NewStats: 3,264,977 , 8,185,254 topics. Date: Friday, 13 June 2025 at 02:36 AM 3k1l6r

As King Ubo Diette threw his first stride to walk away he said, "Odirin Afor, see me in the palace on the last market day of next month".

The thought of his mind oscillated between revenge for his slained High Chiefs and the debacle that faced his family. As he drew close to the palace gate, he started whispering the popular song of a local musician. The gatekeeper peeped outside and saw the king. The gate split open before the king could tap it. He exchanged some words with the gatekeeper and continued to walk into the palace. The heavy rain had reduced to drizzles, but it had left a chilly night on its trail. The song that the king was humming seemed to bring calm to his mind, but he could not help flashing at the suggestion of Uvoan-So, that he should reinstate Ose Moses and Taylor Egbe to the Royal Council for peace to reign.

He frowned and hissed loudly as he stepped into his living room, it would never happen. He was pulling off his royal cloak in his bedroom and a fresh thought struck his mind. He recalled the mafian principle, "Draw your friends close and your enemies closer". He resolved to enrobe Ose Moses and Taylor Egbe and reinstall them to his cabinet. He sat on the edge of his bed and thought out a plan, his enemies must pay, but it would be sometime later, he had enough problem already to chew at the moment. He could not resist the call of nature. Not long after he had hit his bed, he drifted off asleep.

"How strange?"

"She rejects her blood including her mother, the Queen".

Uvoan-So laughed like he had just been struck with madness and said, "Oh King, the gods, I've already invoked her spirit before Olokun for the sacrifice at the end of the month".

"Can't the Princess be made well for the time being? At least before she would be permanently separated from the Queen".

"It's only twenty nine days away His Highness, does it really matter?"

"Uvoan-So! Do what you have to do, to return the little Princess to her self for now!"

"I don't have the keys to unlock what has been locked by Olokun".

"You can still do something".

"I'll do some consultation, but I'm not promising anything".

"I'd be grateful if you do it", King Ubo Diette said and stood up.

"Before you leave His Highness, I heard something from the youths and elders of Ara Kingdom about you and Prizzos".

"What did you hear?"

"It's rumoured that you derobed and expelled Taylor Egbe and Ose Moses from your cabinet so as to be in total control of the benefit that's supposed to come to them from the operation of the company".

"You know that's not true Uvoan-So. Ose Moses was stripped of his position when he challenged me on the expulsion of his children over the abormination that they had committed in the bush. While Taylor Egbe contended angrily with me over the sharing formula of job opportunities Prizzos offered".

"His Highness, I want you to handle the youths carefully".

"Didn't you hear that three of my High Chiefs were gruesomely murdered by these youths. I'm going to go after them and their family and make them pay for the blood of my Chiefs".

"His Highness, I want to give you a suggestion to douse the tension that's building up in the kingdom".

"What is it Uvoan-So?"

"I what you to reinstate High Chief Ose Moses and Taylor Egbe to your cabinet".

"Look Uvoan-So, I've only come here to inform you about the condition of the Princess, to know if it can be reversed. I will never restore Ose Moses and Taylor Egbe to my cabinet. I've heard it from a reliable source that the two of them were the ones that had mobized the youths to kill my High Chiefs and destroy the artworks around my palace".

"His Highness, I'm speaking to you through the mouth of the gods, I see what the ordinary man can't see".

"What do you mean Uvoan-So?"

"If you want to reign over the kingdom peacefully, you should consider it seriously".

"I can't make peace with those that murdered peace. I will stop at nothing to break the wings of any bird that threatens the kingdom".

"His Highness, the gods only speak twice", Uvoan-So said as thunderstorms shook the earth.

"I'm leaving!", King Ubo Diette said outside as a drop of rain landed on his forehead.

"I heard your scream on your way to the shrine, what was it?" Uvoan-So shouted from behind as King Ubo Diette scurried.

"A python had crossed my feet!"

"That python is a member of the shrine. It will do you no harm. Go well His Highness!"

Uvoan-So had barely closed his door when the heavens opened up for downpour. King Ubo Diette used his sixth sense to figure out his path to the Mahogany tree. The drops of rain were coming down fast, furious and heavy amidst the windstorm. He could not use his lighter anymore. He used his hands to grope for space on the pathway as he stepped in and out of the bush. He got the three junction near the tree and turned left. He continued groping the exercise homeward, as the rain thoroughly drenched him. At this time, the sounds he could here were the splatter and shatter of the rain on the ditches, of the footpath. He made it with bruises out of the bush to the open. The rain subsided but thunderstorms still grumbled from a distance. He turned and faced the road to the palace gate and stood still at once. Three young men appeared from nowhere. They did not recognize the king.

"What are you doing alone in the night? Who are you and where are you coming from?" The leader of the youth bellowed.

"I'm returning from the shrine of Uvoan-So".
"Who're you?" Another youth scowled.

King Ubo Diette did not answer but said, "I went to do some consultation with the Chief Priest".

"Answer the question, who are you?" The third youth asked as he shone his torchlight in the face of the king.

"Ah! It's the king!" The leader exclaimed as soon as he recognized him.
"What are you doing out this time?" King Ubo Diette asked.

"We're watching over our neighborhood", the leader responded.

"Very well".

"We came to see you in your palace the other day and you locked us outside. We're not going to let you go unless you respond to what we have to say".

"Are you the ones that destroyed the artworks outside my palace and mudered three of my High Chiefs?"

"We're not His Highness", the leader replied, "It's the other faction that's responsible, headed by Oro Frank".

"Are you sure of what you're saying?"

Another youth said, "The faction that has the backing of Ose Moses and Taylor Egbe".

King Ubo Diette suddenly came alive and asked, "Can you recognize the faces of these youths if you see them?"

The leader replied,"Yes my King, and we know them by name".

"Very good! What's your name?" King Ubo Diette asked the leader.

"My name is Odirin Afor".

"Very nice!"

"His Highness, when are we going to have a slot in Prizzos?" Another youth asked.

"Don't worry, I'll speak with the Operations' Manager for you"

"Long live the King!" They chorused.

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King Ubo Diette turned around and went straight into his bedroom from the queen's quarter. He sat on the edge of the bed where he had dreamed of what would happen in the future concerning his twin children. His thoughts ran riot as he tried to process what could be happening to the princess. Was she already taken for the sacrifice? Could it just be a medical condition? He was lost about knowing what to believe. At any rate, the princess was going to die. He looked up at his wardrobe and got up to throw a thick royal cloak on himself, and pulled the collar over his head. The night had become firmly established with dense darkness outside in the middle of the night. He sneaked out to the gate and asked the gatekeeper to open it. The gatekeeper was dumbfounded. The king was not allowed to move alone in broad daylight, how much more alone in the darkest hour of the night. He wanted to put up a resistance but King Ubo Diette was blunt.

"My King, it's not safe out there", the keeper said.

"I'm going and I'm coming back".

"My King, the youths are still protesting against you. They could do you harm".

"Nobody can do me any harm, besides, the Kingdom has gone to sleep".

"Should I call your guards to accompany you".

"No, no. If I needed the guards I would have come with them. Just open the gate".

The gatekeeper reluctantly opened the gate and King Ubo Diette slipped out in his camouflaging apparel. He took the seldomly used footpath in a nearby bush to the shrine of Uvoan-So. As he trekked on, he heard howling sounds and occasional whispers in the midst of the buzzing sounds of the mosquitoes that were keeping him company. A part of his heart was afraid and but the other half tried to build courage into him. The way to the shrine of Uvoan-So was unusually long, he kept on looking out for the tallest tree in the Kingdom standing in front of the shrine. He wobbled in and out of the bush as he tried to maintain his balance on the meandering footpath. The only source of light with him was a lighter and the wind that blew past him occasionally, would not allow the flame of the ligher to live long. He finally pulled near the Mahogany tree and heaved a sigh of relief. He flipped the button on his lighter that had gone off, to see the tiny bushpath that branched from the footpath, leading to the shrine, and he screamed in fear suddenly! A python had just crossed his legs, leaving a feeling of coldness. He was able to locate the bushpath to the shrine before the flame of his lighter went off again.
The Chief Priest woke up from his sleep inside the shrine. He had heard the piercing screem from King Ubo Diette. He was not expecting anybody at the wee hour. He got up from his mat and picked a native chalk from a calabash. He chanted on the chalk and smashed it against a wall in his mud house. The four walls of his mud house at once became display screens. He could see the outside around his mud house now. He saw the king walking briskly towards the shrine. He was covered from his head to his heels, but the Chief Priest could recognize him. He wondered what had caused the king to risk his life to come to the shrine in the breezy night. It looked like it was going to rain as thunder claps were rocking the dark atmosphere. He carried his lamp and unlocked his door to go out. King Ubo Diette could see the flame of the kerosene lamp of the seer dancing to the rythm of the gentle breeze, as he came out of the shrine. King Ubo Diette had not stepped into the shrine, when he heard the voice of the Uvoan-So. He wondered how the Chief Priest could identify him in the darkness with all of his constumes.

"What is chasing His Highness into this unholy night?"

"The fire burning in my heart couldn't be put off", King Ubo Diette responded as he drew closer.

"What is it that can't wait till the break of dawn? It's forbidden for the king to be seen alone outside his palace".

"You're the sun that shines at night; I need you to see what's in the darkness of my mind", King Ubo Diette said as he bent over to sit on a log of wood near him.

"I'm all ears, tell me about it", the Chief Priest said with sleepy eyes.

"My home isn't well. The Princess is behaving strangely".

"Princess is scaring me".

"How?"

"She is behaving strange".

"Tell me about it".

"When I bring the Prince near her, she fights and kicks. She doesn't want to see her brother. When I smile at her, she bursts into cry".

"It's weird, but that's not enough reason for you to go panicking, it's just a baby!'

"She doesn't act this way until now, look at her eyes closely".

"She's growing, babies act my Queen".

"This isn't acting! What are we going to do about it?"

"You're only pushing the panic button, let the baby be".

"Oh what's happening to my Princess?"

"When did she develop this".

"A few hours ago, when I was about leaving to see you in the palace. She wouldn't let me to touch her, She only accepts the senior maidservant. What's happening to you Princess".

"You said this only started a few hours ago, you shouldn't be overly worried. Let's watch for a few days".

"My King, I'll take her to see the doctor. How can my own baby be rejecting me, and hating her twin brother".

"Let's watch it for a few days, if it continues we will find out what's happening to her".

"Find out where?"

"The oracle".

"No, we're seeing a doctor".

