DIAMOND IN THE FOREST.
Episode 5.
Leja walked to where the
Prince was and greeted him
“kilo fa ija lan re awo omodo
yi… (What caused the fight
between the maids?)
Leja was thinking within
himself “you caused it all, it
was all because of you, among
all the royalty in this kingdom
you did not see them is my
own woman that you decided
to pick interest in, and she will
fall for you because you are a
prince and I’m just a guard, if I
know I would have left you in
that stream that day to drawn,
it could have being better if
you are no more than for you
to take Remi from me, see his
big flat head like the hand fan
used in fanning the king, he is
not even as handsome as I am
or maybe he is but I’m far
more stronger than he will
ever be, if you have focus on
other royal maiden and leave
my woman alone there won’t
be troub….
“Leja…soro…(Leja speak) you
are not saying anything…I
asked you a question…what
caused the fight between the
princess personal maid and the
palace maid?
“I mabinu omo oba… (I’m sorry
my prince) they had
misun-derstanding…they are
step sisters…
“Being related doesn’t give
them the right to argue or
fight in the palace you know
that alre-ady Leja, you were
suppose to calm the situation
before it escalated, but you
were there and the other girl
almost died…what if the one
that pas-sed out died at that
sp©t….you will be held
responsible because you are
the chief guard here, you are
suppose to station your men at
every corner to monitor the
environments and to pacify
unwarranted situations like
that…
Leja bent his head in respect as
the prince spoke to him, he
kept thinking to himself “why
is he even blaming me for the
problem he caused, everything
is me, anything that goes
wrong here is me, nob©dy else
will be blamed, Leja this Leja
that every time, now the gods
decided to compensate all my
effort with a woman like Remi
and he wants to collect her
from me, I can’t wait to finally
leave this palace and start a
family of my own…if I know I
would have done everything
possible to st©p Remi from
working here…in that way I
will get to have her to myself
but the kingdom chose her and
I don’t have any power of my
own to do anything, every
power lies in the oba’s
shoulder and his selfish son, I
wish Remi will not have to
come back here again an…..
“Leja, se ofe ti soro mi rara (are
you listening to me at all)
“ beeni….imabinu omo oba…
(yes, plea-se don’t be angry)it
won’t happen again…it was all
a mistake which I will make
sure it doesn’t repeat here
again…
When Leja finally left the
Prince pres£nce he make sure
he was far from him before
realising a very loud hiss for
the prince.
Remi knew that her mother
will be very angry with her and
it was just as she thought
“Don’t you have common s-en-se
Remi, you went to the palace
to disgrace me, how can you
be fighting in the oba’s palace
are you an animal, don’t you
have s-en-se, even Dami your
brother can not be that
stupide, I raised you better
than that…my mother is alive,
well respected and in good
health because I did not
disgrace her or bring shame to
her, I did not kill my mother
Remi …so you will not kill me
let the gods bear me witness…
“Mami, she was insulting you…
saying you are a mother of a
witch…different bad names,
you know she has being doing
this and it has become normal
for her, she insults me
anywhere and even sl@p me
sometimes before we were
called to work in the palace,
now being at the palace she
started again, there’s a limit
every human being can take…
she pushed me to the
extreme…I couldn’t hold it in
any longer Mami, she insulting
me was fine but also bring the
insult to you is what I coul…
“gbe ne sun….(shut up that
your mouth) did I ask you to
fight for me…did I s£nd you to
go and fight for me, it was me
she was insulting why not
leave her to be, you know her
mother is very troublesome…
now she will come with
another of her trouble and I
have being trying everything
possible to avoid them….see I
hate trouble and I learn to
forgive and overlook things
throu-gh the help of my
mother, your grandma, and the
best way to win is by keeping
quiet and ignoring them…she
sl@ps you or do anything to
you let the gods fight for you
Remi…the kingdom did not
chose you to go and fight in
the palace….don’t be a useless
child, she push you don’t push
back just walk away…
“aaah Mami I can not do that
one o….infact whatever they
want from now onward am so
re-ady for them…we have being
keeping quiet for too long and
instead of them to leave us
alone they will keep fighting
us…you are not dragging
anything again with them,
after all Baba (father) is dead
so what is iya Nike’s problem,
and also Nike, she is among the
royal worker just as I am so
what exactly is their problem
that they want to frustrate us…
that nons-en-se must st©p Mami,
oto ge (enough is enough) she
has to learn ho…
“Iya Remi…iya Remi bo si ta
(Remi mother…come outside)
Nike and her mother were
outside Remi’s house, ban-ging
on there door, iya Remi went
outside with Remi, she knows
it was full trouble awaiting to
happen, she dre-aded any
trouble with Nike’s mother but
Remi has dragged her into it
and she has to go and beg
them.
