The sick man was back to his feet after spending a couple of weeks at St Agnes Clinic. The Queen was most thankful to Eledumare who spared his life and made him still maintain a hale body. No leg was flaccid. No arm was maimed and unsteady.
Many came to the palace from far and near with gifts of different kinds. The desperate village maidens cheaply offered to trim his nails, massage his back, cook for him, scrub his wear and sweep his room most of which the Prince turned down because he evolved such offers as trying to battle against one another in the name of being in his good books, to be made the future Queen. He accepted all gifts from men with a thank, and never thought that these men were also doing the nice-human type to create spaces for chieftaincy titles when he later succeeded his father.
He was on the patio chair built at the right side of the palace, his warriors bravely stood behind him, one of them loudly singing his praise in his deep and fluent voice, when his eyes fastened down to the gate. There, he spots a young woman in a fawn-coloured gown, hovering around the entrance of the palace. Her hair, her wrists and her neck had red beads. And she was a beauty. The Prince shortly levelled up his gaze at the arch that towered above the woman that carried the 'Welcome to Alayetoro of Ayetoro land ' sign. Then he levelled down his gape back to the 'beautiful monster' who had a group of maids walk after her, one of them was carrying a basket on her head. For a moment, Adeolu felt tight. He seemed sickened to see her, but he stayed put. He resolved that he was going to have nothing to do with her. The person was his betrothed Princess whom he hated on a large scale. The reason for the hate could be fetched from, in his view, her being fake, a pretender--- rude, proud, cruel and she had a heart that was as black as coal. He imagined a future with such a woman and pictured how often his life would be frustrated. He preferred Aduke. Only Aduke and no one else. When Adesewa had stepped into the Palace, she told her maids to wait outside, while she quickly went straight to pay her homage to Oba Ajisafe and his Queen. None of them was around. Right there, she proudly glid to mingle with the Prince who reluctantly welcomed her to his side. His warriors and her maids departed from the scene at once. They shambled and faced the other side of the place.
"I didn't meet the King and the Queen in there. Did they travel?' she asked in silence.
"Yes. They went to maternal grandmother's place at Ajegunle," he responded.
"I see! I am sorry I chose to be the last with a get-well-soon greeting and came at the time you are almost revived. It was not my fault. I was not in town for a couple of months. How do you feel now?"
"I feel well. Thank you. I feel well," he answered.
"Thanks be to God," she said and called out Itunu, a maid.
In seconds, Itunnu had revved in like an antelope in the field and stood before her. She placed a weighted basket of gifts close to the Princess and turned back to leave with a bow. Adesewa examined the wrapped basket before she drew it to Adeolu.
"Thank you," he said faintly.
"Night is drawing close. Queen will be waiting for me,"
"All right," he sat up with a chuckle that meant he had been looking forward to her leaving, "thank you for coming," he added. He was grateful that there was nothing beyond friendship between Adesewa and him again; the parties had recently decided to be friends after both kings had analyzed the situation.
•••
Adeolu did not know what the basket contained and he did not care either. He dumped the basket in a corner of his room and forgot all about it. His thought returned to Aduke. He wondered what she was up to and where she must be. When he remembered that moment she touched and smiled at him at St Agnes, his face creased in a smile. He was confident now that she would eventually belong to him one day. Everything would fall in place at the right time. He knew that ladies could be stubborn and funny. Only persistence was all he needed now to draw Aduke to himself. And frustration on Adigun. He would send his warriors to threaten him to stop distracting the woman from him. He would tell him that Aduke belonged to the rich, not the poor. He was rich enough while, in his opinion, Adigun was just a poor teacher. He was sure that the teacher was not prepared to die a shameful death while his mother had yet to reap the fruits of her labour, so he would not hesitate to obey him, to let go of Aduke.
•••
Adigun was no longer living with Mama. His job came with free accommodation in the school lodges. Mama herself had told him that it was better he lived alone so that he would be focused on his job because she dreamt of a brighter future for him again and again. Only on weekends did the teacher have the chance to visit home. When the teacher realised that his mother would be bored and that solitude killed faster and that she would need a helping hand, he arranged for a housekeeper whom he paid at the end of the month from his salary. Mama seemed to like such an idea. Alice was simply an orphan. She had been sold out by her greedy uncle, but Mama and Adigun never saw her as a stranger; they welcomed her as a member of their family. They were now three in the kin.
