IYOBA

CHAPTER TEN

The next day, oba omonuwa rose up early to prepare Adaeze's breakfast, the Royal chefs were surprised to see the king in the kitchen. He did he's best to prepare something nice for Adaeze, he refused any kind of help from the chefs. After he was done he took the food and served Adaeze breakfast in bed. She had already woken up, she was shocked to see him with a tray of food so she asked"where were you all morning, I didn't see you when I woke up" he replied happily" oh sorry, I went to prepare breakfast for you, you remember the doctor said you should eat enough for you and the baby" she was surprised, then she said"so you cooked this yourself? Wow I'm scared let me have a taste" he passed the tray to her and when she  tasted it ,she was surprised it actually tasted good. She complimented him and he was happy she loved it. After breakfast they both had their bath and went to the queen mother to tell her the good news." Wow!!!! So you mean I will be a grand mother soon, she danced happily while singing a song. Then she stopped midway and asked Adaeze" why are you still standing,sit down my dear, please you are carrying my one and only grandchild" they all laughed in unison. Soon her pregnancy was announced and a little celebration was held to congratulate the couple. Noble men and chiefs from the entire kingdom came to offer gifts to Adaeze. Message was sent to the Nnewi kingdom to inform Adaeze's parents of her pregnancy and they could not come but they sent gifts to her , when she saw the gifts from her parents, she felt sad because she missed them alot. Oba omonuwa on the other hand, set up an arranged marriage between Eseosa and the son of a chief, he forced her to accept the marriage or face his wrath, he knew she would be of great danger to Adaeze now that she was pregnant and vulnerable. After the marriage Eseosa finally left the palace for good.

Several months later, Adaeze was heavily pregnant, her husband was always at the receiving end of her nagging and complaints. He understood it was just hormones so he catered to her needs and made her as comfortable as possible. During Adaeze's stay in the Benin kingdom she had grown close to omonuwa's best friend named Asemote. Asemote was omonuwa's best friend and one of the most skilled soldiers in the entire benin kingdom. In fact some people might say,he was more skilled than omonuwa.they had been friends since they were teens. Asemote was particularly close to Adaeze because he's mother is from Nnewi kingdom and his father was of Benin descent. He spoke both languages fluently. His presence always felt like home to Adaeze. When Adaeze gets her pregnancy cravings, him and omonuwa would travel to the ends of the kingdom just to get it.
One day, Asemote , omonuwa and some guards travelled to the neighbouring kingdom for political reasons and on their way back omonuwa remembered that Adaeze was craving venison the other day so he asked the convoy to stop close to a jungle so that he could hunt for some meat. Asemote followed him into the jungle, while they were setting the traps, they chatted a little" your wife will be so happy when she sees the gift you have for her said Asemote,"ha I know right that's if she's in the mood to eat it, her hormones get the best of her sometimes replied omonuwa. They chatted for a while till Asemote noticed movement in the woods, they thought it was an animal till they saw two men charging towards them. They picked up their swords and before they knew it more men appeared, they were surrounded and they started fighting, the guards outside the jungle heard the noise and rushed in to help them, they were all greatly outnumbered and some of their men  were killed . Asemote fought valiantly, he managed to kill alot of the bandits and the rest ran away. By the time he turned to check on omonuwa he saw him bleeding profusely on the floor. Asemote rushed to him and tried to compress the spot but he noticed omonuwa was stabbed at a vital spot but he continued" ahhh stop Asemote, I have lost too much blood already" said Oba omonuwa " stop talking oba, let me tie the wound, if we move faster we can get medical help" Asemote replied .Asemote picked omonuwa up and the only two surviving guards joined him to carry the king , they made it out of the forest and then they noticed their horses were no longer there.still Asemote carried omonuwa on his back and started running. Omonuwa cried out in pain and told Asemote to stop" just stop, there's no way I'll make it back, were just too far from home" he reached out in his pocket and brought out a pendant and said" give this to Adaeze and tell her that I love her and our son osaze, its a shame I won't get to meet him but tell her to give this to him, it my gift to him as his father, my love and blessings will always be with him. Tell my mother I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go like this, I'm really sorry" Asemote replied" stop saying nonsense, we will get back and you will get help , just stop all this he said crying "I'm sorry Asemote, forgive me my friend, I can't go on " he looked up to the sky and finally took his last breath. Asemote screamed in agony. He carried omonuwa's body all the way to the Benin kingdom.