Adaeze

Life of Slavery

Right before their eyes was the ezemo ( chief priest) lying lifeless in the pool of his blood with a deep cut on his neck.

He had been slaughtered like a lamb. It was a gruesome sight to behold.

"Alu(abomination)!" All the chiefs screamed as they saw the lifeless body of the ezemo ( chief priest) in the pool of his blood.

" Who could have done this?" Ichie ( chief) Udoka asked no one in particular.

" Are you still asking? Who else could have done this if not he power-hungry fool parading himself as the new king?" Ichie (chief) Sodimma said pointedly.

The others nodded in agreement.

" What are we going to do now that the ezemo ( chief priest) has been murdered?" Ichie (chief) Uzoma asked curiously.

" What do you think we should do?" Ichie ( chief) Chinonso threw the question back to him. While others looked on curiously wanting to hear what ichie (chief) Uzoma had to say.

" I think we should leave things the way they are. If Okenna could singlehandedly kill the ezemo ( chief priest), the strongest man in Umueze. It means that there is a strong force backing him up."

" Our people say 'no one goes for a battle unprepared." Ichei(chief)Uzoma said pointedly.

The other chiefs nodded in agreement to what ichei ( chief) Uzoma said and silently left the shrine. Each one to his thoughts.

Okenna sat on the throne wondering why his wife and children were not yet in the palace.

Just as he was about to send another set of guards to get his wife and children, they were ushered into the throne room.

Oluchi was so excited to see her husband on the throne.

" At last, you are the king of Umueze," Oluchi said excitedly voicing out her thoughts.

" Nna(father), is it true that you are now the king of Umueze?" Ogbonna asked curiously.

" Yes nwam(my child), it's true. That makes you a prince and Olamma a princess." Okenna said with a smile.

Ogbonna smiled happily. His friends would respect him. He thought silently.

Unlike Ogbonna, Olamma was disturbed. She was happy that her father was now the king but she was very worried about King Chibuike and his family as she could not see them anywhere.

" Where are Uncle Chibuike and his wife and daughter?" Olamma asked innocently, making Okenna and Oluchi turn sharply to her.

"Nwam (my child), Uncle Chibuike and his wife ran away to a faraway village because they did something bad."

" I only managed to take Adaeze from him before they escaped. So as a punishment to their family, Adaeze will become a slave." Okenna lied smoothly.

" So why punish the little girl for the offence of her parents? It's not fair. She is innocent." Olamma asked innocently, looking between her father and mother awaiting their response.

Her little mind could not understand why her parents were going to punish Adaeze for the offence of her parents when she did nothing wrong.

Okenna and Oluchi looked at each other bewildered wondering how their seven-year-old daughter could question them like an adult.

" You see, Adaeze is not really innocent. Her parents initiated her into witchcraft coven and she was given powers that will prevent people from hurting her."

" That is why we decided to keep her as a slave. That way, we will be able to monitor her activities." Oluchi lied smoothly.

" But she is going to harm us if you keep her here!" Olamma said almost in tears. She did not want anything bad to happen to her family.

Oluchi threw her arms around her and hugged her lovingly. She was happy that her daughter was concerned about their safety above any other thing.

" You see, your father got a very potent charm from the strongest ezemo (chief priest) to prevent attack from her and other witches," Oluchi said as she held Olamma's cheeks in her hands.

Olamma nodded and sighed in relief when she heard what her mother said.

Ogbonna was not bothered about Adaeze. He was carried away by the fact that he was now a prince.

Okenna sighed in relief when he saw that Olamma had bought the lies of her mother. That daughter of his is really something else. Okenna thought silently.

" Uche, get me Adaeze!" Okenna said to one of the guards. Uche bowed and quickly left to carry out the king's order.

Adaeze was seated by a corner in the maids' 1quarters in tears. She could not sleep as the scene of the gruesome murder of her parents replayed in her little mind all through the night.

Her eyes were red and puffy from the tears she had shed and lack of sleep.

" Hey, the king demands your presence!" Uche shouted at Adaeze as soon as he entered the maid's quarters.

Adaeze shuddered subconsciously. But she managed to maintain her composure.

Why was her uncle calling her? Did he want to kill her as he did to her parents? Adaeze asked herself silently as She looked at the guard defiantly.

She would not just walk into the lion's den without putting on a good fight.

Uche smiled as he walked close to her. He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder and walked back to the throne room.

" Put me down! Put me down!" Adaeze screamed with all her might while using her little hands to pound the guard's back as they made their way to the throne room.

" Will you shut that hole you call mouth before I shut it for you?" Okenna's voice thundered in the throne room as soon as Uche entered the throne room with the screaming Adaeze.

Adaeze shut her mouth immediately. She did not want to end up like her parents.

" I thought as much. Now listen to me." Okenna said making Adaeze look up to him.

" From today, you are a slave in the palace. The maids and guards are above you. You must not disrespect them in any way."

" You will do most of the jobs in the palace. And also note that you are entitled to one meal daily. If you fail to complete any task given to you, you will receive twelve strokes of cane."

" The number of strokes will be increased as you grow older. On no account should you talk back to the guards or maids let alone the prince and princess."

" If you are cleared with all I have said, you can start your work immediately," Okenna said with venom.

He wished he could just end her life like he had done to her parents but unfortunately he could not do that because of the powers that she possessed.

Olamma could not believe that her father had made a five-year-old girl a slave and she would be doing most of the chores in the house.

Even though she was more than seven years old, she could not do half of what her father had asked Adaeze to do.

Adaeze timidly nodded and went out to carry out her duties.

Her first task was to wash all the dishes in the palace.

Adaeze sighed defeatedly as she saw the number of dishes she was to wash before the next thirty minutes.

There was no way she would be able to finish the dishes before the next thirty minutes.

Moreover, this was her first attempt at doing any house chores. Her mother always told her that she would teach her how to do some house chores when she was older.

But she never got to teach her as she was gruesomely murdered last night. Adaeze thought as she washed the dishes with her tiny hands.

It took Adaeze almost two hours to finish washing the dishes.

Just as she stood up from the stool, a slap sent her down. Before she could recover from it, three other ones followed immediately.

For the next few seconds, Adaeze could not hear as a result of the impact of the slaps.