"My Queen, is not strange that a baby would be rejecting her own mother, how do breastfeed her? This is not ordinary".

"Please keep away the tradition of Ara Kingdom from her".

"This isn't about Ara tradition, it's ".

"If you really care about our babies let's flee, Let's return to London".

"Stop entertaining wild thoughts. Nothing will happen to the Princess in the kingdom. I've said we should observe her for a few days".

"Won't she be sacrificed? Aren't you concerned about retaining your kingly bloodline anymore?"

"I've looked elsewhere".

"I'm moving with the babies, the signs are now very clear!"

"His Highness", says the Chief, "Uvoan-So has sent Ogbu Akatugba to the palace again".

"Let him in, I'll see him in the hall".

"As you said my King".

"Tell the Queen to see me in the palace".

"Yes my King".

King Ubo Diette's thoughts raced around as he slipped his feet unto his shoes in anticipation of what message Uvoan-So had for him again. He was becoming particularly attached to the female baby twin that Olokun wanted. He prayed to his ancestors as he left his room for the palace hall to see Ogbu. His heart shrinked as he caught sight of Uvoan-So's servant at the corner of the palace hall as he took his seat.

"Umugo! Umogu!! Umogu!!! Wo suun toor", Akatugba said. "My King, Uvoan-So has sent me to the palace to hear from you for the last time if you're prepared for the sacrifice".

He was struck dumb for minutes before he managed to respond, "Uvoan-So sent you not long ago to remind me of the sacrifice, why has he sent you here again?"

"His Highness, there're advance preparations that normally precede any sacrifice to Olokun, and Uvoan-So wants to be sure that you've signed up for it".

"Tell him to begin whatever is necessary to retain the kingship of Ara Kingdom in the bloodline of Diette".

"I will tell the Chief Priest that you have given him your word".

King Ubo Diette waved him away with his hand fan and spat on the floor immediately the butcher was out of his sight. His thoughts wobbled to the loss of the High Chiefs of his Royal Council and he felt really bad. He needed them for a time like this. He tried to think of what would have happened if he had not sent for Uvoan-So after he had experienced the nightmare that had shaken him up. King Ubo Diette spent sometime in the palace hall hoping the queen would meet him there, but the queen never showed up. He stood up to come outside to cast a glance at the queen's quarter, and he saw one of the senior maidservants of the queen through the window, heading to the palace hall, and he returned to take his seat. He presumed that the queen must have a message for him. He was not wrong. The maidservant came right in and folded into two before the throne. He responded to her and she straightened up.

"What message did you bring from the Queen?"

"My King, the Queen says she couldn't see you for a reason".

"What reason?"

"She didn't say my King".

"Is the Queen not well?"

"She's fine my King, but she looks worried".

"You may leave".

"Thank you my King".

King Ubo Diette remained in the palace until it was dusk and he got out. He hoped the queen would not be around the babies as he strolled across the royal estate in the company of two of his guards. He would not question why she had not honor his invitation. As he came close to her quarter, he heard her voice. He discharged his guards and went into the house to see her. The queen was sitting on the edge of the bed where the female baby twin was laid, sobbing and dabbing her eyes with an hankerchief.

"My Queen!" King Ubo Diette said, "Why're you crying!"

"You know that's not possible my Queen".

"Not when you're plotting evil against them".

"You must be careful with your words now!"

As the exchange steamed, King Ubo Diette heard an uproar drifting in from the gate of the palace, and he walked out of the queen's quarter with two of his guards, towards the gate. A crowd of people of Ara Kingdom tried to force their way into the palace. Three guards popped through from no where to stop the king from going near the entrance of the palace. King Ubo Diette turned around to see fleeting feet behind and could see other guards gasping for breath as they formed a circle around him.

"What's happening?" King Ubo Diette asked bewildered.

"His Highness", one of the guards said. "Don't go towards the gate. Don't let them see you".

"The youths are angry with you and the High Chiefs. They're armed to their teeth. They've just killed all three of the High Chiefs of the Royal Council, in cold blood".

Another guard cut in, "They say you have cornered the wealth of the kingdom for yourselves, that you shut out any of the honest High Chiefs that challenged you. They mentioned High Chief Ose Moses and High Chief Taylor Egbe, for example".

While King Ubo Diette was still standing with his guards, he heard sporadic gunshots at the gate, followed by crashing sounds. He at once fled for his life into his living room. He fidgeted as he ed an instruction to the guardi to call the community police. The expensive arts that Prizzos had put together to beautify the palace from the outside, were all pulled down out of frustration, as the irate youths could not access the palace through the gate. The community police responded swiftly but the youths got wind of the information and disappeared before they arrived. King Ubo Diette for the first time since he became king of Ara Kingdom, knew that tougher times lay ahead. The presiding, the speaker and the secretary of the Royal Council of Elders were beheaded by the mad youths. He vowed to fish out those responsible and use them as an example. He could not imagine the incidence marked the beginning of the storm Uvoan-So had spoken about. He kicked off his shoes angrily on the way to his bedroom and hauled himself to bed.

He lay flat on his back staring at the ceiling of his bedroom as if the solution to his predicament was hanging down. He had become like an orphan caught in the middle of loneliness. His wife, the queen, would not understand him and his three wise men had been sent to the great beyond by the violent youths of his kingdom. He gathered from close sources that the youths were actually mobilized by the first two High Chiefs of his cabinet, that he had derobed over their brazen challenge of the way he had shared the slots of the job opportunity Prizzos had given.

The only other existing Chiefs of the kingdom were the twenty one member Chiefs of the General Royal Council of Elders from all the clans. He thought of upgrading some Chiefs from it to form his cabinet. Uvoan-So had sent a reminder to him that the sacrifice was just thirty days away, through his servant, Ogbu Akatugba. He got off from his bed to refresh himself. He heard footsteps in the corridor that connected to his living room. He heard the voice of the Chief of Staff of the palace and came out to the corridor to see him.

The queen walked away on the King to her quarter in the palace, she could not see the storm that King Ubo Diette had said was coming. She could only see one thing - protecting her babies from vultures. King Ubo Diette had heard stories of how the dreaded deity had dealt with people of Ara in time past, that fled the kingdom to escape judgement. He would not dare it, moreover, he could not think of leaving behind the enormous wealth Prizzos had deposited in the kingdom. The management of the company had thrown some pounds around him and had transformed his palace to an enviable taste. Prizzos connected to the heart of Ara Kingdom through him. He was already living in his heaven and would not leave his palace for anything. The sacrifice would have to be performed one way or the other to keep the avalanche of wealth in the royal family, and extend the sacred dynasty along the bloodline of the Diettes. A dynasty that had lasted over eight hundred years would not end in his time.

As the queen pulled hurriedly away from the garden, she put what she had just heard in perspective, and idea came up. She suddenly felt the impetus to make up her mind to return to London. She had a thriving business in England and sometimes felt nolstagic about the good old days. The time to seriously think about it was now if the king was not going to be human.



Chapter Four







King Ubo Diette had increased the number of guards around the queen but never broached up the contentious issue before her again. Three months had rolled by and the queen assumed that the sacrifice of the princess was a forgotten matter. King Ubo Diette had thrown a heavy party to welcome the prince and princess, and had also put together a naming ceremony. He now regularly visited the queen's quarter to see the twin babies. Queen Mourine Diette however, did not feel so comfortable since she had not heard it straight from him that the sacrifice was now dropped. She tactfully brought the issue up to feel the pulse of the king who had paid her another visit.

"My King", she said pointing to the adorable princess on her bed, "Can you imagine her being burnt?"

"My Queen!" King Ubo Diette said strongly, "Tame your imagination! You're going wild!! It's not funny".

"You don't get it my King".

"How do you mean?"

"I only recalled what you said about sacrificing the Princess to Olokun".

"Please don't mention that now, let's enjoy the moment".

"Does that mean you have found an alternative to appease the deity?"

"Can we just live and ignore that?"

"Come clean my King, is the Princess going to be killed?"

"The gods of the land aren't beasts!"
"That's not clear enough".

"I've not heard from the Chief Priest since the pronouncement".

"I'm leaving Ara Kingdom with my babies, you can't fool me anymore".

She listened with rapt attention as King Ubo Diette started from his earth-shaking nightmare to the invitation of Uvoan-So and the interpretations. The queen surprisingly remained cool, calm and collected. She would not manifest any fright over what had been troubling the spirit of the king. King Ubo Diette could see that she was even more mentally tough than himself. They were shocked to find out that they were from the same country in Africa and also from the same region when they first met in England. They grew in love and got married before the call had come from Ara Kingdom, for Ubo Diette to become king. She had readily come with the king to become the queen of the kingdom.

She suddenly stood up and took the face of the king in her hands as he continued to relate the debacle. She had not bargain for the sort of thing coming from the mouth of the king; sacrificing a child for some deity, for the royal bloodline to continue to produce the king of Ara Kingdom. She did not consider it an issue to break a sweat on. She let the king finish all that he had to say.

"My King!" The queen said looking directly into his eyes. "If you feel strongly that the gods of the kingdom want to armtwist you to offer them a sacrifice of that nature, just to keep the kingship in your bloodline, then let go of the throne".

"I'm not sure you got the point".

"What point my King? Leave the throne! Abscond for the lives of our babies. The fact that this has given you sleepless night at all baffles me, at this time and age. This is barbaric!!".

King Ubo Diette pulled his head from her hands and shook it furiously from side to side before he said, "My Queen, obviously you don't know the way things work here. Do you actually think that I've not already gone past the idea you suggested?"

"Tell me about it".

"I can't abandon the throne and leave the kingdom like that, and think it's all over. There're strings attached".

"Then cut off the strings, because I can't even offer a finger of my child".

"It's not as simple as you see it my Queen. During my coronation, I went through some rituals that tie me down to the throne".

"Do something to make the people hate you enough to depose you!"

"I'm the only surviving male son of King Jaja Diette, that's not an option. The dynasty is sacred, it must perpetuated". King Ubo Diette said with a low voice, "Even if I abdicate my responsibilities and go far from the kingdom, the deity that wants the sacrifice wouldn't stop coming for me".

"My King, it seems to me that you've made up your mind for the sacrifice".

"My Queen another girl child could still come from where the first ones came from".

"No child of mine would be sacrificed to anything".

"Watch woman! Olokun isn't anything".

"What is it? The deity that feast on humans?"

"I'll give you time to think about it".

"I'm not thinking about anything, I've
made my mind up on the spot. I can't believe that with all your enlightenment, you're still bind to a satanic culture and tradition".

