Women Of Steel | ✔

IX

Tadenikawo's eyes burn a hole into mine, I glare equally ferocious. The candle he grips in his hand illuminates my room and makes his eyes burn even more brighter and angrier.
His chiseled chest is bare, and his sokoto hangs low on his hips, he resembles a ruthless warrior rather than a king.

My gaze is fixed on the wax from the candle dripping onto his fist, if it burns him then he does not show it. A scowl settles deeply in the furrow of his forehead and brows. I find myself wary of his presence, Tadenikawo has never visited my chambers since the night we were married, in fact we only see each other during dinner time or official meetings where my presence is needed.

After he demoted me to queen to slave, I rarely saw him anymore, Kosoko did the speaking for him, and the torture too.

My lips part to speak, lie or make up some false story that will make him leave. The tension sizzles between us and it makes my spacious chamber appear smaller.
Tadenikawo raises a single finger before I can talk, I settle on attacking him with my defiant gaze - my own eyes look directly in his, refusing to be cowered.

"Don't lie to me Demilade," He says in a low tone, he betrays nothing in his voice, the venom I expected is nowhere to be found. His eyes flick over my figure from head to toe and returns to my face. "There is grass on your skirts and your feet is clad with dirt, you have been in the forbidden lands. Two, you did not return with Kosoko whom you left with."

My lip twitches into a barely there smile. Tadenikawo fears me, while Kosoko is trapped in his bubble of ignorance, Tadenikawo knows who I am and what I am capable of. It is easy to defeat an opponent like Kosoko, all you need is the element of surprise to knock him off his feet, it is what makes the men of this village easy to conquer.

An opponent like Tadenikawo is dangerous, what makes an enemy more dangerous is one with knowledge, one that studies and knows their enemies. Tadenikawo knows and fears what I am capable of.

"I did not kill your puppet, yet." I say, my posture is relaxed, after all - I am the one with the weapon hidden my skirt, one wrong move and Tadenikawo risks an eye. "He will soon walk in hale and hearty, albeit a tad livid,"

His eyes darken visibly.

"I see." He says.

I wait for him to leave but he remains stiffly standing, with a nonchalant glance I notice the protection beads that are always around his neck and his wrists are missing, the beads are passed from king to king and it is said that because of the charms in those beads a king cannot be killed when he has it on.
It makes me wonder why he is not wearing them, why he has been running from me, why Tadenikawo has been behaving strange these past days.

Curiosity threatens to force it's way to the surface into words. It must be obvious on my face as I struggle to hide my facial expression, a grimace settles on my face as I remember what my mother once told me about curiosity - she said - curiosity in the hands of a person is a weapon, it is the desire to seek truths hidden, most times the hidden truths we seek lead to our demise.

Tadenikawo's frown melts away at once, a smile appears instead, and it startles me, it makes him look more human rather than a monster with the twisted sneer that always appear to be permanent on his face.

His eyes crinkle at the edges in a close mouthed smile, worse, realization dawns on my like a quick bolt of lightning from Ṣàngó - if he smiled like this years ago, maybe, I think I would have loved him.

The thought sends several chills down my spine, so much that I stumble a step back in a bid to get away from him, before I know it, I am dashing out of my own room, leaving him standing there, alone - and baffled.