His Queen

Chapter Six - Beta Dance

Ajinke;

Last night, I slept in the last room in the maid's quarters with Asake. Asake has other maid friends, and because their rooms are bigger than hers, she keeps some of her things with them.

Which explains where she dressed me up. Asake is meant to sleep in one of the normal rooms with the other maids, but because she's the only one brave enough to stand up to Ronke, she's kind of a castaway and has been sleeping in the smallest room alone.

And after the stunt I pulled with Ronke yesterday, there was no way I'd be able to sleep in a normal room, so Asake called me to sleep with her, and I'm her new roomie.

Ronke is some sort of terror in the maid's quarters. The position she's given herself, from what Asake told me, is not official. She was just able to intimidate the other maids and make herself their dictator.

Asake is someone the king favors, but despite that, she isn't ready to involve the king in Ronke's nonsense, so she accepts most of her nonsense.

Asake turned out to be a very funny, and free person. She's kind, beautiful, and friendly. I like the aura she gives off.

I may not know the palace, but it's the only place I've ever felt warm and safe in a long time.

I'm walking with Asake as she chose to take me on a tour of the palace.

"Orange suits you." She compliments, looking down at my skirt, and I smile.

"Thank you, "I reply with a smile, and she smiles back.
My system pauses on hearing the sounds of beta drums.

I begin to follow the sounds, leaving Asake alone, although I can her call after me. I keep walking towards the sound till I finally get to a huge space with a little girl who looks about the age of eight, vigorously trying to dance the beta dance, with a group of men beating the drum for her.

"What is it? "Asake whispers to me, and I point at the little girl.

"What? "She questions after looking at the little girl for a while, and I smile.

Beta dance used to be my life. When I was little, my grandma would teach me all the moves and beat the drums for me. I would dance so hard my joints would ache and I'd have blisters under my feet, but those never stopped me.

My grandma in her golden years used to be the queen of beta dance in the village. When she grew older, she taught me all there was to know about the dance. It was something I and my grandma really used to bond on.

Beta dance is a channel through which we worshipers of Goddess Yaremi communicate with her, and worship her.

Goddess Yaremi is a very fierce goddess who could take on thousands of men and still come out victorious. As mighty as she is, she is still the mother of love and peace.

I stare at the little child as she keeps giving her best to the dance, but keeps falling. Watching the little angel reminds me of moments of dance shared with my grandmother.

I walk up to the little girl, and she stops dancing, as the drummers stop drumming.

"Hey, "I greet the little girl who has her hair on two pigtails, sticking up on her head.

"Hi. "She replies, and I smile.

"What are you doing?"I question, and she gives me a toothy smile that exposes the vacant gap meant for two of her front teeth, and I smile.

"I'm rehearsing for my beta dance performance. I'm presenting for prince Adebiyi's coronation ceremony."She replies with a hint of pride, and I smile at the little girl who now has her hands *akimbo.