"Take it slow now".

"Don't forget yourself, I fell in love with a vibrant professor of Philosophy. You were doing well in Leeds University. Let's go back to England and wait for that spirit that will hunt you".

"You can't fight Olokun".

"I'm fit and ready for the battle my King!"

Chapter Three








Two months had past since the birth of the twin babies and Queen Mourine Diette could feel that all was not well. King Ubo Diette had scarcely seen her. When the babies were presented to him, instead of expressing pure thankfulness to the gods, he began to curse. He could not imagine the princess being taken away from the royal family, at the same time, he would not divorce himself from what the Chief Priest had said his dream portended. He had made up his mind to sacrifice the younger one of the twins had it been it was a male child, that way it would have made sense, right now, he did not know what to think anymore. He had cracked and racked his head over the issue, but no solution was insight, as the deal day for the sacrifice was now just four months away. The queen had expected pomp and fanfare following the birth of the prince and princess, but even more worrisome was that no ceremony of any kind had taken place two months after. She could see a handwriting that was not clear on the wall and the king knew so.

King Ubo Diette got exhausted of trying to fix things up in his mind and rose from a chair in his library. He was not ready to resign anything to gate, he knew he must decide, the fog in his brain had blocked every access to seamless communication between his head and mind. Emotions were getting the better of him and he very knew that kings ruled with their heads at tough times. He sauntered through his garden and turned to the queen's quarter. He froze all of a sudden as he rounded a corner! Queen Mourine Diette was advancing. He let out a forced smile and approached the queen.

"My King so nice to see you", said the queen as King Ubo Diette kissed her forehead, "I was coming to see you since you have refused to see the queen".

"That's not correct".

"But I've not seen you this week", the queen said looking directly into his eyes.

'My Queen, I've been busy with my mind '.

"You've been hiding things from me, don't even argue it. It's all over you".

"I can't deny it, but it's not meant for your ears ".

"If it's about the affairs of Ara people, then leave it for your Chiefs", the queen said sternly, "Look at yourself you are almost worn out".

"Actually is between me and the gods of the land ".

"You're kidding me right?"

"Hell no!"

"What business do you have with the gods? Do you owe them money?"

"I owe them a sacrifice".

"My King", the queen said, "Aren't you really kidding me? Worried over sacrifice, when you have thousands of bulls, cows and goats. Tell me something else ".

"You don't get it".

"You're the King, you rule over all, who can stop you?"

"This King worried deeply over an issue he doesn't have control over".

"I:'ve noticed something about you especially since the week I gave birth to our children".

"My Queen", King Ubo Diette said and took her left hand as they headed towards the garden together. "I can' no longer keep this to myself since you want to know".

"Tell me something, everything!", the queen said as they settled in the garden, "What burden have you been carrying around?"

"It's on the royal family".

"Share with me".

"My Queen I don't think you're prepared for this, but I'm afraid?"
"Why do you think so?"

"You have just given birth".

"It's been two months my King".

"I'm afraid, the family might be racing against time".

"King Ubo Diette", the queen stood up and said. "The queen is prepared mentally to handle anything concerning the King, what's eating you up?"

"Why did you disregard the King?" The presiding High Chief fired at the Chief Priest before he could come close enough.

"Let this for now", King Ubo Diette said waving his right hand to the High Chief. "Uvoan-So, what do you have to say this time around?"

"My King!" The Chief Priest said. "I know about the seeming confusion that the birth of your twin children brings. But most truly I tell you, it hasn't changed anything. Olokun's demand is still in force. The sacrifice must be done for the kingship to remain in your bloodline".

"First thing first", the presiding High Chief of the Royal Council said, "Uvoan-So, why did you decline to honour the invitation to the palace earlier?"

King Ubo Diette cut in, "My Chiefs let's overlook that for the moment".

The speaker of the Royal Council of Elders stood up to face the seer and said, "You are the gods that we can see. Tell us why the sexes of the twins didn't match the revelation that you gave us earlier in the palace, or do the gods also sometimes misfire like mortals?"

The Chief Priest at once burst into uncomfortable laughter and back tracked from the speaker. He turned around with a gusto and staggered away to the doorpost, as if he had been hit by a deadly force. He was clearly dazed by the jab the speaker had thrown at him. King Ubo Diette liked the question the speaker had asked, he kept tapping his hand on a stool near him as Uvoan-So whined. The other High Chiefs nodded in satisfaction. The seer pulled out a calabash by the door and sprinkled the content outside and walked inside to face the king. He dipped his left hand into a leather bag affixed to his white garment and took out what looked like a mirror. He held it and moved circularly on the floor three times and stopped. He began peering into the object as if he was watching a captivating thriller. The presiding High Chief of the Royal Council of Elders grew impatient with him and hit his walking stick on the floor to get his attention.

"Uvoan-So! Hasn't Olokun spoken to you or did he travel from the kingdom?"

King Ubo Diette interjected, "Maybe he's taking time to the information".

The seer looked away from the mirror-like object and said, "Today is my good day, I'm not angry with you. You're all humans and cannot see what is brewing in the spirit world. A battle is raging on to keep the kingship in your bloodline. The only thing that is required from you is to do what I have already said my King. The consequence has already been transmitted to you".

"You aren't getting it Uvoan-So", the speaker said, "The younger one of the twin babies is a girl child, she doesn't hold any string to ascending the throne, why must she die?"

The Chief Priest made a hysteric noise before he replied, "How much do you know about the workings of the spirit?".

"This is not the message that was transmitted to me in my dream, it was the younger son of my twin sons that threatened my life, after killing his brother, not a girl child, not my princess", King Ubo Diette said forcefully.

Uvoan-So looked away from the King and said, "What you experienced in your nightmare was just a picture of what is to come".

"Uvoan-So!" The speaker of the Royal Council stood and said with a strong voice, "I find it hard to believe that it is the banishment of Mabel and Johnson from the kingdom that is causing Olokun to visit this tragedy on the royal family".

Before the seer could open his mouth, the secretary of the Royal Council jumped in, "I've served two Kings in this palace and I've never witnessed the interference of Olokun in domestic palace affairs unless invited".

"We've been through this before", said Uvoan-So. "High Chief Ose Moses and High Chief Taylor Egbe had contested the banishment, and appealed to Olokun ".

"Uvoan-So!" King Ubo Diette said. "You're the only human who can see the future from the past. You will check for Ara Kingdom, if any of my ancestors in the royal bloodline had done Olokun any wrong".

"To me, the King just happened to be in the crossfire between the gods, over what we cannot see, something must be missing ", the secretary stated.

"Uvoan-So", the speaker said, "You said the sacrifice would take place in the sixth month, that gives you time to do more consultation".

"I've seen and said everything, it's left for the King", the Chief Priest said with panache and turned to leave.

King Ubo Diette was lost in the midst of his wise men who were immersed in a hot conversation in the palace. By the time he returned to time, he cancelled the party to celebrate the birth of the twins. He dismissed the Council and followed the Elders behind out of the hall. He was ed by his guards and he turned a corner to head to his garden to reason alone. He caught sight of the queen being ed out of the room where she had delivered, with two of her maidservants carrying the twin babies behind. He was tempted to think that the Chief Priest was perhaps working with Ose Moses and Taylor Egbe, but to what end? The seer had faithfully served the reigns of three kings in the Diette's dynasty.

Queen Mourine Diette did not have the chance to ask the king about the decision they would have take to make after she had given birth. Her last sentence was still in her mouth, when she let out painful moans as she suffered spasms around her belly. King Ubo Diette turned around intuitively and breathed down as he saw her maidservants streaming inside the tent. The queen was swiftly carried to a room that had been prepared for her delivery, as one of the maidservants sprinted to inform the midwife who was not far off. King Ubo Diette stayed around as the midwife attended to the queen. After some hours rolled by, he decided to go get some rest as labour continued. He was about to step into the palace hall when he heard a joyful cry. He stopped to look around and he heard heavy and hurried footsteps behind him.

"Umogu! Umogu!! Umogu!!! Wo suun toor", the Chief of Staff of the palace said. "The Queen has delivered two bouncing twin babies".

"Their sexes?" The King Ubo Diette asked with no expression on his face.

"A boy and a girl".

The twist of things got King Ubo Diette thinking that his dream was probably a hoax afterall. The Chief Priest had seen two sons! His dream was not manifesting but at the same time he could not imagine how the great seer had missed it. He put his excitement on hold and did not celebrate. He moved straight to his throne as darkness covered the evening. He could not wait for the next day which fell on the official meeting day of the Royal Council of Elders. He immediately sent for the Elders of the Royal Counci who had barely got home. They had already heard the news and they too continued to marvel at the turn of occurrence. They rushed back to the palace with mixture of emotions. The secretary of the Royal Council was the first to enter the palace.

"Umogu! Umogu!! Umogu!!!" They all chorused, "May your days be long!"

"May you prosper in the land", King Ubo Diette said. "My heart is unsettled over my joy".
"His Royal Majesty", the secretary of the Royal Counci said. "If you hadn't sent for us we would have come here. It appears Olokun has withdrawn its stance".

"It's the natural thing to think. However, we won't throw a party yet", King Ubo Diette responded.

"Maybe the gods have resolved the issue among themselves", the presiding High Chief of the Royal Council said.

"I've already sent for Uvoan-So, I believe he must have heard of the birth of the twins", King Ubo Diette informed the Elders.

"His Highness", the secretary the Royal Council said. "Which of the babies came out first from the womb of the Queen?"

"The male child", the king replied.

"Does it matter if the male child came first or second? The first male child of a royal family whether first or second born, is king", the presiding High Chief asserted.

"I get the drift of the secretary", King Ubo Diette said as his messenger arrived the palace hall.

"His Royal Highness", the messenger said. "Uvoan-So has refused to honour your call. He said he already knew why you needed him in the palace. He said you should that Olokun only speaks two times".

The presiding High Chief of the Royal Council of Elders stood up furiously as the messenger exited the hall and said, "My King, I'm tempted to say that we should forget about Uvoan-So and the gods and do nothing but to celebrate wild".

"Please calm down", King Ubo Diette said..
"His Royal Highness!" The speaker of the Royal Counci said. "Nobody, I mean nobody, including the High Priest of Olokun, dares to turn down the invitation of the King".

"I have this feeling that Uvoan-So might be misrepresenting Olokun on this matter", the secretary said looking down at his feet.

"This is just the first month after the birth of my children", said the king. "We have still got six months to wait for Uvoan-So to come to the palace. If he didn't show up we would unceremoniously remove him as the Chief Priest of Olokun".

