Twenty Nine

"Asake sat at the garden remembering her afternoon with her supposed fiance. She had actually tried,this time. She tried to make it work,she smiled at his jokes even t hough she thought they weren't very funny. She wanted it to make this work but then he started moving to fast. He had tried to touch a little too often and each time she felt more uncomfortable than the last. Another thing that made her sure it wouldn't work was the way he treated the servants. He looked at the male servant that came to serve us like he was dirt under his shoes. The poor servant looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there but he composed himself,of course he did. He was a servant so he had no choice but to be.

"Like that wasn't bad enough,he was busy looking at the female servant longingly while I was sitting in front of him. That definitely hurt my pride. Out of frustration,I dismissed the servants they seemed relieved,except the servant that he had been gawking shamelessly at. She winked at him and he smirked. She was disgusted but she kept quiet.

"She cleared her throat to gain his attention and he said,'Don't get all jealous now,You'll be the woman I come back to everytime.'

He hadn't even respected her enough to pretend. For heaven's sake,she was a princess. She was used to getting all the attention,now her future husband was telling her she was never going to be enough.

"She had really wanted to try this time. Why couldn't be a good man? A nice one? Why couldn't she just be happy?

"When her mother asked her how it went. She explained everything to her and her mother burst out laughing.

'Oh,my dear that's normal. No man sticks to one woman but he could have been respectful about it. It was the first time you were meeting and his eyes were on a maid.'

Asake was happy that her mother understood her a little. She thought it was going to be called off but her next words shattered her hopes.

'I'll speak to him. You don't have to worry. You are a princess,no man gets to embarrass you like this. He will change, don't worry.'

'He won't. A man like that doesn't change,he can only shed his skin for a while and pretend. He can never really change.' She said to herself.

'Mother,I do not want you to talk to him,I want you to call it off.'

'No! I shall do no such thing.'

'Why? Didn't you say you love me? If you love me then how can you make me marry someone like that?'

'Someone like what? All men are the same. You won't find one better, you'll only find worse.'

'Lies!'

'Oh my dear child, I'm sorry but that's just how the world works.'

'Then,the world is sick!'' She said and stormed out. She ran to her room and lied in her bed thinking over everything that happened that day. She wondered if she was really supposed to be happy. She wondered why getting married was seen as something of joy if the kind of embarrassment she faced today was a normal thing. She turned and turned in her bed and finally slept but it didn't last long though as she woke up in the middle of the night.

"She suddenly felt thirsty so she got up to get some water. On her way she heard whispers. At first,she ignored it but something compelled her to follow the voices and know what was happening and she did,against her better judgement.

The whispers were coming from the throne room. The closer the got the more she began to doubt that it was such a good idea. She saw her parents in an heated argument. They were arguing about her.

'What are you doing to your daughter?' My father said.

'What do you even mean by that?'

'You know what I'm talking about. She's better than this and she can definitely do better than that prince who can't control his male organ.'

'Like you can,right?' She said and her father hung his head in shame.

'Answer me,you hypocrite!'

'I know I've made my mistakes but that doesn't mean my daughter should suffer in the hands of that bastard.'

'Our daughter.' She corrected.

'Our daughter, she's mine too and I love her whatever I'm doing is for her own good.'

'What you think is in her best interest might not be. You claim to love your daughter but do you even know her? Is this what she really wants?'

'Oh,I know what she wants and it's not good for her. I'm giving her what she needs to survive.'

Asake's eves dropping was interupted by Jumoke.

'Asake,what are you doing?'

'Nothing.' she said and walked away.

Jumoke followed her to her room. She sat in her bed starring into space.

'What is it,Asake? What did you hear?'

'Oh, nothing. Just that I have no say, however on what happens in my life.'

'Asake,..'

'Don't Jumoke. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear how you're going to make this madness make some sense. I don't want to hear how you to encourage me to do it.'

Jumoke carefully thought about her words, realizing what they meant.

'You're going to run away.'

'What other option do I have?'

'You could stay. You don't have to marry the man. Look,father doesn't agree so I'm sure if we...'

'Stop it Jumoke. I've had enough. You and I both know how things work here. If mother wants something,she gets it. She is the true leader of this kingdom,not father. She always wins but she won't win this time. I won't let her.'

'I can't stop you,can I?'

'No,you can't.'

'When?'Jumoke asked and they both understood what the question meant and what power it held.

'At the break of dawn.'

Jumoke wanted to say more,she wanted to convince her to stay but for some reason she knew it would be pointless. She said,'I wish you luck.' and walked out. She didn't believe this was goodbye,she thought her sister would be back."

Their captor paused as if the story was beginning to drain her of her strength.

"So,was her sister right? Did she come back?"

"She is curious,Alani. Do you want to answer her question?" Alani looked down unable to answer the question directed at him.

"Don't worry,I will give her an answer for you. Apeke,she never came back because she was unable to leave in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"That night Asake had a visitor. She was unable to sleep that night. She couldn't help starring at the walls,as she was lost in thought she heard a whisper,a signal. One that she thought she would never hear again. At first she was in shock,not willing to believe what it meant,then she stood up with the determination to confirm her thoughts. She couldn't know for sure if it was him or not. She couldn't know for sure if he had really come here if she didn't check and she was going to do just that. She followed the sound and was shocked that her suspicions were true. She had to pinch herself to actually believe that Alani had come looking for her. He was actually there."

"Why did she find that so hard to believe?" Apeke asked.

".. because even though she didn't blame him,she didn't think he cared enough about her to sneak into the palace,where he was known as the good for nothing who made the princess loose her focus... He could have been in a whole lot of trouble. If he was discovered he would most likely be beaten up in order to teach him a lesson and in that moment,I admired his foolish bravery so much that I fell in love with him all over again."

At first their captor didn't notice because she was so lost in her own thoughts that she slipped up and admitted that she was the heroine in her story but Apeke didn't but she kept quiet.

"So,what happened next?"

"Come on,tell her."Their captor said to Alani.

"Tell her what happened next."

Alani looked down in shame.

"I swear if you don't tell her,I'll make sure she suffers the same fate I did." Their captor spat with venom making sure they understood that it wasn't just a threat but a promise.

"F-fine..