Back at the kingdom.
The country was large, There were several thousand, square houses made mostly of mud.
In a grand palace, beautifully designed and ornamented with several precious stones, there was a throneroom—Where a man was standing.
"What is the meaning of all this nonsense? Do these women, want to kill me before my time?
Is it now a crime to marry more than one wife?
Humph
I think they have a dubious plan, to kill me with stress first.
Oh, God! Help me, please!
Osanobua (God), I'm your son, help me before this women make me suffer a stroke o.
Uhm...
Or,
Shouldn't I just frame these women up and find an excuse to execute them all? So that I can have my peace of mind?
Hmm.
That's not such a bad idea." The man murmured to himself—he was thinking out loud.
His face was uptight and frowning. His head was dropped against the floor, as he paced, to-and-fro about the room in a thinking manner; he was stressed.
"Okay, if I'm going to set up my wives, and execute them, what excuse will I use?
How many of them should I kill to have peace?
I think I have to murder three of them to be fair.
Hmm... But come to think of it.
I definitely, can't afford to murder, all three of them. I mean... that will create too much ruckus and unrest.
Moreover, Ohonmi has been very good, she's not been giving me too much trouble, like the other two. She's the only one who doesn't stress me at all. I wonder, why, I don't love her the most?
Argh!
Those two bitches! why can't they both, be like Ohonmi? I'm certain, that if they are as calm as her, I'd be far younger than I am right now.
Humph!
Always giving me stress!
But, Come to think of it.
What am I even thinking about? I love my wives, I can't possibly betray them, by having them killed.
Damn!
Why do I have to spend so much time, thinking about an idea that I can't even execute." The frustrated man was debating with himself.
He was wearing a red gown, that was heavily decorated with red beads and had a crown made of beads on his head.
This man was exactly, the king.
Life had not been easy on him, since he's been having too many wive drama.
"Okay! I know what I'll do. However, I'll have to summon the chiefs first, to get their advice on this matter before I take any action." The king; finally elated, murmured to himself.
He seemed to have gotten a bright idea on how to solve the wives-drama.
"Guards! Come here. Go and get me the chiefs. I shall have a meeting with them today."
"Yes my Lord!"
A strong man came forward and answered. Soon he left the palace with other guards.
In another residence inside the royal compound, a woman was sitting alone, she paid no attention to her surroundings and her face was stone cold.
"My queen, your hot water bath is ready now."
One female servant got into the hut and told the woman.
"Okay... I'll be there soon..." Her voice was dry and tamed with emotion. It gave the impression that she was suffocating, and it felt like she wasn't consciously replying.
Even as she replied to the servant, her eyes remained fixed at a fireplace.
She had been sitting in the hut alone for two days now, thinking about something as she stared into the burning flame.
There was a mixture of several emotions of anger, and regret reflected in her eyes, as it burned with the low burning fire.
"My-my queen I said your hot—"
"Shut up! and get out! I don't want to hear anymore." Pointing in the direction of the door, the queen exploded on the servant.
The servant, hurriedly ushered herself out of the hut, not willing to anger the queen further.
It had been a while now since she last told the queen about the hot water bath. So the servant, wanted to remind the queen about her hot water bath again. since it was getting cold.
Only for the queen to lash out, at her.
"You... You ... You." Each time the queen mentioned the 'you' she would smile bitterly and pause briefly.
"You must think, that you're very smart now. Right?
Ahem!
Do not worry. I'll surely show you what I'm capable of. I promise you, Esagho. I promise you." The flames were in her swollen red eyes—from tears, but her face was pale and emotional; she looked stressed and disheveled.
However, as the light from the flame flickered, it spread out to kiss her cheeks warm, and illuminate her soft, pretty face with a shimmer of golden-yellow—It became clear, that she was obviously, concocting some evil plans.
"She was just a young girl with so much future, just a maiden, and yet, she was my friend.
All she did, was just a simple mistake and you let her pay the ultimate price.
I asked you, I begged you, even, to let the matter slide, but you refused to do so. And now she's gone.
I guess you're happy now." The queen was still talking to herself.
For the first time in a long time, her beautiful innocent self, that she once was, became noticeable again, as she whispered to herself, it was obvious, that she was seriously pained.
It had been another five-and-half, roughly six years, since queen Esagho had allegedly apologized and thanked queen Idia, for helping to save her son's life, last time when he got stuck in an evil forest.
Ever since that time, the queens had made 'peace' with each other and the palace had experienced relative peace.
However, two years after that event, their relationship turned sour again, and they soon started beefing each other. Seemingly, over a piece of clothing.
Supposedly, one of the queens had spotted a piece of wrapper she loved and wanted to purchase it. However, due to some incident, she was unable to immediately get it.
Nevertheless, she had sent somebody to that place the next day, only for that messenger to report back, that another queen had later purchased the wrapper.
That Incident had easily sparked a feud. Since the other queen felt the wrapper was originally hers and that the other queen had only purchased it to test her patience.
However, that wasn't the main reason for the contention now, since something much more eventful had already happened quite recently.