“Iya Remi….wo oju Nike ati
arare (look at Nike’s face and
b©dy) …wo nkan ti aje oloshi
omore shi fun omo mi (look at
what your useless witch
daughter did to my beautiful
child)….do you see how you
people have started looking for
me and my daughter’s
trouble…
“e joo…Imabinu iya Nike…mo
ba wi ki oto gbemi (plea-se,
don’t be angry I was just
scolding her before you called
me)…pele Nike (sorry Nike)
….ma sun owo iwosan (i will
pay for her treatment)…
Imabinu ejoo…
Mi bi nu oo (I’m not angry) but
the gods will deal with you
and your daughter…for
ganging up against my
beautiful daughter….Nike is a
good child and was on her
own, doing her work as she
was s£nt to do and the Prince
and others were alre-ady
commending her and your
wicked daughter got jealous
and attacked her…do you see,
The gods hope you have seen
the injustice done to me and
my daughter plea-se fight this
battle and deal with the
cu-prite in your own way
because if you fail me… aaah…i
will have to deal with them
myself…
.
Remi watch as iya Nike lifted
her face and started calling the
gods to deal with her, Nike was
relaxing on the wall and
angrily snapping her f!nger
towards Remi and her mother,
Remi mother never st©pped
pleading to them to let it go,
Remi watch In disgust as her
mother plead which did not
pacify iya Nike or st©p her from
insulting them, she was getting
irritated with the whole thing,
she wish she can return back
all the curse and insult that Iya
Nike was raining on them but
her mother will be very angry,
when Iya Nike wanted to go
she pushed Remi’s mother
carelessly to go and get the
money for Nike’s treatment
and iya Remi almost fell down
but Remi rushed to her side
and held her,
Remi ti-ght£ñed her fist and
started breathing ha-rd to
subside the rate of anger
clouding her che-st, she was
trying not to get angry because
whenever she is angry at
someone and react to it is
always disastrous, for the sake
of her mother and her younger
brother who was standing
around and watching the
whole thing, Remi tried to calm
herself, she will beat Nike’s
mother and Nike, nothing will
happen, they won’t do
anything but she was wise
enough to take her mother
inside, her mother counted
some money and c@m£ outside
to give to Nike’s mother for her
Nike’s treatment, Iya Nike
r0ûghly dragged the money
out of her hand and counted it,
as she tried to push iya Remi
again Remi c@m£ to stand in
between her mother, daring
Iya Nike to t©uçh her, Nike’s
mother looked her over and
snap her f!nger to their faces,
“ ko si wahala (there’s no
problem) we shall see” was her
last word to them before she
took her daughter, NIke inside
The following day Remi went
to stay with her grandmother
for the rest of the two days,
she told her grandmother
everything that happen
“Remilekun…do you know that
anger labels you a fool,
“ko ye mi Iya…(I don’t
un-derstand grandma) Nike
deserve what she got…I don’t
feel bad about the whole thing
rather I feel relived…her
mother will be next if she
doesn’t st©p insulting and
pushing my mother…they are
just good with trouble but I’m
fully re-ady for them…
Remi kept talking and the
grandma was watching her
without a word and after she
was done, the older woman
breathed down de-eply and
look out straight at nothing in
p@rticular, she wore a frown
and was de-ep in thought
before she repeated herself
again
“Remilekun, do you know
anger labels you a fool, you
have kept it in check for too
long and bottled up so much
inside of you so realising it on
Nike must have felt sweet, it
must have felt so good to you,
but it only makes you a fool, I
told you anger is your biggest
weakness and you must
overcome hate with love, don’t
let anyone to run you down
because your race with them is
totally different, don’t opened
up the door way…
“iya, what exactly do you
expect me to do…I can’t watch
her insulting me and mami and
also pushing me around as if
I’m a pieces of furniture, am a
human being you know that…
“And you are special child, you
are not like your mother or
Nike, you have the ear of the
gods and you must act
according and don’t give in to
evil emotions, you can be
destroyed throu-gh that…open
your palm…I said open up your
palm and show them to me…
Remi quic-kly obeyed and open
her hands to her grandma’s
face, the old woman spit into
them and asked Remi to rob it
together, Remi put up a
disgusting face as the grandma
asked her to rob the saliva in
her hand together, she obeyed
after which the woman told
her to take the dust from the
ground and also rob it together
with the saliva, Remi did and
the grandma later asked her to
go and wash her hand and
return and she did exactly as
her grandmother instruct
“What does it mean Iya…
robbing your saliva and dirt
together and washing it off,
are you blessing me or what…
“hahahaha…blessing ke…you
are alre-ady blessed my child,
the gods blessed you from the
wo-mb, listen, in life people will
spit on you and push you
around and do all manner of
things against you…that is
what the saliva and the earth
you robbe-d together stand for
but you washed your hands
and they are clean again so
never allow any human to
have glory over you, wash up
and keep wining, dust off,
smile over it, put it behind you
and move just ahead, no one
