THE CURSE

A young man entered the village, riding a horse. Everyone was shocked to see this stranger as they've never seen anything like that before. He was fairer than them in complexion, had very long golden and curly hair which was entwined and plaited on one side.

His eyes were golden in colour and his lips were shaped like a crescent moon. His skin was as smooth as a newborn baby's. He rode on a white horse with a long golden mane and a golden tail. Everyone was amused with their mouths wide open. The men admired while the women crushed on this stranger. He came down from his horse as he watched the people stare at him.

"Agure cha'in." He said in a loud voice as everyone looked at him in surprise. They all murmured, asking themselves what he just said but no one knew the meaning.

"I come in peace." He translated to them and they looked relieved as they understood what he said.

"Peace be upon you too." The ladies screamed on top of their voices in excitement. They were all blushing and eager to go closer to him without any fear of him hurting them but their men didn't allow them to do so as he was a stranger.

He drew out his six edged shiny sword with a golden hilt and wielded it at them, making them all to quiver in fear as they had never seen anything like that. As he waved it at them, they all ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. He was surprised why they ran away but couldn't say anything to them.

He noticed a young lady still standing there. She didn't make any move or seemed to be scared of him. She just stood there, rooted to the ground as she watched him with an expressionless face.

"Follow me and I'll show you where to rest your head." She said to him as he turned and started walking away. The stranger had no choice but to follow her after hesitating for a while.

They reached a small hut with a bush behind it. She went inside the hut and came out with a calabash of water and handed it to him, as he was still standing beside his horse. He collected it and gulped down its contents and handed it back to her after muttering a "thank you".

"Why did you choose to help me? Why didn't you run away as your people did?" He asked her. She looked at him for a while before speaking.

"Clean yourself from the dust of your journey and tie your horse to that tree." She said, pointing to a tree behind the hut.

"There's a bush behind the hut, it can feed on the grass there. I'll pour it water, if you can excuse me." She replied as she poured out water from a clay pot that was kept in the middle of the compound into a larger calabash and took it to the tree as he followed suit and tied his horse there. She fetched grasses and fed them to the horse which ate hungrily.

"Sit here." She instructed as she kept a small stool at the door of the hut and went in and reappeared almost immediately with two calabashes, containing food and placed them in front of him.

"You can wash your hands in this one." She told him as she left to take care of the horse and add more grasses as it had almost finished the previous one. He ate his meal in silence, wondering who she was.

The young lady who helped the stranger offered him some clothes after he had cleaned up from his journey. He still wanted to know who this lady was. They sat at the back of the hut as they stared at the moon together. It was already dusk.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Shana and you?" She replied.

"I'm Bilal." He answered.

"Okay." She replied to him.

"Shana, I'm still wondering why you helped me. Why did you act differently from the others?" He asked her.

"I did what I did to save you." He said.

"Save me? From who or from what?" He asked her with his eyebrows raised.

"Warleigh is not a nice place to be. It has fearful people who dread strangers, especially those that are different from them. For you to survive here, you must be in hiding otherwise you have to leave and that's not also an easy task." Shana explained.

"Why is that?" Bilal asked.

"That's the practice here ever after the king's father disappeared." Shana explained, standing up.

"Disappeared? What do you mean?" He asked her, looking up.

"We don't know. It happened a long time ago. It was said that some wolves attacked Warleigh and after they left, the king went missing." Shana added and went into the hut.

Bilal thought about what she said for a few minutes after which he went inside to question her.

"Where did the..." Shana was undressing when Bilal came in without an excuse. She had removed the hand of her dress and was about to pull it off when Bilal saw her. She shrieked on sighting him and tried to cover herself when the cloth fell off her, leaving her naked.

Bilal turned his back immediately on sighting her nakedness and grabbed a cloth on the chair in front of him and turned to cover her immediately without looking at her. Succeeding in covering her but losing balance, he fell on her and they both fell on the floor. He tried to stand up but her earring hooked to his cloth. He unhooked it but wasn't lucky enough as her necklace also hooked to his hand sleeves.

She looked up at him and apologized as she cursed under her breath. He unstrapped it, gently touching her neck as he kept his gaze on her lips, slowly bringing his face closer to her. She tried to get up when their lips met each other. Slowly, he pressed his lips against hers, locking them up in a deep and passionate kiss.

