The Witch, the Warrior and the Wedding

Titi stared at him. Wale was looking at her as though nothing else existed. But that was the thing. They existed. All of it. The guests. The elders. The Alaafin. Ronke. Her mother. She knew they existed because she could feel the eyes pressing around her. Everyone was watching. “You wound me, my little white witch" said Wale " I thought our love was stronger than that?” _What is he saying?_ Their love. He had said it aloud. Here. While everyone watched. While everyone heard. Titi could almost sink from the weight of the stares. Wale sighed heavily.“I see. It can't be helped if you're too shy to speak. I guess I'll say what needs to be said myself.” Ronke placed a hand on his sleeve. “What are you saying?” Wale swatted her arm away and walked towards Titi. Titi's heart began to pound. Once. It boomed Twice. It boomed again. Then faster and faster until it outpaced the rhythm of the talking drums. Every step Wale took towards her seemed to weaken her resolve. The wall she had spent building crumbled with every thud. _Don't come here.__Please don't come here.__Please.__Please do.__Please come.__Come to me_ He reached out his hands. Titi stared at them. Those hands. How many times had she held them when nobody was watching? How many times had she imagined what it would feel like to hold them without shame? “What are you doing?” she whispered. “What I thought you would do.” Titi's eyes moved towards Ronke. Her sister was staring at them. “But what about Ronke?” Wale stopped before her. “Your wedding…” Titi started “It does not matter.” He cut her off Titi's breath went still. _How could it not matter?_ It mattered to everyone. It mattered to Ronke who looked like she was about to scream. It mattered to Mother whose eyes were smoldering with rage It mattered to his parents who had planned and arranged the day It mattered to the elders who had invoked gods and remembered ancestors It mattered to the entire gathering, some of whom had journeyed from the farthest ends of Walia. They had all gathered to witness a wedding. And yet Wale stood before her as though nothing else mattered but her. Not Ronke. Not the elders, not the Alaafin not his former friend, not even his parents. Just her! He turned towards the crowd, their faces masked with anticipation. “Everyone! May I have your attention?” The murmurings lessened and the courtyard fell silent. Titi wanted to disappear. Instead, Wale took her hand. “I would like to announce that I am calling off this wedding.” Gasps erupted all over the courtyard! Then the murmuring began again.Ronke stared at him. Her lips quivered, her eyes widened, she dropped the hand fan and her mouth went open. Titi's fingers trembled in Wale's grasp. _No._ _This was not supposed to happen._ She had come here to watch him go quietly. She had accepted her pain. She had told herself her sister's happiness mattered above all else. She had told herself that love sometimes meant letting someone go. It had all been concluded in her mind. But Wale was not letting her go. His grip around her hand was firm. “I'm sure you may want to ask why" he said to the excited crowd. He smiled. “Quite simple, really.” His beautiful onyx eyes met her golden ones. “My heart belongs to another.” Titi's legs turned to yam tubers. Her heart was a crackling flame. “YOU EVIL WITCH!” Ronke screamed charging towards Titi.Titi flinched. Yetunde moved faster. Tunji merely gestured with his head, and Yetunde rose quickly to stand between the sisters, catching Ronke's arm before it could strike Titi's face. “I will not let anyone lay a finger on the master's woman.” The master's woman. The words struck Titi almost as hard as Ronke's scream. She looked at Wale._In front of everyone?_ “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted…” He turned back towards the gathering. “I have decided to take Walia's own white witch to wed instead.” A murmur rolled through the crowd. Titi heard the whispers. _Witch._ _Evil_ _Spell_ _Shame._ _How could he?_ She wanted to run. She wanted to hide. She wanted to take Wale's hand and never let go. All at once. Wale drew her closer. “So what do you say?” He smiled down at her. “Will you take this handsome, strong, smart, kind and generous specimen of human perfection as your husband?” For one absurd moment, Titi almost laughed. Of course he would say something like that. Of all the moments in which to boast about himself.There was never a moment where he could not find space for humor. Her lips trembled. A laugh threatened to escape. But it was stifled by much graver concerns. “But…” She searched desperately for an excuse. There had to be one. “But your parents…” Her voice faltered. “Would they be pleased with your decision?” Wale glanced towards his parents. “Mother?” Lady Funmilayo looked at her son and then at Titi before giving them a smile. A warm, genuine smile. “Do as you please, my son. You have my consent.” _Just like that?