“Daddy, Don’t Go!” The Maid’s Daughter Stops the Prince and Reveals a Terrible Plot

The little girl threw herself in front of the royal convoy and screamed the forbidden word that made the whole palace freeze.
—Papa, don’t enter that car!
Prince Chinedu stopped with one hand already on the open door of the black Lexus. Cameras flashed. Guards reached for their radios. The palace courtyard of Aruoma, one of the oldest traditional kingdoms in eastern Nigeria, fell into a silence so sharp that even the fountain seemed to stop breathing.
The child on the polished stone floor was Ifeoma, only 5 years old, daughter of Nneka, a palace maid who washed bedsheets, carried trays and lowered her eyes whenever nobles passed. Ifeoma’s small Ankara dress was faded. Her sandals were cracked. Tears ran down her round cheeks as she stretched both hands toward the prince.
—Papa, please, don’t go there. They will hurt you.
A guard grabbed her arm.