His fingers began running down her body, which had become heated up. He continued kissing her as he used one of his hands to take off the cloth from her body and also began to remove his, laying completely naked on top of her. He separated her legs as he pressed his body against hers, slowly pushing his body against her for a few minutes.

The horse tied behind the hut started to bellow as though something had attacked it which made them stop immediately. She pushed him away from her as she tried to stand up.

"Sorry about that." He said feeling embarrassed as he turned, with his back against her, dressing up. She didn't say a word as she put on her clothes. He went to check what was wrong with the horse as she met him outside.

"What's wrong with it?" She asked him.

"Nothing much. A rope got stuck in its right hoof but it's fine now, I've taken it out." He replied, looking at her.

"What do you want to ask?" She asked him, picking her nails.

"Where did the wolves came from?" He finished the question he had started earlier.

"No one knew. It was said that anyone who came in contact with such creatures will be cursed." Shana replied absent minded as she continued with what she was doing.

"Cursed by who?" He asked, turning to look at her.

"By Deja." She replied.

"What's that?" He asked her. She took a deep breath as she stopped what she was doing and folded her arms across her chest and walked up to him.

"Deja is the alpha wolf, wolves are considered bad luck and are cursed creatures. Anyone who comes in contact with them is not cursed but when they have eye or physical contact with them the curse is transferred to them." Shana explained to Bilal.

"Eye contact?" He asked as though he knew something about it.

"Yes...have you heard of it before?" She asked him with questioning eyes.

"No no... I haven't heard of such before." He replied as he recalled he had looked deep into her eyes and also recalled that his body touched hers.

"Don't go anywhere for now. You have to remain indoors." She instructed.

"Why?" He asked.

"Hmm...(she sighs) you ask too many questions, don't you?" She asked him with a smile on her face.

"That's because...I don't know much about this place..." He answered, scratching his head.

"Well then. Everyone is scared of you especially when they see you wielding that sharp stick of yours at them. They believe you are dangerous and probably must have reported you to the chiefs." She explained.

"You mean sword?" He asked her as he giggled at her.

"Whatever you call it." She said and left the room.

Bilal went back into the room and laid on his chest. Shana left the compound when she felt a sharp unusual pain. She recalled what happened as she closed her eyes and reopened them again. She was on her way to visit a friend when she heard people murmuring.

She wondered what was going on when she saw a large crowd gathered at the centre of the village market. She had tried to see what was going on but couldn't hear anything when she decided to stop some ladies who were walking in a group and asked them what the fuss was all about.

"Hey, excuse me. What's going on?" She asked some three ladies who walked together.

"A stranger came in today." One of them told her.

"Okay?" She asked further, as though the information wasn't enough.

"Don't you know what it means to be a stranger in Warleigh?" The other asked, popping her eyes at Shana.

"I do...but what exactly is going on?" She asked them.

"Well, this stranger happens to be more strange." The lady who spoke first told her.

"Strange...how do you mean?" She asked.

"He seemed to have come with a weapon and not only that, he looked fearful." The same lady replied.

"And he's so cute...did you see how he looked at me? I'm sure he's in love with me..." The second lady replied as she blushed harder.

"Hey! Come to your senses." The third lady replied, slightly irritated.

"Someone that doesn't even know if there's anyone like you let alone, knows about your existence you're there talking nonsense." The first lady supported the third lady.

"Don't mind her, she's out of her mind. Let's leave this place before she runs mad." The first lady added and they left, leaving Shana without answering her question completely.

Shana kept walking as she stopped by a pillar and overheard two men discussing.

"That stranger is in bigger trouble." The first man said.

"I just pity him. Did you even see the way he walked in with that beast of his?" The other one added.

"Hmm, he's a dead meat if the head of chiefs finds him. I heard that the palace soldiers are in search of him." The first one replied.

"Yes, they are. I heard of it too and the security is tight at the gate because they are planning on raiding the entire village in search of him before he runs away." The second one answered.

"But what do they plan on doing to him?" The first one asked.

"He'll die a slow and painful death. People said that he might be a wolf or maybe cursed by them because he is hairy than any normal person. Did you see the length of his hair? Even the animal he came with had very long shiny hair, longer than some of ours." The second one explained.

