Women Of Steel | ✔

XXIII

The king and I parted ways at Abule Agba. My traveling party consists of the chief priest, Ifatunji, the one of the King's chiefs and a quiet woman they call Tara, she and Demilade had shared a look when we reached Abule Agba. When I'd asked why she wanted to visit the fishing town when her time should be spent making war plans, she'd waved away my concern and shot me a conspiratorial smile.

"I'm going to go slay a goddess." She said, then leaning closer to me, she whispered. "Ile Alaafia was said to be built on land that was once a mass graveyard for fallen soldiers during the war that split the first kingdom into eight."

There is a restlessness that remains in me now, I should be happy, proud of who I am becoming, happy that Demilade never and does not hate me, I should be shouting my status of immortality to the sky but instead, I feel like the worst is only yet to come.

Now as Prince Oloruntobiloba welcomes the three of us to Ile Wura. I remember the last time I saw him, defiantly refusing to bow before the king and demanding the rights to see his unborn child, there is a hardness to his face now and no smile as he nods a greeting to us.

The men on horses besides him give us equally wary greetings and suspicion makes me narrow my eyes.

"Ekabo," The prince greets. "We received the missive stating your arrival and I wish to tell you now, Ile Alaafia cannot afford to go to war against a woman more powerful that all the kings."

He rides beside Ifatunji's horse and I feel a stab of unwanted resentment. Tobiloba is a decent man, he was much nicer to me than any of the other royalty when they came to visit, but he has always known me as a bratty teenager. He still thinks the same of me.

"Tobiloba, is this how Ile Alaafia treats her visitors? With suspicion and hard words?" Ifatunji asks. At once, the prince mutters an apology. Ifatunji is one of the most respected people in the eight kingdoms and it is not only because he has the most direct communication with the gods, he is also a well spoken man and kind as well.

"I apologize, Ifatunji, but there have been rumours of who we are fighting against. And just a few days ago, we received word from Ile Ogo, they blame it all on the late Kabiyesi Gbadamosi and believe that the problem of Remilekun should be solved by Ile Wura alone." He explains quietly. He shifts atop his horse, and even in the dark, I catch the quick glance he sends the guards flanking him.

A shiver runs down my spine.

I share a look with Tara besides me, in our three days of travel, she barely ever speaks a word unless spoken to and when she speaks of her own accord, they are usually words carefully spoken. Tara hasn't spoken to me once at all so I am surprised when she does.

"You suspect it, don't you?" She murmurs. Her voice is a quiet whisper that it almost doesn't carry above the wind.

"Something is not right," The words are barely out before the horsemen ahead turn with a swiftness that alarms my mare.

Ifatunji hides his own well. If he is surprised by the men drawing their swords. He does not show it. Rather, he laughs softly and I see the men shift away slightly as if the fact that he is a messenger of the gods means he wields power in his voice alone.

Magic, they fear magic. With a jolt, I realize I wield it too, although they do not know. My heart stutters in my chest as Tobiloba's eyes meet mine.

"Do you wish to sever the already fragile bond between our two kingdoms?" Ifatunji asks. "Or worse, anger the gods?"

They hesitate. They should be scared, although my father told me that the gods rarely intervene in the matters of me.

"This has nothing to do with you, Ifatunji, this has to do with righting the wrongs Ile Wura has caused to this world," Tobiloba answers calmly, his mind is made and I wonder if Remilekun even had to do persuade to take up her cause.

"What did she offer you, Prince?" Tara asks, cuts in with a harshness that takes me aback. For the first time, the prince looks abashed and hope makes my heart gallop for a second, only to sink when he raises his chin in defiance.

"The child, my child," He announces with a slight sneer on his face. I thought when I'd left, Demilade would have sorted out the issue of her child's paternity, I thought it was a lover's spat. She should have known, suspected that he would try to get his revenge, but again, who would think that the kind prince had a thirst for dark things?

"And what did Remilekun ask from you?" Tara asks. She eyes me from the corner of her eyes and I try to decipher her secret words but I find none, my mind utterly blank.

Where is the magic that should course through my veins? Where is my father's strength? I look to the earth below and a smile tugs at the side of my lips.

Again, Tobiloba meets my gaze, this time there is a guilt in them.

"Just the girl," He says, confirming all our suspections. To his companions, he says, "Round up all of them, alive."

"No—" Ifatunji screams, catching whiff of my foolish plan too late. Without another thought, I'm jumping off the horse and grabbing Tara's sword that she tossed to me. They are heavy in my grip and I have no idea how to wield them but they do the trick, the men reach for their open weapons, Tobiloba screams at them to tread carefully.

I smile and wrap my hand around the tip of the blade, the smile never leaves my face as my blood drips down to the sandy earth.

Someone screams, I shiver.

The dead answers the call of death — my blood calls them.

From the sand, bones form, snapping together to form a whole body, soon, a small army rises, some lacking heads, others missing arms but the sight of them makes the prince and his men back away quickly. There is awe and fear in their eyes as they take in the bones that surround me.

But still, they draw their swords. The prince changes his command.

"Take no one alive."