Desperate for one touch [Part ii]

In a bid to take my mind of my ailment I had to come up with ideas to help secure my newly acquired position. This disease not only served as a threat to my wife and unborn children but also to my career. My appointment, though greeted with much celebration would soon become a thing of the past, and one of the several officers eyeing my newly acquired rank, would not hesitate to take over.

So I suggested to the Prime Minister that we secure his newly expanded kingdom by dominating the remaining two countries that shared boundaries with us. He was impressed with this suggestion and quickly gave the go-ahead to launch an attack, starting with the smaller of the two countries. With no trouble at all we conquered the smaller of the two countries, wasting no time in attacking the second country.

After an extreme and fierce four-day battle, our troops gained a substantial advantage. The king of this country (called Sion) seeing that he had more or less lost the battle, offered a compromise and a peace treaty was signed. The king of Sion was to remain in power but under the command of our Prime Minister. Peace reigned in our newly founded kingdom for years to come, quite divergent to my own circumstance; peace was far out of my reach.

My lovely wife, tirelessly sought solution after solution, informing me at least once a week, of some new herbalist or seer who professed to have a cure, urging me to diligently take whatever brew they prepared. Sometimes it seemed like she was the one with the ailment.

On one of such days, a well known doctor whose fame had spread far and wide came with a supposed cure, a potent mix of rare and powerful herbs that had a history of curing unknown and unnamed diseases. My wife, albeit too willingly believed “this time” a cure was truly in sight. She sent me the potent drink through her maid, a girl newly acquired from Sion.

To be honest I knew nothing would change but it was either I drank it peacefully or I would undoubtedly be entertained with my wife’s wails and rants, which would eventually force me to still take the drink. The doctor had promised that the first signs of a cure would be evident twelve hours after consuming the brew and that in three days the improvement would become even more visible; as long as I took the drink within the stipulated times.

My wife visited four days later, deciding to add an extra day to the prescribed three days, expecting great improvement. Of course she was utterly disappointed and this time did not bother to hide her dejection and sorrow. I offered no words of comfort, as her obvious pain caused a dryness in my throat.

Meanwhile, during the four days of strictly swallowing the foul “miracle drink”, I had noticed the new maid from Sion, whose name I later found out to be Abi, throwing curious glances at me. There was a peaceful confidence in the midst of her deference and I had a feeling she was eager to say something. Or was this all my imagination?

Maybe this ailment was causing my mind to play tricks on me because it was highly abnormal for victims of war such as her, to maintain any signs of whatever happiness and confidence they might have had before the war, besides, she was only a child, most certainly in her pre teens, where did her confidence come from?

On the fourth day, as my wife left my chambers with her shoulders down, I noticed Abi following my wife briskly and eagerly. Something was clearly brewing.

The next day my wife came up with a strange request – that I pay a visit to the most renowned seer in Ai’s country, Sion.

I was already tired of my numerous experiences with the various seers and doctors who had promised unfailing cure and was about to decline when my wife quickly continued talking, saying that as surely as she knew the back of her hand, this time would be different, for Tabitha had said confidently that the seer would most certainly cure me. My wife then proceeded to share endless tales of this powerful seer’s exploits, especially the one about raising someone from the dead, and reminded me that I had nothing to lose but all to gain. Oh such innocent confidence!

Seeing my distracted state, my wife again urged me to give this a try, offering to accompany me on the trip. I immediately dissuaded her, pointing out that things were still delicate between the two countries. Besides, I also did not want to see her disappointed yet again.

Truth be told, I was impressed with her optimism, I was almost sure that yesterday she had given up on finding a cure, (not that I would blame her, I was fed up myself) but here she was speaking with such confidence and hope. Matter of fact it seemed like the confidence I saw in my wife mirrored that of Abi’s; and for some reason I couldn't fathom, I myself (for the 1 time in more than eight months) felt confident and excited. My confidence didn't match that of my wife’s or Abi’s, but it was there. I immediately told Josh to make preparations for a trip to Sion.

Perhaps a cure was truly in sight.

The next day I informed the Prime Minister of my intentions to visit Sion, sharing some of the stories my wife had told me and he was immediately supportive.

“By all means go.” he replied. “And a letter from me will make a difference.”

I left immediately for Sion, accompanied with a sizeable amount of trusted soldiers, one hundred coins of silver, six thousand gold pieces, a varied assortment of raiment, ornaments and gifts fit for nobles, as well as the Prime Minister’s letter.

Upon reaching the palace of the king of Sion, I waited outside with my troop while I sent one of my men to present the letter to him. He returned within minutes with the king’s palace officials who ushered us to a comfortable spot within the palace encouraging us to feel at home as we awaited the king’s reply.

Josh, who had come with me for obvious reasons, began to make enquiries as to whether the powerful seer would be found within the kings walls and how soon he would be free of his duties to attend to us. In the course of his enquiries he found out (and narrated to me) the king’s distress over the letter from my Prime Minister, insisting on a cure for my condition.

Josh quickly clarified the situation and word eventually reached the seer informing him of the situation at hand. The seer then sent a reply to the king asking me to come over to his house. Josh conveyed this message to me and within minutes we were on our way. Fortunately his house was less than five kilometers from the king’s palace.

Written by Nkoyo Itegboje

Nkoyo Itegboje is a writer based in Lagos, Nigeria. You can connect with her via her facebook page https://www.facebook.com/nkoyo.itegboje or send her an email via kitegboje@yahoo.com