It was on weekend, the day the teacher planned to go home. His knowledge of the importance of good exercise to the body barred him from asking a cyclist to convey him home. He trekked alone on the lonely and narrowed lane in the bush. He had not gone too far when he was encircled by a group of men. They were the warriors guarding Prince Adeolu. Each warrior had a cudgel and a gun. The weapons instilled fear in Adigun and soon he began to shiver.
"Mr teacher!" Aliyu, the leader of the assembly shouted, swatting Adigun on the shoulder.
When the teacher gave no response, another warrior hit him on the back with the butt of his gun. The painful movement set his sealed lips apart and made him say "Yes, Sir," in a way the coolheaded gentlemen love to put it. Adigun was surprised at his calmness and more surprised that he used a 'sir' for a nonentity and out of fear.
"Mr teacher!," Aliyu called again, handling his gun to his subordinate and clapping his hands while at the same time facing the fearful teacher, "We do not mean any harm here. Only a message to you. And heed the message that will protect you from an untimely death. Leave Aduke alone. She belongs to the Prince, our hero. If you see us another time on the same issue, it calls for your punishment," Aliyu laughed and nudged his comrades. They all followed him in the direction of the palace, leaving the shocked maestro alone on the spot.
No surprise mounted Adigun, for he had long foretold that the Prince would trail him. He did not understand why a man would pick up a fight with his fellow man over a lady. His happy mood, the mood of going home to hug Mama and Alice, vanished like the morning dew in the blazing sun. He felt unhappy and wondered why fate was trying to take his woman from him, the source of his giggle and pleasure. He staggered on.
At home, Mama and Alice sat outside on a long bench. "See your brother," Mama announced and Alice ran as quickly as she could to hug and shift the slung bag from his left shoulder to hers. She expected Adigun to wear a smile, but what he wore was a frown. She knew that something was wrong. Not wanting to blow hypertension into Mama, Adigun smiled and hugged Mama warmly.
"Did work go well?" Mama asked, still slowly husking the melon seeds.
"Yes, Mama," he responded and placed his right hand on Alice shoulder who was standing beside him.
•••
Once she closed from work that evening, Aduke did not go home directly. She went to Adigun's homestead where she knew he must be. She dressed like the rest of her colleagues, but her dress was the best. By the time the cyclist stopped just next to where Mama sat, husking melon seeds, Mama wondered who she was and why the visit was in her professional wear.
"Good evening, Mama," Aduke knelt and Mama's brain was full of questions. Instead of asking those questions, she simply stopped husking and was about to speak when Adigun came out of the compound.
"Aduke," he said, spying around the place to be sure no warrior was peering. At once, he dragged her to the room where he hoped to converse with her.
"I don't know how to put it but I seem to be in danger,"
"What exactly went wrong?" She asked, her eyes bewildered, her hands gripped his.
"His warriors threatened to kill me because of you," he announced and she felt mad at the Prince.
"It is an empty threat, babe,'' she said confidently, " We shall overcome them,"
"I think we need to be careful until we relocate to the city or don't you think so? Safety is pertinent for now,"
"No, you can't hide love. Leave the issue to me. I know how to handle them,"
"You are being too confident, Jewel. Those rascals are satanic. You know full well that they don't think before they act,"
"I know, but what practical suggestion do you now have?" She asked curiously.
"Let's just be careful. We would be communicating through black and white pending the time things would be all right," he said.
"All right," she said ruefully.
The lovebirds hugged each other tightly. She picked up her bag and walked out. She knelt for Mama and placed a gift which comprised unsown garment, tons of peak milk and you're vital. Mama still yearned to know her identity, inquisitive to stop the smoke around her. She prayed for more blessings as Aduke presented the gift. Then the nurse climbed up the bike and left. It was not until she left that Adigun told Mama that the guest was her future daughter-in-law. It excited Mama. Adigun did not include the threat and his sad experience earlier in the day. Mama was in her late sixties and such an old woman needed to rest. He was certain that the reaction she would show, on learning about his ordeal, would sicken her. She might even go to the palace to risk her life. Such a thing was what Adigun forbade in his family.