Adaeze

A Facade

Okenna spent almost the whole day with King Chibuike and his wife, Ebubechi chatting happily.

At least that was what it seemed like.

" Wow! What a great time I've had with you! I will be coming here more frequently now that we've buried the hatchet between us." Okenna said with a smile.

His cheeks were already hurting from all the forced smiles he had been doing since he got to the palace.

" The door to the palace is open to you and your family anytime. You can even stay here with your wife and children if you wish."

" After all, you are royalty and there are more than enough room to accommodate you and your family." King Chibuike stated with a smile.

He was so happy that his brother had come to make peace with him.

Those five years he spent on the throne without hearing from his brother, were the most difficult times in his life.

His father, king Umueze once told him that unity in a family is better than all the silver and gold in the world put together.

Over the years, he had done virtually everything to make peace with his brother but none worked as his brother had his mind bent on staying away from him.

He was hurt by the fact that his only blood had estranged himself from him.

He could not be any less grateful to the gods for making his brother to come and make peace with him after five years of being away from him.

" That won't be necessary. The gods have blessed us too. We have so many farmlands to cultivate. We will not be able to do that if we stay in the palace as the farmlands are quite a long distance from here." Okenna said half truthfully.

Though he had many farmlands, that was not the reason he rejected his brother's request to stay in the palace.

If he had accepted to stay in the palace, he would not be able to train the men he had been gathering to overthrow the king, his brother.

That was the reason he outrightly turned down the offer.

" Whatever you say. But if you change your mind, do remember that the door to the palace is open to you and your family." King Chibuike said with a smile.

Even though he would have been happy if Okenna could live with him in the palace, he chose to respect his decision to stay in his house and visit whenever he wanted.

" Okay then. We will see some other time. Please take care of Lolo( queen)." Okenna said with a smile as he made his way out of the palace.

" Of course, I will do that. Please extend my regards to your wife and children. And don't forget to tell them that I look forward to seeing them." King Chibuike said with a smile.

Okenna nodded to that and soon he was out of sight.

" The gods are great! How many times have I prayed for this day? Finally, my brother came to make peace with me." King Chibuike said excitedly.

" The gods are great indeed." Queen Ebubechi said agreeing with what her husband had just said.

Okenna could not believe that he had kept his forced smiles from when he saw his brother till when he left the palace.

He thanked the gods for making everything go as he had planned.

" Nkem ( my own), nno(welcome). How did it go?" Oluchi greeted and asked at the same time as Okenna walked into the house.

" Dalu( thank you). It went as we have planned. He didn't suspect anything. He was really happy that I made peace with him."

" I can't wait to see the look on his face when he discovers that everything that happened earlier today was nothing but a facade."

" Unfortunately, that day will be the day he will be joining his ancestors," Okenna said with a smile on his face.

"hahaha. Pathetic. I actually do feel sorry for them sometimes. But they can rot in hell for all I care. At least I get to be the Lolo(queen) of Umueze." Oluchi said with a smile.

Okenna only nodded in agreement as he made his way to his room.

" Mummy, is father going to be the next king of Umueze?" A five-year-old Ogbonna asked.

He had overheard the conversation between his parents.

" Yes, dear. Very soon your father will be crowned the king of Umueze and your mother the Lolo (queen)." Oluchi said as she patted her five-year-old son.

" Then that makes me a prince and Olamma a princess," Ogbonna said excitedly.

" Yes, dear," Oluchi said agreeing to what her son had said.

" I will tell my friends to call me prince Ogbonna because I am the son of the next king of Umueze," Ogbonna said excitedly.

This time, Oluchi put her hand over his mouth to shut him up. She looked round to ensure that no one overheard what her son had just said.

She sighed in relief when she discovered that no one overheard them.

" Ogbonna nwam( my child), you can't tell anyone about that right now," Oluchi said softly as she held his hands.

" Why nne(mother)?" Ogbonna asked in confusion. His little mind wondered why his mother was preventing him from telling his friends about his father being the next king of Umueze.

" You see nwam ( my child) if you tell someone about it now. Evil people will kill your father. If that happens, you won't be able to be a prince again." Oluchi lied smoothly.

" Okay nne(mother), I won't say a word to anyone," Ogbonna said with a small smile.