Chapter 5: Chapter 5
CHAPTER FOUR
Cythera became alarmed when she noticed her daughter experiencing morning sickness and throwing up at the slightest irritation. Cythera took her to the health centre where she was confirmed pregnant.
“Cynthia, who put you in the family way?” Cythera snapped, with her nostrils flared in a sure signal of suppressed anger. They were still in the health centre, but she could not control her curiosity so with disappointment and anger she poured out her frustration on the frightened girl.
Cynthia winced as her eyes became wet with suppressed tears. She was shivering suddenly. “Who put you in the family?” Cythera repeated, “This is a big embarrassment...”
Azar came to meet them at the health centre wearing a worried look, “What is the problem with Cynthia?” he asked as he looked from mother to daughter expectantly.
“Your daughter is pregnant!” Cythera blurted out worriedly,
“What! How can it be?” he asked as he turned to his daughter whose eyelids drooped downward as she still shivered with fear. “Is this why you brought me back so that I can be put to shame?”
Cythera allowed the tears to flow freely from her eyes as she curtsied before her husband, “My husband, you shall not be put to shame...”
“I must know who got you pregnant, meanwhile, let us go home.” He said with a note of finality as he dragged Cynthia home.
Immediately they settled at home, Cynthia went before them. “I’m sorry Papa and Mama; I didn’t mean to disgrace the family...” Cynthia said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. She curtsied before them with tear-filled eyes.
“You didn’t mean to disgrace the family? You didn’t know that meeting with a man out of wedlock will result in unwanted pregnancy?” Cythera mocked, “Cynthia, I put so much hope in you! How could you do this?”
“Who is responsible?” Azar asked, “If you don’t answer me now, I will beat you, stripped you naked, and send you out of the ...”
“It is Prince Liam...” she was trembling vigorously with tears spilling from her eyes as she stuttered bitterly.
“The prince?” Azar and Cythera chorused in unbelief, they looked at each other with surprise and shock.
“Are you sure of what you just said?” Azar asked in unbelief.
“It is true, Papa, I didn’t know anybody else.”
That very evening, Azar took his daughter to see the king and complained; the king was shocked and said it could not be true. “Azar, you are not an alien in this community; you know it is an abomination for an heir apparent to entangle with someone who is not from a royal home not to talk of impregnating such a person.”
“Your majesty, it baffles me also, but my daughter insisted it was the prince who put her in the family way and considering that people have been seeing them together for some time now.”
“Liam can never make such costly mistake; he knew the implications!” King Zedekiah insisted,
Cynthia burst into fresh tears, “Your majesty, he is the one who impregnated me...”
“My daughter, you should be ashamed of yourself, you want to reap where you did not sow?” King Zedekiah retorted, “For your information, Liam is engaged to be married to a Princess from a neighbouring kingdom. He cannot be the one who got you pregnant; you only allowed yourself to be fooled!”
“Your majesty!” Azar protested but one of the palace guards asked him to shut up. “You don’t bandy words with his majesty!” the guards bellowed,
“I’m sorry, your majesty but...” he stuttered. The king waved him to shut up. “Don’t say anything again. Everyone knows how irresponsible you were to your family.” King Zedekiah retorted, “This is one of the prizes of irresponsible behaviour of the family head. Assuming you have stayed to perform your role as a father in the life of your daughter, this costly mistake would not have occurred in the first place.”
Azar kept muted as he looked at his daughter angrily, meanwhile, Prince Liam was called to confirm if it was true, and he vehemently denied it to the shock and embarrassment of Cynthia and Azar.
After Azar and Cynthia left the palace, King Zedekiah called his son into the room and asked him, “Are you sure you are not the owner of that pregnancy?”
“Papa, I swear, I’m not responsible for her pregnancy, though I can’t deny that I don’t know her, but for me to descend so low and sleep with her...”
“Liam, it is an abomination for a royal blood to be born outside wedlock; it can spell doom for the kingdom.” King Zedekiah warned, “Tell me the truth now and save yourself a lot of headaches tomorrow.”
“Papa, don’t you trust me? I am not a kid and I know what I am doing. I am only being of help to her and her miserable family; I am not responsible for her pregnancy.”
“That girl would not have guts to accuse you if you do not have a hand in her predicament...” the king insisted, “I only believe you because that is what is expected of me; I cannot believe the report of an outsider over the report of my son.”
