Dial - Season 2 - Episode 11

Episode 4 years ago

Dial - Season 2 - Episode 11

The men holding me gasped and threw me, and I fell into the sticky mess of sheep blood on the floor. I saw Okomfo Basabasa turning round completely, apparently searching for the voice of Nana b0s0mba.
“b0s0mba Nana, you have no business here!” Okomfo Basabasa shouted. “We know this man is under your spell, and so we sought the oracles! And the oracles accepted that this man crossed our customs, and so whatever is being done to him is by the gods of the land…you have no power to come here! If you come here, you will face the wrath of the Oracles, and you know it!”
“I know the rules, and the laws, and the customs of the Oracles, Basabasa!” Nana b0s0mba said, and his voice came from the walls of the palace, as if he were hidden within the walls.

“And so what are you doing here, b0s0mba Nana?” Okomfo Basabasa, highly agitated, screamed as he peered at the walls.
“I also made a petition to the Oracles, my son,” Nana b0s0mba’s voice said through the walls. “I’m not there, no, my dear. I speak from my own abode. You know that if the Oracles didn’t find my petition to their favour, I could not interfere in your business!”

“You cannot interfere, b0s0mba Nana, because this is a case of custom, and it is being judged by the gods of this village!” Okomfo said. “So I don’t see any reason for your interference!”

“Ah!” the vibrant voice of Nana b0s0mba said through the walls. “You know you must be careful of what you say, my friend, very careful! If you say you don’t see a reason for my interference, are you perchance saying that the Oracles are without reason?”
I saw the sudden fear and horror that crossed Okomfo Basabasa’s face, and he dropped to his hands and knees at once and bowed his head.

“Do not trick me, b0s0mba Nana, and put words of wickedness into my mouth!” he said, his voice less severe, now couched with fear.

“I did not utter them!” Nana b0s0mba’s voice came from the walls, harsh and amplified. “You uttered them yourself!”
“And for that I apologize, Nananom, ancestors, gods of our land, oh Grand Oracles, I do apologize!” Okomfo Basabasa said with great humility. “Go on, b0s0mba Nana, let your petition that granted you entrance here be heard!”

There was a sudden rumbling sound in the walls, and the whole building shook, causing the king and his elders to shudder with fear.
“That boy indeed put his hands on the Princess!” Nana b0s0mba said. “And for that, because she is promised in marriage to the King, and she has accepted and wears his golden ring, is indeed a grave infringement of your customs! The fitting punishment must be given to the boy, and I can’t do anything about it!”

My heart sank as these chilling words echoed through the walls, and the intensity of the vibrating walls told me that Nana b0s0mba was indeed very angry.

He couldn’t save me?

I still needed to be bitten by snakes?
“That is so, b0s0mba Nana!” Okomfo Basabasa said. “Please, we listen!”
“But your customs prescribe two forms of punishment, Okomfo Basabasa…death, and the whip! The wounded Princess is the one who will choose which punishments should be meted out! Why then, do you behave as if only death is the prescribed punishment? Are you perchance saying you’re wiser than the ancestors who set those customs?”

Okomfo Basabasa bowed his head lower in absolute supplication, and when he spoke his voice shook with a mixture of disappointment and rage, and a strange note of fear.

“Forgive me, Grand Oracle,” he said bitterly. “What b0s0mba Nana says is indeed, the truth. In the heat of my anger, I forgot there are two punishments prescribed, and what the Princess chooses holds sway! Forgive me! It shall be rectified! Is there any more, b0s0mba Nana?”

“Nothing more!” Nana b0s0mba’s voice came, hot and filled with fury, resonating violently through the walls. “I just want the Oracles to know that the boy was under my palm, but you have touched him, and there’s nothing I can do! But, today, in the presence of the Oracles, I say you have become my enemy for this very act, Basabasa…and I never forget! Enjoy the battle, but remember the war continues! You want to see red, and I’ll show you the blood of a tiger!”

The walls shook horribly, causing some of the cement plaster to rip off and fall, and then there was silence.

Nana b0s0mba’s presence was gone!
Okomfo Basabasa continued kneeling on all fours on the floor, his body shaking, and then he slowly got to his feet.