Onochie had not yet recovered from the previous day. Every now and then, he winced hard as he recalled how close he'd been to getting found out. It was amazing that he'd even survived the entire ordeal. He'd been so close to wetting himself out of the terror that had held him captive. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but the wrapper that'd become soaked with his crotch sweat begged to differ. It was not so much a far cry from the scenario that seemed so impossible now.

Fortunately, he had not encountered her in another happenstance moment. He was unsure what he would do if she strolled into his palace while a meeting with his chiefs was in progress, and he was seated on his throne with all the faked airs and grace of a monarch. With each passing day, he felt like he was more and more of a fraud.

Yet, he was not confident enough to admit that to anyone other than himself. If he could continue this facade for as long as he ruled, the question to anyone who expected more from him was, why couldn't he continue his deceit? He would only pretend to be enough. Nothing more, nothing less. He had no reason to change as long as he wasn't hurting others.

Waving a hand at his servants, Onochie watched disinterestedly as the plates disappeared into thin air. Iwegbuna was stood before him, a sombre expression upon him. Onochie was inclined to resume ignoring him. He'd started this pact of silence from the instant the man showed up with his empty-headed followers, and he had naught motivation to break it.

"My king, you have not spoken to us since we arrived in your presence. Might it be that we have offended you in one way or the other?" Iwegbuna started, his false pretentious air cocooning about him as he launched his solipsistic query.

Onochie knew why they were there. And he wasn't going to give them what they wanted. They could badger him and compliment him a thousand times for all he cared; he would not be tending to their ridiculous demands.

"Please speak, my lord, so that we can beg your mercy and be eased of this guilt strangling us. Please have mercy on your servants."

"Have mercy, Eze'm." The rest echoed like a chorus they'd been asked to rehearse before entering the palace. Onochie mused that the idea was not so far-fetched as one might assume.

Iwegbuna was a master of schemes, and he was known to not give up on a plan on he had his rotten mind set on it. If getting the men to pretend to be saddened as if in grief for a love once lost could earn him the king's approval, then he very well could have arranged for it. Onochie still was waiting for the day the man would get struck down by the thunder god for his deceitfulness.

Feeling that his silence had gone on for long enough, Onochie cleared his throat to end the clamouring and turned on the initiator of the gathering. "Iwegbuna, what do you want from me?"

"My king, it is not what I want, but rather that which will benefit the kingdom."

Onochie barely kept from scoffing, betraying the disbelief coursing through him. "Is that so? Why don't you remind me of this proposal you have for me?" He swiped his Nza at a buzzing fly while enjoying the vein ticking furiously in Iwegbuna's forehead. Perhaps he had gone a tinge too far. Onochie thought carelessly. He had, after all, asked for the purpose of the men's gathering in his palace more than three times.

"As we have previously proposed, we believe that it would be best if you raise our stipends, my lord. In turn, we, the chiefs, will increase the wages of our servants and all those working underneath us.

"From this single change in the earnings of your chiefs, my king, wealth and prosperity will spread throughout the kingdom, and the rate of poverty will plummet drastically." He forged on with the courage of a foolish man. Onochie thought him to be one of the most unsophisticated and, perhaps, pig-ignorant men to have assumed that the king of Zoro would be gullible enough swayed by such arrant nonsense.

"Why should I trust you, Chief Iwegbuna? How can I be sure that your plan will bear fruits?"

The head chief shared a secret smile with his comrades. Onochie fisted his hands to keep from purging that incensing smirk clean from the official's face. "My lord, if you but put your trust in us, my lord, there will be an abundance in the kingdom. I have no doubt about it, Your Majesty. For you, the lion of the forest of Zoro, have reliable men in service to you. There is nothing to fear, my lord, as we have only your best interests and that of our kingdom at heart."

Onochie had had enough. He wanted the men out of his palace already. "I thank my chiefs for being patient while I thought through this idea you have proposed." The king watched as the men perked up in wait for a favourable outcome from their monarch. Onochie nearly doubled in laughter. They were incredibly silly-the chiefs-like children unable to sit still from excitement. He could see their glorious, bald heads bobbing in an intervening fashion.

"I have pondered this matter long enough, and I have decided that my answer...will be revealed on the next Orie market day." He finalised, and a sigh of disappointment hissed out of the chiefs. Onochie could have sworn he saw their pot bellies deflate at his announcement. They clearly were in for a bigger surprise because, in three days, he would be doing the exact opposite of what the men had demanded.

"But, my king-" Iwegbuna was frantically searching for an avenue to cut a deal with Onochie. It was unfortunate that the latter had no inclination to entertain the whims of his chiefs.

"As of now, you are all dismissed." The king cut in with a final gesture to put the protracted day to rest.

It didn't take long for the chiefs to file out of the throne room. Onochie heard their mumbling and grumbling as they ambled down the hallway. After that horrible meeting, taking a rest was a promising venture, but there were other matters to be attended to. One specifically dealt with the imbecile who'd dared to hurt Ezinwanyi. Ifediaso would pay for his evil deeds. There wasn't a better time than now.

"Guards!" Onochie's raspy voice bounced against the mud walls of the mainly empty throne. Two of the armed men stationed outside the palace burst through the door, ready to receive orders.

"Your Majesty! Your word is our command." They crouched, regarding their king with profound respect. Onochie gestured that they ease to their feet with a small smile.

