OGBANJE (PRIDE OF ALAOCHA BK2)

CHAPTER 3

Good is the man that dreams; better is the man who doesn't make dreaming his aim. But the best man is the one who fights to see his dream come true.

-Obtained from the tomb of Ezeikeoha II
Subject was an Ajah warrior

Fish

Fourteen times in the last seven moons, Kanze had tried to persuade Uloma to be his bride. Three years of waiting had drained him. Still, life being life and fate as unfair as it was, had squeezed every bit of energy, forcing him to spend every penny to raise his standards. He knew the drill; persuasive words alone couldn't win the princess's hand, let alone woo her to his bed. He needed money, if not to outclass his competitors, then to satisfy the king who had stated clearly, I will only give my daughter's hand to a high prince or a rich farmer.

While Kanze was a peasant fisherman, he understood the town's politics and laws. With the right actions and bribes, he could maneuver his way to become a member of the king's cabinet. He could become the King's right or his trusted advisor-a high lord.

He smiled at the thought. Everything was set. He'd already rented four houses and borrowed fifteen farmlands. If light shone in his darkness, he would become the next Ichie of Udehi village before the next Eke market day.

I will marry the princess. I must.

Kanze let satisfaction swell in his chest as he lifted the oars. Their boat had rounded the first island, following the wind towards the sunlight that arched over the water. It was the later hours of the day, yet its glow shimmered with the river, bright enough to provide vision but too dim to dispel the humid wack that stretched through the blue body. Morning sails came with their hassle, but evening...

Kanze dropped the oar and sat on the stash. He stared blankly at the empty soup pot and felt his stomach rumbling despite consuming a handful of pounded yam and okra soup.

"We've toiled all day, Uncle." he said, yawning wide, "How much fishing can we do in a season?"

"Get hold of yourself, boy. We just set sail. Besides, Ilu is on the other flank of the island. We need all the catch we can get. It's been a fruitful season, and the goddess has been good to us. They've shared their grace with mortals."

"Oh, it's a picnic after all" Kanze sighed.

"It's called gratitude, boy. When will you learn? Destiny brings fish and squids. I hope you will be ready to take the nets and keep the family business when the time comes."

"Trust me, Uncle, merchants from Krutek would be glad to buy all of it. Only a fool would waste away in this wretched river. I have bigger plans for myself than this," Kanze spat.

"You call your father and the fathers before him fools? What plan or path is greater than the art of fishing?" Pa Sachi shook his head, "Children of this era, so ambitious and stupid,"

"Fishing is no art," Kanze replied coldly. "Not like tilling the soil and watching new life sprout from nothing."

"You will see the similarities if you open your mind to it, boy." Pa Sachi said, "Like farming, the river is the soil, the baits are the seeds, and the fishes are the harvest."

"Words, uncle, words that have no meaning. We've been fishing for decades, yet we can't afford a proper meal or house. I see the way the villagers look at us. Our name is a byword, something written in the dust."

"Oh, I see what this is. You are still thinking about the impossible?"

Kanze shifted his weight as his uncle's sly gaze studied him. Though age had weathered the brown eyes, the question in them gleamed like a one-year-old begging for his mother's tit. Like many others, Pa Sachi had talked him into finding a wife. But unlike the others who wanted him to have a son to bear his name, Pa Sachi wanted Kanze to have a wife that would help in their fishing trade. The talks weren't about happiness, love, or prestige. They were about nets, hooks, and baits. It was about selling this fish, keeping that one, or eating the other.