12 The mystery of Jide's birth

Nnenna pushed against the third plank of the rafter and noticed it give way with some effort. She could already sense the book and parchments inside the hidden space so she reached directly for it. Picking straw from her hair, she climbed down with the mystery diary and decided to unroll the parchments first. One was a letter attesting to the fact that Fola Bamibola was the bastard child of King Olaolu Bamibola, the III of Oshodi Kingdom.

As a merchant daughter, Nnenna had had to learn a lot of things on various subject but particularly about business, geography and the major products of each Kingdom. Nnenna knew that the proud Oshodi Kingdom was located to the Northeast of their State of Ife and the current king of Oshodi was called Fola who everyone said had eyes on the State of Ife. It was only the threat of other neighbouring nations and having to subdue the monsters separating them that kept the Oshodi Kingdom from annexing the small State of Ife.

Thus she was not surprised when she saw that the second parchment was a degree by the Kingdom of Oshodi recognising Fola's his claim to the throne. What the parchment did not say was that the Bamibola family had maintaining their dominance by ensuring the continuation of their mage bloodline. Unfortunately, the then heir to the throne had died in the war that crippled King Olaolu and as such King Olaolu could not have anymore children.

On reading Jide's mother's diary, Nnenna discovered that Fola Bamibola was the name of Jide's father and apparently not only his paternal grandfather was of mage descent but his paternal grandmother was from a once prominent clan in the State of Ife that had been founded by a battle hardened soldier who was an internal mage.

It appeared that Jide's mother had met Fola when he was on patrol as an officer in Ife's army. Back then, he was the son of a nobleman from Ife as Fola's mother had quickly married to hide her pregnancy. She very well could not say that she had been raped by the prince of Oshodi Kingdom while on a diplomatic mission with her family.

Jide's mother was in love with this handsome mid-aged man in a Sergeant's uniform and had followed along with his plan to start a family despite their differences and the warnings of her brother. Unfortunately for her, her ideal life was destroyed by a twist of fate.

Fola's 'nobleman father', who had always wondered why he had only one child despite all his mistresses soon discovered he was impotent. In a feat of rage, he had his wife beaten to death and subsequently disowned his son. However, before passing, Fola's mother told him who his real father was. Fola readily embraced his new identity in order to gain revenge and left Jide's mother behind to head for Oshodi Kingdom.

What is most important in regards to Jide is that King Fola didn't care about his forgotten first wife and so Jide's mother had returned home and withered away, dying of a broken heart and leaving her some with only a diary and a name.

With the mystery of Jide's past figured out, Nnenna now knew she needed to think about the present. She could not imagine herself staying in Mushin without her parents. She also didn't know where Jide and Musa were but felt that with this diary she could approach the King of Oshodi to help find them. She also felt that she maybe able to find some clues on where they were heading from Musa's place.

Just as she was done planning, Midwife Abiola and Old man Dele walked into the stables.

Midwife Abiola starred at the weird creature beside Nnenna before saying, "Listen child, we have to make decisions now. Your parents are gone and most if not all of the townspeople are leaving this town. There is not enough here anymore and we don't feel safe anyway. Old man Dele and I have been discussing and we can take you with one of us to find some of your other relatives if you have any or your father's friends who could take you in."

"Thank you Aunt Abiola but I have plans of my own." On saying this, Nnenna moved to leave.

"Hey Nnenna, you are just a 13 year ol..." Old man Dele started but Midwife Abiola cut him off, "You're sure" she said as she starred right into Nnenna's eyes. On seeing the child's resolve, she sighed and left, pulling Old man Dele along.

Nnenna searched Musa's bookstore but could not find anything useful. However, she was not discouraged as she remembered his family name from his mageline tome. This only meant she would have to use her long term plan.

After gathering supplies and keepsakes from her house, she headed out of town, accompanied by Kayto, but unlike everyone else, she moved Northeast towards the border.

...

When night fell, Musa finally decided to rest the horses and make camp. However, Musa was still very worried. This was because of the dagger he had left behind. He knew that the dagger could be traced back to his assassin clan and that would only spell trouble for him and Jide. Therefore, he had two choices: one was to try and disappear again but that was very unlikely to succeed again or two he could return and accept the responsibility he had abandoned.

What gave him some peace of mind was the new connection he had to the shadow hawk and the fact that Jide was a newfound internal mage with a unique ability which could provide him with some benefits on his return.

Once Musa had made his decision to return to the clan, he no longer worried about the pursuers. Instead, he turn his attention to teaching Jide control. Even though he was going to introduce Jide to the clan as an internal mage, he was not going to betray his young friend by divulging his ability. He was very grateful to Jide. After all from his newfound heightened awareness in the darkness, his sensing of the darkness elements in the environment and his increasing energy, even Musa knew he was no longer just an internal mage.