Wale offered Titi his hand.
“Come.”
Again.
That word.
He did it again.
Every time, she moved without thinking.
She took his hand.
The men and woman followed behind them.
Titi glanced at the items Wale carried, wrapped in sheets.
He noticed her gaze.
“Oh, these?”
He laid the package upon the ground and unwrapped it.
White steel.
The edges winked as sunlight touched them.
“It's white steel,” Lekan announced, raising his eyebrows up and down.
The blades looked more like machetes than swords, white as Ming Xhi paper, with polished pommels shaped like iroko trees.
The craftsmanship was sublime.
The blades were paper-thin, smooth and brilliantly polished.
White steel was no easy metal to find and even harder to tame.
Titi could not begin to imagine the price it must have fetched.
“It's beautiful.”
“It was a gift,” Lekan said.
“From his closest friend, Prince Adeyemi.”
*The Crown Prince?*
Titi thought.
“He is no friend of mine.”
Wale's expression hardened.
“He is a sick bastard.”
*And yet you keep his blade.*
Titi said nothing, but smiled.
“Why do you no longer consider him a friend?” She asked
Wale's fingers curled into a fist.
His teeth clenched.
“He did something unspeakable.”
Yetunde walked close to Titi and whispered something into her ear.
Titi's eyes widened in horror.
The man who would one day be their ruler was capable of such a thing.
What would that mean for the kingdom if he were to sit upon the throne?
Titi decided she would dwell no further upon the matter.
“We will leave you two now,” Yetunde announced, that knowing look still lingering upon her face.
“Behave yourselves,” said Lekan.
Before Titi could react, Yetunde dragged him away by the ear.
Ola the Eye-Snatcher said nothing.
Jaja waved, smiled, then frowned.
Tunji muttered something to Yetunde about not pulling Lekan's ears off.
The two of them walked onward until, in the distance, a massive fluffy mass appeared upon the grassy hill.
White fur swayed in sync with the dancing grass.
The figure shifted.
Large hind legs steadied themselves upon the earth.
Then the forelegs.
Paws planted firmly into the grass.
The creature stretched.
Then its attention was drawn towards them.
Excitedly, the enormous fox turned.
“And last but not least,” said Wale, “not by any means.”
He smiled.
“Meet Aja.”
The giant fox bounded towards its master.
It was clothed in beautiful white fur, dotted here and there with gold.
On all fours, the beast stood taller than Wale.
It wiped its enormous tongue across Wale's face, covering him in saliva.
“Good to see you too.”
“You have a beast,” said Titi.
“Indeed I do.”
A mountain was not too difficult to attain.
White steel blades might be fairly difficult, but far from impossible.
But a beast of war...
A canine for that matter.
Just how could it be that he had attained such a treasure?
Wale rested his head against the fox's snout.
“My father gave him to me. It cost him more than a fortune to do so.”
“Your father is a truly impressive man.”
“Not quite.”
Wale stroked the playful beast.
“If you mean he is impressive in that he is able to fabricate means to attain impossible feats, then I will concur. He would not be the richest man in the Empire otherwise.”
He paused.
“But... I wonder, Titilayo...”
His voice softened.
“What is so impressive about a man who cannot apologise?”
Titi watched his expression shift.
“Bring your hand.”
She did.
He took her hand and placed it upon the great dog's snout.
She pressed her palm against its nose.
She realised then that it was simply an oversized dog.
“Adorable, is he not?” Wale asked.
“He is.”
“You would not believe the destruction he wreaks upon the battlefield. He becomes a different creature entirely, tearing and shredding people to pieces.”
He looked at the beast.
“The Karnakians used them to conquer the world, after all.”
Titi stroked the beast's body.
Its fur was supple and soothing beneath her fingers.
“Doesn't he realise?” Wale's voice had changed.
Titi listened.
“I enjoy no scarcity of luxuries from which to indulge.”
He began counting them upon his fingers.
“Wealth.”
“Gold.”
“Farmland.”
“A mountain.”
“A hill,” Titi corrected.
Wale chuckled.
“You won't let me have it, will you?”
“Never.”
“Annoying witch.”
Titi made a face.
“Horses. Houses. A carriage. Servants. And this beast.”
His smile faded.
“All of it was his way of making atonement.”
Titi watched him struggle to hold back the tears.
She placed a comforting hand upon him.
“Doesn't he realise...?”
His voice trembled.
“Doesn't he realise that an apology would have been worth more than all of this?”
Titi said nothing.
She simply listened.
The beast subsided onto the ground, curling its enormous body.
“He wants us to sit,” said Wale.
His smile returned.
Titi smiled too.
They sat upon the grass, resting their backs against the beast's fluffy body.
They were silent.
The wind blew.
The blades of grass danced.
And the two of them basked in the moment.
Titi knew that being here with her sister's husband-to-be was inappropriate.
It was wrong.
But she could not help herself.
She closed her eyes and inhaled.
I might as well enjoy it while it lasts.
She decided she would, at the very least, ask why he had brought her here.
Then Wale broke the silence before she could utter a word.
“The Zonan are marching,” Wale declared suddenly.
Titi jolted upright.
She knew what that meant.
“Prince Aminu has declared war on Walia.”
His voice was suddenly devoid of playfulness.
“A letter arrived last night. Bala the Butcher marches upon Oṣogbo with ten thousand men. Suleiman leads another, fifteen thousand strong.”
He looked towards the horizon.
“The North is coming, Titi.”
He sighed.
“Prince Aminu seems to be out for glory. If only ill health had not stricken his father.”
*Don't go!*
Titi wanted to scream.
But all she managed was:
“May you be victorious. Walian soldiers are the strongest in Wazobia. I am certain the Northern prince will rue the day he took you for an enemy.”
Wale laughed.
“Could you convey that message to the Northern prince?”
He grinned.
“Tell him that instead of an army, I would rather he brought me some kunu.”
Titi tried to laugh.
She barely managed it.
Wale lifted his back from the beast.
“A sword was placed in my hand when I was old enough to swing one. I've been in battle since I was fifteen, and I've led my own unit since I was eighteen.”
He looked down.
“After all those years of fighting and fighting and fighting without end, you'd think I would have gotten used to it by now.”
Titi watched him.
“Used to what?”
“Death.”
Wale's voice was quiet.
“Directly or indirectly, I've killed enough men to populate a city. So many people. Some no more than boys.”
He swallowed.
“And just like that, I took their lives.”
“It's their lives or yours.” said Titi
“That doesn't sweeten the taste of blood.” His voice trembled. His hands were shaky.
Titi slipped an arm around his neck and cushioned his head against her breast.
“You are faultless in the matter,” she whispered.
She stroked his head.
“You had no choice.”
Her question would have to wait.
183
