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  “I will wait for you in the bedroom?” Babatunde asked with a hopeful tone in his voice.

  They bantered in that light conversation as they headed for their private quarters within the palace.

  Chapter Six

  The reception room of the First Lady was crowded, and Ife sighed the minute she walked in. Her usual irritation rose and she tried to form a blank face so she would not let the private assistant see her state. However, there was a different warmth to the last time she was at that office. The PA as he was generally called had a warmer smile and was all over her asking if she wanted a drink before she could see the First lady. Flipping sycophant, I am not different from the last time, but I have a title now and he thinks he can fawn on me. She kept a straight, pleasant face and asked for water.

  Minutes later she was ushered into the presence of Her Excellency. She remembered just in time that she was not to curtsy but just incline her head and try to be imperious. Ife grinned inwardly, enjoying the moment as the First Lady rose from her seat and came towards her hands outstretched. “Your Highness…”

  “Your who—” Ife asked silently, then grinned as she became conscious that she was the one being addressed as your highness. In a different realm, that address came naturally but here on Earth she was having trouble adjusting to it. On the Island, it was a call to service and work.

  Ife inclined her head and accepted a seat. It was unreal for her listening to the First Lady and experiencing something else. She saw the threads of loneliness that wove itself tightly around the woman, saw the uncertainty and confusion, and she was surprised. She had not noticed that before on her earlier visits.

  When the PA came in she was alarmed to notice that the fellow almost had no misty up but a dark greed and lust surrounded his body.

  Holy Lights above, these fellows need more help than I ever imagined.

  “I am hoping you will have time now to be part of my vanguard and join my organization; we could be useful to each other you know. Even before you became the queen we wanted your invaluable contribution to our cause.”

  As the First Lady rambled on, Ife was wondering how soon she could leave. She had promised the Lion that she would not rock the boat and be diplomatic. But where in heavens name was she going to have time to hold inane conversations when she had to divide her time between the palace and the hospital?

  The first Lady had finished speaking and waited expectantly. Ife was blank for a few seconds then regathered her thoughts. She gracefully thanked the lady for the invitation, accepted she would do everything within her power to be available but also sought understanding that, her time was now stretched thin between the hospital and the palace. She invited the First Lady to pay them a visit sometime so the women of the town could express their appreciation for the beautiful work the First Lady was doing for women and children in the state. Inwardly she watched herself in disgust, astounded at her ability to just mutter total nonsense. Where did I get the stupid idea to invite her to the town and the women want to thank her? For what? The bad roads? No ante-natal clinic except the traditional birth attendants, that this government was planning to scrap without the benefit of training or alternative jobs. Her bile rose and she instinctively stood up trying to bring her emotions under control. The First Lady stood up too, surprised. Ife explained that she wanted to ask her attendant to bring in the small gift she had brought for Her Excellency. The interval gave her time to bring herself under control.

  She realized on a finer level the type of responsibility she had as the Olori and how she must find how to abide different realms of humanity.

  She needed space, and a quiet place to contemplate this new recognition. She suffered the pleasantries she now knew she must go through and stepped up silently to that job.

  Forty five minutes later she could gracefully leave. They parted on very jovial terms.

  Ife had a blistering headache by the time she got to the hospital and slipped into appropriate clothes for her ward rounds. She had a difficult case on her hands and she tried as much as possible to divest herself of the thoughts of the First Lady as she went to the ward to see how her patient was faring.

  She found Matron sitting by the patient talking and holding the woman’s hand. Ife was not sure if this was Matron or Raingirl so she approached cautiously not wanting to alarm the lady.

  She understood why Matron was with the patient. The woman had been rushed in yesterday bleeding and screaming. It was a case of domestic violence. The husband in a fit of rage had thrown a pestle at her and it had hit her pregnancy bump. It was touch and go for everyone. Ife had been in the theatre for more than two hours trying to save the woman and her baby. Luckily it was good news for both of them. The baby was now under observation in ICU while the woman had been kept sedated.

  Matron looked at Ife as she approached and Ife was relieved to see the eyes of Matron glint with determination. Ife asked the woman if she was feeling okay, but her eyes were unfocused as she rolled them in her head and complained of a headache. Some clear liquid was coming out of her nose. Ife immediately knew something was badly wrong. She leaned on her emergency bell summoning her colleague.

  Matron left to fetch more nurses and they rushed the woman to the CT scan immediately. Dr. Obinna came flying in, his white coat billowing. Ife quickly told him what she suspected and he nodded grimly that he suspected an aneurysm but wanted it confirmed with a CT scan. He tried to talk to the woman but the lady rolled her eyes again and lost consciousness.

  The next hour was extremely stressful as all efforts to save the woman failed. She died on the theatre table and Ife trembled uncontrollably with the shock of losing the woman. She agonized that maybe if she had stayed with the woman they would have saved her. She felt guilty for paying a courtesy visit, and grew miserable.