Shana quickly walked back to the hut after the men had gone. She had forgotten about going to visit her friend as she needed to talk to Bilal immediately. She broke into a quick run when no one was watching until she arrived at the hut and met Bilal sleeping.

"Wake up Bilal!" Shana shook him violently.

"What's it?" He asked her as he stood up, opening his eyes.

"You have to run away. You need to leave now!" She said, packing up his things.

"Leave to where and why?" He asked, looking at her.

"A search of you has begun." She explained.

"Why and what are you talking about?" He asked her.

"I told you earlier what it meant to be a stranger in this kingdom and the danger that might be lurking around you. See, if you want yourself alive you have to go." She said with a worried voice.

"Why do you care about me?" He asked her.

"Well I don't care about you, I'm only worried." She replied.

"Worried about what? You love me don't you?" He asked her which left her speechless for some seconds.

"I don't love you Bilal and I'm only worried about getting myself in trouble for taking a stranger in! Do you get it?" She said, raising her voice.

"Why getting worked up over nothing? Was it because I asked if you loved me? I know you do or don't you? If you didn't love me you wouldn't have had sex with me..." He told her shamelessly as she cut him in.

"You're such a shameless bastard aren't you? I regret doing that with you and I wasn't in my senses. I still hate myself for letting you touch me!" She said with a teary voice.

"I don't mean to make you cry...I'm sorry..." He apologized as he tried to come closer to her, getting up from hebed when she stopped him.

"Don't come any closer to me! You should be thinking of getting out of this place. You caused all this! Why in heaven's name would you wield that useless sharp thing in front of everyone? Don't you know it means you're declaring war against them, I mean us?" She asked him, looking straight into his golden eyes.

"No...it was a sign of greeting and not of war. How the hell do you people interprete peace for war?" He asked.

"The hell is for you to get out of here. I won't forgive you if I get into trouble because of you, now get the hell out of here and not one more conversation with you!" She said in a harsh tone.

"Fine! I'll leave if you don't want me to stay. Take care of my child." He said as he turned away to go.

"What do you mean?" She asked him.

"Never mind." She quickly added.

He picked up his bags and went to loose his horse as he got ready to leave that night when the voices of the villagers were heard, as they held weapons and burning sticks. Shana was confused and scared at the same time for Bilal but he showed no worry or fear. She pulled him into the hut and hid him alongside his horse.

"Stay in here and don't go anywhere." She instructed as she went out of the hut to gather more information on what was happening.

"What's it this time?" She asked a male passerby.

"The king declared a search for the stranger and promised anyone who found him some crops." She was told.

"What if he escaped?" Shana asked the man.

"It's not possible for him to escape tonight because all the gates are securely locked and soldiers are positioned on every exit of Warleigh, meaning that he must be found." The man explained.

"Okay thank you." Shana replied as she turned to go.

"One more thing, he's a special person and also a dreaded being. When you hear anything about his whereabouts, you alert the soldiers." The man told her.

"Very well then, I'll do so. Thanks." She said as she went away.

"What's going on out there?" He asked her.

"It's unsafe for you to stay here. By dawn tomorrow, houses will be searched and you may end up getting caught. The search will end soon and by mid night, I'll show you a secret escape route so you can leave." She told him.

"Thanks but I'm not leaving." He said to her as he laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling as he turned his back against her, lying on his side facing the window and his back to the door.

"How stubborn are you?" You haven't even spent a full day here and you're already misbehaving. Was I wrong to have helped you?" She asked him getting angry.

He ignored her and pretended to be asleep. She tried all she could to get him going but he ignored her. Not long after, the soldiers trooped into Shana's compound. She heard their footsteps and got scared. She had earlier taken the horse outside again in preparation for him to leave. She got really scared and shivered in fear as she tried to hide Bilal but it was too late, the troops had come in already.

They searched all over the place including the back of the hut before entering the hut and asked Bilal to get up but he pretended to be fast asleep. He was then turned over so they could see his face clearly. Knowing he had been caught, Shana covered her face with her hands as she shrieked in fear. The soldiers then left without any commotion onto the next compound. She was surprised and quickly opened her eyes to see what had happened. It wasn't Bilal that was in the bed, someone different was in there.

"Who are you?" She asked the unknown man who smiled at her. She grabbed a kitchen knife immediately from the basket in the hut and pointed it at him.