From the moment the villager chief, still wearing that stupid gold fabric crown, laid his eyes on her in the dim light, his loud condescending voice asked. “What a pleasant evening it is, Abeni Tejuosho. Are you well?"

“Yes, chief,” she greeted him with a slightly strained expression, trying her best to seem cordial while willing herself not to look behind his tall figure or legs just yet. She had to assess the situation first. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

But he laughed, low-pitched cackling grating at her ears. “No, no, no. I’m not sure you understand,” and then he brushed past her and walked inside, allowing Abeni to see who else he brought with him. “I am not here for idle chatter.”

With the village chief further inside and the bodies entering the stone shut, Abeni’s view of them was clear and made her heart feel as though it snapped in half. Including the chief, there were seven of them. Seven. The first eniyan she saw was Martin’s mum, and after supplying her child with medicine and being her son’s friend, Abeni felt wronged. The woman was not dressed in any gear – except for a gold-white short sword like her parents’ ones – so she assumed she must be a hunter.

“Hi, Abeni!”

Then, there greeting her was the smug-looking Uncle Ibrahim, which didn’t surprise her and a sneering white-clothed Caterina. With white-gold swords hanging untouched on their waists. The farmer who she knew snitched on her was empty handed. While an armed guard with a white handled sword that…she thought she recognised by the gate the day she first came back here without her parents. And even Yousef who wielded the same white-handled short sword as the guard.

Assuming those with white-handled swords and – as opposed to gold-white – weren’t hunters, there were one chief, four junior and…two novice fighters here. Short swords must only be used for self-defence for hunters them. Her parents sure didn’t seem like they needed them.

What about the other four juniors then?

Were they preparing for tomorrow?

And where were his three male attendants?

Abeni stared at how they stood beside him and formed a perfect line inside their stone hut, the village chief in the centre and Caterina by his side. All on the side of the room where her door was. They looked pleased, excited, nonchalant, anything but shameful. She couldn’t believe them. She couldn’t believe how these people who she all trusted at one point in time…turned against her like this. As if she deserved whatever this was.

“Why do you appear dishevelled? You should know that this is your fault.”

Abeni’s eyes snapped to the village chief, still trying to smile. “What is my fault?”

“This,” he gestured to the entire room. “You chose to defy me and keep information to yourself. Perhaps because you thought you were safe because you knew your uncle was a hunter? Regardless, that is your downfall.”

“I don’t understand. I don’t understand what’s happening,” she genuinely didn’t.

“So, you chose to act innocent even now…” He sighed, looking down his nose at her and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Listen, while all of my guards are novices, even they would have noticed if your parents were carrying swords on the day they died. Neither of their abilities would allow them to conceal such big objects. That means their short swords are here in this stone hut, as well as information on the nearby settlements that I know they have.”

He was right. She had lied to him when he summoned her to the village hall. Maybe she shouldn’t have. “I’ve left you alone as I am a very busy man, but…you will be giving them to me. Or do you want to resist?” He taunted.

“I…” The white-haired girl wanted to vehemently deny every word he said, no matter how true it was. But, just receded to looking him in the eyes, serious this time. If she knew her intentions, there was no point in pretending to respect him anymore. “Why now?”

The village chief hooped his arm around Caterina’s shoulders who just silently leered at her. “Listen, Abeni…you may be too thoughtless to understand it when I say this, but I am preparing to expand this village once more,” once more? Meaning that this wasn’t the first time?

“Soon I will become the ruler of something much bigger than a village. So, I can only be offended by your family so much. It is a matter of pride. Power is the only currency that matters in this world. Your mother never understood that and begged others, probably whored herself out, just to fight against me and make connections. I never knew she had a vendetta against me in the beginning. Your father convinced your mother to become a hunter with him in the first place, despite not wanting to, and I believed they were loyal to my goal. They trained and hunted for a short while, often paired with your uncle here,” he gestured to Uncle Ibrahim. “But then they quit after that wench stole my crown, took you out of the village and got themselves killed. Sparing me the effort.”

The village chief scoffed as he continued speaking, the others remaining silent, including Abeni. So, her parents did know what he wanted to do. “While they were hunters, I wasn’t aware of their schemes. But now, now that they’re dead, I couldn’t go on our last hunt to the eastern ẹda maze without taking every little connection and secret you know about the settlements and your life for my own. I thought you would confess on your own, but perhaps even girls can hold their lips closed.”

At Abeni’s stunned expression, he cackled, gestured to those standing by his side. “Oh, and these people? I brought them here so that they will be able to observe your last moments first hand! And also…so I can see the look on your pitiful face when you die by their hands! Haha!”

Abeni swallowed heavily, slowly side-stepping towards the kitchen counter where her cutlery laid. “That must be why your wife disappeared too.”

It was subtle, but with how intently she was watching him, Abeni noticed him clench his jaw at that. Laughter dying down. Good. “…How could you possibly know about that?”

“…You don’t need to know,” alright, she should be close enough.

“You…are incredibly disrespectful,” he smiled, bitter. “But for the sake of those beside me, I’ll tell you all. The wife that my father forced on me died by my hands due to my curse, but her death was still mine. It had nothing to do with my plans. She was almost like you, idiotic, attractive yet she had no knowledge of outside of the village. She was simply an imbecile who wanted to protect eniyans she didn’t even know.”

Abeni couldn’t believe him. This cruel, remorseless man…

The village chief shook his head, “Enough. There is no more time to waste. Do not resist and make your last moments as pleasant as they can be. Now, where have you hidden their equipment?”

This…this was a lot. He knew too much. About her parents’ agenda. About Abeni’s fake innocence. And should he see the map and the names on it, that could spell the end of the Libyan underworld and the beginning of his rule.

“Answer me!”

But luckily for them, he still didn’t know everything. The village chief clearly didn’t know about her newly awakened powers, Oware’s existence or her children. Abeni still had the upper hand. No matter if the battle plan was crumbling, as long as they survive this, she could always just make another one.

As long as they survived.

That thought was what allowed her to calm down when the first guard she saw when arriving back here after losing those precious to her and meeting the one precious to her now. The tanned merchant who she began to appreciate and respect who taught her about selling and Martin’s mum who she foolishly hoped would become her mother-in-law one day unsheathed their short swords. Her handle being gold-white, while theirs’ were just white.

But she couldn’t care who it was. Couldn’t care what she used to think of them before now. Abeni sneered, swiping the handle of a kitchen knife in her hand, ready to fight against the forces trying to kill her.

She’d fight anyone who dared to. “Don’t forget…you pointed it at me first.”

[Current Total Beings In ‘Abeni’s Army’ – 2]