King Ubo Diette did not keep the Elders more after they had planned for a low key celebration. The Elders had only reached the gate of the palace, when they heard the raucous noise characteristic of the advancement of Uvoan-So. They stood by the entrance to see the face of the seer before they returned to the palace hall. King Ubo Diette was leaving the hall with his guards, when he saw the Elders of the Royal Council coming back. By this time, he could hear the bells of the garment of the Chief Priest, that served as his harbinger. He returned to his throne to receive the seer with eagerness. The seer walked into the palace and made his way straight to the hall and before the King.

"I've prepared my mind for the worst", the king responded as the High Chiefs shifted to the edge of their seats.

Uvoan-So continued, "The Queen will give birth to twin sons and the younger one must be sacrificed to Olokun, on the seventh month, on the seventh day and on the seventh hour". He took another look directly into the eyes of the king and turned around to leave the hall.

"Can't we negotiate another sacrifice?" The speaker of the Royal Council of Elders raised his voice and asked the seer before he could through the opened door.

"Olokun speaks only two times", Uvoan-So said and began singing on his way out of the palace.

"Are you prepared for this my King?" The presiding High Chief of the Royal Council asked with a sullen face.

"They say Olokun only speaks two times", King Ubo Diette replied.

"Is your mind ready for this?"

"I'm left with no option", the King said, "There's nothing more to think".

"His Highness", the secretary of the Royal Council said, "Would the Queen take it?"

"I've not thought about her, the dynasty is everything".

"His Highness I am afraid, the Queen would fight ", the speaker said.

"What choice has she got?" King Ubo Diette asked and cleared his throat.

"I want this done with the greatest wisdom", the speaker said as he turned to the secretary.

"What are you driving at?" King Ubo Diette asked the speaker.

"I was going to suggest that the Queen be taken far away from the kingdom to give birth and then return with only the older son, but I fear Uvoan-So and the gods".

"As far as you drink water on the surface of the earth, you can't escape the judgement of Olokun. The gods have their way of manipulating humans from the spirit world. They follow us everywhere", the secretary of the Royal Council affirmed.

"His Royal Highness", said the presiding High Chief. "Uvoan-So said the storm is already at hand. We forgot to ask him what he meant".

"Isn't that obvious enough in my dream? He could only be referring to the nearness of the delivery time of the Queen's pregnancy", King Ubo Diette said with little emphasis.

The Royal Council of Elders would not stop shuffling their feet on the floor, with their chin resting on their right or left hands, as deliberations went on. King Ubo Diette felt caged but could escape through fire. He declared the meeting over and watched as the High Chiefs left the palace hall.








Chapter Two








King Ubo Diette stood up and walked out of the palace hall in a sober mood. He could not pull his sirit together, the storm was close. He decided to walk to the other side of the palace housing the queen and her maidservants, doing some calculators in his head. He got near to the queen's tent and heard her sweet voice and he forced a smile. He did his best to wear a cheerful mood to appear before her. One of her maidservants was twisting her hair into cornrows.The maidservants disappeared immediately in a burst through different exits as the king came in to full view.

"My King!" The queen alarmed. "Are you walking around without your guards?"

King Ubo Diette replied, "Sometimes you want to be free, to be alone".

"You don't look free to me my King. Something is bothering you and I can feel it. Would you like to talk about it with your Queen?"

"I didn't know you've become a seer too like Uvoan-So".

"I guess it's about one of the never ending issues of your subjects?"

" I came to see how you're doing my Queen".

"Well you can see for yourself I'm doing great but I know you have lied".

"Why did you feel so?"

"You don't visit me here".

"Alright, let's say I have started it now ".

"You wouldn't stop your cunning".

"You're looking gorgeous my Queen".

"You have begun the way you swept my feet off four years ago in London. Please stop flattering me".

"How's the baby doing?"

"It's calm now, but the next second there will be fight".

"My Queen", King Ubo Diette said scratching his head, "We're close, bear the pangs as you have been doing. They're on their way already. We will have a decision to make after this is over".

"You keep saying they".

"Isn't it revealing enough my Queen ".

"Let the hen hatch befor the chicken are counted".

Uvoan-So turned around to back the king and said, "A great storm with the face of a woman is coming! Coming to sweep across the royal bloodline!! It'll brush everything aside on its way to the throne, and it will deliver the dagger that will stab the heart of the King!!!".

"Wise one!" King Ubo Diette said with a strong voice. "Your sayings are wrapped in symbolic expressions. Break it down!!".

"My King!" The seer resumed. "The Queen is the one that will bring the storm and the time is at hand. The waves of the storm would sweep the royal bloodline clean. There will be no one left in your bloodline to inherit the kingdom. You'll live to see this with your eyes".

The insight Uvoan-So had given was enough for the king to know that his dream was actually a direct message to him. He could already connect the dagger that the seer had said his wife would deliver in the nightmare he had had. His mind threw him into a different plane of reasoning as he restrained himself from cursing the gods. He could not see where he had tresed against specifically Olokun, that was believed to watch over the royalty in the kingdom. He resisted strongly the interpretation in his mind, he had sworn a blood oath to elongate the Diette's dynasty. He would not take anything less from the gods Since his coronation there had not been one scandal traced to him. He obeyed the tradition to fault and he could not think of why the gods had ed this verdict on his kingship. He began to quiver on his throne, like he did when he had woken up from his dream. Instantly sweat began to flow profusely from his body even as the ceiling fans were at full speed. With his soaked royal garment, King Ubo Diette got up and began to pace up and down the palace as the Chief Priest watched. The prophecy, the dream must not happen.

"Uvoan-So!" The presiding High Chief of the Royal Council turned his neck to the seer, "You have just released a bomb, tell the palace what sins the King has committed against the gods of the land?"

The Chief Priest looked skyward before he said, "The King had blatantly disregarded Olokun over the judgement that he ed sometime ago in this palace. Olokun is inflamed over his pronouncement to send the children of High Chief Ose Moses from the kingdom".

King Ubo Diette returned to sit on his throne after listening to what Uvoan-So had said and he asked, "Why would Olokun be incensed over the banishment of Mabel and Johnson. The palace oracle bore witness to the abomination. What else should I have done?"

Uvoan-So responded, "Olokun is a very jealous god. You consulted only the palace oracle and failed to consider the demand from High Chief Ose Moses to seek the face of Olokun before banishing his children".

"But that's how we have always done things in this kingdom. It's only when the palace oracle refused to speak on an issue that we involve Olokun", the presiding High Chief of the Royal Council said.

"Not when the other party insists on dragging the issue before Olokun as Ose Moses has cried to the deity", Uvoan-So countered,

"Would it have changed the outcome of the judgement on the children of Ose Moses?" The secretary of the Royal Council of Elders asked the seer.

Uvoan-So dipped his left hand into a calabash for a minute and responded, "No!"

"So how has the King erred?" The speaker of the Royal Council of Elders asked waving his hands in the air.

"The King has disregarded Olokun", Uvoan-So replied with a note of finality.

"Great one, you're the bearer and the mouthpiece of the gods", said the speaker of the Royal Council. 'You can see that this battle doesn't concern the King, it's between the gods of the palace oracle and Olokun. What do we do to appease the deity to withdraw the consequence it intends to slam on our King and Ara Kingdom?"

Uvoan-So looked directly into the eyes of the king for a moment and moved to the center of the palace where there was some earth. He shook his rod of power vigorously and pierced the ground with it. He released the rod and the chain of some fetish items that hung on the rod vibrated endlessly. He watched the items closely as they danced on the rod. He spun around on his right heel and meandered his way back to the palace platform as if avoiding landmines.

He stopped abruptly and pulled pieces of dried kola-nut from a calabash that dangled from his waist, to consult the gods. "Hoshishi! Hoshigishigi!! Hosh!!!" He said before he threw the pieces of kola-nut on the floor and began to study their pattern. He shook his head in disagreement to the pattern drawn on the floor. He picked all and threw the kola-nut piecies again as he invoked another spirit. "Krugsss! Hoshimi!! Gboshimishigigi!!! He studied the pattern for a long time and returned to face the king. King Ubo Diette shifted on his chair in anticipation of what the great seer and Olokun Priest was about to say. He hoped it was not another bombshell.

"My King", Uvoan-So began. "There's only one way out of this quagmire and it would not come cheap".

Uvoan-So first consulted with the gods before he came outside of his shrine. What he had seen had shaken him up. The message was urgent and he waisted no time to set off for the palace. He took the usual route where he would have minimum sight of people. Some children caught glimpse of him and began to run helter-skelter seeking a hiding place. He was adorned with the complete regalia and paraphernalia of his priesthood. No razor had touched his hair since he was inducted into the office of the Chief Priest of Ara Kingdom. His hair had twisted into long dreadlocks knitted with cowries and a square was drawn on his forehead with a native chalk. His neck, wrist and ankles wore a lace of strange mix of animal shells and cowries. As he moved, tiny bells attached to his white garment giggled to herald his presence.

The Chiefs of his Royal Council of Elders were chewing kola-nut and washing down their throats with palmwine in the palace, as the young monarch was lost in his thought. He could not try to predict the interpretation of his dream by the Chief Priest. The presiding Chief asked the palace attendants to leave as he chew the last piece of kola-nut. Silence was now very loud loud in the palace except for the occasional shuffling of feet by the High Chiefs.. They knew that the seer would accurately direct the dream of the king with the wisdom of the gods but at the same time they would not want to hear doom. They heard the whimpering and cry that usually preceded the coming of the Chief Priest and the king knew he was close. His thoughts ran wild with the knowledge that the seer was coming closer and closer. He fixed his gaze absentmindedly at the entrance of the palace not knowing what to expect.

He was the first to see Uvoan-So as he walked into the palace. The High Chiefs immediately looked towards the entrance of the palace where Uvoan-So had come with theatrics. Uvoan-So moved in a wave-like pattern, talking, but to nobody. He got near the corner where the Royal Council of Elders had been waiting and stopped abruptly. He looked skyward and shook his head vigorously from side to side before spitting out dramatically. He began speaking in strange languages. The demonstration of the great seer was enough for King Ubo Diette who had already known that something did not bode well.The seer removed a calabash from his waste and began sprinkling a powdery substance along with incantations as he entered the elevated palace platform.

When he had come before the king, he shook his rod of power with frenzy and skipped about with the agility that belied his age. The High Chiefs looked at one another in bewilderment. They were scared of the seer for the first time. Uvoan-So brought some pieces of dried kola-nut and cast them on the floor. He studied the pattern drawn by the pieces of kola-nut for a long time and cried!!!

