After spending 113 days along the journey, unlike the last one that took them 102 days. The loads and people that journeyed through the desert was ten times larger than that of last year, that might have also contributed to the long days spent because the camels' movement couldn't be compared to when they carry fewer loads. As they entered the city of Niyeye, the people began to welcome them. A large crowd outside the city doing their routine activities besides the road. Most merchandise goods along the road were silk of different colours. Though the Yoe merchants did buy some when they were returning to their Kingdom, not that they didn't produce Silk in Yoe but the designs and colours were always different and the Niyeye colours were unique. The merchants beside the road selling silk were already planning to supply more to their store because they knew they would trade bountifully if the Yoe merchants were returning to their kingdom.
"Look at the crowd, this year will surely be different just imagine if they are returning home, we will sell almost all our silk", said one of the traders in Niyeye.
Some ladies began to sing diverse of songs to welcome them, everyone was glad because the year revenue will surely be greater due to the enormous numbers of horse they came with which would lessen the price of goods. Unknown to the Niyeye, the Yoe plan to come and settle down. Nonetheless, some would still return to Yoe and would certainly buy silk, enough revenue would be generated but not as they envisaged.
"Look at their army, their armour is even different how come?", asked one of the pedestrians putting his hand on the waist like a tired monkey standing opposite the listeners.
"I don't know" replied one of the listeners.
The horses were even more than the one they did bring before. In a big box was also a gift for the king carried by a novel camel. Bringing of a gift for the Niyeye King was something the Yoe King never forgot to do. It had become a voluntary tribute; a habit. The Niyeye king in return did send special wines to the Yoe king.
The rumour about the Yoe arrival had reached the Niyeye palace. They began to make sure things were in place.
The palace of Niyeye was not as big as that of the Yoe's. The palace was repleted with guards, they also had some decent maids but not as beautiful of the ones in Yoe. Their army men were moving three in each group and different stages in the palace. The beauty which the palace wore shows the greatness of the Niyeye in the whole of the west. King of Niyeye is a well-respected king who was very jovial and accommodating. He was a philanthropist who was always ready to do anything for the needy, he made sure that almost all the orphan in Niyeye were well taken care of. That was the case of a widow and her children who visited the palace but weren't allowed in by the guards when the king was aware he wasn't happy with how the guards treated the widow and her children but he forgave them handily. He welcomed the woman and her children, he listened to the widow's need and he gave the woman enough capital to established her own business. He put the widow in joy and the heavens blessed him more. He was a very calm man, for this reason, some of his ministers took him for granted but he had a heart of gold and easily forgave. Kings from other regions that were not as big as Niyeye do take advantage of him but he was untouchable because he had a well-trusted army general who could put his life on the line to save the king. The king's favourite colour was blue, almost all his wears were blue. Even the mugs he used were blue. He didn't force anything on anyone. He allowed freedom of speech. Sometimes he did visit the average citizens in towns. He did dress like a common man, wore his big traditional cap and walked around the kingdom without anyone knowing it was him. That was the case of a day when he was walking around. He saw a trader and a buyer disagreeing an unpaid debt. When the king saw them, he approached them and the trader almost hit the king unknowingly. Seeing the king's face he was shocked and went down on his knee.
"Forgive me, his majesty", said the trader.
The king immediately raised him from the ground. He also paid the debt owed by the man, the trader reluctantly collected it when the hand of the king was still in motion. Everyone present at the market that day was short of words. Both the traders and the buyers who were present couldn't close their mouth. They thought the trader would be in danger but the king acted as a common man. The King had always been a great man.
At the arrival of the Yoe. The Niyeye goods were already in the state sector in Kenne Market. When they arrived and they were directed to the palace to pay homage to his majesty.
The Yoe minister in charge of foreign transportations journeyed with them to Niyeye as constituted being the minister in charge of it. He demanded a private chat with the king and it was granted. The discussion was about the establishment of an embassy in Niyeye. It was a lengthy chat. Before the minister could be finished talking, the king had already compromised in his psyche to acknowledged such developments. Even the King of Yoe knew the King would certainly accept it because he was always open to development. They were about to conclude the chat when they were strolling out of the palace and the Queen swiftly walked across to interrupt and welcome the Yoe as she customarily did.
