Women Of Steel | ✔

XIII: TADENIKAWO

A peak into Tadenikawo's head. Warning; Tadenikawo is a twisted person, with more than one layer to him.

Tadenikawo is a coward, he was a coward and he continues to be one. Sometimes he wonders; wondering is for the jobless but sometimes he does, he wonders why he continues to let his court control him, he lets his court makes his own decision for him.

He should have never let the fight between his wife and his chief escalate to a public one. In that moment he could not refuse, once he did he would be a mockery to his court.

Half of the time, he wants so bad to tie a cloth over his verbose wife's mouth. Demilade brags too much for her own good, he thinks. His wife is a feisty one and every single day he curses himself for marrying her.

Tadenikawo sits in the comfort of his little hut, the only place that he is allowed privacy, he built this hut years ago when he became king. Sleeping in the bigger chambers of his ancestors leaves him with nightmares, sleeping on the bed which his father once defiled innocent women leaves his skin crawling in disgust.

Tadenikawo fears that each day he continues to morph into someone he has always despised - his late father and king. He inherited his father's evil and everyday he battles it. The curse hanging over his head does not help matters.

A king who will never find love, a king who cannot love. A queen who will raze his kingdom to the ground.

He grips his bowed head, allowing himself a moment of self pity. The next moment he is dressing in royal robes and placing his crown made of pretty beads on his head.

The crown is not heavy at all, it is rather light and at most, a nuisance because of the jingling beads. This evening, it feels heavy on his head. This evening, his wife will duel with his chief.

Tadenikawo does not fear for Demilade, he knows she can hold her own in a fight, he fears she is capable of taking his own life but Babatunde is not fair fighter, there is a reason he is one of the village's most prized warriors. Babatunde is rumoured to possess spiritual powers and Tadenikawo can testify to such prowess.

Demilade is just a kitten compared to the feared chief.

The curse of the witch says the king cannot love but why does Tadenikawo feel things he struggles to suppress every time. Demilade infuriates him every moment of his life and he has let her live, he is reluctant to let her be a spy even if it is the only way to defeat his enemies.

Now he is concerned that she might be crushed to ashes by Babatunde's fists.

He finds his queen in the stables throwing knives in sokoto while the horses watch on, bewitched. Instinctively he feels the urge to rip her away from the stables and lock her up forever. This woman is determined to test him at every turn.

His own father taught him about women, how they are beneath the men for their own protection. When he was merely a young man training to be king, his father made him whip his first wife for disobedience.

Canes keeps women and children in check, his father used to say.

Every time Tadenikawo hits his wife, he wants to take it back, every time, he promise himself that the previous hit is the last one. Every time, he fails.

Tadenikawo can tell she notices his presence by the impulsive stiffening. Yet she does not acknowledge him, again he feels a surge of anger and he can swear he sees a smile on her face. Demilade enjoys torturing him like he does.

"Babatunde is not a fair fighter," He warns grudgingly, half of him wishes Babatunde will smash her face in, maybe then she will learn respect.

She scoffs, twisting a long braid of hair between her fingers, one of her fingers is missing. Tadenikawo remembers ordering his right hand to cut it off.

"Kabiyesi, mi o fe gbo oro yin," She mocks him.

"Then you perish and disgrace yourself," Tadenikawo shrugs a powerful shoulder.

He sees a flash of fear and defiance in her eyes, Demilade is not as aloof as she thinks she is, he can read her moods and he knows her tics. He knows she taps her feet when she is irritated, he knows she carries a knife under her skirts.

She ignores him to pet a small white horse.

"Babatunde wears a bracelet on his right hand, he will rely on the magic to fight you, take it off." He tells her.

"You will not take credit for my own victory,"

"I do not intend to, I want you to win iyawo mi." Tadenikawo drawls, reveling in the confusion on her face. "If you die by Babatunde's hand then who will spy for me?"

She can see that he is playing her now but she likes the game too much to quit. It is their own special dance now, taunts and insults.

"Your sister will do just fine," She spits venomously and the tables are turned.

The king does not say anything anymore, instead he stays and watches her train with knives, she wields the knife like it is a part of her not merely a blunt weapon and it amazes the king. In another life, he would be proud to have her as his queen and she would obey him and serve him.

His stares unnerves her, she twists her face into something bitter and she closes the distances between them in a few steps, staring defiantly into his eyes.

She is close that he can see the rising and falling of her chest in barely concealed anger, he can smell the sweet smell of rose scented oils and perspiration on her skin.

"Why are you still here? Why are you watching me?" She asks, she is holding the knife to his throat now, a single movement could draw blood.

He sneers, only Demilade can challenge him like this, only her can draw feelings of rage and admiration at the same time.

He risks his blood and reached his hand up to grip her shoulder.

"With a wife like you Demilade, one cannot afford to let you out of sight, a woman like you will set fire to herself to kill the spider crawling on her skin,"

With that the king leaves the queen with his venomous words.

Translations.

Mi o fe gbo ore yin - I don't want to listen to anything you have to say.

Iyawo mi - My wife.