"Wise one!" King Ubo Diette said greatly perturbed, "What's too heavy for you to put down?"

"Gbosh! Gboshigigi!! Gbish!!!" Uvoan-So kept conversing with the gods.

"You are Uvo-an-So", the speaker of the Royal Council of Elders said, "You are the sun that shines at night. Tell us what you have seen".

"My King", the Chief Priest began. "You have been weighed in a scale and cost nothing!"

"What exactly are you talking about?" The presiding High Chief asked with no patience.

"You are scaring us to death with suspense Uvoan-So", King Ubo Diette said. "You are the eyes of the gods. What message did you bring to the palace? We've not even told you why the palace has sent for you".

The Chief Priest responded, "I see the end of your kingship and the death of the Diette's dynasty; you don't need to tell me why you have sent for me. I've known already and I weep for you and Ara Kingdom".

"Great one", said the speaker of the Royal Council. "Our ears can no longer bear the torture of what more you have to say".

King Ubo Diette began, "It happened that the Queen gave birth to a set of twins in my dream, two boys. They grew very fast on their way to adulthood. I was inside the palace, when I heard a hot argument between them outside. I tuned my ears to pick what they were arguing about and I froze at what I heard. The younger one was saying to the older one that he was the heir to the throne, that he was not going to wait for the death of Ubo Diette before ascending to the throne. The older one told him he was joking and his younger got inflamed with rage. The younger one entered his room and grabbed a machete and chased his older brother into the palace. I got up at once to stop him before he caught up with his brother, but it was too late. He butchered him to shreds as I screamed from behind".

"He finished and turned around to chase me around the palace, brandishing the machete and singing war songs. I managed to escape from the palace, but he was still on my heels. I ran the race of my life to the shrine of Uvoan-So but he was not there. As I came out of the shrine, my son was waiting to hack me down. He swung the matchete to cut of my neck and I ducked. The matchete grazed my head and I lost a chunk of my hair. I sprinted towards the Ara River frenetically, screaming out my tongue as he followed me closely, breathing monstrously. I turned around and he was within touching distance. I tripped and fell flat on the ground. He grinned down on mi and took position to severe my head from my neck. As he raised the matchete, I snapped out of the dream to life".

"Uhmmnn! Efia! Tufie!" the speaker of the Royal Council rejected the dream and he spat in disgust. "My King, this is not an ordinary dream. A message is being transmitted from the spirit world to you".

"His Highness, this must be taken with all seriousness", said the presiding High Chief of the Royal Council. "First off, we need to know who is trying to turn your unborn child against you in the womb of the Queen. We are going to send for the greatest seer of all time, Uvoan-So the man who lives among the spirits of our ancestors must come here".

"You have spoken well", said the King Ubo Diette, "Do you not think this might have anything to do with the case of the children of High Chief Ose Moses whom I banished from the land?"

"His Royal Highness", said the secretary of the Royal Council, "Why should you think so?. Your judgement on the children of Chief Ose Moses is backed by the tradition of our land. The ancestors are with you on that one. Let's get the man who dines and wines with the spirits, to tell us what your dream portends".

King Ubo Diette signaled to another of his attendant and sent him to find Uvoan-So from wherever he might be. He was usually the last resort when everything else had failed. The seer was rarely seen in the inhabited communities that made up the kingdom. The sight of Uvoan-So caused fear in children and brought the awareness that a serious disagreement that needed to be resolved in the way of tradition, was at hand. He had seen the succession of three kings to the throne. Age was just a number to the seer. At the age of ninety nine years, Uvoan-So still moved around ed only by his walking stick. During the Effane feast which the kingdom celebrated to honor the deity of Olokun for protection, Uvoan- So displayed acrobatic skills like a fifteen years old boy, when possessed by the spirits of the gods. He was chewing a long stick inside his shrine when the king's messenger arrived.

"What have you come to seek in the house of darkness in the daylight?" Uvoan-So asked as he heard the footsteps of the messenger.

"Great one! The King wishes to see you in his palace. He is terrified and he wants you to see into the future".

"Tell him I shall overtake you to the palace".

"I heard you great one".

The Royal Council of Elders was the kitchen cabinet of the king. It was made up of seven High Chiefs of the kingdom. But at the moment only three of the Chiefs were fit to sit. Two of the High Chiefs had clashed with the king over the way the monarch had handled the recruitment of young men of the kingdom into the positions that Prizzos, a British copper extraction company had opened up in Ara. The king had ordered their outright dismissal from the Royal Council. Prizzos had just begun operation in the creeks of the kingdom. Two other High Chiefs, Ose Moses and Taylor Egbe had publicly disagreed with him for the way he had handled a case that bordered on the tradition of the land in which they were directly involved. Ose Moses and Taylor Egbe were summarily suspended.

The first two children of Ose Moses, Mabel and Johnson were accused of commiting incest by a woman who claimed she had caught them in the act, where they had gone to cut fire wood. The woman was a respectable elder in the kingdom and she had sworn by Olokun, the common diety of the people, that she had seen and said nothing but the truth.

King Ubo Diette did not consider the allegation lightly in the eye of the tradition of the land. The children of Ose Moses had vehemently denied the act claiming that they were only playing on the wrapper that they had spread out in the bush. The king had summoned the children and the woman to his palace for hearing during a General Royal Council sitting of twenty one Chiefs from different parts of the kingdom. Right there in the palace, an oracle was consulted to ascertain the truth. The oracle had born witness to the fact that the children of High Chief Ose Moses, had actually commited the abomination. King Ubo Diette had swiftly invoked the wrath of the land to consume Mabel and Johnson. They were banished forever from the kingdom! The king would not listen to the plea of High Chief Ose Moses and High Chief Taylor Egbe to consult further by involving the greatest seer of the land, who doubled as the Chief Priest of Olokun.

The thoughts of king ran wild and he tried not to interpret his nightmarish dream, as he waited for the Royal Council of Elders in the palace. He recalled clearly what High Chief Ose Moses had said to him on the day he had suspended him from the Royal Council:

"Because you didn't get Uvoan-So to see into this case, your decision to banish my children would turn to hunt you till you decide to call them back into the kingdom".
He could not think the pronouncement of the High Chief was probably related to the dream he had. He believed in the authenticity of the palace oracle, it had served the kingdom faithfully for over six hundred years and it never made mistakes, however, something within would not settle in his mind. The sacrifice to cleanse the land of the abomination had been done and there was nothing he could do about the banishment. The king looked up as the three High Chiefs that now made up the Royal Council of Elders filed into the palace.

"Umogu! Umogu!! Umogu!!! May you live long", the three men chorused in front of the king before taking their seats.

"It shall be well with you", the King Ubo Diette responded.

"My King!" the speaker of the Royal Council said as he stood up to speak. "The rabbit isn't seen in the day time unless there's a smoke in its hole. You have our undivided attention, tell us why you have summoned this impromptu meeting. Umogu! Umogu!! Umogu!!! Wo suun toor".

"It's true that today isn't a market day, when we usually hold our meetings. A puzzling incidence in my dream few minutes ago, almost took my life".

"Tell us about it!" The presiding High Chief of the Royal Council stood up at once to cut in.

No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, or without the legal consent or prior written permission of the publisher, except for academic purposes in accordance to copyright law.

Copyright © 2024 by Dublyn Guonor Horris. All rights Reserved.






The Year 1920

Chapter One







King Ubo Diette the V of Ara kingdom, suddenly sprang up from his sleep and sat upright on the edge of the bed, trembling and breathing with difficulty. His heart rythm gradually beat down as he slowly adjusted to reality. He sweated copiously from his forehead despite the giant-size golden ceiling fan turning above him. The nightmare he had just had was too real like life. He looked around with eyes flashing horror, as if a danger was lurking somewhere in the room. The king who had all the time prided himself as a lionhearted monarch was experiencing earthquaking in his soul.

He would have wished it away as a mere dream had it not involved the future of the kingdom and the sacredness of the Diette's dynasty. When he left England where he had answered the call of the king makers to succeed his no-nonesense father, King Jaja Diette the IV, his heart was purely inclined to basking in the prestige and magnificience that characterized the majestic affluence of a king, in the very rich coastal kingdom in Western Atlantic Africa. Soon after he had disembarked from the ship that had brought him from London, he had known that there was a grave trouble in the kingdom in the manner he was welcomed. Now, he could not divorce the message in his horrifying dream from what he feared could happen in Ara.

He staggered up and away from his bedroom, walking thoughtfully to his living room. Few minutes later he left without doing the normal rituals when leaving his house, and he soon arrived at his throne to take his royal seat. The experience continued to hurt his consciousness. He was not escorted by the two guards that usually followed him and he was dressed casually with his crown. His attendants could see from distance that the king was troubled. King Ubo Diette waved to the most elderly of his attendants and he jumped to his feet and bent over. The king touched his back with his staff and cleared his voice.

"Go! And inform the Elders of the Royal Council, that I call for a crucial meeting right now in the palace!"

"As you said His Highness", the servant responded and climbed a bycicle and rode zig-zag away as if he was chasing an antelope.

ROYAL STORM is a historical fiction,,,


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Rod Jimmy sped through the gate of Netfluz guest quarter to the astonishment of the gate keepers. He swerved into a corner and into his bungalow. He applied the brake even as the car was still maintaining a high speed. He abruptly pulled up in his garage, causing a screak. He popped out of the car and sneaked into his house, breathing heavily and searching his head for who could be behind this. The only thing that came to his mind was the operation to eliminate Adaz Obot. He had not been seeing the young engineer around and he assumed he must have fallen, but at the same time he was a little confused, since no death had been reported in Netfluz.

He smartly moved to the window side of his bungalow, overlooking the gate of the estate, to see if a strange car would . Oscar Averes had promised to get him update about the operation but had not, he decided to hear from him. It occurred to him that he had not removed his bag from his car. His phone and laptop were there. He ran outside to grab his bag and dashed in. He moved to the window side again and began to dial Oscar Averes.

"Hey Jimmy!" Oscat Averes answered in the first tone.

"What's going on?"

"I was going to call you Rod".

"I've been waiting!

"Something happened".

"I'm all ears Oscar".

"The operation was aborted by the FBI and Rito Birdman is at large".

"Damn!"

"I've not heard personally from the hitman though".

"How did you know this?"

"It was the leader of Al Ja'amah in Iraq that told me".

"I'm worried Oscar".

"Over what?"

