Words of Swords

3 . 1

It was a mystery to her. A mystery she didn't quite want to be solved but a giddiness had taken over her as she traced her steps back to her hut. The gloomy path that stretched to her chambers seemed to suddenly turn into a beautiful garden, the darkness that blanketed the route was lightened up by a thousand fireflies and even her walk caught the strange fever and Dije found herself skipping all the way till she was within the gates of her quarter.

"Mistress," Kulu suddenely halted her in her steps but Dije was heedless and brushed off her maids hands. "Mistress, mistress please listen!"

But Dije was too eager to enter her chambers and sink into the comfort of the cushions of her bed to wait and see what Kulu's fuss was about. She just couldn't wait to reel back everything that had happened in her mind.

The first thing she saw when she entered the candle lit room was the bird in it's cage placed on her cupboard. She rushed to the parrot and opened the cage, placing him on her arm.

"Hello Waz." Dije patted his grey feathers.

The bird jumped about her arm, his bandaged wing limp in one position. He still was yet to talk and Kulu had been complaining of that claiming the man had cheated them since the day they bought him. But Dije did not mind if he couldn't talk, she wouldn't like him any less. She placed him back in his cage and stretched on her bed, preparing to slip away peacefully into a dream she hoped would contain fragments of the earlier event.

She had never noticed how dark her skin was till she compared it to his. The ebony of her skin grew more striking when it was next to the subtle honey of his just like it was a few moments ago when he had ever so gently taken her hand. The hue of his skin was several shades lighter than hers and could even compare to that of the Arabians that had visited Indarari several times.

As her head reclined comfortably on one of her several pillows, Dije recalled his eyes were the most peculiar she had ever seen. They seemed to contain all of the earth's lush greens floating atop the waves of the ocean's blues. Two elements trapped within the realms of his orbs and coexisting peacefully. Maybe it was a trick of the light, she wondered, but at every look, she caught their smooth transition. Eventhough his face was veiled, the sharpness of his eyes satisfied all his other features. Perhaps seeing more of his face would be too overwhelming, there was no need to see anymore, his eyes carried the bulk of him.

And then there was that accent that slurred his tongue. His Hausa was impeccable, it couldn't be figured that that wasn't his native tongue if not for the accent that stained it. He always rolled too long at an 'r' or stopped abruptly before ending a sentence. But his tenses as well as structure was always correct. She remembered him saying he was a linguist and she wondered what other languages he had mastered.

Why was she even thinking this much of some stranger? She scolded herself as she scurried impatiently under her blankets and then the feeling of another presence dawned on her. Peeling the cover off her face, she slowly sat up and looked around the hut until there in the shadows at the corner, she saw the silhouette of her mother. She had been there all along?

She swiftly got up from her bed and she realised that that was what Kulu was trying to warn her about. The Queen was seated cross legged and just blankly staring right ahead at Dije with an expression she knew all too well -- stern dissapointment and most probably a scolding.

"Why ruin the show? I was having an excellent time watching your sleep." Queen Dubu's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Mother I wa--" Dije started but was cut off just as quickly.

"Where have you been?"

She was silent, staring frantically about the room. Dare was a secret even to her mother and she knew she would cease him once she found out about him. It is not a Princess's place, Dubu would say.