Chapter 3
Episode 3: Unexpected Allies
I awoke to the gentle sway of movement and the clip-clop of horse hooves. My head throbbed, and for a moment, I couldn’t remember where I was or how I’d gotten there.
“Ah, you’re awake,” a deep voice rumbled beside me.
I turned my head, wincing at the pain, to find the stranger from before. We were in a cart, moving swiftly down a road I didn’t recognize.
“What… what happened?” I croaked, my throat dry as sand.
The stranger passed me a water skin. “I arrived just in time to see you take quite a nasty blow. Your… family, I presume… were most upset when I insisted on taking you with me.”
I gulped down the water gratefully. “Why did you help me?”
His eyes, when they met mine, were filled with a mixture of amusement and something deeper, more serious. “Let’s just say I have a vested interest in your wellbeing. And in those diamonds you so dramatically disposed of.”
My blood ran cold. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied, sitting up straighter despite the pain.
He chuckled. “Come now, Sade. There’s no need for pretense between us. I know about the diamonds. I’ve known since the day I offered to buy your land.”
“Who are you?” I demanded, suddenly wary. “Really?”
The stranger’s smile faded, replaced by a look of grim determination. “My name is Adebayo. I work for the royal family, tracking down valuable resources. Those diamonds you found? They’re part of a much larger deposit. One that could change the fate of our entire kingdom.”
My head spun with this new information. “But… why all the secrecy? Why not just tell me?”
Adebayo sighed. “Politics, my dear. There are those who would stop at nothing to keep this discovery quiet. Your stepmother and stepsister among them, as it turns out.”
I slumped back against the cart, overwhelmed. “What happens now?”
“Now,” Adebayo said, his voice tinged with excitement, “we recover those diamonds and bring them to the royal family. And you, Sade, will be handsomely rewarded for your discovery.”
As we rattled down the road towards an uncertain future, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was really the end of my troubles, or just the beginning of something far bigger than I could have ever imagined.
The diamond that had started it all might be at the bottom of a well, but I had a feeling my adventure was far from over.
