The second son

Chapter twelve

The story of Flora in the hospital had gone round the country and all over the world by the next day, the story of love in the midst of pain, of hope in dispair. Unknown to Flora, while the singing had been going on, people brought out their phones and made videos and the short video clips from different cameras of different qualities was a better documentary than what even the press - both foreign and local had covered. The video footages by journalist showed the technical side of the m******e, occasionally zooming in on people. It was touching, heart wrenching but the short videos of the singing at the hospital, most of them not more than two minutes had shown the heart and soul of Mmiri the little nation with big hearted people and as people watched the videos, even though they felt the pain of the people, drew from their strength and their faith which was beyond understanding.

   The unexpected attack by Hendosia on Mmiri was all over the news, Arise news, BBC, CNN and every other international news channel were all talking about it, with video footages of Hendosia shooting on unarmed civilians zoomed in. Amnesty solicited with the United Nations to step in, Hendosia had grossly violated the humanitarian law. Red cross had relief sent down, pain killers and other medical necessities and they also sent down doctors who volunteered to reduce the work load of the medical staff in Mmiri.

                                                                                          ***

   Jaachi was in Seoul, South Korea on a diplomatic mission to meet with the President of South Korea. He had been invited by the president to deliberate on the best way South Korea could help the kingdom of Mmiri. He had been picked up from the airport by a chauffeur sent by the president in a convoy of five cars and two motorcycles, heavily gaurded by the presidential security service. He was driven directly to the Blue house and was escorted into the Presidential office by a single PSS agent.

   "Ochia Jaachi, welcome." The president said extending his hand.

   Jaachi gripped it in a firm handshake. " Mr. President." 

  " Please sit down Ochia let's have a discussion between two equals. First, I'll like to tell you that the government of South Korea stand in solidarity with you, with your government and the kingdom of Mmiri."

   Jaachi inclined his head. " That is deeply appreciated."

   "And we offer our condolences for the great looses your kingdom has suffered this period. This administration frawns at the behavior of West Hendosia. I set up this meeting to find out the areas you would need assistance and what my administration can do to help."

   " Thank you very much Mr. President. Your offer of help is greatly appreciated by the kingdom of Mmiri, this is coming at a time when we need it most."

   " Before we get down to business," the president said. " Let me extend my condolences for your loss. Loosing your Father and brother at the same time could not have been easy"....

                                                                                        ***

The meeting with the President of South Korea had been a total success. The president had been very courteous and understanding, or so he appeared to be and at the end of the meeting it was agreed that south Korea should send drones and fighter jets which was one of Mmiri's greatest need. 

   After his meeting with the president of South Korea, Jaachi had flown into Russia for a meeting he had with the Prime minister the next day, that also had been a success with the Prime minister opry telling him that Russia has chosen to recognize the kingdom of Mmiri as a sovereign State. A later date was scheduled for a diplomatic meeting to discuss the setting up of a Mmiri embassy there in Russia and according to the Prime minister, Russia would decide when it was safe to set up her embassy in the kingdom of Mmiri.

   Jaachi hated to admit it but his Uncle had been right. The 1st of July m******e had changed the narrative. Countries had been forced to look into the whole issue and these countries ended up supporting the Kingdom of Mmiri. It would have been hard not to when all the international news channels had to say was about the bloodbath that had taken place that day. And then there was the video that had been trending on social media of Flora and her band in the hospital. He felt his lips curved in a smile at the thought of Flora. In her own little way, she was the gift that kept on giving. She had looked beautiful in the videos, there was something so unworldly about her and some how it had been captured in the video.It was not really the fact that a group of people had decided to sing for injured patients, it was the lyrics, the way the people sang like they actually believed in what they were saying and even in the midst of such pain! The hospital videos had sparked up protests internationally as celebrities and their followers had demanded that their government step in. He had known his Uncle was right in the beginning, there was just something bone chilling about the way his Uncle had called the murder of innocent Civilians by Hendosia a 'big break'. The General had been committed to the Kingdom of Mmiri, his entire life revolves around Mmiri and like he had once pointed out, he had made it possible for them to come this far as a nation through his carefully planned strategies. Jaachi was happy that the kingdom of Mmiri had a man like him in the armed forces, there were just times when he wondered how much he really knew his Uncle.

