The shadow leapt from the trees.
Guards instantly pulled out their spears watching to see.
Several elders stepped back in fear.
But when the shadow landed on the sand beside the two men—
Nothing stood there.
Nothing.
Only the cold wind rushing through the bushes.
The two men screamed like frightened children.
"Don't let her touch us!"
"Please! We will confess!"
Their bodies trembled violently as they crawled backward on the ground.
Everyone stared at them in confusion.
The Supreme King, King Aldean, stepped forward slowly.
His sharp royal eyes studied the men carefully.
"Who are you?" he asked calmly.
Neither man answered.
Instead, their eyes suddenly lifted.
And both men froze.
Their gaze had landed on someone standing behind the elders.
Queen Owusu.
The moment their eyes met her face—
Recognition flashed across their faces.
One of the men suddenly pointed at her with a shaking finger.
"Her!"
Gasps spread across the riverbank.
All eyes turned instantly toward the queen.
Queen Owusu stood stiffly.
The color slowly drained from her face.
The man tried to speak again.
"You… you…"
But before the words could leave his mouth—
The wind exploded across the riverbank.
Cold.
Violent.
Terrifying.
The trees shook wildly.
The river rippled as if something beneath it had awakened.
Both men screamed again.
Their eyes were no longer on the queen.
They were staring behind her.
At something only they could see.
"No!"
"Please don't kill us!"
"We will confess!"
Fear moved through the crowd like wildfire.
Even the guards shifted uneasily.
The men began shaking violently.
"We killed her!"
"We killed the woman!"
King Aldean's voice cut through the chaos.
"Speak clearly."
The first man pointed again.
Straight at Queen Owusu.
"Twenty years ago… she paid us!"
Shock exploded through the crowd.
Queen Owusu staggered slightly.
"She wanted the twins dead!"
Silence fell.
A deep, heavy silence.
King Owusu slowly turned his head toward his queen.
His face hardened like stone.
"What twins?" one of the elders whispered.
The second man cried loudly.
"The twins of Afia Serwaa!"
Madam Esi Nyarko gasped sharply.
Her body stiffened.
Afia Serwaa.
Akosua's mother.
The first man continued speaking desperately.
"Queen Owusu came to us in secret."
"She said the children must never live."
"Both of them!"
"Akosua and his brother!"
The elders erupted in murmurs.
The man continued.
"But the woman… Afia Serwaa… sensed danger."
"She knew evil was coming."
"So she ran."
The second man continued quickly.
"She took the babies to the Motherless Babies Home!"
Madam Esi stepped forward immediately.
"Yes!"
"That is true!"
Everyone turned toward her.
Her voice trembled.
"She came late at night."
"She was shaking with fear."
"She begged me to protect the twins."
"She said powerful people were hunting them."
The two men nodded quickly.
"Yes!"
"That is what happened!"
"But when the queen discovered the twins were gone…"
Their voices lowered.
"She became furious."
One of them looked at Queen Owusu with terror.
"She ordered us again."
"This time…"
His voice broke.
"To kill the mother."
Gasps erupted across the crowd.
Mama Abena covered her mouth in shock.
The man continued weakly.
"We found her before she escaped."
"She said she knew people were watching her."
Madam Esi slowly nodded.
"She told me the same thing."
The first man's voice dropped into a broken whisper.
"But we caught her."
Tears rolled down his face.
"We butchered her."
A cry of horror spread across the riverbank.
Some elders shouted in anger.
Others stepped back in disbelief.
"For twenty years… our lives have never been peaceful," the man continued.
"Two of the men died mysteriously."
The second man nodded quickly.
"They died screaming in their sleep."
"We have been living in fear!"
Their eyes widened again.
They stared behind Queen Owusu.
"The spirit!"
"She is here!"
"She has been chasing us!"
Both men suddenly collapsed.
Their bodies went still.
Unconscious.
Silence swallowed the riverbank.
Every face slowly turned toward Queen Owusu.
She stood frozen.
Her hands trembling.
Princess Adjoa lowered her head in shame.
Queen Owusu's lips shook slightly.
The Supreme King finally spoke.
His voice was cold.
"You murdered a woman like you?"
Queen Owusu said nothing.
Madam Esi stepped forward again.
"My King."
All eyes turned toward her.
"That was the reason I disappeared years ago."
The elders murmured.
"After Afia Serwaa left the babies with me… I knew danger was coming."
"I knew they would come for me too."
"So I vanished."
She looked directly at Queen Owusu.
"I refused to die with her secret."
The crowd erupted again.
The Chief Priest stepped forward.
His sacred beads rattled as he walked.
"The river has already spoken," he said heavily.
"The past has returned."
His staff touched the ground.
"The palace must be cleansed."
Fear returned to the crowd.
But before anyone could speak—
The river suddenly exploded.
Water burst violently into the air.
Everyone jumped backward.
The Chief Priest spun around.
The river was moving again.
Stronger.
Faster.
Something beneath the water was pulling with terrible force.
Then—
The water began swirling wildly.
The river voice thundered again.
"THE BLOOD OF THE PAST REMAINS UNCLEAN."
Fear spread across the riverbank.
The wind rose sharply.
Suddenly—
Queen Owusu screamed.
Her feet slid across the wet sand.
An invisible force was pulling her.
Straight toward the river.
The guards rushed forward.
But the ground beneath her feet seemed alive.
Dragging her.
Pulling her closer to the raging water.
"Help me!" she screamed.
Princess Adjoa cried out.
"Mother!"
The elders panicked.
The Chief Priest lifted his sacred staff immediately.
"Stop!"
But the river did not obey.
The water roared louder.
Queen Owusu's body slid closer to the edge.
Her fingers dug into the sand desperately.
But the unseen force was stronger.
Much stronger.
The river voice thundered one final time.
"The dead remember."
The water surged violently again—
And Queen Owusu's body was dragged into the raging river.
The entire riverbank erupted in screams.
And the Chief Priest shouted—
"Hold her!"
Then the guards move.