24/05/2025
Chapter 14: The Shrine Beneath the Hills.
Mmesoma didn’t say a word during the long ride to her father’s compound. Her hands trembled, clenched tightly in her lap as the village passed in a blur. Her heart had never felt so heavy, her pride never so wounded.
When they arrived, her mother rushed out, arms wide in concern, but Mmesoma brushed past her, storming straight into the house like a woman on fire. Moments later, her voice rang through the walls, sharp and trembling.
“He’s changing, Papa! The prince—he no longer listens to me!”
Her father, Chief Ikechukwu, leaned forward, narrowing his eyes.
“Start from the beginning.”
And so she did. Everything. How Emeka no longer stayed in her wing. How his eyes no longer sought hers. How Chioma, the girl they thought they had crushed, was now walking like a queen beneath his roof.
Her mother gasped. Her father’s jaw clenched.
“Tomorrow,” Chief Ikechukwu said with finality, “we go to Umuaku. To the witch herbalist. The one they say sees through air.”
Mmesoma nodded silently, hatred flashing in her eyes.
The next morning, the three of them traveled to the neighboring village. The path to the herbalist’s shrine wound through tall grass and ancient trees, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and incense. At the shrine’s entrance sat the witch herbalist, skin as wrinkled as old bark, eyes sharp as flint.
She did not smile when they arrived. She only raised her hand, and said, “Speak.”
Mmesoma stepped forward, head high.
“Wise one, the prince… he no longer obeys. The charm—you said it would bind him to me. But now, he draws away. He treats that other woman—Chioma—like a true wife. I don’t understand. What’s happening?”
The old woman stared into the smoking pot before her, her fingers hovering just above the mist.
“My queen,” the herbalist said slowly, “the potion has been altered. Its effect… weakened. It will fade completely if care is not taken.”
Mmesoma’s eyes widened. “Why, wise one? What happened?”
The herbalist sighed. “The prince has lain with your rival. The bond was weakened the moment their bodies joined. I do not know how—but that girl is not ordinary. There is a powerful force surrounding her.”
Mmesoma’s voice cracked as she screamed, “I said it! Papa, I told you—she’s a witch!”
Chief Ikechukwu’s face hardened. “Wise one, how do we make the charm stronger? We will pay whatever it takes.”
But the herbalist shook her head, slowly.
“No. I will not make it again. If I try, the prince may lose his mind. Already, his true self is beginning to fight back. There are now three forces struggling inside him—mine, his own, and hers. Add another… and madness is certain. I will not call that destruction upon myself.”
Mmesoma’s foot struck the earth in fury. “So what now? We just let her take everything from me? After all I’ve done?”
The herbalist’s eyes narrowed, her voice dropping low.
“I will try to stretch what remains of the charm. A little longer. But listen well—do not harm that maiden. Not openly, not for long. She is surrounded by something ancient… and if you push too hard, it may cost you your life.”
Mmesoma swallowed hard, rage burning hot in her chest.
Mama Mmesoma hissed under her breath. “I knew it. That girl has always been after my daughter. Jealous snake.”
Chief Ikechukwu stood slowly, bowing his head slightly. “Thank you, wise one. We will do as you say.”
The herbalist nodded once and turned back to her pot, muttering chants that only the wind understood.
They left the shrine in silence.
But before they reached the village border, the silence cracked.
In hushed tones, they began to whisper plans. Sharp, dark ideas. A strategy to reclaim their place in the palace. To erase the girl who had undone them.
And behind them, deep within the shrine, the smoke in the pot curled in strange patterns—as if warning that something had already begun.