The Queen was akin to the king, she was a very jovial woman of average height. She was three years older than the king and was the only Queen. She had two daughters and two sons for the king. She and the king were the same in terms behaviours and attributes some even said they were the luckiest couple in the whole Niyeye kingdom because they had never seen them had any disagreement before but, the reverse was the envision because they have disagreed on two different occasions. The initial one was when the Queen decided to marry Yon, her first daughter off to a successful merchant but the King wasn't convinced enough if the merchant truly loved his daughter and he also thought the Queen wanted to marry her daughter off to the merchant because she wanted her daughter to have a fulfilling life and stopped her from perambulating around Kenne market like a vagrant. The second occasion they disagreed was when the King decided not to attend one of his minister seminars but rather to send someone their as his representative years ago because the king wanted to visit the children of the needy and the widows in town instead.
The king, Queen, and ministers were laughing as they were treading forward and the king also let the Queen learned of the new development concerning the Yoe settling down and she wowed!.
"So you mean you people are staying with us this time around?", asked the Queen.
The grin on her faces could be seen. People did think that she had never for once been in a melancholy mood all the days of her life but that was just aggrandisement. Some of her maids were the only ones who had seen her somewhat scowl before. She was well respected all over the kingdom and other regions. Some people believed she was an extraordinary being for her to had possessed those great features and seems perfect. Some even went ahead to said he was sent by the gods to serve as a perfect match for the king. Some women called her special names. She was the woman every did pray their women we're like. As they were moving forward the king saw Tang.
"Wow! Who is this man?", asked the king looking surprisingly at Tang from head to toe tardily.
"His name Tang, he is the assistant army general of Niyeye", replied the minister laughing cautiously.
The king was astonished by his posture. His stand on the ground was exception. Tang on the other hand was usually called a mysterious man by his army men. Some people believe he had magic which he did when fighting because the way he slaughtered on the battlefield remains a mystery to his army men. He could kill five enemies concurrently with his martial ability without looking some of them. His sense of feeling on the battlefield was an exception. That was the case, on a fateful day on the battlefield, he didn't stepdown from the horse he was mounted. The leader of the army of Ken that was feared by all armies from different regions in the east. He didn't even fight any other enemy that day, he located where the ken army leader whom everyone feared was when they were on the battlefield. Immediately he saw him, he went forthwith. When other soldiers were busy fighting the enemies, he was busy fighting with their leader and at the same time killing other enemies who tried to intrude his fight with their leader. On the course of fighting with the Ken army leader, he skillfully killed the assistant army general of Ken but, was still fighting their leader at the simultaneously. This poses some army men in surprise on the battlefield. The fight was the toughest the soldiers had ever experienced. It was like a thunderbolt when he gave the last smashing on the army general of ken when he gave a flipping jump and shoved his sword into the arm of the Ken army general and he died forthwith. Some of the army men began to worship him as god and always wondered if Huchi and Tang had a contest, who would win. They had never had any fight against each other before but Huchi on the other hand was said to the strongest man in the whole of Yoe kingdom. Though if a fight was set up between them, the probability that the fight would take place was low because they loved each other.
The king of Niyeye demanded a duel seeing Tang as a good test to his martial ability. He had envisaged in his psyche how tough Tang could be and was ready to make sure he defeated him. The King was very sure of himself defeating Tang but the Prime minister who knew of Tang's ability already compromised in his psyche that Tang would defeat the king although he hadn't seen the king fighting before but, he was very certain of Tang's ability.
The Queen was not happy with the King's request for a duel with Tang, she advised him against it but the king insisted saying... "I just want to test my martial ability no,t a fight".
The king went inside to change into his martial art wear. Tang on the other hand initially thought it was a joke. He also changed as he couldn't resist the wish of the king. The Queen didn't seem happy watching as they were about to commence the duel.
The Queen had always known the king to like putting himself in danger. Though he was a peaceful man, he liked martial art a lot that was the case when they wanted to go to war against the Kohoe because some of the Niyeye their army were abducted from their territory, the Queen advised the king against leading the war but he insisted that he couldn't order his army to the battlefield and sat at home doing nothing. The war lasted for three days. For those three daydayshe Queen couldn't sleep peacefully as his heart was with the king and she knew Kohoe kingdom to be a great kingdom but they were never we great as Niyeye in the west.
The fight between Niyeye king and Tang began.
Huaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Their swords hit each other. The King was already in the fight. He attacked Tang with full force just like a fight with a gladiator. Tang was surprised because he just thought the duel to be just an ordinary fight and he hadn't got into the duel. The king was already sweating profusely like a tiger that is ready to pound. Tang later realised the fight was to be taken seriously because he couldn't afford to lose. After all, he saw losing as a means of saying Yoe's army wasn't strong. It was still the first round. Tang who already underrated the king's martial ability saw that the first round was truly a tough one. The minister was just laughing as he already knew Tang would defeat the king. The Queen wasn't happy at all as she was after that the king mustn't gotgetjured. He cared for him and he couldn't afford to see him injured.
