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CHAPTER 3
King Obed continued to dethrone nobles, amass lands, seize spoils from war and on several occasions, took women and children as slaves. There was no end to his reign. His army had grown three times what it used to be. He had horses and donkeys in their thousands. There was no King like him in all the earth. As the fierce warrior that he was, he had led knights through many battles and one of his most boastful conquests was the war he led in the Forest of Skulls.
He had laid siege on the Kumha Clan in the South of Crevland and had engaged them even into the Forest of Skulls. The Forest was named so because innumerable Kings and noble men had lost their lives in the land of skulls. It was said that Kings and nobles who had irreconcilable differences, always came to fight the fight of honor to settle their feuds in a duel. The stronger was to slay the weaker; where after, the stronger man goes his way free from vanquish and unbothered.
The Kumhas' were conquered in the Forest of Skulls and their King was beheaded as a way of depicting insurmountable victory. The Kumhas' had raided King Obed's farmlands and he was infuriated at their audacity. This was what led to the war.
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King Obed again laid with his wife, and she found out that she was with child. She had decided to exclude the Seer Mawrer from this matter. She decided to trust the gods with this baby.
In the eighth month, Queen Ashra went into labor and having being aided by the midwives, she gave birth to a hairy and very handsome man child.
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"It's a good morning" King Obed thought to himself as he arose from his bed with beddings as neat as jam jars. He looked even more handsome in his coppery royal robe as he yawned in a groggy manner. With dreamy eyes he snapped his fingers like a magician about to utter the words 'open sesame'! In a flash, his guard rushed in like a messenger with a letter bomb in his mouth. There was a sense of urgency used to attend to royalty, and it must be felt as it's an old tradition. After having his bath in his royal pool, the King suddenly began to feel a need to have some personal time with his son, the Crown Prince. At once, he sent for Prince Casio who was about his princely duties, some of which included chasing mother hens and freeing chicks from underneath their mother's warm wings. He was also involved in the business of snail picking for his mother. Casio was only eight years old, when his father began to teach him about the duties and responsibilities of a prince. The prince was already exhibiting some characteristics of his father. It is true that young boys are known to throw tantrums every now and again but for Casio, his was even more severe. Although this was a concern for the Queen, King Obed was proud that his son was going to become quite the man he had dreamed him to be.
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Time went by and men began to become more involved in the home front as opposed to being exclusively affiliated with wars or the training of young valiant warriors. Men were gradually learning to help their women in farming and other agricultural activities. One would think men were embracing the skill of romance but that wasn't the case. Because there was a constant clash of kingdoms fighting, women and children were no longer safe, even in the home front.
It was said that a few days ago, strange men had come to burn their farm lands and had carted away with their legumes, chickens, corn, fruits and other farm produce. And when they were done, they raped the women in the farm and tied them to trees whilst burning their farm lands to the ground. Was this a warning sign from an unknown enemy? Should it be ignored? Were these men sent? Who sent them? Shall we prepare for another war? , all these were the questions taped upon the lips of Francmort.
When men sat to discuss the evil they had witnessed, they always spoke in hushed tones. After that dreadful attack, men always followed their women to pick snails, pluck fruits and pick nuts in the woods and or around their home sheds.
It was time to prepare for an unknown battle they had perceived. But who might their attackers be? They weren't clueless, but they needed to be sure either ways.
The men of Francmort collectively began to prepare. Their women were taught to shoot arrows for self-defense and to wield bludgeons, war hammers and battle axes against their attackers just to stay alive.