  She walked like in a trance towards the waiting room, sat down and slowly removed her gloves. She felt tired, drained, and she cried silently. An old woman walked towards her and enquired timidly if she could be directed to the ward for she had come to see her daughter. Ife stood up in horror when she recognized that the woman was asking after the one who had just died. Ife looked around frantically just as Dr. Obinna came to her. Ife pointed to the woman and told the old woman that the doctor would explain to her. Ife fled to her room and sobbed.

  Tinu found her in the morning still curled on her couch where she had obviously spent the night. Tinu begged her to explain what was going on. Ife, now awake, gulped as she remembered the events of the previous day.

  “Kabiyesi was worried as you did not pick up your phone nor return home last night,” Tinu said, by way of explaining her presence so early in the morning.

  Ife bit her lip as she struggled not to give way to tears. As a doctor she had expected to lose a patient or two in the course of her job. She had seen death before and really ought to be tough by now, but for some reason this had felt personal. She sat up as she remembered last night’s cesarean birth and broke down again wondering who was going to take care of the infant now that its mother was dead. It took Tinu a while to get Ife to talk.

  “I used to feel doctors were trained not to have feelings, you know. When my son died, the doctor told me about it in a very cold way. I remember he said I could always have another baby. When a woman loses a baby, the elders tell her that it is the water that poured away not the container. It made me feel like a container for all time. Lucas just drops his seed in a container and I grow the baby for him. But this case is different: a woman just lost her daughter and she is too old to have another. I am sorry Olori, I know how you feel.”

  The speech brought Ife out of her misery and she wiped her tears. “I had better find out what is being done about the infant.”

  Ife called the Matron asking for news of the infant. She listened for a while, sighed, and looked at Tinu. “A younger sister has been in to take care of the infant and the police have arrested the husband.”

  Tinu said, “I don’t understand”
>
  Ife explained as she made her way to the bathroom. “Why did she marry the lout? Because she was expected to marry. It was her duty to do so. If she had learned to be a woman first, she probably would have taken her time deciding if she wanted to marry or not. From the day a girl child is born, we prepare her for marriage as if that is the only reason she incarnated here. Oh Lights above, I am also married now.” She slammed the bathroom door shut.

  Ife insisted on carrying out her morning rounds before leaving for the palace with Tinu. She made a caustic remark about being ordered back to the palace. She was angry and restless. Babatunde took one look at her, raised his eyebrows at Tinu, and said nothing. Ife flounced off to her bedroom and shut the door with a loud click. She remained in that bad mood for the rest of the day.

  The next morning at the breakfast table Babatunde asked her to explain what had upset her the previous day and she recounted the experience. She was calmer now, but she still felt it was an unnecessary waste of a vibrant life and she wondered why men felt they needed that amount of violence to assert their authority.

  Babatunde was quiet as she talked and he sighed when she had finished. “I think we really don’t understand the role of the woman in our lives and sadly the women don’t understand. Remember in our culture, you are not allowed to call your husband by his first name until you have a child for him.”

  Ife said she accepted that as a need to maintain a sense of respect, not necessarily have the servant/master mentality, but wife battering had very little to do with respect. Babatunde gave her a nod; he told her that she had her job cut out for her as she needed to speak to the women to understand this concept. Ife objected, saying it was not the women that needed talking to but the men and she wondered why Kabiyesi himself should not invite Babamogba to talk to the men. They argued the subject amicably as Babatunde explained more about his meeting with the chiefs and that he was seriously thinking of taking on a private secretary.

  Ife wondered how he was going to pay for his plans. “From my salary of course.” Babatunde reminded her that he was placed on the government’s payroll as a Kabiyesi and they both laughed.

  A protocol officer approached and saluted. He asked if it was okay to allow a visitor into the reception hall. Ife knitted her brows and asked if he had collected information on the visitor. She explained to the officer that he was to just bring the visitor’s introductory form and present it to Kabiyesi.

  The officer nodded and said he had offered that but the visitor had simply rejected a form and insisted on waiting until the king could see him. Ife and Babatunde were puzzled. Babatunde rose from the chair and asked that the officer should escort the visitor to the ante room, not the open reception hall, and offer him whatever drink he wanted and wait with him there. “Don’t tell him anything that I am on my way or any such information; simply do as I have asked you to do and stay by the door.”

  “Yes Kabiyesi,” the officer said, and left.

  “You know who it is?”

  “Sasa just told me—it is our mutual friend, Adewunmi. I don’t think he wants anybody to see him so I will ask Sasa to brief me before I go into the ante-room.”

  “He still wants to make trouble for you?”

  “No Princess, three days ago he attempted suicide. We have kept it quiet. He only goes out at night and it must be very important for him to want to see me in the morning.”

  “I thought you had reversed his punishment…”

  “The oracle did, Princess, and I have told Babamogba that I am not interested in claiming him as a first skull. Every man has a right to aspire to the highest; I have no fight with Adewunmi. I offered him safe passage. He is not asked to drink from the calabash or required to open one. I expressly forbade it. I think his pain is intense enough and I don’t want to add to his misery.”