_ Titi shook. Titi's heart sank again. Not from sorrow. Wale smiled. “And you, Father?” Chief Oluwasegun was busy with a plate of roasted lamb. He looked up. “Hm?” He glanced at his son. Then at Titi. Then back at his son. “Oh.” He took another bite. Then he sighed. “You already know my son. We have invited so many people and spent so much for this wedding"Wale's head tilted and he eyed his father. His mother did the same. "I'm sure there will be a lot of disappointment to the guests, the elders, her Majesty and everyone gathered here." He swallowed "But it cannot be helped. At the end of the day. It is your life to live my son. Do what you wish. You have my consent as well.” The man's beard was moist with grease. Titi almost laughed. Almost. Then she felt it. Her mother's eyes. She turned to look at her. Funke did not smile. Her eyes were angrily narrowed, heavy, hateful.Titi looked away Wale turned back towards her. “You heard them.” He took her hand again. “Now I want to hear what you have to say.” His smile disappeared. “I love you, Titilayo.” The courtyard went silent. “Do you love me as well?” Titi's arms trembled. She knew the answer. But saying it here was different She looked at Ronke. Her sister was crying, twisting and turning against Yetunde's grip, sobbing and screaming. Titi's chest tightened. That was her sister. They had once run through the house together. They had once danced together. They had once rolled through the grass together. They were flesh and blood. And now Titi was standing there, about to take her husband. Titi looked back towards her mother. Funke's eyes were filled with tears. She stood like a bronze statue, fists clenched, angry beyond words, unblinking. The tears trickled down her cheek. Titi felt something inside her crack. For years she had tried to make herself small She had accepted every accusation. Every stare. Every whispered prayer. Every person who called her witch. She had even accepted losing Wale. For them. And now they were looking at her as though she had committed some unforgivable crime simply by being loved. Something inside her began to burn. _They've made their feelings for mle very clear._ Her tears fell. _So why should I keep sacrificing myself for people who hate me?_ She wiped her cheeks. _Why should I care anymore?_ Her eyes returned to Ronke. The guilt remained. But beneath it was something else.Titi was angry. Not at Ronke but all of it made her angry. The years of being made to feel like a curse, being told that happiness belonged to everyone except her. The attacks, verbal and physical, the isolation, the loneliness. Her blood was molten hot. Wale squeezed her hand. Titi looked at him. He was waiting. His smile was like a moonlit sky. _I love him._ _And he loves me._ For once, she allowed the thought to linger. Even if only for this moment. “Yes,” she whispered. Wale's eyes widened. Titi swallowed. “I love you.” She felt like a shackle was removed from her neck. “And yes…” She looked around the courtyard one final time. At Ronke. At her mother. At the people who had spent years telling her what she was. Then she looked back at Wale. “I will marry you.” “YES!” Jaja Beast Slayer erupted before he calmed himself and faked a frown. Wale's men descended into laughter. Even stone-faced Ola the Eye-Snatcher laughed, though mildly, while Lekan struggled to get a joke out between his own laughter. Yetunde let go of a defeated Ronke who slumped on the floor. A crowed rushed to her aid. The laughter proved contagious. Wale laughed. Titi laughed too. And then she realized she was crying while laughing. She happy but she also felt guilty. Perhaps happiness and guilt didn't have to be at odds. Tunji gestured towards Wale's subordinates. Without a word, they quickly took formation, lining up in two rows before their commander. Hand in hand, Wale and Titi walked majestically through the rows of men towards. Titi saw Lekan wink at her. They were all smiling, Tunji, Yetunde, The Eye snatcher, Jaja, Lekan. They shielded her from the crowd and their murmuring. She smiled back at them. Then she looked back. Bísí was running towards them. The girl penetrated the column and crashed into Titi. Bísí said nothing. She just cried and cried on Titi's chest. Her mother walked in calmly and placed a palm on her gele. She smiled. Then she reached another palm towards Titi's pale cheeks. Then she lowered her head and kissed Titi on the forehead. "May you be happy my daughter "Titi's eyes became moist.Then Iya Bisi turned towards Wale. She smiled at him and said "Take care of my daughter"Wale smiled "I will" She was barely able to drag away a sobbing Bisi. The crowd parted for them. Titi heard the whispers. She felt the eyes. She saw Ronke. She saw her mother. But onward she walked Wale's hand was warm in hers. She held it tighter. They reached the altar. Wale turned towards her. “Shall we?” Titi smiled. "Do what?" Wale blinked. "Get married" “Now?" "Yes?" He looked confused "can't we?"Titi giggled and the men around her laughed "Don't you think we're skipping a few ceremonies?" "Oh we are?" He scratched his cap "I guess I got carried away. Since when did witches cared for customs and traditions anyway?" "Well we do." Titi smiled. "You would've known that if you had spent half as much time studying the histories as you did rolling around in horse dung"Lekan struggled to keep in his laughter. "Annoying witch" said horse boy "Sorry" the white witch laughed. Then she looked towards her mother. "Maybe I might get my mother's blessings before then" The Governor's son nodded. “I understand.” He squeezed her hand. “We'll wed at a later date.” Titilayo's face turned red. She lowered her eyes. “Yes.”

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