can st©p what has being
predestined…your anger is
deadly and if is not well
managed it may destroy you…
I’m not saying you should be a
fool or quiet like your mother
who is always afraid of
trouble….we are born into
trouble, some trouble comes
unplanned for and unexpected,
to overcome, you have to
endure, be patient and over
come all things with love…you
still have a long way to go…so
listen my child and be wise, I
have live a very long life here
and I have seen so much evil
than you can imagine, but the
gods kept me till d@t£ because
I never allowed evil to
overcome me, before your
mother was born, I told you it
took us time to conceived,
people called me names, some
will deliberately push me in
the market place, they will
laugh at me at the stream,
calling me a witch that I ate up
my children and charmed my
husband from getting another
woman, a lot of things was
said and done but I survived it,
i could have gotten into a fight
and probably kill someb©dy in
the process, how many of them
can I even fight, I could have
done something bad to them
but I said no, I was not going
to let their word or action get
to me, I did not allow their spit
or the dirt to stain me, I
washed up and dust off and I
am still here…waiting for the
day the gods will say is time
for me to k!ssthe earth
goodbye…anger labels you a
fool because you allow
people’s word and action to
affect you, when you respond
to their insults you bec@m£ a
fool but if you ignore you
make them look like a fool,
they push you to the left and
you go left and they push you
to the right and you follow…
don’t let evil overcome you…
don’t let that happen my
child…br@ve up and keep your
head above the water…
“am not like you Iya…
sometimes I can’t just help it…I
become another person
entirely when I was beating
Nike…but I was enjoying
myself, iya…you are stronger
than I am…I am not like you…
there’s a limit I can take from
people…I can not do all this…
because I’m far from perfect…I
will never be like you although
I wish to be but you seem to
create a perfect word of your
own…
“You are just like me, the only
difference is in your mind…
overcome hate with love, you
are called to serve so serve
with all sincerity and love my
child… two will want you only
one will have you and then
disaster will struck…you will be
in-between and the gods will
take you away…far away with
the seed of crown…
“I don’t un-derstand anything,
iya, st©p speaking in riddles
because your word scares me…
I know that Leja and maybe
the Prince are interested in me
but the Prince has not said
anything like that, but aside
that ko ye mi (i don’t
un-derstand)
“You will un-derstand when the
time comes”
After three days their
punishment was over they
returned back to the palace
Episode 6.
“Two will want you, only one
will have you then disaster will
struck and you will be in
between… the gods will take
you away… Faraway with the
seed of crown…far away with
the seed of crown…
The echo was so de-ep, her
grandmother’s voice was
echoing repeatedly in her
dream, she toss and turn in her
be-d that night untill she finally
woke up.
Remi sat up from her small be-d
that was beside the princess
big be-d, she looked around,
everywhere was still very dark
except for the lamptan oil light
that was burning at one corner
of the princess room.
The princess was sound asleep
on her big comfortable be-d
Remi breathed de-eply and try
to go back to sleep but sleep
wasn’t forth coming, she
wondered what her
grandmother meant by those
words, does it mean she will
die, her grandmother has said
“…then disaster will struck and
the gods will take her
away…faraway with the seed
of crown…
The gods taking someb©dy far
away only means that the
person will die, so will the gods
take her Life with the seed of
crown and what exactly is the
seed of crown…
“I don’t like it when iya speaks
in riddles… she scares me…seed
of crown… the gods will take
me faraway…aaah…I don’t
want to die… not now…
invisible God…I don’t know if
you are listening to the trouble
in my heart…if you are real and
you hear The silent cry of your
people then save me and don’t
allow my grandma’s riddles to
come to pas-s because it only
means death if the gods take
me away…faraway” it sound
like the grave…I don’t want to
go faraway…not now… maybe
when I’m as old as iya. invisible
God who watches over the
land and over the people of
this kingdom, plea-se help me
to serve well with all sincerity
and love, don’t allow anger
and hate to control me but
rather help me to overcome it
all in love, I don’t want to run
into trouble again in this
palace…I know grandma said
we are born into a troubled
world and our days are filled
with trouble but God of our
land and of our ancestors save
me from any trouble that Will
consume my life an…
“Remi…Remi o sun..o in kun…
(What are you mumuring, you
are not slee-ping)…what are you
whispering to yourself…or are
you sleep talking…
Remi was startled to hear the
princess speak to her, she has
thought the princess was
de-eply asleep, she quic-kly
stood up and pretended she
was just waking up
Se o gbodo ma sun ki otu ma
Soro, princess mi, pada lo sun (I
must be sleep talking, I think I
was talking in my sleep…sorry
about that my princess plea-se
go back to sleep).