"I was followed today, and I am beginning to think someone might be on my trail".

"Why the worry? Did you commit a crime?"

"It might be over the failed operation".

"It's not possible".

"Why?"

"It's one out of a million chances for anyone to know that you were involved'.

"Who could be behind it?"

"It may just be a coincidence".

"I doubt it".

"You know what?"

"Tell me what".

"Watch it, if the incidence plays out again, you have a genuine reason to be worried Rod".
"Ok".

"I'm going to improvise to get the target down for you".

"That's no longer important to me".

"Why?"

"He has left Netfluz".

"I'll talk to you again", Oscar Averes said in shock.

"Alright", Rod Jimmy said and exhaled.

The following day Mary Greenwood and Michael Bending stood some distance away from the gate of Netfluz guest quarter, to watch Rod Jimmy come out. He was on time as usual to resume duty in his office. Mary Greenwood and Michael Bending moved into the estate of bungalows to find the address to his house. She had gone to Netfluz to extract the address after he had lost them. It did not take long before they located the house inside the quarter.

Michael Bending went round the bungalow to find where he could sneak into the house, to install eavesdropping devices. He finally penetrated through a window after he had removed the louvres neatly. He was rounding off with the installations in strategic places in the house, when he saw a desktop computer in the corner of the house. He moved to power on the computer to copy the content of the hard disk and extract the Internet protocol address. He looked at his wristwatch and realized that he had been in the house for nearly half an hour. He had to go now. He moved briskly to the window through which he had come in. As he tried to come outside, a car pulled up at Rod Jimmy's garage. He left through the window hurriedly to see who just drove in.

He raised his head to look in the direction where Mary Greenwood had been waiting before he had slipped into the house and did not see her. She appeared from the front of the house and his nerves calmed down. She had gone to drive the unofficial FBI vehicle in. He returned to fix the louvres that he had taken down. He made sure everything was intact and ed her. The two agents got into the car and drove off. Mary Greenwood spoke out first in the car.

"Did you find anything of interest in there?"

"I have the content of the files in a desktop computer".

"Very well, I need you to sift for any connection to Rito Birdman".

"Copy that".

They returned to the Central Intelligence Until and Mary Greenwood found a note requesting urgent update on the Prisca Bender's case. It was very obvious that someone high up in the corridor of power was pushing it. She sat thoughtfully and sent her report.

She maintained that Rito Birdman might not be the prime suspect for the murder of Prisca Bender, but a key to knowing how her body had disappeared. She would never slow down on the chase to pin down the hitman. She had tracked down criminals that were more slippery with much darker backgrounds and smoked them out of their holes.

Four






Special agent Mary Greenwood could not set her mind on anything else in her office, as she got agent Michael Bending to her in the chase of Rito Birdman. She now preferred her new company since agents Morgan Howard and Bradley Stevens had let Mitchell Bannes of the CNN in, on the tracing and tracking of the hitman. She left the FBI's premises with her official FBI SUV in high hopes, knowing that they were just few inches away from unveiling the identity of Rito Birdman's target in the Heathrow Bing Tower. She had implicit trust in the work of Martins Squiilla

They arrived the estate of bungalows and quickly extracted the address of the owner of the estate at the gate. They headed to 31st Street Downtown DC. She pulled out the captured image of the target's bungalow and studied it as if she was seeing it for the first time, as Michael Bending pulled the FBI SUV near the company. They finally arrived Netfluz and agent Bending stopped at the parking lot. They moved together to the reception office where they asked to see the CEO of the company, but were directed to the office of Raymond Dean, the Chief Operating Officer. They walked into an open office on the last floor of the skyscraper.

"You're welcome to Netfluz", Raymond Dean said as they moved into a very spacious room.

"Thank you", Mary Greenwood said as she settled directly opposite him, on an executive chair.

"How much do I owe the law?" Raymond Dean asked looking away.

"We haven't come here to collect tax".

"Am I in some trouble?"

"We're going to be straight through", Mary Greenwood said and positioned the captured bungalow image before him. "We have come here to see your staff that lives in this bungalow".

"Its currently not occupied, you can see, it's indicated".

"Who lived there?"

"It's there any problem?"
"Just answer my question Sir".

"It's a young man that's currently not working in Netfluz".

She pulled the picture crossed with red ink by Rito Birdman and asked, "Can you recognize this face?"

"That's him, that's the young man".
"Very well, what's his name?"

"Adaz Obot".

"Where can I find him?"

"He has returned to school".

"I'd like to get his phone number".

"You haven't told me what this is all about, is he a suspect or what?"

"You will know what this is about once we get it done".

"It's alright".

"Can I get the now?"

"Sure", Raymond Dean said and tossed a card at her.

"We're very grateful, we'll be back again for more answers".

"Hoping I can provide them".

Raymond Dean watched the two FBI agents through the window of his office as they headed towards the parking ground. Mary Greenwood got into the SUV and pullied a call across to Adaz Obot. The young man's phone went off in a library in the faculty of Bioengineering in Harvard, and he rushed outside. He looked at the screen and found an incoming call from an unknown . He moved to a corner and flipped up his cellphone to answer the call.

"Hello", the young man said into the phone.

"This is Mary Greenwood of the FBI. I want to ask you a few questions with respect to the role that you played in Netfluz before you left the company".

"Ok detective. What do you want to know?”

"What was your job description in Netfluz?

"I was hired to work in the capacity of a hardware programming engineer. I sneaked into embedded softwares to correct bugs among other things.

"Who was your direct boss?

"The Chief of Programming”.

"What's his name?

"Rod Jimmy"

"And your name?"

"Adaz Obot".

Did you have any misunderstanding with anybody while you were in Netfluz?

Not at all.

"Did you have any fracas with anyone recently or in the past among friends or business associates".

"I can't any".

"I need honest answers".

"May I know what this is all about ma'am?"

"Not yet".

"I really can't point out any quarrel with anyone".

Where was your office?”

"I shared the same office with the Director of Programming".

What was the last job you did for Netfluz?

"I helped to eliminate some bugs in the softwares that were loaded into some systems for field engineers.

Thanks for your time.

Youre welcome maam.

Mary Greenwood returned to Netfluz to continue her investigation with Michael Bending. Michael Bending was the FBI systems communication expert but he knew a little bit of everything. Raymond Dean was a about to leave his office when the reception announced the presence of the FBI agents. Mary Greenwood decided to meet Raymond Dean alone leaving Michael Bending behind in the reception.The office door split open as she got near.

"You're here again".

"I keep my promise".

"I'm afraid, I don't have much time up my sleeve".

"I'm not going to crack nuts here Sir".

"Right away please".

"In what capacity did Adaz Obot work in Netfluz?"

"He was a programming engineer".

"Did he have any issue with anyone here?"

"I don't know of any".

"Where was his office".

"All the programmers share the engineering floor".

"But he shared the same office with the Director of Programming".

"I didn't know about that".

"Can I speak with him?"

"Of course", Raymond Dean said and dialed the number of Angelo Blaze and spoke up as he picked, "Hello Blaze, a lady FBI agent is here to ask you some questions".

"Put her on the phone", Angelo Blazed said and adjusted himself.

"This is Mary Greenwood of the FBI".

"How can I help you?"

"I understand that you shared the same office with Adaz Obot when he was here, was there any reason why he wasn't there with other programmers on the engineering floor?"

"We needed space".

"Was this cool with the Chief Programmer".

"He never complained".

'Can I see the engineering floor?"

"Of course".

Angelo Blaze popped in within seconds and took her to the second floor. Mary Greenwood could actually see that the floor was cramped, but could also see another office in the middle of the floor with some space, constructed with only glasses. She finished her inspection and asked to see the office that Adaz Obot had shared. Angelo Blaze opened the door to his office and pointed at a table.

"That's where Adaz Obot had his office", he said.

"There's one office in the middle of the engineering floor, why didn't Adaz Obot work there?" Mary Greenwood asked.

"That's the office of the Chief Programmer, he likes to be alone in the office".

"Was he a team player?"

"Who?"

"Of course, Adaz Obot".

"All his colleagues eulogized him the short time he spent here".

"Thank you very much for your time".

"You're welcome".

Mary Greenwood left the building tos things in her head. She could not piece together why Angelo Blaze would create space in his office for Adaz Obot, when the Chief Programmer had more in his office, and yet claimed all was fine. She suspected an unhealthy rivalry among the programmers. She decided to place all the twenty persons on the engineering floor including the Chief Programmer and the Director of Programming on watch. Rod Jimmy came top in her watch list.

She ed Michael Bending at the reception hall and they walked out of Netfluz into the unofficial FBI vehicle that brought them. They quietly and patiently waited for Rod Jimmy to get out. He finally came out and headed to the parking lot to pull out his car. He reversed expertly and hit the homeward road. Michael Bending engaged the FBI car and tailed him into the city. The Chief Programmer looked at the side mirror of his vehicle and saw the same car that had followed him since he left Netfluz. He did not read any meaning to it until he snaked through corners and veered here and there to lose it. The car kept on coming behind. He knew he was being followed.

At once, he twisted the steering to slue his car onto a narrow road that opened into a six - lane road in Western District and dashed the car unto the third lane, causing vehicles to screech, collide and stop on the road. Michael Bending followed him; he diverted onto the narrow road and came out to see the six - lane road. Rod Jimmy had lost them and had mixed into the mass of cars surging forward on the left side, and backward on the right side.

"Wow! Rod Jimmy like James Bond!!" Mary Greenwood screamed.

She directed Michael Bending to turn the car around to face Netfluz. The suspect had displayed interesting tendencies and she liked it. She could still see the commotion that he had caused on the road, where he had mixed up with other cars. Some road officials were pulling wrecks of vehicles that had collided on the road as they faced the way to Netfluz.

!
Abdul chased the sniper all the way down to the cave's tunnel, screaming “Kill him! Kill him!! Kill!!!”

The terrorists in the mansion sprinted in hot chase from the underground to the mouth of the cave through different channels. Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir switched on the hanging screen and pulled out the surveillance camera securing the entrance of the cave, and saw the footage of Rito Birdman. He immediately punched the call code of the men at the three gates leading into and out of the cave and screamed at them, "Shoot him! Shoot him down!!" He pulled another camera and watched the guards spraying bullets at him. Rito Birdman was about hopping into his private jet when a bullet grazed his head. He managed to switch on the instruments inside the jet as bullets rained on the body of the jet. He took off with the speed of light as the foot soldiers of the evil doctor advanced. Abdul Taheem saw Rito Birdman flying from the ground as he popped his head out of the cave. He took a device from his pocket and spoke into it.

