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LarrySun:
THE JOURNEY TO A THOUSAND FLASH

Flash 25: Kingdom

Specially dedicated to a wonderful friend - Gabriel Eigbe.

Many years ago, a certain family was massacred, but the child survived. He was taken in by a lineage of slaves.

***

A long standing rift had existed between two royal families for generations. Nobody could really tell which family was next to ascend the throne of Kachi Kingdom - the Akenzuas had claimed to be the next in line, the Gazis insisted that it was their turn to climb the throne. These two royal families were desperate to wear the crown, and they were determined to do anything to win the royal race.

Chief Alooma, however, was not only the kingmaker, he was also the town's peacemaker - and he was also the richest man in the whole of Kachiland; he had donated a fortune to medical research in the land. His job was to mend the rift between the two families; but all his effort to restore peace was disavailed - neither of the families was willing to compromise. Because of the disagreement going on between the Akenzua Family and the Gazi Family, Kachiland had no king for a long time after the death of the last king.

And so when it was clear that neither family would ascend the throne except one gave in to another, the two families started plotting attacks against each other.

The Ghazis, realising that the first to take the offensive would most likely ascend the throne, threw the first stone. While the family was still deciding on a way to attack, the heir of the Gazi family, Rilwan Gazi, hired an assassin to kill the heir of the Akenzuas - Fifi Akenzua.

"Kill him and get rid of his body," Idris had told Ekong, the killer.

The killer had nodded in understanding.

"If they don't have an heir," Rilwan had explained further, "they won't lay claim to the throne. When I become the king, you'll be my chief of security."

Ekong had been flattered. He had always been fascinated by royalty but he was from the lineage of slaves - he knew he would never become king even though he knew about the history of his existence. The closest he could get to the throne was to become the bodyguard of the king. He was also a eunuch; he would never father a child. He decided that if he couldn't bring a soul to the world, then it was only right for him to take as many away from the world as possible - so he became a killer.

Early the following morning, Ekong sought out Prince Fifi Akenzua. Keeping his gun close by his side, Ekong had located the target. The prince was just driving out of his family compound when Ekong appeared in his own car. The killer decided to tail the target to a better location.

After about thirty minutes of following behind the target, he suddenly overtook the car and stepped out with his gun drawn. The road was quiet. It was the perfect spot. Ekong quickly got out of the car, walked over to Fifi who was still behind the wheel, and shot his squarely in the face. Fifi died immediately.

Ekong was meticulous. He calmly lifted the corpse from the driver's seat and placed him in the booth of the car. The killer parked his car at the side of the road and drove the victim's car away - the owner of the car was lying dead in the booth.

The killer had his plan. He would throw the corpse over the city bridge into the river below and then drive back to where he parked his own car. He would leave the victim's car there at the roadside and drive off in his own car. It would be perfect. The corpse would never be discovered; the fishes would devour it.

Everything worked according to how Ekong planned it. He had thrown the corpse into the river and was driving back to his car when a truck suddenly appeared. It was too late for him to react as he drove head-on towards the truck. There was a loud crash. The car Ekong drove somersaulted three times before it rested on its side.

The truck, apparently undamaged, was driven away as Ekong struggled for his life. He was trying to get out of the car but was trapped by the seatbelt. He was uninjured save for the deep gash on his right temple. The fuel tank had been punctured and petrol was beginning to leak out.

For over ten minutes, Ekong was still trying to free himself. Petrol was now all around him and a little spark was beginning to ignite. While Ekong was struggling to break free, one vehicle drove by since the accident happened.

It was Chief Alooma - the peacemaker. Just as he stepped out of his car, the spark caught the petrol and caused a great fire. At this moment, Ekong had broken free of his entrapment but he was not very lucky. His clothes had been soaked with the petrol. As he tried to run off, the fire engulfed him.

Chief Alooma saw someone on fire. The person was screaming and running around blindly. The peacemaker quite took of his coat and covered up the burning man with it, dousing the fire in the process. But the damage had already been done. The fire had burned off Ekong's skin; he was barely alive.

The chief quickly carried the victim into his own car. As he was about to get behind the wheel, he noticed a driver's licence on the floor. On picking it up, he saw that it belonged to Prince Fifi Akenzua. It was the prince's car that was burning.

As he sat behind the wheel and turned the ignition, he said to himself:

"That's Prince Fifi in the backseat. I must save him. He must not die."

As he drove away, Ekong lost consciousness in the backseat.

***

On getting to the hospital, Chief Alooma thought the accident victim was dead but the doctor confirmed that he was still alive. Ekong was quickly rushed to ICU.

“Doctor, you must save him,” Alooma told the doctor, “He must not die – he’s Prince Fifi Akenzua.”

“He’s badly burnt,” replied the doctor, “His skin is totally peeled off.”

“Can you restore his body back to its original state?”

The doctor thought deeply about the question before replying. “To be able to do that, I’d need a picture of him.”

The chief quickly produced the driver’s license he had found at the crash site. “Can this do?” he asked anxiously.

“It’s a start but I’ll need a complete picture of him.”

And so while the doctors began to work on restoring the victim’s body, Chief Alooma visited the Akenzuas and related the bad news. Prince Fifi had been in a ghastly accident and was being treated by the doctors. He requested for the prince’s sharper picture and took it to the doctors.

The surgery spanned three months; and when Ekong was released from the hospital, he had the body of Fifi.

“He suffered amnesia due to the impact of the accident,” the presiding doctor informed the family, “He doesn’t remember anything. His memory is totally blank. It will take a while before his memory returns. You have a lot of work to do in helping him through this recovery process.

The family took Ekong home and shared details about Fifi to him.

You are the heir of the throne of Kachiland.

You have a pregnant wife. She’ll soon put to bed.

You must fight for what’s rightly yours.

It was another three months before Ekong learnt everything he needed to know. In the absence of Fifi, Rilwan Gazi had been elected as the next king of the land, and his coronation was getting close.

Two weeks before the ceremony, Ekong, now Fifi Akenzua, invaded the Gazi home and killed everyone, including Rilwan – the man who had sent him to kill the prince of the rival family.
No one suspected Ekong of carrying out the killings. And since the Gazi family had been wiped out, Ekong was crowned the king of Kachiland a fortnight later.

But as soon as Ekong was crowned king by the kingmaker, he secretly ordered the execution of all Akenzuas. He didn't suffer any amnesia after all. He was out for revenge. The two families, the Akenzuas and the Gazis, had been responsible for the massacre of his family when he was a child.

However, because he knew he would never father a child, he spared Fifi’s pregnant wife and made her his queen in the palace.

Nobody knew who he truly was.