Ada sat in the hut with the other girls lost in thought, so far all her plans of escaping were moot. They were heavily guarded at all times and whoever said helps are the biggest gossip obviously never met those in this village- obtaining information from them was like pulling tooth.

She had her right hand in her mouth, teeth gnawing on a finger, with no information it was difficult to ascertain where she was and how far away she was from home.

Her thoughts drifted to her sick mother, was she doing fine? Was she eating? How was she coping in her absence?

Nightmares of her mother dying plagued her since her arrival, making fear sit heavily in her stomach constantly, the sensation waking her up panting and sweating in the middle of the night.

It's been two days since she woke up in this strange place, two days of hopelessness and worry, even if she did find a way out, the journey back home was long and dangerous for a lonely travelling female. With no supplies the chance of survival let alone getting home in one piece was slim.

The warm coppery tang of blood had her snatching her finger out of her mouth, though painful the sensation was not unwelcome. It reminded her to say focused, it was easy to forget  about home if she ignored the guards that followed each of them everywhere. There was plenty to eat and the maids waited on them hands and feet.

Ada could not help feeling like an animal being fattened for slaughter; if they weren't sold into slavery or prostitution, then they were to become breeding whores or the gods forbid to be used for sacrifice.

The thought had her running her right hand in a tight circle around her head anticlockwise before snapping her fingers, a sign to show the gods forbid, it was used when one was not in agreement with something.

The stories surrounding kidnapped girls were never pretty and she didn't want such fate, shouting snapped her from her thoughts, forcefully pulling her to the present as she joined the group of girls peeping at the straw covering over the door.

A girl she recognized as one of them was being roughly dragged by her upper arm to the front of their hut by two bulky guards trashing, screaming and cursing, some words making the girls in the hut gasp.

Her face was so badly bruised one was swollen shut, the corner of her lips and her knees bled from being handled roughly. She was bruised really bad, her skin the colour of red earth, her wrapper loose, torn and dirty. Two guards came to meet them, heads together as they whispered.

Clapping had the girls turning, Ada saw one of the men from the argument two days ago, he had a big smile on his face as he came to stand before the small group, his eyes ran over the crumpled girl in the middle of the guards like a straw doll.

"Where?" the question was quiet as the smile dropped from his lips but the effect was louder than the crack of a whip.

"The west wall." one of the guards that captured the girl replied.

"Others?"

"None your majesty."

Ada was taken aback by the title, royalty. They were kidnapped by royalty! Whatever for?

"Get the others."

The command had two guards ushering the girls not so gently out of their hut. He was silent as he watched them fall in line, Ada stood tall, chin jutted out in defiance even as some girls cowered.

"I see some of you have thoughts of escaping." The man stated before releasing a harsh bark of humourless laughter, the sound grating to the ear before lunging.

It happened so fast Ada was sure to miss the hard plunge of the gleaming dagger into the girl had she blinked. A bleeding hole in the girl's uncovered stomach the testimony to his movement. A river of blood poured out of the injury, pooling around the girls body even as a trickle of blood flowed from her mouth.

Gasps rose, a few girls slapping both hands over their mouths to hold back a scream, the youngest of the group collapsing to her hands and feet as she brought back her lunch.

Ada stood mouth and eyes open in shock as she watched the girl struggle to breathe before her eyes glazed over.

Fear hammered beneath Ada's ribs, she kept seeing her face over that of the dead girl and she knew there was another addition to her nightmares.

The man wiped off the blood on his dagger on the dead girl's wrapper before sheathing it in his wrapper. "Let this be a warning, the next girl who tries to escape will not have a quick death."

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Okenna sat in the obi replaying the conversation with his brother in his mind. His brother wasn't entirely wrong, their father was a hard man, his leadership was one of force and the people greatly feared him.

The girls were here now, they had to be taken to the shrine, only the gods knew how long their training would last for before they could embark on their journey, if they would have any. He shuddered to think of what the girls would face and the fact that they might not all come back alive made his stomach turn.

He was so lost in thought he almost jumped out of his seat when he felt a hand on his shoulder, "Mama, you scared me. Is anything the matter?"

Obinna walked in to see his mother take her hand off his brother's shoulder, tears clouding her vision. She began rocking herself and for a while she said nothing as he took a seat before pouring himself a drink.

