All she could do now, was to watch him, as he left.
Although the prince, was just eleven years old, he was capable of making his own decisions now. Since he had already gone through a rite of passage, which guaranteed him, as no longer being a boy, but a man.
The ritual, which was done once every seven years, accepted children from age seven upwards to participate. However, all the princes were only two years old, when the last ceremony was done, so they ended up doing theirs when they were nine years old.
Nevertheless, there were even older men and children who participated and still failed. Some children who were already fifteen years were still considered as boys. Since they had failed to pass the initiation rites.
That year when the princes did theirs, only ten boys less than fourteen years old passed. And, they were all nine years old and above—the three princes and two other boys were of the same age, while the rest were older.
"No! I can't let him do this, he'll be putting his life at risk, and even if he succeeds he will never be able to get rid of the guilt and thoughts of being a cold-blooded killer.
He'll never be able to forgive himself.
My dear son, when did you become like this? Has the world beat you down, to this extent?
I'm sorry. As your mother, I failed you. But I'll surely make sure, to protect you from doing anything that you will regret later.
I promise you, my boy. I promise.." She murmured—in between tears, to herself as she watched his receding figure, get farther away.
Earlier that day, the sun had been blazing yellow. Now, however, the sun, shone as a gentle stream of warm, reddish-orange light bathing all, within its expose.
Then
A woman rushed into a hall and fell on both knees to the floor.
The familiar hall, a throne room. Was heavily furnished with bronze and wooden stools, and decorated with brass and metal works of human faces, shapes of several mystical creatures and men.
This was the palace court—where the king met his chiefs and welcomed his visitors.
"My lord!
My lord, I wish to ask a favor, from you. I want you to stop the third prince, our son, Idubor from participating in the contest of the dreamy forest." The queen begged, as her both knees touched the ground.
"You may rise dear." The lord gestured to her, using his left hand "Hmm. Tell me, dear, why do make such a request?"
"My lord, my son has been behaving weird, since he came back from his adventure, to that land.
I don't think he is in his best state, physically and mentally. Therefore I would like to observe him, for a while to make sure he is alright."
"Humph.
The third prince went to the oracle land, to further his bond with the ancestral spirits and awaken his latent energy, just like his other two brothers. How can you now claim, that he is mad?"
The lords arched an eyebrow. As he flashed her a quizzical look.
"No my lord. I'm sorry you got me wrong. I didn't say the prince was mad, I just said he wasn't acting like his usual self.
perhaps, he must have run into some strange situations and experiences in that Oracle land. Which is why I need to inspect him properly. "
"Woman don't be silly.
Do you know what you are talking about?
What kind of experience could he have gone through in the Oracle land, that will make me deny him, from taking part in the competition of the Dreamy forest.
Moreover, Do you not know that your son is now a man?
Why should you blaspheme him?"
"My lord—" interjecting, she cried out, trying to girdle her story.
"No way!
This meeting is over."
The king snapped, he immediately announced his decision to end the discussion once he noticed the queen attempt to protest.
The queen Ohonmi had been treading carefully with her words, she didn't want to upset the king, or ruin her son. So she decided to come up with that lie—to protect both parties.
However, she failed, as the king was not convinced and it backfired on her.
The truth was; the king didn't see any reason to stop the third prince from participating, he concluded—that queen Ohonmi, was probably not willing to let go of her son, that was why she made up those excuses.
Regardless of that, there was no way, he was ever going to grant her request.
Even if her story were legit and believable, he still wouldn't have agreed—He knew that, once he compromised, and let the third prince out of the competition, then the other queens would come requesting the same thing too.
Then his plan would be foiled.
"My lord please—" Still unwilling to give up, she attempted to plead again. However,
"Woman! Do you question my judgment?
Do you intend to lecture me now?" Angry, and yet amazed the king reprimanded, with a slightly raised voice.
He was surprised by the behavior of queen Ohonmi—Who usually never opposed him before.
"No way! my lord, I'm very sorry I didn't mean to question you. I'll take my leave now" The queen panicked, then she rushed out quickly, and left the hall.
Though he was her husband, he was also the king. She had to know where boundaries exist.
Not long after, she got out of the palace and headed back to her resiance.
She was an intelligent woman, so she wanted to brainstorm on other ways, or at least ideate a means, by which to stop her son, from going through, with his plans.
However, before long it was already time for the participants to move into the dreamy forest.
All the princes had already organized their team of warriors, whose members, were all teenagers. It was with the members of their team, they were going to explore, that dreamy forest.
The two first princes had managed to recruit a good number of members, of teenage warriors in their group.
However, the third prince just like other lesser royal members was able to recruit a handful of young warriors.
Nonetheless, there were still some independent teenage warriors, who formed their own small groups, right there.
Which made the third prince situation, not so awkward.
The place was packed full, with eager and enthusiastic young people, coming from all corners of the country.
Some of these teenagers had just gone through the rigorous rite of passage and had just recently connected with the ancestral spirits, thus they were eager to test their powers and capabilities.
As a matter of fact. The rite of passage was a sacred ritual, In which children and teenagers from age of seven and above could participate.
Although, since the beginning of the rituals in ancient times, only two children of age seven had been able to pass the rites.
There were even some youths in their late twenties, who were still participating in the rites. Those people were still considered as kids.
Some old men who never passed the test of the rites of passage, were still regarded as kids and thus they seldom got married, nor father a child, since it became so difficult to attract females.
It was most of these men that formed the inner palace retinue. They were mostly castrated, and taken-in by the palace to serve as guards.