In present time
The King sent messages to all the princes' manors, his harem, ministers homes as well as all officials in his land to prepare for a dinner he would be holding in honour of the homecoming of Prince T'chada. Prince T'chada had been away for twelve good years. His mother is the second wife of the King, a daughter of the prime minister of the southern states. The southerners power cannot be underestimated. They play their cards diligently and know when to bite. The sudden return of Prince T'chada was a sign of the southerners' hunger for power. The King was a southerner himself and so, he understood their every move. The King knew T'chada's return would be a threat to the northern, central, western and eastern states. They would also retaliate. That would be the beginning of the power struggle among his sons. The King felt the pressure even before it began. He had to crown a prince and make him next in line. This time, the powers of the states would be displayed. It won't be an easy fight. It may be more scary than his time. The King remembered everything that happen on his turn, about 26 years ago. Everything felt like they had just happened. But they were long gone. Pain, sorrow, deaths, ugly, bad, worst and hatred were on their way to fill the positions of love, good, better, best, happiness, greatness, beauty and life, the King thought.
The next day
At Mbaku's manor
I woke up very early, about an hour before the cock crowed. I was very excited about going to Nana. I knew Nana was not expecting me. What a pleasant surprise it would be, I thought. I imagined how Nana was going to talk about how I much weight I have gained and how beautiful I looked. To Nana weight gain and beauty of a wife is a sign of a good and happy marriage. I smiled broadly as I went about with my chores. Yhuri and Laya came out of their hut a few minutes after the cock crowed. They were surprised to see me smiling while I worked alone. They both walked to me, greeted me and offered helping hands.
"Laya, any news for me?" I asked.
"Not yet, my lady" Laya replied.
"I would be going to visit my grandmother today" I said with a smile.
"This explains the smile" Yhuri said giggling.
"I really miss Nana" I said and continued; "We will be leaving this morning. Pack some gifts, Yhuri. Laya, prepare the carriage and wake the horseman up"
"Ok, my lady" they replied chorally and left.
I prepared breakfast for five people, myself, Mbaku, Jabari, Yhuri and Laya. I normally cooked for my only husband and myself. I wanted them to have a taste of my cooking. When it was ready, I served Mbaku and myself and asked Yhuri to serve Jabari, Laya and herself. She seemed surprised but didn't bother to ask anything.
"Will you be leaving this morning?" Mbaku asked.
"Of course!" I replied.
"Why don't you leave in the afternoon?"
"I have to return early enough to start making preparation towards the dinner. The dinner is only two days away. Have you forgotten?"
"No" Mbaku replied.
"You don't look happy. What's wrong?"
"I am fine. Just that I am getting used to having you around me."
"Mbaku, have I ever told you this?"
"What?"
"That you're the sweetest, nicest and loveliest husband?"
"You only remind me of how boring and insensitive I am. That's what I remember." he replied with a creepy smile.
"Alright, I am telling you now. But do you know you can be very annoying?"
"When will you leave?" Mbaku asked trying to prevent any form of argument with me.
"Any moment from now."
Mbaku nodded and switched his attention back to the food in front of him. I smiled as I watched him eat. He looked at me and wondered why I was not eating but only staring and smiling at him.
"Why are you not eating? Why do you keep staring and smiling at me?" Mbaku asked.
I began to eat my food. We ate in silence. After eating, I raised my eyes to look at him and saw him looking at me. Our eyes met and my heart began to beat faster.
"Why were you looking at me?" Mbaku finally asked.
I pretended to not have heard him. I stood up, packed all the plates, cups and spoons onto a tray and handed them over to a maid. When the maid left, I turned to look Mbaku whose eyes were fixed on me and said;
"Because I love you" and walked out of the dinning hut without looking back at him. I smiled shyly while I closed the door of the hut behind me.
"Laya, is the carriage ready?" I asked as I walked towards Laya and Yhuri.
"Yes, my lady" Laya replied.
"Let's go then" I said.
"Take four guards with you" Mbaku said.
I didn't realize he was following me. I didn't want to turn to look at him. Awwww! What did I just do? I'm too shy to look at him now. This is so embarrassing. What are am I going to do now? I thought.
"Why?" I manage to ask without turning to look at him.
"Due to the return of Prince T'chada, all routes to the palace will be very busy." He said and signaled four guards to go with me. Mbaku helped me climb the carriage. This time I turned to look at him and our eyes met and held for a few seconds and he let go my tiny fingers. Jabari helped Yhuri and Laya to climb the carriage. We set off to Nana's palace. It normally takes one hour to ride in a carriage, however we spent more two hours on the way due to how busy it was.
At the palace
The palace maids and guards were busily preparing for the arrival of Prince T'chada. The King had ordered them to build a manor for Prince T'chada. They also had to prepare towards the dinner. Palace potters were making new ceramic wares, palace seamstress and tailors were busily making new clothes for all members of the royal family, palace cooks were preparing pickles and other food products that taste better with time. Every palace maid and guard was busy with their own work. The King had already instructed the princes to supervise the officials incharge of the various preparations. Mbaku was incharge of security, Ndaka was incharge of the all craftsmanship, Zima was incharge of the pottery, Mbigu was incharge of the making and sewing of garments, Shyade was incharge of all the wines and alcohol drinks as well as drinks for women, the other princes were incharge of other stuffs in relation to the upcoming event.
Mbaku, Buka, Mjoka and other army officials were deciding on how to strengthen and tighten the security of the palace. After hours of planning, Mjoka left Buka and Mbaku. After Mjoka left,Buka looked at Mbaku and asked him;
"How is Zui?"
"She's fine." Mbaku replied looking at Buka.
"There's something I have to tell you, Mbaku" Buka said.
"I'm all ears,General" Mbaku replied. Buka smiled but didn't make any comment on the young man's seriousness. Buka took a letter from a book and handed it over to Mbaku. It was a letter from Prince T'chada addressed to Buka. Mbaku looked at Buka when he realized the letter was addressed to Buka.
"Read it" Buka gave him the go-ahead.
Mbaku opened it and began to read it;
General Buka,
I have been longing to write to you for a very long time but just had the will power to do so. I hope your family and you, are in good health? I would be returning to Wailand in a few days. I am sorry I could not notify you earlier about my decision. It was a decision I took in a rush due to a lot of reasons. One of my motives for returning is to find a wife. You know I have always had eyes for your daughter, Zui. I wish to make her my wife if only you would agree. I would pay you a visit after the dinner in honour of my return to discuss the way forward with you. Thank you.
Prince T'chada.
Mbaku crumpled the letter after reading it. He frowned and fixed his eyes on the table in front of him. Buka tapped his shoulders and said;
"Zui is all yours. She's your wife. I see how happy she is with you. I never wished for any other man for my daughter other than you. You had my blessing when you were marrying her and you still have it."
"Why Zui? I'm sure he knows I am married to Zui. Why would he send you such a letter when he had informants here who send him messages on everything that occurs here?"
"That's why I gave the letter to you. It simply means he's coming here mainly because of you. The King didn't relay everything in the letter T'chada sent to him to you. T'chada is asking for the positions you're holding currently in both the King's court and in the army."
"I can give up on all those positions for his sake, but not my woman"
"Nobody is asking you to give up on the positions. The King will handle it himself. Now I need you to be honest with me, DO YOU WANT TO BE KING?
Mbaku turned to look at Buka and replied with a stern, sturdy and will power after a few minutes of hard stares.