"Your father has been in this state for a week now. What is going on? We offered the sacrifice, he should be on his feet now," tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked from one son to another.  "Are you hiding something from me? Is it that nothing can be done? Are we going to loose your father?"

Obinna's grip on the cup in his hand tightened, since this ordeal began he had refused to consider his father dying, a lump formed in his throat as he looked at their mother.

"Mama," Okenna wrapped his arm around his mother's shoulders. "Nothing would happen to him, we are working on it. You know how the gods are, we can never understand them."

A maid walked into the obi and knelt before them, "Sorry to bother you, your highnesses but the council is here."

Obinna waved her away as soon as she had delivered her message.

"Mama, we have to go." Okenna told his mother as he rose, "it is disrespectful to keep the council waiting."

"I am coming with you." She declared rising.

"Mama," Obinna called as he held onto her hand, "You know you cannot be there if you are not called. I promise to tell you what we discussed as soon as the meeting is over."

Their mother nodded as she sniffled, both men left the obi for the throne room. The throne room was very large, it was decorated with white and black paint patterns. It was a semi circle with dwarf mud walls of the sectors before the opening that led into it. The floors was covered in dyed raffia mats, to an area of the room was the throne, it was huge and covered with furs, beside it on both sides were smaller thrones each decorated with beautifully patterned covers. The wall behind the thrones was full and had two large swords hanging overhead. To the sides on the throne were long benches on which members of the council sat.

The princes moved to seat on the left side of the throne. Okenna cleared his throat before speaking "Elders, I greet you. Thank you for gathering on such short notice."

The council murmured  their greeting. The council was made of seven men, all old and wrinkly with white hair peeking out from beneath the red caps they wore.

"The messenger of the gods finally has given a message, a journey has to be made to the land of the spirits— " he was cut off as the council began murmuring amongst themselves.

"Let the man finish," the oldest man in the council said as he tapped his wooden walking stick on the floor, a means of calling for order. "We can ask our questions and voice our opinions after he is done."

"Thank you, Ichie Onuka." Okenna continued, "—a journey had to be made to the land of the spirits by seven girls— " again he was interrupted, the murmuring this time louder than the last. Ichie Onuka once again hit his walking stick on the floor and silence reigned again.

"—to get the healing cup, once the Igwe drinks of it, he would be well again." he barely ended before the murmuring rose once more.

Obinna glared at the council, he wanted to shut down their murmuring and get to it, his father was wasting precious time with every second they spent arguing.

"Girls! Girls!" a council member exclaimed, disbelief colouring his features. His cap dancing with the way he voiced the words like insults. "What can they do, especially in the land of spirits. Men more worthy with adequate training have failed in their quest."

Obinna growled as he glared, "Ichie Mmadu, you are barking the wrong tree, take your complains to the gods."

"The land of the spirits, I thought the healing cup was myth?"

"Why girls? We have able bodied capable men, why not send them?"

"Ichie Uche and Ichie Nwafor, this is the message of the gods, we can only comply. The gods are wise, if it's girls they want girls they get." Obinna fired again irritation lacing his voice, he had told his brother that informing the council was a waste of time but Okenna just had to do things the right way.

"How do we get seven girls?" Ichie Onuka asked. "That should be our main focus, we need to get them to Agabarakwe as soon as possible."

"We are working on it." Okenna rushed to answer, he sensed his brother's irritation a while ago and did not trust him to speak.

"What if they are not successful?" Another man asked.

Obinna flew out of his seat, "The gods forbid! Ichie Echeoma! I suggest you start behaving as your name implies, if you do not have anything pleasant to say then keep quiet! Do you wish doom on the quest that has not even begun?"

"Apologies your highness", Ichie Echeoma bowed his head. "I did not mean to upset you, we all know how attached you are to your father but this is something we have to plan for, we are after all sending girls to the land of the spirits."

Obinna released a growl and gritted his teeth, he was about to speak when Ichie Onuka spoke up. "Echeoma, we do not pray for them to fail. Obinna I understand you but this is something we have to plan for, your father is not getting any younger. I hope you understand."

Obinna was not happy but he nodded stiffly.

"Okenna, you know the tradition. You know what you have to do." Ichie onuka went on. Okenna looked at his brother before nodding.

"I know what I have to do. I believe we are done here", he looked at all the men present. "Thank you all for coming, if you will excuse us, we have other things to attend to."

Special thanks to FikkieAdeniyi for my very beautiful cover. You all should check him out his book wonderland is amazing.