"My lord, he's gone, heading towards Baghdad".

"Then fail over to B!" Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir yelled and smashed the device on his hand to pieces on the floor. His men had failed him.
General Mahmud Hussein was dragging a long local cigarette pipe, made with assorted dried leaves and was puffing the smoke into the air through his mouth and nostrils as he stood on the top of Al Ja'amahs airbase tank and looking on as the cigarette smoke from the tiny wood pipe coiled into the air, when a junior officer called him from the control room with a tone of urgency. Abdul Taheem was on the phone waiting to speak to the general. Mahmud could tell that something was wrong somewhere. The Deputy scarcely called the base except when Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir wanted an air operation.
He breezed into the control and said "Hello" nto the table phone.

Abdul Taheem thundered from the other end saying, "Bring down the jet flying from the airspace now! Now! Now!! No mistakes!
Mahmud immediately instructed the terror officers in charge of the airspace scanning systems to bring the satellites up. He was trained by the US Airforce but was not absorbed into the force when he did not come clean with his profile. Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had thrown some carrots at him back in the United States and he agreed to the air unit of Al Jama'ah. He was a brilliant engineer in aeronautics that held a master's degree in Space Technology from Stanford University in California. When the evil doctor had come calling, the decision was made already for him. He had single-handedly put together most of the systems in the control of the airbase. He had successfully designed a new radar system on the desert airfield and had taken air tracking systems to another level.

He decided to bring the jet down by himself since no mistakes would be tolerated from the demon. The airspace scanners stood in the middle of a very spacious room inside the airbase, close to the control. The outside of the base was littered with ground-to-space satellites. All the systems were now ready. He pushed a button on the control and a metal cover blew out from the top of the airbase tank, exposing a warhead carrying SA-77 missile. This was a long range missile capable of delivering death to distant corners of the earth. He pushed another button and the missile system rolled on to the top of the tank on wheels. He moved to the airspace scanning systems and picked out a satellite that was overlooking the airspace from space. He punched a button on the airspace scanner and raised his head to see the satellite rotate three sixty degrees spatially on the screen.

He spotted the enemy jet flying away from the airspace with a mind-boggling speed. He zoomed it up and estimated an altitude of forty three thousand feet. He went back to the control system and tapped a button to the data from the scanner into the missile guide. The guide now had the position and the changing sequence of the jet. He bent forward and pushed another button on the control to transfer the data to the warhead. The missile guide started radiating radio waves to track the jet. He hit a button on the control to spin the warhead on the base and positioned it for the radio waves to give the sharpest reply. He received an echo beep on the control and moved over to confirm the target on the airspace scanning system.

The red arrow was now resting on the body of the jet and he could see it on the control screen. He let out a devilish grin and picked up his local cigarette that was burning away on a tray. He took a long hard drag on it before hitting the button marked ''Blow Up!'' in the control. The warhead flew from the base with a deafening hissing noise skyward and he pressed a button on the scanning system to start recording the destruction.

Rito Birdman had read the mind of the demon while Mitchell Bannes was still on the TV. He continued to make the sign of cross on his chest as he flew away with the maximum configured speed in the jet plane. The warning system in the jet jolted him from a deep thought. The system had just picked a radio signal tracking the jet and he knew what it meant. He shot himself into the air just before the jet was blasted to pieces by Al Ja'amah's missile.

He had strapped the belt of a parachute around his trunk as soon as he had taken off from the airstrip. The parachute did not spread until he had fallen down some distance away from the scattering jet. It lowered him gently into a deep blue sea separating Iraq from Iran. He hoped to swim the distance to shore, but the strapped parachute posed a real challenge. He tried to unfasten the belt but could not.The parachute sappef away his energy as he made attempts to swim on. He let go the idea of swimming with the parachute and he figured out a way to cut it off. He dipped his right hand into his pocket and brought out his key holder and used his teeth to pull out a knife. He cut himself free and breathed relief. He began to swim from the middle of the sea towards the shore with breaststroke.

He noticed a movement under the water and he prayed it was not a predator. He was hoping that the air unit of Al Ja'amah had not seen him as he jumped out of the jet. He exhausted his energy just before he could reach the shore and he sank slowly into the water and took his first gulp; and as if the water in gut had renewed his energy, he raised his head out and changed to a backstroke. He continued to swim forward but weakly. He kept muttering to himself:
"You cannot die in a strange land, and in the water. You are the Birdman, keep flying, keep flying".

It worked! He finally hauled himself on the seashore and laid flat on his back as the hot sun of the day scorched him. He still bled from the corner of his head where the bullet of one of the guards of Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir had scraped. He believed now that Oscar Averes had not set him up, but what continued to prick his thought was how his photo was taken in Washington DC. No one had held a camera to snap him in the elevator inside the Heathrow Bing Tower. He ed a smartly dressed young woman that had stopped the door of the elevator from closing before she ed him. What preoccupied his mind was how to get to safety from the demon.

Three







The Chief Executive Terminator was midway in the air, between Iran and Iraq flying to Baghdad, boiling with rage. In his twenty three years of killing career, he had not come so close to being trapped like the incidence that led to the last failed operation in the Heathrow Bing Tower. He concluded in his head that Oscar Averes had set him up. It was him that ed the information about the location for the target, the time and the room 13 on the 21st floor of the hotel. He could not put the cards together on how the FBI had tracked him down and got the floor, the room number and the time. He was flying to see Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir, It was him that personally ed and contracted him with a phone call for the operation.

The airstrip of Al Ja'amah in Iraq opened into three well secured gates. The gates funneled into a cave that led into an underground mansion. The at each gate was different, if a visitor ed the first gate with a code and failed the entrance code of the second gate, he was executed summarily. The gates es had to be correct for the visitor to reach the mouth of the cave, where a signal would be sent to Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir to acknowledge your mission, before you were guarded from the cave gate by heavily equipped men to see him.

He was a man with strange abilities, he could feel the presence of strangers within a one mile radius and decipher intentions. He was fittingly called the demon by his loyalists. His eyeballs were like tiny shiny beads in a very big skull. No hair strand had grown on his head since his birth. His long white goatee gave a sharp contrast to his hairless head. He was squatting in the inner most chamber of his ringed mansion, making some religious incantations as he floated in and out of trance. Some of the remaining of his terror organization were scattered about and around the building, mostly in groups. A clattering noise occasionally drifted into the mansion from a distance.

The LED device on the mat of the great one started blinking. He picked it up with his left hand and flipped it up with his left thumb. A message had dropped in. He spied the message with his left eye and raised the device in his right hand to switch on a screen that hanged on a chord from the ceiling. The screen came on and he pressed a button on the device to open the surveillance camera that watched the front of the cave, and he saw the sniper. Rito Birdman had not come to the underground more than two times for the twenty years he had been converted to become a fringe member of the terror organization. He had grown into a full bearded man. His uncommon skill of leaving no trace or tracks after a hit, had endeared him to Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir. He pressed "" on his device and fiercely looking giants led him to the second in command, Abdul Taheem.

"Look at you now! You're all grown up", Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir said the moment Rito Birdman appeared before him.

"Good to see you my lord".

"You don't look cheerful Birdman".

"There's a problem".

"We fix things here".

"The operation failed, the FBI aborted it".

"You're the greatest, how could it happen?"

"Oscar set me up!"

"You know that's not possible".

"There's no other way to interpret how the FBI had stopped me".

"I swear to this, Azeez doesn't know a thing about it. It's Al Ja'amah that he's working for, he couldn't turn around and thwart his own effort".

"I would like him to defend himself my lord".

"Shut this issue down!"

"Ok my lord".

"I trust you didn't leave a print for the FBI".

"You know my craft my lord".

"Take your rest, we'd discuss some important matters later".

Rito Birdman spent a day with Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir in Iraq and got himself ready to leave. He hoped the dust raised by the foiled operation in the Heathrow Bing Towel had settled. As he moved out of his room into the living room of the underground mansion with his bags, the evil doctor could see that he still nurtured a monstrous grudge with a smouldering temper. He signalled him to him on a mat where he had squatted and tried to reason with him again.

"I have known Oscar Averes for more than twenty five years and I am dead sure he wouldn't do such a thing".

"But how could the FBI have exactly known the time and place where I was going to carry out the hit?"

"Honestly, I am a little bit confused".

"It's obvious, he was behind it".

"I know he's loyal to death for the course of Al Jama'ah. He had no reason to trap you. Don't forget, the operation was meant to get an American spy on board".

"But how do you explain this my lord".

"I'm going to speak with him about it, but I already know he didn't do it. He is committed to the course and he knew how much Al Ja'amah needed you to come through".

"Time will settle it".

"Very well".

"I must go now my lord".

"Just a few minutes, I will be back here Birdman".

As the demon rose up from the mat, his Deputy, Abdul Taheem, suddenly flung open the door to the living room and breezed in to switch ON the plasma TV screen that was hanging from the ceiling. A news headline flashed up in Al Jazeera Cable News, showing the face of Rito Birdman wearing a black face cap in an elevator. He switched to BBC, the same news was breaking and then to CNN. He left it on CNN as the reporter, Mitchell Bannes, gave details:

"On your TV screen is the face of the world most wanted killer", Mitchell Bannes looked straight and continued, "He has carried high profile assassinations around the world. His latest operation was neutralized by the FBI in the Heathrow Bing Tower in Washington DC." The hotel came on the TV screen and pushed Mitchell Bannes to a corner. It showed Rito Birdman in the elevator with a black face cap and another enlarged photograph of him without the cap. Mitchell Bannes went on: "He was to perform a hit through the wall of room 13 on 21st floor. He had drilled three holes in shape of a triangle on the hotel room wall. The FBI at the moment is tracking him, as other detectives try to unveil who was his target at the Heathrow Bing Tower........" Abdul Taheem switched off the TV as she went on.

Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir stood up from the mat as if a spring had released him and walked away as the TV went OFF. He used his eyes to sign to his Deputy to meet him in a different room. Instantly his color changed. He pulled Abdul Taheem's head towards him and whispered:

"Expend Rito Birdman now! The FBI could track him down here. He could reveal our schemes under torture when the FBI gets hold of him".

"He's a time bomb waiting to explode!" Abdul Taheem justified.

"Shoot him in the head right now!"

Abdul raised his garment to expose the short gun on his belt to indicate the job would be done on the spot. Dr. Omar Bin Lahmir assumed a friendly mood as he opened the door to meet the hitman in the living room. All of a sudden, the terror lord roared like a lion in a great distress.The hitman was missing, he turned around and barked!

