"That won't be necessary."
A man stood in the doorway, his frame broad and imposing despite the casual way he leaned against the carved wood.His hair was braided in the same style as the night before, though the feathers woven into it looked slightly bedraggled.The tangele around his eyes had been reapplied, but carelessly, smudged at the edges.He wore no shirt, only a loose wrapper tied at his waist, and his feet were bare like hers.
The stranger from the night before.
"Borji," the Ugoeze called, maintaining a neutral tone."This is a matter for the women of the household.You have no place here."
Borji—so that's his name.Azul felt like a light had been lit in her mind.
The man pushed off the doorframe and strode into the room.Several of the wives shifted uncomfortably, their eyes darting between him and the Ugoeze.
"I have every right to be here," Borji said, his voice drawling, almost bored."Seeing as I was there."
The room went silent.
The Iyom's face drained of colour."You...you were where?"
"In Somadina's chambers," Borji remarked, examining his nails as though the conversation was tedious."I heard the commotion.Thought the fool had finally got himself killed by one of his conquests.Imagine my surprise when I found him strangling the Akwaugo instead."
"So you have grown to bite the hand that feeds!"the Iyom hissed, rising to her feet."You dare lie before the Ugoeze?"
"Careful, Iyom," Borji said, his tone sharpening."You're calling a prince a liar.That's treasonous, isn't it?"
The Iyom's mouth shut, her fury palpable but impotent.The other wives exchanged uneasy glances.
Borji might be the abandoned prince, the son with no mother to champion him and unfavoured by the Igwe—but he was still a prince.And he was older than Somadina.
To respect one's superiors was not a virtue anyone was willing to be seen as lacking.
The Ugoeze's serene mask finally cracked, just slightly.Her lips pressed into a thin line.
"If what you say is true, Borji, then the Akwaugo acted in self-defence."
"She did," Borji affirmed.
The Iyom let out a wail of protest, but the Ugoeze silenced her with a look.
"However," the Ugoeze continued, her gaze shifting back to Azul, "the fact remains that a prince was injured.The Akwaugo may have been defending herself, but her actions cannot go entirely unpunished.To do so would set a dangerous precedent."
A dangerous precedent of defiance.Azul's hands clenched at her sides.Of course.Even with a witness, even with the truth laid bare, they still found a way to blame her.
"The Akwaugo will copy the entirety of Mama's favourite scripture," the Ugoeze declared."She will present it to the Dowager herself, with an apology for the disturbance she has caused within this household."
A ripple of satisfaction passed through the wives.At first Azul wasn't sure why they seemed so comfortable with such mild punishment, but when realisation occurred to her, her jaw tightened.
They thought she couldn't write.
Chukwuemeka was a man who always thought two steps ahead, and so he had spent sleepless nights working the farms of richer men just to make sure his children were literate.
Azul felt a laugh brewing in her belly at the absurdity of her situation.The father who sold her for 200 pieces of silver truly cared about raising her to be as expensive as possible.
"She will do so within seven days," the Ugoeze added.
Borji's eyes narrowed."Ugoeze—"
"Do you have an objection, Prince Borji?"the Ugoeze asked, her tone as sweet as honey.
Borji glared but couldn't overstep.
