Chapter Thirty-Seven: Retribution!
- Hadiza Bagudu
- Jul 18
- 8 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
It had been four months and two weeks since Rabbeh broke the sad news to Fantah and Talatu of Hayah’s death. The Mai might have been a backstabbing, deceitful man, but his love for Hayah was genuine. Many years of dealing with several dishonest, power-hungry men, ready to kill even their own mothers to get what they wanted, and men who would not have hesitated to stab him in the back the very instant he turned his back from them, might have also altered the man’s true personality. But Hayah was not like that. He was the noblest man he had ever met. He was honest to a fault. He was loyal and trustworthy, and Rabbeh did really consider him a friend. In fact, the only true friend he had ever had in his life. That was why his death hurt him so much. He arranged for Hayah’s body to be brought back to Dikwa and gave him a proper burial alongside his fallen men and vowed to avenge him on his errant son. He also allowed Fantah, Talatu, and her children to mourn Hayah in the palace for four months and ten days as prescribed in Islam for a woman to mourn her husband. At the end of the mourning period, Fantah decided she would go to Rabbeh to thank him for his kindness and then informed him she would be going back to Ndokula. She was not sure her family would still be there or if they had moved on, but she missed them and longed to go back home. Her father was right; Hayah was bad news for her. Even though she loved him and he loved her, being with him had brought nothing but bad luck to her. Their whole relationship had been a series of misfortunes for her. They never truly enjoyed long spells of happiness together. She held on to the misplaced hope that one day it would get better, but it never did and now he was dead. She didn’t even have a child to remember him by. The thought brought tears to her eyes.
She had been indoors throughout the mourning period. She refused to; go out or see anyone. Even Rabbeh took a break from bothering her daily to let her mourn Hayah in solitude. She was grateful for that. Because the last thing she needed was another one of his unwanted advances.
She wondered how Talatu was faring. She must hate her so much now. Hayah never hid the fact that he preferred Fantah over Talatu, and that was a source of constant jealousy from her. Talatu did several things to get rid of her, and now that he was dead, she must have been blaming Fantah for it. Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted when one of her female servants came in.
“Salaamu alaikum.” she said and knelt down.
“Alaikum Salaam.” She motioned her to sit down.
“Mama.” the girl said, referring to her the way she always did. “I am afraid I have some bad news”
“What is it? Tell me.”
“The Mai sent me to inform you that he just got married to Yerima Talatu.”
“What?”
Talatu had come a long way from the innocent young princess she once was. Her marriage to Hayah and his ultimate betrayal, coupled with her uncle’s bad influence, had changed her into a power-thirsty, emotionally hardened woman. She didn’t care about anything or anyone anymore, except her children and how to position them for power.
Being with Hayah did not help her realize that dream. Fantah was a major obstacle for her. But with Hayah’s death came a great opportunity, which she quickly took advantage of.
The morning she came out of Takaba, she sent one of her servant girls with a message to Rabbeh requesting an audience with him. It had to be done formally, giving that he was such a powerful man. So, he granted her request and permitted her to come and see him in his private visitors’ room. He sent everybody out, leaving only his new right-hand man, his advisor, and the new Imam of the town. He was required not to have a private meeting with any woman who was not his wife or concubine without someone else being present.
When she came in, she was beautifully dressed, her face well-made-up and dripping in jewellery. It was all calculated for the right effect. Rabbeh had never noticed her before. He never saw her as attractive, just beautiful, but on that day, he really took notice.
“Allah Nguuro.” she said and knelt down before him.
“Talatu, I was actually coming over to see you and Fantah to commiserate with you on completing your Takaba. May Allah grant him Aljannah-Firdausi.”
“Amen, Allah Nguuro. Thank you for your kindness.”
“I only fulfilled my duty. Hayah was my friend and his family is now my responsibility. You can stay here as long as you like.”
“Thank you. But I have a request that I hope you will grant me, Allah Nguuro.”
“Say it. Whatever you want, if it is in my power I shall grant it.” She bowed her head shyly and smiled, without saying anything. “It’s alright, I will listen to anything. Consider me a friend.”
“I do not want you to be my friend.” she said and covered her face shyly with her palms.
“Really?” he concealed his shock by smiling and playing along. “What do you want me to be to you?”
“Allah Nguuro, I noticed that you do not have a wife… I would like to fulfil that role if you will marry me. We would be of mutual benefit to each other. I will be a good wife to you and a mother to your children while you take on the role of a husband to me and offer me and my children protection.”
This time, Rabbeh couldn’t hide his shock and amusement. He never saw that coming. This whole time he had his eyes on Fantah and had woven different plans to woo her away from Hayah and now Talatu was practically throwing herself at him. He wanted Fantah because of her beauty and intelligence, but this woman was foxy, and diabolical and clearly hungry for power-and he liked that. She fit perfectly into his picture of a queen. Both of them were birds of a feather.
He turned to his men. “What do you think?” he asked them.