The first round finished the king and Tang sat far-off opposite each other. The minister attended to Tang as he was not seriously breathing like the king. Tang hadn't got into the match as he was seen not stressed.
"I haven't get into the match", he told the minister looking not at his body... "I am going with full force this time around", he reiterated.
It was time for the second round. Tang made up his mind to make sure the fight didn't enter the third round as he was ready to put the king to waterloo this time around. The king came with full force and but used his genius martial ability on the king. The femur part of the hand of the king hit the sword and he got injured but not serious as Tang didn't hit him there intentionally. He just wanted to make sure the sword didn't hit with the king's own but to attack him from behind but unfortunately, it hits the arm of the king. The palace maids got the nurse within the twinkle of an eye. The Yoe minister visited the king to make sure he was alright before they head to Kenne to check the goods made available by the Yoe Merchants.
At the Kenne market, the sector of the palace goods which were to be bartered for the Yoe's horse. The two major goods the Niyeye do make available were Salt and Gold. The salt was in abundance. Over thousands of bags as that will serve them for a whole year before they came another trade. The bags of salt was as high as a mountain. The gold arranged in boxes used to beautify the palace and as a form of wealth.
Other influential merchants in Niyeye who trade other goods aside from gold and salt were also present as they want to advertise their product. Some of them sell silk and some deal with spices such as cinnamon, pepper, ginger, etc. and they were also negotiating theirs.
At the site where they wanted to establish their embassy. they had begun the building of the camp and the ladies which they came with had already settled down. Some were seen eating and some talking. One of the Yoe ladies claimed Niyeye was indeed great. They were given about six acres of land to hold their camp since they had come to settle down. The ladies were already looking forward to settling down and being used to Niyeye everyday life.
At the palace, the king was resting on a bed very far away from the ground and supported with a golden stand. The bedsheet was blue in a colour not more than four yards, it was very big. At the tip of it was bloodstain of the king's injury sustained the duel he had with Tang. A doctor was also called after the initial nurse. The king was responding to treatment. The Queen looked worried.
"I warned you but you insist", said the Queen looking worried.
Sitting beside him on the bed and using her hand to clean the bloodstain gently. His facial expression didn't seem sad nor happy but somewhat worried.
After a long and stressful day, everyone was returning to the palace including those in charge of the camp where the Yoe wanted to use as an embassy. They were almost through as it didn't take much time, there were enough workers. It was completed the following day. The King was getting better but was still on the sickbed. Tang went to check on him with the minister and they noticed that he was getting better. The Queen on the other hand was already worried. Seeing Tang he wasn't really happy with him as he was the one that injured the king. Though Tang didn't injure him intentionally as it came accidentally.
The second day the camp was completed and the maids settled down and began living as a Niyeyea. They adapted to the kingdom's environment after spending some weeks. Seeing them adapting so fast wasn't surprising though as it was their dreamed land. It was easy for them to adapt and become used to everyone and the Niyeye lifestyle. The Niyeye were marvelled by the beauty of the Yoe ladies and sought after them.
Anytime the Yoe females were going to the Kenne market they did dress seductively and it did catch the attention of the Niyeyean and foreigners who cane to trade in Niyeye. Some didn't go there to buy anything but to survey and confirm what they had been hearing about the Kenne market by themselves. It was a great outing as the maids were seen laughing and walking and making jest of some ladies they saw in Niyeye. The way they dressed in Niyeye was different especially the ladies. The dressing of the Yoe ladies seem more attractive than the Niyeye and that may have also contributed to the fact that the Yoe ladies were the choice of average Niyeye man. The relation among them continues getting stronger and within months some of the Yoe ladies already had a fiancée in Niyeye. Even the successful merchants came for their hands in marriage. In Niyeye it wasn't against the law for a man to marry as much as many wives, as far as one could afford to take care of them. The merchants were the ones that seemed fit to marry many wives because trading was the richest occupation in Niyeye. There were also some people that engaged in taffeta clothing, fishing etc. Some were farmers but when it comes to wealth the merchants dominate.
The following morning the king had already regained his health and the Queen was very glad, the smile could be seen all over her gaze.
"This call for celebration," said the Queen smiling and looking into the eyes of the king.
The king smiled and they both looked at each other. They hugged and kissed for some minutes. The Doctor then excuse them. The Queen thanked him before he left.
"You have done a tremendous job", said the Queen giving him some money, though he hesitated before collecting it.
The King ordered his favourite wine and it was served immediately. The atmosphere changed immediately the king recovered. The news reached the Yoe minister who was with those arranging the camp environment after they were done with it. Both Tang and the Yoe minister immediately came to check on the king and they were both happy.