ADEDAYO
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Is nervous the right term to describe how i feel? Because it doesn't feel appropriate. Nervous is what i can say for when i face up front sexual advances from ladies of the "Arewa Babes" or when i had my first combat experience. But this feeling comes with dread as i stand before my uncle. His steel gaze makes me grow conscious of myself and i then say to him.
"Uncle Ogundele, Eka-..."
Then my cousin Láaróye attacks me before i complete my greeting saying,
" ADEDAYO!!.....when an accused is before the Igbimọ for judgement, speaking isn't of their right unless they are asked to do so"
"Well cousin....you would know this is my first experience in this situation, so familiarity to it's RUULES...would be quite foreign to me." I reply with a touch of contempt in my saying.
With that audacious smile he always carries, he replies me as he touches his two faced necklace saying,
"Well....Cousin..you were to be Aláàfin, knowing simple rules as such should be expec-..."
"ENOUGH!!!!"
My uncle shouts as he silences Láaróye before he completes his comeback. He then stares down at me as he says.
"Adedayo, your cousin truth concerning your behavior before the Igbimọ and i am quite sure i as well as your guardians have you well informed on the etiquette of such a situation."
I then prostrate in repentance as he finally takes his intense gaze off me and faces the crowd. With that generic authoritative tone of his, he speaks.
" For all who are gathered here, i extend my greetings.....and for you to be here, you should be aware of the circumstances that our to be Aláàfin is grounded by"
" He bears more than five Ashe marks which goes against the very laws and customs of our land for if one's not of the Orishas, he's of the sea god and that makes him and Olossi"
Whispers erupt at the sound of "Olossi" as a feeling of multiple eyes staring at myself overwhelms me. My uncle then looks and nods at the guards by the edge of the podium with a silent command that they demand decorum from the restless audience.
With silence re-established, Uncle Ogundele continues speaking,
"And by law, if one attains the Ashe mark of an Olossi.......Death awaits him regardless of status."
Saying this as he steals a glance at Vice Chief Priest Olabode who stands at the far end of the right side of the throne hall.
" And with that taken into consideration, i will proceed with Igbimọ's judgement on this matter."
At the end of his statement, whispers and gestures then erupt, pointing at figures coming into the hall. I then turn back to see the Olu Awo and his boy escort entering the hall. A slight sense of dread fills me as i recall my last memory of him, choking the life out of me. As he walks up front, his gaze doesn't touch mine once as he stares tenaciously at my uncle with the boy at his side stealing sympathetic glances at me. They then manage to squeeze themselves into the midst of the Igbimọ as the Olu Awo is a parcel of them.
With his and his boy escort's behavior noted, doubt concerning me getting executed begin to erase. I......start to shiver.
Surprised by my own reflex response, i then face my uncle who has been awaiting my attention with an intense look as he clears his throats and speaks. With his eyes tearing at me, he yells so all would hear my predicament.
" ADEDAYO OBALOKUN ODEDE!!!!....By bearing more than the assigned Ashe marks the Orishas bestowed upon us, and by that, it very much means you bear the mark of the Olossi and therefore......DEATH is your penance for being a brood of the sea god"
I had always thought i was strong mentally because I felt almost nothing fazed me except the throne. My life...my interactions with others....my sexual state.....those events that begged for my presence but i don't show up because i believed i am to act cold and distant. I always felt even i faced death, i won't waver because of what i thought i am. But at the mention of my death, i start to regret all of those events u shunned because i am proud, the girls i ignored because i wanted to seem COOL, all of my strong will faded. I start to feel like...A COWARD.
Dread takes over me as my mental fortitude begins crumble. It becomes visible on me as i begin to shake and sweat. All of the self deceit that assured me that i was gifted with some heavenly boldness and mystery begins to fade and as if my uncle can tell, he stares at me with subtle disgust and then turns his eyes to the audience. My knees begin to ache as i notice the guards approaching to escort me to my possible death site. As they nearly grab my hands, Uncle Ogundele then shouts.
" MÁ FI ỌWỌ KAN~ DO NOT TOUCH HIM!!!"
Me as well as the guards quake at the sound of his statement with slight gasps coming from the crowd.
" I don't believe i have finished my statement yet!!!....shé mo pe lásẹ lati mu ni?~did i order you to take him?"
They then prostrate before him saying,
"Ẹ Darijwa Balogun~ Forgive us General"
Uncle Ogundele indicates they leave his front view with a wave of his hand. Facing the audience, he says.
" But that won't be the fate of our prince..... He won't be killed today"
I look up at my uncle in disbelief with the crowd in the throne hall reacting with surprised tones to the news as he continues unwavered.
" By law, whomever possesses the six Ashe marks of the sea god, Olokun, will be sentenced to death but that is not the case for the prince for he doesn't have six......instead he bears Seven Ashe marks"
For the first time since my first day in Ofin Tubu, i take a close look at the engraved cluster of marks on my chest beneath my dansaki. I then notice that I hadn't even reflected on how many Ashe marks i had gotten from my Ìrúbo Ashe. Taking Priest Olabode's word to heart, i had believed that i bore the mark of the Olossi.
My uncle then interrupts my survey of the marks on my chest as he continues with the statement.
" And since this is a case that none recognizes, the Igbimọ has deemed it necessary that the Prince goes on a solo quest to t
he Forest of a Thousand Daemons..... Irúnmölé."