   Jaachi knew that when it came to international relations, there was always more than meets the eye and he wasn't fooled by the sudden solidarity being offered by these foreign nations, he knew his administration needed to thread carefully or they would get tied down to a powerful nation and loose their sovereignty even before they had it.

                                                                                        ***

Despite the international outcry caused by the Killings and the sudden interest of foreign nations in Mmiri, the Kingdom was not going to leave her defence to the sympathy of foreign nations. More defense mechanisms were put in place to ensure that the July 1st m******e did not happen again. The sensors of the counter air defense system were upgraded to detect enemy planes from a farther range, soldiers were station along all the borders with Hendosia and Ms. Maopa was appointed the head of special warfare operations in the Cyber Military.

   The first thing Ms. Maopa had done after being appointed head of special warfare operations was start a training on drone strike, working together with General Tobedo Styles of the Royal airforce.. She had refused to work with the engineers unlike before and at her request, she had been assigned airmen from the Royal airforce to work with. Russia and Japan had donated a total of sixty four combat drones of the best quality and with the grilling training the airmen were receiving, Ms. Maopa knew they were not going to be caught unprepared again. The territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Mmiri was going to be protected at all costs.

                                                                                        ***

After the confrontation with Jaachi, Lola had been moved out of the palace, escorted by the Special warfare intelligence to some safe house as they had called it but she knew she was really being kept prisoner. There were gaurds stationed in the house who followed her with their eyes any time she moved. She had never felt more humiliated in her life. She had honestly thought Jaachi was going to be pissed, probably send her back to Hendosia and it had been such a welcome thought for her. She hadn't spoken to her father or sister since she came to the East, fearing that any call going to the West especially from the palace was going to be monitored and she did not want to attract attention to herself. She now wished she had called her father, hearing his voice would have been very reassuring. She was not allowed a phone here, she had been told it was for her safety but she knew better, they probably didn't want her to pass on valuable information or try to escape. It was not that she had any valuable information or any place to go if she tried to escape and the beast had not contacted her for so long, even she saw how useless it was to continue keeping her there. As if to prove her wrong, she got a flash, twice.

   " I've just got a flash." She said to the gaurds that was standing outside her door. 

   The guard made a call, spoke into the phone a bit then handed the phone over to her. " Ms. Lola". The woman on the phone said, "you will be driven by one of our agents in a taxi to your meeting spot. Do not panic, we would not let the man harm you, you would be given a little device with a red button, press it if you feel you are in danger and our agents would be there immediately. You would be picked up in thirty minutes by the same taxi when the meeting is over, please wait behind until you are sure thirty has passed then you step outside and stop the first taxi you see, it would be driven by the same agent that brought you, if otherwise please call this number.". Then the line went dead. Lola wanted to call the female agent back, cry and tell her she couldn't do it, that she was Daddy's little girl, that she stammered any time she told a lie, the beast would know. She wanted to tell the woman she was very sorry for all the harm she had caused but that she just wanted to go home but she didn't, she knew the effort would have been futile. First there was the fact that she had successfully played Jaachi for so long and then, this was a war and she knew Mmiri' would be foolish to loose such a valuable asset- that was if she proved valuable.

   She had been nervous all through the ride to Jules bar, seeing the devastation caused by Hendosia had filled her with guilt. At the safe house, she had not been allowed her phone and the little she knew about the war was what she had seen on TV but now actually seeing the destruction and knowing she might have been instrumental to it filled her with horror. She remembered everything she had seen on the news, they had said the Hendosian airmen had shot at Civilians, bombed places of worship and private buildings, killing a total of eighty Civilians and wounding many.

   The car pulled up at Jules bar and grill and Lola was given a small device, small enough for three of it to fit into an adults palm. It was unusually crowded but that was probably because many other bars had refused to open, even the streets had been empty as the people expecting another attack had lucked themselves inside their homes, to keep hope alive you needed to actually stay alive. She walked to the booth that was her usual rendezvous with the man and sat down. He was not there. She wondered what was wrong as he had always been the one to wait for her, she had started to panic when she saw him walk into the bar, he spotted her and started coming over with his right hand in his pocket and a look of utter hatred in his eyes that she was very sure he was going to kill her. She had put her hand in her pocket ready to press the button when he brought his out of his pocket and Lola saw it was empty. He slid into the seat opposite her.

   " Good evening." She said to him nervously although she had never greeted him before.