Straight to the point, he cut to the bones of his desires. "Fetch me Ifediaso immediately. Relate to him that his king requests his presence for an urgent and well-due matter. I will not be kept waiting."

He held the gazes of the eager men with a severe one he had perfected to rouse anxiety in those about him. It wasn't bound to always bring the results he wanted, but it did in this case, as the men flew out of the palace, limbs trembling like leaves in a rainstorm, after acquiescing to the instructions they'd been given.

Beats later, Ifediaso strolled into the king's presence like the most innocent of creatures. Onochie sneered at his proud stance, recognising that the man before him was not one who could be guilt-tripped over his actions. He likely did not think he'd done any evil. The bastard. It didn't matter if it were the last thing he did. Onochie vowed to eventually make him pay for hurting Ezinwanyi.

"Your Majesty, Eze'm." The king's guest knelt reverently.

Swishing his horse tail, Onochie responded with the graces of a man who had nothing to be worried about and, of course, did not hold a bitter grudge against one of his subjects. "You know why I have called for you. Do you not?"

"I have an idea, my lord, but I am not so certain. I would much prefer to hear it from you, Your Majesty."

Onochie cleared his throat before answering. "It is about Ezinwanyi, the maiden you brought harm to nights ago."

Ifediaso's eyes protruded like those of a vulture trained to sight its prey. Onochie decided, then and there, that he'd never disliked anyone as much as he did the guard standing before him. Even Iwegbuna did not cause his blood to boil with rage as Ifediaso did. It was almost unbelievable the extent of intense displeasure he had for him. It had to be the smug look on the cow of a man even when he was in the wrong.

"I brought Ezinwanyi t-to harm?" He sputtered, spittle flying everywhere. Onochie drew in a deep breath to calm himself as a picture of Ezinwanyi's battered face resurfaced in his mind. The injuries were raw and fresh in his memory, and the searing white and hot anger that had taken over him that night eclipsed all traces of logic once again.

In a deathly calm voice, he spat, "Do not pretend to know nothing, Ifediaso. It is as if you make a mockery of me."

"No, my lord. Please forgive me. I do not make jest of you or anything of the sort. Rather, I am here to render my side of the story, Your Majesty, and it is that I did not lay a hand on the maiden. She is a lying, miserable wench!"

"Shut your mouth!" The roaring voice was like thunder splitting the room's stillness. Onochie could not determine the moment he shot to his feet. All he saw was red, emotionally stirred up with outrage.

One second he was on his throne, while in the other, he was tall and furious in the middle of his palace room. "If I hear another word against her from your mouth, Ifediaso, today shall be the last day you will see the sun-for I will make sure you are locked up for the rest of your lamentable life. Am I clear?"

His voice was too feeble to be heard. "Yes, my lord."

"I did not hear that." Onochie's gaze was murderous, spearing into the victim, who, for once, seemed to cower in fear of his king's fury.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Satisfied by his answer, Onochie replied. "Ezinwanyi is now under my wings and protection. As you must have heard, she saved my mother from one of her troublesome ordeals. What you did to her was brought to light, as she has asked for my sheltering. Now, you must say the truth, for it has already been revealed. There was a witness to your wickedness. So, I ask again. Did you or did you not hurt the maiden, Ezinwanyi?"

"I did, Your Majesty."

Irritation flared in Onochie's bosom, but he held back from lowering himself to a fool's level. It took all the self-composure he had contained to return to his seat without laying his hands on Ifediaso. "Then did you lie to my face even when the evidence was placed before you?"

Ifediaso shuffled on his feet, clearly discomfited by the turn of events. "Forgive me, my lord. I feared that I would be punished for my sins-"

"You shall be punished!"

The guard dropped to his knees, pleading with his hands clasped. "But my lord. Please. I have confessed. Why must I be penalised because of a mere female who does not even hail from our kingdom? Your Majesty, please reconsider. I beg of you."

His pleas fell on deaf ears. Onochie pressed on with the sentence he had for the perpetrator, unaffected by the pathetic performance on display. "Save your breath, Ifediaso. You have done a misdeed, and you should bear the consequences of your action with grace."

"Still, this is unfair, Your Majesty!"

Onochie donned a cruel smile that bordered on sinisterness. "What do you insinuate, Ifediaso, that I am unfair?"

Ifediaso's face drained of its colour, decolorising far below its usual, dark complexion. "Not at all, Your Majesty. Please forgive my impudence."

A beat of deafening silence panted along as Onochie scowled at Ifediaso. "Your post at the palace will no longer be yours. You will receive payment for the rest of the days you have worked and up to four Afor markets from today. But that is all. You will find yourself another home starting today.

"I never want you near Ezinwanyi again. Neither will you threaten, intimidate or endanger her." Without waiting for a reply, he dismissed Ifediaso from his throne room. "Leave my sight this instant."

Ifediaso stormed out of the palace, clearly seething at the treatment he had been given. He was like a choleric child, stomping on his feet and throwing a tantrum for attention. Onochie, on the other hand, could not have cared less about the former guard's fit of pique. He worried for Ezinwanyi.

Now that he'd sent Ifediaso away, he had an inkling that the halfwitted cretin might head out to terrorise the poor woman despite his warning. He couldn't let that happen. Onochie was the paradigm of resolute pertinaciousness as he rose from his seat and headed for his chambers, stopping to request a servant en route. His mind was made up.

He would find Ezinwanyi and protect her.
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