.

"Welcome back princess" Alexandra took a bow as she said, it was weird she has never done that before.

"Hi" I said as we both began to walk to the Winters diary section.

"What are you looking for exactly? I am sure you are not just interested in history" Alexandra asked.

"Well I want to know the truth that has been hiding about the old oyo empire" it was no use hidding my true intentions from here, matter of fact if there is anyone that should know about this it should be her.

"What a coincidence, I always thought you wanted to know about the royal family history, your family history" she said.

"Well I would get to know that when I go to ofuland"

"To read the royal seal?" How did she know?... Wait she is a historian I'm sure it is written in one history book or the other.

"Yeah" I said.

"Well I heard the books haven't been read in ages, I could help you with that, I'm sure the language it is written in is not modern English" this sounds too good to be true, why would she just volunteer to help me? What's in it for her? Why would she want to know what happened in ofuland?

"Okay, I'll think about it" thinking about it meaning I would ask gran gran about it, she is right though who do I know that read ancient greek? And on the other hand what if there is something she is hiding from me? For all I know she might not be translating the truth to me, how can I trust her? Maybe I should just learn the language myself.

"Sure princess, shall we continue?" She nearly translated the first Winters book for me, that and the fact that the history about the war was all gone, it was basically useless. Come to think of it, what if the person that did that already raided all the other books? And what I am looking for is no more, or it is more hidden what could be more hidden than this? The people that know about the winter book are limited to begin with, maybe it was a member of their family.

" 1.. 2... 3" I began to count the books on the shelf "4.. 5... 6... Seven? Seven? 8... 9... 10 11 12 13 " there was no book number 7 on the shelf, why is that.

"So you have finally noticed, well it's complicated" Alexandra said.

"Complicated as in how? I'm invested in it the more" I responded to her.

"Well according to my dad who was told by his dad who was told by his dad, the book was lost when they finally decided to move them to the library, although it's not clear how it was lost but that's all I know about the book, so no one knows who Winter number 7 is, all we know is his name and date of birth written in his father's book, his occupation and date of death written in his son's book" ahhh, another mystery, we weren't done with the first one here comes another one.

"So sad, funny how interested I am in it now" I guess we are more intrigued by mystery.

"Yeah, that's by the way where is book 14, 15? You did say they were 15 generations, aren't they missing as well?" She sounded unbothered by those numbers, besides their number were boldly written on the wall.

"Well they are both alive, Mr winter is the 15th generation and his dad is the 14th, whenever a Winter is given birth to their number gets ingraved to the shelf" Alexandra answered my question.

"Oh that explains it, you do know so much about the family history" it was a compliment to be honest, and she seems excited to share the news.

"Well ever since my grandfather told me stories about the library and the artifacts he guides I have always wanted to become the next custodian of the secret library, it was all I ever dreamed about and all I ever knew, besides my grand dad always told me that the Winters themselves weren't intrigued by their family history but the wives always come down to know and learn more about the history, so when I heard Winter was getting married I knew the time for me to begin working had come" sje said with a huge smile on her face.