The princess nodded and went
back to sleep, Remi covered her
up from the night cold and
later went back to her own
be-d, after sometimes she fell
asleep she found herself back
home, she was crying as she
held her brother in her arms
who was vomiting blood, she
started calling her mother to
rush down
“Mami… Mami, ewa Dami ti n bi
(Mami come Dami is vomiting
blood) where are you…Dami is
vomiting blood…Mami…
She kept calling her mother but
her mother was nowhere to be
found, she later left her brother
lying helplessly on the ground
to go and look for her mother,
she search for her in the rooms
but she wasn’t there, she ran to
the backyard still crying and
calling her mother
Remi was hearing someb©dy
silently crying in the backyard,
she followed The voice and
was shock to see her mother in
the pu-ll of her own blood, her
mother was also vomiting
blood and was covered up in
the mess.
She screamed and awaken
from her sleep, she was
breathing heavily as she sat up,
she looked around, everywhere
was still dark except for the
lamptan, the princess was
sound asleep, she sat on her
be-d thinking of the terrible
dream, it has felt so real, she
felt something cold on her
cheek and t©uçhed it, it was
tears, she cried from the dream
to real life
Remi breathed de-eply, she was
afraid to go back to sleep.
She stood up and quietly
walked to the window to check
if dawn was close at hand but
she couldn’t tell how far the
night has gone, she wish for a
day break.
Remi walked to the door and
quietly opened it, she sneak
out of the room without
ma-king noise, she didn’t want
to wake the princess up,
She quietly closed the door and
walked throu-gh the quiet long
corridor, there were lamptan at
the both side of the pas-sage
She wanted to sit outside to
avoid slee-ping back, she was
afraid that if she go back to
sleep she will have another
bad dream
When she got to where she can
sit , in the open air sorrunded
by flowers, it was a long bench
sit, hanged like a swing
between two chains, she
crawled up there and sat, she
was swinging the chair as she
look straight ahead.
The night cold was much, her
night wear was a simple free
wear which can’t hold the cold
but she covered herself with
her thick Shaw.
She was there when the c–k
Crow, she looked up hoping for
a sign of day break, she ha-rd a
foot sound coming towards her
direction, she sat still and tried
not to make a sound
” ta lo wa nibe (Who is
there)…who is sitting at the
swinging chair…
Remi knows that she has being
caught, no hidding place, The
person was coming towards
her with a torch light, she can
tell from the voice that it was
Leja, he stood tall and ba-re
che-st as he approach the bench
where Remi was
“Emi ni (“Is me)…is me
” Iwo tani, se oni oruko ni (You
who…who are you, don’t you
have a name…)
“Emi ni Remi, Leja, emi ni oo (is
me Remi, Leja is me) is Remi
the princess personal
maid…Leja is me…
“Kilo n se nita, hi iwo yii (what
are you doing outside here by
this time) you are suppose to
be slee-ping inside…
Remi was silent as Leja c@m£,
he flashed the torch all over
her as he wondered why Remi
was out in the open air by the
early hours of the morning,
Remi who was alre-ady on her
feet didn’t know what to tell
Leja who was standing very
close to her and pointing t©uçh
at her
Leja still has his torchlight on
her he didn’t bother putting it
off, he was happy to see Remi
alone which was a good
opportunity to express his
feeling for her
Remi’s Shaw fell off from her
shoulder and she quic-kly bent
over to pick it and immediately
she bend down to pick up her
shaw, her cle-avagewas
expo-sed throu-gh the night
wear she was putting on
When Leja saw it, he stiffened
and swallowed ha-rd , he wish
he can have her to himself, he
wish she will agree to come
and warm him up in his room,
he wish he c@m£ cudd-leher
and hold her so close to
himself
Remi quic-kly covered up but
Leja’s mind was still on how he
will get Remi close to himself
considering that the night was
cold
“Remi, my beautiful maiden,
The woman that caught my
heart… so beautiful like the
morning sun, her eyes Shone
so bright like the stars, her h!ps
moved in every direction
calling mighty men to follow,
her smile is so captivating, her
voice sound like The godess of
the riverline, her b—-t is so
socullent, a fresh apple from
the garden that can make a
man ha-rd ened, herl-ips is as
the flo…
“Leja…Leja..st©p, enough of all
this praise, to what do I owe
this early morning praise…
Leja walk past her and sat on
the bench, Remi who was still
standing did not feel
comfortable with Leja’s
pres£nce but later sat down,
giving space between them
“Why are you outside here
beautiful one…is there a
problem…?