  Ife rose from her seat and went up close. Babatunde held her hand very briefly, smiled, and left the private room.

  ~~~

  Tinu sat across Ife that same evening in the private room that Ife used in the palace. They were shelling melon seeds. “I really can’t get over you being upset last week. I hope you are much better now.” Tinu emptied one handful of shelled melon into the bowl.

  Ife was momentarily puzzled then her brow cleared as she remembered. “As it had turned out, Tinu, it really wasn’t being upset as much as a cry against an attitude we have entrenched into our cultural psyche. I simply can’t understand why a woman would allow herself to be battered by her husband and she says it is part of the challenges of marriage. Where in heaven’s name did they come up with that concept? Don’t we know what it means to be a woman?”

  Tinu shrugged. “A woman is not expected to raise her voice against her husband, Olori, and you know that. We are expected to be meek and mild. In fact we are not expected to show passion and we are looked upon as whores if we so much as moan when the wretch sweats his passion out.”

  Ife said irritatingly, “I was not exactly talking about that part of it, silly.”

  Tinu sat straight up on the traditional stool and fixed a level stare at Ife. “And why ever can we not include that in this conversation, Olori?”

  “Stop referring to me as that,” Ife snapped.

  “Don’t make this into a fight, because I want you to really take a hard look at the subject you just brought up. Take a look at this palace for instance, you are intelligent, a medical doctor, but you are expected to be at the palace twenty-four seven as they say. You have proved to be a rebel as your aunty has been claiming, because you still go out to work. The general view around here is that you are too proud to submit to Kabiyesi your husband and king. They view you with intense disapproval. That is why only a handful attended the meeting of women you called. They question where you get the moral standing to call for a meeting when you are hardly a wife.”

  Ife, who had been staring at Tinu in shock, swallowed as tears welled in her eyes. She stood up and looked out the window. She took several deep breaths.

  Tinu was in tears already and wrung her hands, but she did not leave.

  Ife saw the determination in Tinu’s eyes.

  “Looks like you still have more to spill, so I am listening”

  “I am your friend, Olori. I was just feeding you what was going on so you would know.”

  Ife kept silent for a few seconds struggling with her thoughts but she still invited Tinu to say more if she wanted to.

  Tinu shook her head as she wiped her face with the back of her hand. That action was so innocently like a reprimanded little girl that Ife suppressed a smile. “I understand what you are trying to tell me, I am not a block of stone, so you should know that it would hurt. I accept that you would not deliberately hurt me. Calm down and tell me what the women think, and particularly what my aunty said.”

  There was silence for a few seconds then Tinu offered the information that actually stung: a comment by the female prime minister that Ife had not deemed it fit to inform her first about the proposed meeting before it was announced.

  Ife laughed out loud. “Yeye Lobirin must have taken one calabash of palm wine too many. I am definitely under no obligation to inform her ahead of time—what or who does she think she is? My boss or my king?”

  “Neither, I imagine”

  “Neither, as a fact,” Ife asserted firmly. She sighed as she resumed her seat on the traditional stool. She held Tinu’s hands as she urged her friend to sit down. “Do you remember years ago when you wanted to marry Lucas and I told you that you were not giving yourself a chance to find out who you really were before becoming a wife and mother in quick succession?”

  “I am still married to Lucas,” Tinu said

  “Yes, I know you are still married to him and I am happy to see that the association is working out, but remember all the agonies you went through when you fell for Adejare. You never really knew if you could have done something except the beans and corn that is adalu, that you sell now. You are pretty artistic you know.”
/>   “I don’t think so, Olori, I probably would have been a gold or kolanut trader, but it would still have been trading.”

  Ife noted that Tinu was not interested in pursuing that line of discussion. She saw the restless fear coming into Tinu’s eyes. Even with my only friend here I have to go slowly, she thought to herself. She felt lonely. She needed to have a friend of an intellectual standard. I can’t stay stupid forever now, can I? Tinu sighed and Ife saw a determined, scrutinizing look transform her face, so she mentally steeled herself, but Tinu seemed to have changed her mind as she asked permission to leave.

  When Tinu left, Ife sat by her bedroom window in deep thought. What is my role here? Was she expected to simply enjoy being a queen and forget about talking to the women? She knew deep within her she could not do that. Ife knew she had to find a way to help the women. They had to learn how to protect themselves.

  A voice floated into her, Why don’t you light the flame within them? It is not about telling stories alone to young girls anymore.

  A woman first fulfills her mission as the transition point of incarnation. Look into creation and to the Rose Island for guidance, Princess Numen.

  Princess Numen closed her eyes and allowed the clear air to flow into her. She saw far into the distance and she knew she had a long journey in front of her. Kadine emitted waves of strength and she gently patted its sides as they continued on the journey. She was alone this time and the light had dimmed just a little. Adura had explained that if she wanted to reach the outer reaches of the first pillar she would need to leave early. Dawn was still far off but she knew she had made good progress. She dismounted and decided she needed to spend a few minutes within the very beautiful garden she found there. The stream murmured quietly as it meandered its away into infinity, or as it seemed to Numen. She saw some apple-like fruits in the distance and decided that would be her breakfast. Kadine settled himself a little bit away looking for his own food. Numen picked a few fruit and wiped them on the edge of her cloak.