Balogun

GONE

"Love sacrifices all things to bless the thing it loves"
- Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

"True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice"
- Sadhu Vaswani

xXx

When Abike woke up the next morning, she could hear Murewa having an heated argument with Jamal.
Quickly, she closed her eyes and stayed very still.

"There won't be any war, Jamal..." Murewa's voice was calm, but hard.
Abike had been on the receiving end so many times, she pitied Jamal right now, but Jamal's response was equally as hard.

"How do you know that? If you know something I don't, tell me..."

"I don't know anything you don't."

"You see?" Jamal shrieked. "You should have let her go, Murewa. What are you doing? You can change your mind, I would take her on my horse, we can still catch up with the others, they only left four hours ago."

"If you wake her up, I swear to God Jamal..."

"Ugh." She heard Jamal sigh heavily.
"What is this even about? Is it the sex? Is it love? Do you love her, Murewa?"

Abike held her breath as the silence stretched. She could hear the clock tick and waited for another long while until it was obvious Murewa wasn't going to say anything in reply, she finally sat up.

Jamal was directly facing her so he saw her first.
"Hello Abike."

"Good morning," she answered sourly, feeling nothing but resentment towards him.

Why did he want her to leave so bad?
She had made the decision to stay herself because she loved him.
Not for anything else.

Murewa turned at the sound of her voice and his eyes lit up when he saw her.

Abike climbed down from the bed and was swept into his arms immediately.
It was only then she noticed he was fully dressed.

"Going somewhere?" She asked.

He chuckled and set her down. "Yes, ma. I would be back soon, I promise."

A quick glance at the clock told her it was eleven a.m.
It was the first time since she arrived at the Palace that she was waking up this late.

"You don't have to wait for me," he said into her ear. "I already ate breakfast an hour ago. And I told Jamila to bring you breakfast soon."

"Mrs. Jamila is bringing me breakfast?" Abike reeled from that information.

Jamal suddenly cleared his throat and Abike looked back to see him nodding at Murewa, which meant it was time to go.

She didn't know where they were going and she didn't want to ask.

"Do you need anything?" Murewa asked, pulling away from her and she shook her head.

She was finally coming to the terms that she was alone.
Her friends were gone.
The only person she had here was Murewa. As if he knew what she was thinking, he stroked her cheek in a moment of affection.

"Your friends are gone, I know. I would be back very soon, I promise you. You won't be alone."

She smiled at him and kissed his chest.
"It's okay. I would be waiting for you." She sat back on the bed.
The shirt she was wearing rode up her laps and she laughed when Murewa scowled at her.

A quick glance told them Jamal wasn't even looking and she threw the bed cover over her legs and smiled at him.

The scowl didn't leave his face as he left the room with Jamal.