   He regarded her curiously. " I haven't had any news about the death of the Ochia, as a matter of fact, the news I did hear was that he has been flying all over the world on diplomatic meetings."

   " I .... I can explain ..... I mean I am sorry, I would do ..... you would hear news about his death very soon."

    The man was still looking at her curiously, the look was a mixture of anger and something else, like he was wondering if he should just kill her. " I also heard that you no longer stay at the palace, why is that?"

   " The palace ! Oh.. yes I don't stay at the palace again I... You know I .. like my fiance's, I mean boyfriend.. I mean the ..." She pressed the red button at the same time she saw him bring out a g*n. Royal agents stormed the bar immediately, their guns trained on him. She saw the look of surprise on his face before he aimed at her and pressed the trigger.

                                                                                             ***

  The Royal military organized a mass burial for all the soldiers who lost their lives at the July 1st m******e. Civilians who also died in the m******e and whose families agreed to it were also given a military burial. It was a quiet ceremony with all the top Military officers in attendance as the Priest prayed over the bodies and they were lain into the grave.

   General Ejiofor gave a speech. He talked simply about soldiers who fought till the end while their comrades fell about them, wounded and killed till they finally met with their own death. He talked about the civilians who had died that day, he said they were heroes and history will never forget them. He talked about heaven being on the side of the Kingdom of Mmiri, they had good on their side. He described the decision of Hendosia to attack them simply because they chose to be free as hate, entreating people who had lost their loved ones to grieve but not to hate. Hate, he said would make them just like the enemy which they were not, they were the people of Mmiri and no matter what Hendosia might do, that was something that could not be taken away because faith which works by love would always conquer hate.

   After the General's speech, Flora who had been present was asked by the soldiers to lead keep hope alive which she did, at first a bit shy, but gradually she lost all forms of self consciousness as her own voice got frawned in the voice of the multitude of people singing, people who had known pain but had refused to let their pain define them.

  Jaachi had attended the mass funeral, standing with the General's and other high ranking officers in the military. He had been moved by his Uncle's speech but more moved by Flora as she had stood singing, looking brave yet vulnerable in her little black dress, she had packed her afro hair up in a messy bun as if she hadn't really looked much at the mirror when she did it. She was beautiful. He's phone rang snapping him out of his musing. He picked the call and listened, it was the agent who was Lola's handler, when he had what she had to say, he was already rushing off to his car before he told the royal gaurds and they left the funeral ground with him in a convoy.

   Lola woke up with a splitting headache, she did not think she had died and gone to heaven, this did not feel like the peaceful bliss people described that was the after life. This felt like hell, so she knew she was still alive. As her vision focused, she noticed someone familiar sitting on the seat opposite her bed.

   " Lola, how are you feeling ?" Jaachi asked gently.

   " Like hell." She replied laughing. " What are you doing here Jaachi, don't you have some kingdom to run?"

   " Yeah well.... A friend of mine just got short at."

  " Friend of yours ?"

  " One care free, witty, smart, spoiled Daddy's girl."

  " And was that all she was to you, a friend ?" She asked, a little needy.

   " She was that and alot more. Are you not supposed to rest?"

   " Ah! His tired of me already now he wants to drive me off to sleep."

   " It's not that, it's just ..... " He swallowed speechless for the first time in a very long time. " You really scared me, and now you're looking so pale, I just want you to get better."

   It was her turn to be stunned. "I thought you did not care about me anymore." She said feeling tears sting her eyes. "I'm sorry, I know you've always hated my crying is just I was , I have I - "

   " Shhh!" He said kneeling down beside her. "It's okay Lola it's okay."

   " So you forgive me?"

   " There's not much to forgive. You were alone, away from all your family because you wanted to be there for me and I should have tried to find out how you came, instead I was just so absorbed in myelf and my own problems."

  " Wow !". She said softly, she took his hand in her's and squeezed it gently. "I never thought I would here you say those words.". She smiled sadly. "So, we cool?"

  " You know the answer. See, as soon as your ok, the Royal gaurds are going to help you cross the border."

  She was crying. " Thank you, thank you so much Jaachi. It's been so long, I guess I just want to go home." She wiped her tears and blew her nose on the hospital gown before he had the chance to give her a handkey. She laughed at the expression on his face. " So what of..... "

   " Who ?"

   " You know who."

   " I'm in love with her." He said softly.

   " I know." She said, " It shows."