“No problem, I had a night
mare and I was afraid to go
back to sleep so I decided to
come out here,. I was here
when the first c–k Crow, not
long ago…
“That was not the first c–k
Crow that was the third one,
this was my second night
watch before the day finally
breaks, I wake up three times
every night to go check the
compound, it was the noise
coming from this swing that
got my attention, I knew
someb©dy must be on the
bench, I’m happy to know that
you are the one… now we got
to be together before dawn…
Leja move closer to Remi
“St©p moving close to me
Leja…
“Don’t you like me, don’t you
want me as I want you, Remi
plea-se forgive me if I have
offended you in anyway, I nee-d
you in my life…
Leja suddenly gr@bb£d Remi’s
hand and place in his
man-hood, Remi was shock as
she pu-ll-ed back her hand
“What kind of nons-en-se is that
Leja… why will you do that…
“I just want to show you how
much my b©dy yawn for you,
my bladder is calling your
name… can’t you hear it
Remi…my b©dy is ha-rd en and
only you can soften it up… is on
fire for you my beautiful
one…plea-se let me in just ones
so that I can quench my tasty
soul…Remi ejoo… consider me
plea-se
“Mtcheeew…I’m going back
inside… it was a mistake to
have come outside here , if I
know I would have remained
inside…
Remi made attent to stand up
but Leja held her back as he
deliberately brushed his hand
towards her b—-t, Remi
sl@pped Leja and stood up but
Leja wasn’t letting go of her
“Yes, sl@p me more
Remi…plea-se sl@p me again, I
nee-d your t©uçh…be it ha-rd or
soft t©uçh just do it…
“kilo de to ofi sebe Leja(why
will you do that
Leja)Something is wrong with
you Leja…you are not okay, if
you t©uçh me one more time
you will see what I Will do to
you…
“Remi. arewa omo odo mi
(Remi my beautiful maiden)
mofe Rio gege bi olotu femi (I
want you, my b©dy yawn for
you).
“O serious rara, otu Kuna to o
ba mo (you are not serious at
all, you are so unfortunate)
nons-en-se…
As Remi made attent to leave
again Leja tried to gr-ab her,
but with her one ha-rd push,
Leja found himself on the
ground, he hit his head on the
bench and silently cry out in
pain
Remi left him there and went
inside and stayed awake till
the following morning
Nike c@m£ up with a plan to try
and get Remi’s trust again, she
plan to beg Remi and to start
acting as a sister to her so that
she will be able to know what
was going on with her and to
gain her full trust
As Remi wash the princess
cloth in the wash room, Nike
c@m£ to meet her.
Nike apologies to her and ask if
she can help her in washing
the cloths,
Remi was surprise at Nike, she
told her not to worry about
helping out that the princess
cloth wasn’t much
Remi kept watching Nike’s as
her attitude changed, she was
acting all nice all of a sudden
Leja who felt embarras-sed
after the incident with Remi,
anytime he see’s Remi coming
he will hide or follow another
way,
No maiden has ever rejected
him or embarras-sed him like
Remi did that night, he felt
ashamed of himself anytime he
remembers it
The prince was looking for an
avenue where he Will get to sit
down and talk with Remi
again, ever since she returned
back to the palace he has not
been able to speak with her
Remi totally forgot about the
dream but the only word that
echos in her mind which she
wish she can un-derstand is her
grandmother’s words
“Emi meji yoo ma wa nkan
nkan, yoo si pada bosi owo
enikan nigba na ni yanpon yan
ri n yoo wa sele, Iwo ni oma
wa ni arin, orumila a si mu o lo
si ona jin jin pelu eso ade.
“(Two Will want you, only one
will have you then disaster will
struck and you will be in
between, the gods will take
you away… Faraway with the
seed of crown…)
She thought within her, the
two that may want her is
either the Prince or Leja, but
every other thing in the riddle
was confusing to her, she does
not un-derstand but wish she
does so that she will know
what the Future holds for her.
Does the “two” that will want
her really means the prince and
Leja or is her mind pla-ying
tricks on her
What exactly is the full
meaning of the riddle
Remi wondered within herself.
Tbc..