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“What is it they call you?” I asked.
She looked away from her hands to me. “Princess Adaeze of Bikjga.”
It was then that I noticed the orange beads upon her arms and neck and the scarf that had been tied and twisted to keep her dark hair up…in this life she was a princess.
“As Princess, I must give thanks—”
“He’s awake.” The elder arrived. His long beard was white and gray and his waist was covered with the same red cloth that she wore, just like his neck and arms bore the same orange beads as hers.
“Yes, father.” She rose and backed away from me, allowing him to come forward. I tried to rise up but couldn’t move. The woman in the tent moved forward to help.
Placing his hands upon my shoulder he said, “Obinna of Okwu, he who ran from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn. We must give thanks. We must celebrate this greatness. Rest my boy, your father smiles on you.”
“My father? My brothers?” I asked him. “Father said there were no greater warriors than those in Bikjga, it’s why—”
He patted my shoulder. “We could not make it to the village in time.”
My shoulders dropped and I saw their faces in my mind—my father’s face. “Were they taken?”
He shook his head. “Your family shall forever be sons of this soil. They stood and fought.”
They were gone and yet relief filled me. I did not know what to say to this feeling. I was not sure if I was even speaking aloud anymore. All I knew was that I did not want to be laying down, but when I tried to stand up my legs trembled and shook as the pain in them grew ever more present in my mind.
“Mama!” She called out as she rushed outside of the hut. The Elder got up as an even older woman entered. Her brown skin was so wrinkled that the folds of her eyelids made her eyes droop. Her head was covered with a brown scarf and the ring of beads around her neck far surpassed those of the princess who helped bring her closer to me.
I tried to show respect…but the pain.
The princess tried to get her attention but the elder merely lifted her hand briefly revealing a yellow dust within her palm before she blew it into my face.
Coughing, I inhaled and went back to sleep…
12th Onwa Asato (August) 1684 – Bikjga Village, Igboland, Nigeria
“Obinna…I can see that you are awake,” Princess Adaeze said amused.
Opening my eyes, I thought she was the one who was rubbing my legs. But instead I found Mama hovering over me. Mama tilted her head to me as my eyes widened in surprise, and I sat up on my elbows.
“Hum…” Looking toward the wall, I saw her hard at work grinding herbs into a jar. A small smile lingered on her lips and I couldn’t help but smile back. It was then that I felt the pressure on my legs again. Shifting my gaze to Mama she stared at me unmoving.
“She wants to know if you are in pain,” Princess Adaeze said while Mama kept looking at me.
Shaking my head no, she pressed harder. Again I shook my head. Shifting down to my feet, she dug her longest nail into my foot and I flinched.
She smiled at that and nodded to herself before she looked to Princess Adaeze who spoke for her. “She says you have recovered.” Rising from her work she came over to help Mama up and the Elder put her hands to my face nodding over and over again.
“She’s proud of you and you are strong.”
I nodded back to her. “Thank you.”
Princess Adaeze helped her up before she walked back to the corner wall and sat down on the cow skin hide. Picking up whatever she’d been grinding she placed it into her drink. I was able to sit up now and I reached up to touch my face. The paste was now gone but I now had an all-too-familiar scar on my eye.
“How are you feeling?” Princess Adaeze asked as she kneeled in front of me and gave me the wooden cup.
Taking it, I drank and immediately regretted doing so.
“It’s horrible we know,” she laughed at me while I coughed at the vile liquid. She pushed the cup towards me and urged me to keep drinking. “But this is good for the body, it makes one live long. Mama drinks nothing else but this.”
I could help but lean in and whisper, “How long has she lived?”