“Thank you, Papa, for believing me.” Prince Liam said and wanted to hug his father, but the king raised his staff of office and stopped him midway.
“Don’t thank me, Liam, if truly you are responsible, it is still not too late, think about it tonight and confess to me tomorrow, if not, you are invoking a curse upon yourself and curses are like Chickens, they come home to roost.” He snapped. “For your sake and the sake of the kingdom, open up now!”
Prince Liam shrugged his shoulders, bowed grudgingly, and left his father’s presence.
As they returned home that evening, Azar made it known that he cannot harbour Cynthia and the bastard in her womb. “It is either you leave, go and find the person who got you pregnant or I leave the house for you and your mother.” He threatened, “If I leave you now, nobody will blame me because they would know it is for a justifiable reason,”
“My husband, how can you talk like that? Please, don’t leave...” Cythera pleaded. “We will find the solution to the issue.”
Cynthia locked herself in her room that night and wept bitterly, “Liam, you tricked me into accepting you and I loved you unconditionally, I accepted you wholeheartedly; I never knew any other man, but what did I get from you after all? You denied me because of your so-called inheritance. Liam, because of this shame you brought upon me, you will never know peace, even if you eventually ascend the throne.” She continued weeping until she fell into a troubled sleep.
●●●
The next morning, Cythera took her daughter to her village in Kurinma where her aged mother lived. Grandma joyfully and wholeheartedly accepted her granddaughter.
“Cynthia, to safe yourself more embarrassments and safe the family, you will be living with my mother until you put to bed.”
Cynthia who was short of words simply carried her bags inside and went to lie down in the bedroom while her mother conversed with grandma.
That midnight, her grandma came to her bedroom and met her, “Cynthia my beloved granddaughter, I’m sorry about what happened, I don’t want you to be discouraged and don’t be embittered with yourself. Whatever happens to one in life is for a reason; you can still make something meaningful of your life. Please see it as a temporal setback, not a final setback.”
“Thank you so much, grandma...” she whispered as fresh tears trickled down her eyes,
“We shall be going to farm together and don’t worry, there is enough food for us at home and on the farm...”
“I trust you on that.” She smiled sadly and hugged her grandmother before her grandmother left for her room.
A week later, Prince Liam got engaged to Princess Celandine who came from the neighbouring kingdom in a lavish ceremony. It was during the ceremony that Prince Liam was officially presented as the heir apparent of the Kuburin Kingdom.
Some months after, Cynthia gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, and he was christened Abeonego. When Grandma saw the baby, tears of joy trickled down her aged eyes, “Cynthia, the gods have smiled on you; they have given you a special bundle of joy. This boy will bring you untold happiness; he shall be great and shall be a great blessing to this generation.”
Cynthia smiled weakly and solemnly said, “Amen,”
Princess Celandine also gave birth to a baby boy to the joy of the royal family and was christened Amadeus. Four years after, King Zedekiah died, and Prince Liam ascended the throne.
Eighteen years down the line, Prince Amadeus had grown into a handsome young man, but he was arrogant, lazy, and power drunk. He was the colossus of the community’s eyes because he was the heir to the throne. He misbehaved at will and got away with it. It got to a time, the Kuburin kingdom was being invaded by her old enemy; the kingdom of Kambam who carted away their farm produces, abducted Kuburin sons and daughters as slaves. Kuburin kingdom gathered their young men and went to war with Kambam and they were defeated with heavy casualties which had never happened before.
The people of Kuburin began to live in fear which made them stopped going to the farm and the river because of the fear of being attacked by the warriors of Kambam. This got King Liam very worried to the extent he became sick because he was scared Kambam could overthrow him and take over his throne.
“Your majesty, I want to suggest you send for the Chief Priest; he might have the solution to this conundrum.” Queen Celandine suggested one evening while nursing her husband.
King Liam pondered over it for some seconds and smiled at his wife, “This is a wonderful suggestion; I wonder why I have not given it a thought before, even it didn’t occur to my council of chiefs.”
“Everybody is worried and because of that couldn’t think straight,” Queen Celandine said, “I’m so happy, I have been able to make you smile after a long time.” She added sweetly and smiled seductively.
“I will summon the Chief Priest first thing tomorrow morning.” King Liam returned her smile.
“Your majesty, I want you to eat something now before you retire to bed...” she coerced lovingly.
King Liam was able to eat little before retiring to bed; he had a resounding sleep because of the light he saw at the end of the tunnel.