“I think it is a good idea. It is not good for a Muslim man or woman to stay without marriage, Allah Nguuro.” the chief Imam said.
“She would make a perfect queen for you, Allah Nguuro.” his advisor also said.
“Very well then.” he smiled. “I will take it into consideration.”
“Allah Nguuro.” she said. “If I may, with your blessings, as you may have noticed, I am already dressed for the wedding.”
He was taken by surprise again. “You mean right now?”
“Yes, Allah Nguuro. With your permission.”
“Wouldn’t you want to plan a big ceremony of some sort?”
“I don’t have anybody to invite to an elaborate ceremony and I wouldn’t put a burden on you by requiring one. I will be very glad to be married to an honourable and kind man like Your Majesty, right away.
He turned to his men again and they all agreed it was a good idea. “Allah Nguuro, I am the chief Imam, with your permission, I can conduct the wedding Fatiha right away. Mallam Al-amin, your advisor can receive the dowry on behalf of her relatives. We already have two witnesses.”
“Oh, may Allah grant his blessings on this endeavour.” He smiled. “I present to you a herd of cows from the royal farm as dowry.”
“You are so kind Allah Nguuro.” she said. The wedding took place immediately with only five of them in the room.
She couldn’t forget the puzzled look on Fantah’s face when she came in to congratulate her and Rabbeh. She was sitting right next to him in the room after the wedding took place when Fantah came in. She looked like someone who had just seen a ghost. Even though she was obviously trying to hide her shock, it was written all over her face. Talatu had outmanoeuvred her.
“Congratulations. May Allah bless your marriage.” She said, Wishing them well.
“Thank you, Fantah.” Rabbeh said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Thank you.” Talatu said, looking at her with a smirk on her face.
“Fantah.” the Mai said. “I have discussed your situation with my wife; we agreed you could continue staying at your quarters. You don’t have to go anywhere and you would be provided for, just like before.”
Fantah felt a lump in her throat. She knew that Talatu never liked her, so for her to agree to a suggestion to allow her to remain at the palace, it meant she was up to something. Maybe she just wanted to gloat in her face every day and make her miserable or at worse, she planned to kill her. It would be inappropriate for her to open her mouth and tell the Mai that she wanted to leave after he had personally asked her to stay. It dawned on her that she was really in trouble. “Thank you, Allah Nguuro and my queen.” she said and got up and walked back to her apartment.
Talatu gave her new husband two weeks of honeymoon before springing into action. She couldn’t believe her luck and how easy it was. She was now the sole queen of a very powerful empire, and she had the king wrapped around her finger. He was so in love with her that he would do anything she wanted. She pretended to care about his children by begging him to forgive them and advised him to grant them permission to come back home. However, he only granted them permission to return but insisted he would punish them no matter what. In just a few weeks, she had manipulated the Mai so much that she had his complete devotion and attention, something that gave her great satisfaction.
The first thing she did with her newfound power was to send search parties to recover her uncle from whatever rock he was hiding under and bring him to her alive. She wanted to look into his eyes before making him pay for what he did to her. They found him in Duala, hiding in a small village under the protection of a minor chief. They brought him to Dikwa where he was tried as a traitor and a murderer and beheaded. Contrary to the fate that befell him, his people would have fought for him and his own king would have demanded his release since he was not even a citizen of Kanem-Borno. But his protector and benefactor Lamdo Salli was dead, killed in battle by Hayah’s soldiers and the Lamido of Yola was not interested in joining issues with the Mai for a man of no political value to him. Being the coward that her uncle was, he was already dead from fear before the ax hit his neck.
Next, she went for Magajiya who had also gone into hiding. They found her and brought her to Dikwa to be tried. Talatu accused her of being possessed by an evil jinn, instead of sentencing her to dead she was sent to a mental asylum where she would be exorcised. She was beaten daily and made to drink all kinds of concoctions. Every time she protested and tried to tell them that she was not possessed, they whipped her some more until she learned to keep her mouth shut and accept her fate.
Moving forward, she manipulated Rabbeh into giving her seven and five-year-old sons royal titles. The first son was given the title, Hakimi of Ngala, and the second, Hakimi of Ngazargamu. With that, they were secured and guaranteed their place even if Rabbeh were to suddenly fall and die. And even if she could bear him sons or not, she planned over time, to manipulate the Mai into making her first son the crown prince. Her mind was in overdrive.
With her schemes finally gaining strong traction, it was time to turn her attention to the small matter of her weakened former rival, Fantah. At first, she thought of accusing her of doing something treacherous to condemn her for execution, but she decided that death would be quick to release her enemy from pain. And how could she let that happen? She wanted her to live with regrets, live with the pain of losing the love of her life, and most importantly, the overwhelming knowledge that she had lost everything. A loser. And so, she schemed and deported her back to her own people where the shame would be overwhelming for her – to the parents she defied, no husband, no children, no material possessions of any kind, empty-handed! She went back worse than she left, a failure. And in her warped mind, that was poetic justice.
[End of Chapter Thirty-Seven
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