Women Of Steel | ✔

XVI

Sorry for the late update, this week has been busy.

New cover I made above, what do you think? I'm going to be dedicating chapters to everyone reading this. Today's chapter is dedicated to enamnoeki

There are eight kingdoms that make up the Yoruba kingdom, each one is named after precious stones, Tadenikawo's kingdom is called Ile Wura. And in this kingdom there are seven forests, five of them are for farming and portions of land belongs to farming families.
The other two forests are the forbidden lands and the forest solely given to the chief priest.

The chief priest is in charge of taking care of the forest. Legend says that the Orisha once walked the grounds of this forest hence it being sacred and forbidden to enter unless by invitation.

There are several shrines for worship here, some of them dedicated to the worship of prominent gods like Sango, Osun, Oya.

It is said that the voices of the gods whisper to virgin maidens and the pure hearts, however I can hear nothing but the howl of the wind and the low arguments of the king and his chiefs.

All ten of us gather at the mouth of a cave awaiting the presence of the chief priest, uninvited and frenetic. The gods must be angry but I cannot bring myself to care, gods who continue to let us suffer in the hands of a bad leader.

My mind wanders to the moment the chief priest announced the evil prophesy, women cried tears of pain and men gnashed their teeth. The celebrations were forgotten and even the little children could tell something was amiss.

"It is all because of this cursed woman!" A chief explodes suddenly, pointing a crooked, accusing finger in my direction. I stare at him blankly.

"Ever since you married her, things have not been well, Kabiyesi, you have no heir." He continues. The moon is unusually bright in this forest and I can see spittle flying from his mouth.

"Be silent or I throw you to the foul beasts," The king snarls, fists clenched tightly by his sides and eyes glinting angrily.

Against all consideration for his life, the chief continues to rant. "She has placed you under her spell."

My husband raises a fist and the chief blanches in fright but it is too late now. The king does not hit him, he does something much worse. Tadenikawo snatches the beads that make him a chief and snap them. They fall silently.

"I strip you of your chieftaincy, you cease to be a member of my cabinet. Leave the village before the morrow with your family,"

Low murmurs turn to cries of pleads. The king remains cold as stone, even when the chief sinks to his knees to beg, Tadenikawo only watches on in disgust.

"Leave before I take your filthy head too."

I feel a small pang of pity for the exiled chief, what is worse than a fall from grace? An exile. No other kingdom will take in a disgraced chief. He and his family are now preys to wild animals and enemy kingdoms.

Then a surge of anger rises in me, this foolish man has doomed his family to a lifetime of aimless wandering.

With snoot running down his nose and eyes full of tears, the chief gives me a glance full of hate that takes me aback before running until he is out of sight.

"Question my orders or decisions. And you end up like that filthy man." The king thunders, shaking visibly in fury. Even fearless Babatunde and Kosoko looks afraid.

His features is twisted into something not human like, identical to a morph of wolf and human and with growing fear I realize his fingers are now claw like.

I seem to be the only one who can see this and shivers snake down my spine. I pray internally to the gods I don't believe in.

The gods must have heard my prayers tonight as the chief appears from the cave, I sneak a fearful glance at my husband to his his expression fully normal again, still I see the dancing shadows playing on his face.

I shiver.

My husband is a monster.

"Ki le fe?" Ifatunji, the chief priest asks.

"You do not say something tears invoking and disappear like that," Babatunde speaks. I feel my anger come back slowly, good, I say to myself, anger is better than mind numbing fear.

"The king is not here to talk about that," Kosoko says quietly. He must have seen the king's face, I know it. Nothing ever makes a man like Kosoko look like a shaking rat.

Ifatunji shakes his head, but he does not disappear into his cave despite how much he looks like he wants to.

"What is it that you want, your Highness?" A part of me tells me that the priest is not fond of the king, Tadenikawo does not seem to like Ifatunji either. To the king, Ifatunji is merely a necessary evil.

"I want to ask for protection from the spirit of river Esimirin,"

"The spirits grants wishes for a price, but you do not ask for yourself, do you?"

The king looks vaguely annoyed but he answers.

"The protection is for Demilade."

At the mention of my name, I whip my head to sneer at my husband.

"I do not need protection from a trickster spirit."

"You need the protection because you leave for the forest king on the overmorrow,"

"You spoke nothing of that before, I am not prepared." I snap.

The king hisses under his breath before dragging me few feet away from the rest of the chiefs who watch with curiosity. I am half surprised and half weary that Babatunde has not said a word about beating me in the duel, no gloating or boasting but a quiet respect every time his eyes find mine.

It does not make me hate him any less but I can grudgingly acknowledge he is a true warrior.

"Demilade don't test me or I will snap your bones into dust. I am hanging here by a thin thread." He pinches two fingers together.

The word, monster rings repeatedly in my head like the gong of the town crier's bell. I flinch when he moves closer to me.

"I am not ready," I repeat in a small voice.

"You will not go alone, trust me on this, you are no use to me dead or unprotected."

For a long while I just stare, listening to the mingling sound of our breathes and the wind.

"Mo ti gbo," I say.

He gives me a single nod, his eyes shining with relief as we walk to the others.

"She has agreed." The king says to Ifatunji.

Ogundeji, a chubby chief makes a low scoff of disdain that goes unnoticed by the king.

"Very well, be prepared Oloori the river Esimirin does not give for free. There will be a price to every wish. We will set out tomorrow morn."

Translations;

Ile Wura - means kingdom of gold. Finally revealed as the name to Tadenikawo's kingdom and one of the eight Yoruba kingdoms.

Ki le fe - what do you want?

Mo ti gbo - I have heard.

River Esimirin is a river from the legend of Moremi. The story has it that Moremi asked for protection from the river's spirit was asked in return to sacrifice her son. It plays an important part in this story.