"Get everyone and everything to bring him down! Now!! Now!!!

Two







Mary Greenwood was at home and she sat in her bath tub, full of warm soothing water, absorbed in thought. She would not stop seeing the disappearance of Rito Birdman under her nose as direct affront. She transfigured into another realm, deep in reasoning. She perceived that the sniper was about to hit the young man in the picture through the triangle of holes in the Heathrow Bing Tower. She at once sprang up from the tub, exposing her complete nude, before grabbing a towel to wrap her chest down.
She made her way to her study and flipped on the light switch. She settled on a chair and took a sheet of paper and a pencil from a bag on the floor. She shut her eyes for a minute and went to work. She drew a triangle that connected the three edges of holes. The target of the hitman was inside the triangle and the target's picture was crossed with a red ink. She penetrated the wall with the triangle of holes with her eyes, and could see the target out there, with no Identity. She rolled up her thought along critical reasoning, but all she could see was blurred lines.

She exhausted all her investigative witchcraft and itted to herself that she would need help. It was almost in the middle of the night. She wobbled to her bed and fell into a deep sleep. Not long after, she drifted into dreams. She found herself in the room 13 of 21st floor of the Heathrow Bing Tower. She saw a hand writing on the wall of the triangle of holes. The hand measured the angle that Rito Birdman was going to position his rifle to hit the target and it marked it as "Target Angle". She was going to ask a question about the angle and the hand disappeared.

She woke up early in the morning and went to her study. The dream was still fresh in her mind. She labeled the target of Rito Birdman as the "Keyface" and considered unveiling it, was imperative to making a headway. The hand had only measured the target angle and did not show how it was arrived at. She visualized Rito Birdman hitting his target from any of the holes of the triangle. It gave her the idea of projecting the holes through the walls to meet outside. She arrived at a prism with a triangular base of holes. She drew a cross across the base of the triangular prism, and drew a line from the center of the cross to meet the pointed edge of the prism outside the wall of the hotel room, facing Adaz Obot's balcony, and straigthened up to measure the angle that the hand in her dream had measured last night. She got excited with what stared at her, smiling broadly, giving the impression of "I've finally figured it out".

She sauntered to another table with a desktop computer and took a seat and powered on a computer. She clicked open a drawing application and began to make a 3D re-presentation of her sketch. She finished and measured the target angle to the "Keyface". It deviated only by one degree this time. She inserted a usb stick in the computer to save the work. She finished and left to get a shower and prepare to leave for the office.
Her whole life revolved around her work since day one that she had started working for the FBI. When the management had granted her vacation time, Mary Greenwood would still report at the office. The management had to literally force her to go on vacation in South Africa after she had cracked open a case that had begun seven years ago. She had brought the untouchables in America to their knees and ensured that they were locked behind bars.

The same management that had forced her to go on vacation, had cut it short. The disappearance of Prisca Bender had brought so much pressure to the FBI's hierarchy. She was playing with her baby on a sandy beach in Durban, when she got a call on her private phone. The message was simple and it came from one of the top Directors of the FBI:
"We have our hands full. Knotty cases that need to be cut open. Be on the next flight to Washington DC".

Mary Greenwood waited until her daughter's nanny had arrived before she left home for her office. She tried to separate the Prisca Bender's case from that of Rito Birdman, but something within made her feel strongly that the two cases were inextricably connected. Her focus was on the "Keyface and she hoped her approach would culminate to finding those behind the death of Prisca Bender. She knew the FBI management wouldn not sanction the direction she had taken without some conviction, however, every fiber of her reasoning power pointed her that way.
She arrived at the office to see a kind of chaotic movement. Everyone seemed under some kind of pressure. The management was breathing down the neck of everybody to get results. For certain field agents, the management had set ultimatum for them to deliver. Mary Greenwood did not do much in the office. She sat down and sent update on the Prisca Bender's case. Her phone went off and she picked it up. A very stubborn reporter in CNN was on the line.

"Hello Mitchell!" Mary Greenwood answered her suspiciously.

"Can I ask for a favor Greenwood?"

"It depends on what you are going to ask for".
"I've understood that you're leading the investigation into the disappearance of Rito Birdman from the Heathrow Bing Tower".

"How did you know that?"

"You know I have got eyes everywhere".

"So what about it?"

"I'd like to be part of your team, we're producing a series of documentary in CNN and we're dedicating it to the elusive sniper".

"Look here, this is delicate, we're only building the momentum to go full swing, when we reach a point, of course, you would be invited".

"This is really important to me and my organization, let me in on this one, please!"
"I've given you my last word on it Mitchell".

"Just this time!"

"You will get the juice of the story. Standby and watch out for it, period!"

Mitchell Bannes was still insistent and Mary Greenwood slammed the office phone into its socket. She was formerly of the BBC before she ported to CNN. She had the reputation of setting off breaking news of hot cases involving crimes around the globe and was a darling in CNN. She would want every action relayed live with her camera at the Heathrow Bing Tower. Agent Bradley Stevens had leaked the latest development on the Rito Birdman's case to her. They were in some kind of an undefined relationship. Mary Greenwood turned to agent Morgan Howard in the office, and he accorded her attention.
"Tomorrow morning we'll be going to Heathrow Bing Tower. I need you to make arrangement for an air-to-surface surveyor to sweep down", she said with a strong face.
"Copied!" Morgan Howard acknowledged.

She pulled out all the records of the sniper and looked through the files of his past crimes. She scanned them for anything that could connect to the way he had broken free from the Heathrow Bing Tower. She had reasoned that it would be rash to conclude that the management of the hotel connived with criminals at this time. She would wait for the result of her findings into the target of the hitman in the hotel. She took her mobile phone from her bag and punched in the phone number of the Managing Director of Heathrow Bing Tower, to inform him that the FBI would be there the following day.

The CNN reporter was already at the Heathrow Bing Tower the next morning and was waiting for the FBI team with her camera man. Agent Morgan Howard and the air-to-surface surveyor arrived later. He was taken aback to find Mitchell Bannes at the hotel. She got up to meet him before he could step into the elevator.

"Where is Mary Greenwood?" She asked, Morgan did not get it and she added, "I spoke with her yesterday and I told her I would be part of her team on the case.

"Well, something came up in the office that required her attention. She would in later"

He assumed Mary Greenwood had approved the coverage of the investigation by the CNN reporter. He thought it was premature to feed the public with anything yet, but who was he to challenge the all-knowing Mary Greenwood? He did not stop her from ing him. Mitchell Bannes gave the thumps up sign to her camera man and he hastily lifted his equipment to them in the elevator. Room 13 on 21st floor was already opened but sealed by the FBI.

Agent Morgan cut the tape and he entered with Martins Squilla. Mitchell Bannes gave another thumps up sign to the camera man as agent Morgan squeezed and pulled the curtain that covered the wall with the triangle of holes to his right hand side. The cameras were now rolling from different angles; one camera was on agent Morgan Howard as he pulled his laptop from his backpack. He powered on the laptop and opened up the computer re-presentation of the room that Mary Greenwood had designed. He waved at the surveyor to come around. Martins Squilla knew exactly what to do, he began to mount his instrument on a base near the wall of holes. Good

"What is the Hit Angle again?" The surveyor asked.

Morgan looked at the laptop and replied, "73 degrees to the midline".

The surveyor drew a straight line across the middle of the triangle of holes on the wall, and used a divider to cross check the hit angle. He took a drilling tool and drilled a hole through the midpoint through to the outside and pulled up an instrument tucked on the frame of the stand. He ed it through the midpoint to the outside of the hotel wal and picked a handheld device. At the edge of the instrument outside, was a stylus carrying a lens. He pushed a button labelled, "Set'' on the handheld device, that connected to the lens outside, and the lens carrier stretched out from the stylus to one meter horizontally. He pressed another button and the lens carrier folded backward ninety degrees vertically. He punched a button labeled, 'Rotate to Coil', and instantly the lens outside began sweeping three sixty degrees parabolically.

The lens carrier gradually withdrew into the stylus as it continued sweeping to coil. The surveyor could see the movement of the lens inside the room on the screen of the device. He stopped the recording when the camera had withdrawn completely into the stylus. He pressed a button on the device to get the record transferred to a memory stick. He inserted the storage device into his laptop and opened an application. He typed, Narrow vision from 73 degrees" in a window that popped up in the laptop and scrolled to the bottom of the window and hit the ''Go'' button. The window vanished for six seconds and returned a captured image of a bungalow. He enlarged the photo of the bungalow and clicked the print button on the application. The captured image came out neat from the printer.

Mitchell Bannes signed to the camera man to stop action. The surveyor's professionalism had been called by the FBI many times. Morgan Howard stood up and shook hands with him before they gathered their equipment and went down to find the bungalow. As agent Morgan got into the FBI SUV and was going to close the door, Mitchell Bannes held the door from slamming shut. "This is as far you can go Mitchell", agent Morgan Howard said. He waved at the driver to drive on while she still held the SUV door. Mitchell nearly tripped when the SUV accelerated with some fury.

Agent Morgan headed for the bungalow with the surveyor, who had opened up his laptop and plugged in a GPS. The surveyor directed the turns after turns as he looked at the GPS application on his computer. The driver finally pulled the SUV up inside an estate of bungalows. The surveyor alighted with his laptop on his two palms and walked a few distance into the estate. It did not take him long to locate the right bungalow. He walked around to face room 13 on the 21st floor of the Heathrow Bing Tower and balanced binoculars on his eyes and traced the holes on the wall. He found the holes and took the coordinates of the bungalow position. He keyed the coordinates in the open application and obtained the ''Hit Distance".

"The Hit Distance is four and a half miles",
Martins Squilla said over his shoulder.

"Rito is a hell of a sniper!" Agent Morgan Howard whispered.

Mary Greenwood was free now to him and the surveyor at the Heathrow Bing Tower. She looked at the wall clock in her office, the official closing hour had ed. She would have loved to head to the hotel. A new case had just developed, that would have taken her attention off Rito Birdman. She opened her purse to get her cellphone and pulled a call to agent Morgan.

"What's the update Howard?"

"It's completely done. Ill send the full package to you shortly.

Mary Greenwood suppressed a laughter and replied, "Roger that".

"The next move?" Morgan asked anticipating.

"Go home and kiss your monkey. See you tomorrow”, Mary Greenwood said with a chuckle.

She cleared her table and closed shop as a message dropped in her phone from agent Morgan. She would soon add another feather and award to an already filled cabinet.