Chapter 8: The king is Disappointed

"Who am I that the great Lion of Ohanta Kingdom visited my household." Mazi Ileka cried out the moment he saw Ezeudo standing right in the middle of his compound. 

Though he was utterly perplexed, however, he suppressed his bewilderment. He knew a toad does not run in the daytime for nothing. 

"Onochie!"

"Father!" Anine, who was looking furtively through a hole on the widow of her hut answered and stepped out.

"Greetings your Majesty."

Ezeudo waved back at her without a word. He was more concerned about the messenger he came to fetch. A messenger from the gods deserved to be fetched by the King himself, so he believed. 

"Where is your husband?"

"Father, Onochie is not yet back from the farm."

"Get two seats for us, gently please." Mazi Ileka said delicately. Since the news of her pregnancy got to him, he had been treating her like the Queen of Ohanta. 

"Do not stress the poor girl." Ezeudo intervened.  

"Em Mazi Ileka, I heard you have a visitor."

"Haha, oh you've heard already." 

"Yes and I'm here to take him to the Palace. Please where is he? Call him out. 

I know you were frightened when you saw the warrior, but do not worry he is on a mission and there shall be a celebration in this land when he accomplishes his mission in this Kingdom." Ezeudo said excitedly. 

"A warrior on a mission?" 

"Yes"

"Do not worry, I will explain everything to you later, just call him out let's leave at once."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Mazi Ileka had a look of consternation on his face. He took some steps backward. 

"Which visitor were you referring Mazi Ileka?" Ezeudo asked. 

"Anine!" 

"Father!"

"Please come"

"Your daughter-in-law?" Ezeudo asked.

"No, she is with our visitor. She is with a child."

"I'm not here for jokes Ileka, I was told that a visitor, a man, a warrior, the well-armed warrior is here in your house." 

Mazi Ileka began to look around in fright. 

"Well-armed warrior?" He asked. 

Ezeudo ignored his questions and turned to Anine who looked totally flabbergasted. 

"Congratulations! You can go now."

Anine left, still unable to tell what was happening. 

"Mazi Ileka, where is the messenger?" Ezeudo asked. 

"Messenger?"

"The visitors, the warrior!" Ezeudo shouted. 

"Your Majesty, no visitor came to my house."

Ezeudo patrolled the compound and cast brief looks into some hidden places. 

"I was told by..., never mind. Are you saying no one is here and no one was here?"

"No one has been here. It's just me and my children." Mazi Ileka responded. 

"Okay, but if you see any stranger, do not hesitate to escort him to the Palace."

"I will do just that, your Majesty."

"Agu, let's go."

Ezeudo stomped off immediately. He was more devastated than he had ever been. His hope of seeing the Princess once again shattered. 

"Your Majesty!" Agu called. 

"Forgive me for what I'm about to say." 

"You are forgiven," Ezeudo said too casually.

"Are you sure the warrior the old woman spoke of is not the one in the womb of that young lady?"

Ezeudo accelerated, his face twisted in rage.

"If you make such utterance again, I swear to the gods, I will cut off your manhood."

"I'm sorry your Majesty." 

Mazi Ileka stood and watched them until they went out of his sight. 

"The King is troubled." 

A sudden voice Mazi Ileka heard from behind startled him. He was scared stiff. 

"Onochie, you startled me. I thought the well-armed warrior has arrived already." Mazi Ileka said with a quivering voice. 

"Hahaha, you are troubled too." Onochie laughed hysterically. 

"But not as much as the king." Mazi Ileka added. 

"Warriors from where?" Onochie asked. 

"Ezeudo just left here now." 

"I saw him and hid, I thought he came for me," Onochie said. 

"Came for you? What did you do Onochie?"

"I slapped one old fool at the farm today. She said she was on her way to the Palace."

"Why did you slap an old woman?" 

"Father he said Ajonwa will come for my daughter, and I gave her the highest shock of her life." 

"Who is the woman we need to go and apologize to her now?" Mazi Ileka asked. 

"She is a total stranger. I don't think she is from this community. What about the well-armed warrior you were scared of?" Onochie asked. 

"Ezeudo said someone told him that a warrior is here in my house, a well-armed warrior." Mazi Ileka and his son laughed and glanced at the King's exit. 

"It seems the disappearance of his daughter is still messing his mind up," Onochie added. 

   ***********************

Ezeudo could not wait for the fourth cockcrow. A cockcrow is a time at which a cock characteristically crows. The fourth crow denoted the coming dawn.

He needed to see the old woman that lived in the cave to find out why she made so much jest of him. 

He rose from his royal bed and stared at his second wife who slept with him. He was careful enough to avoid waking her up. He did not want to be questioned. 

As Ezeudo looked around the Palace to make sure no one was there, he noticed a figure leaving his third wife's chamber. Well, whatever, he never liked her. He only cared about the two sons she gave him. 

At the entrance of the Palace, Ezeudo took his most trusted guard and dashed off to the cave, the abode of an old woman of the cave. 

"Why do you like stressing yourself? You are the most foolish King I have ever seen." 

Ezeudo was frightened by the savagery of the words of the old woman. 

"I'm not here for your provocative words," Ezeudo said composedly. 

"I told you that the messenger is in Mazi Ileka's household, and I also told you that the messenger is on its way. What else do you need?" 

"The messenger is on its way, the messenger is there, are you saying the messenger has not arrived yet or he lied to me?" 

"I'm saying you are a fool!" The old woman shouted at him. 

"Please mind how you talk to me, I'm still the Lion of Ohanta. 

"A weak Lion that cannot defend his daughter." 

"If not for my daughter, I wouldn't be here licking your wounds." 

"Sit down, let me explain everything to you in plain language. Your emotions have already taken over your sense of reasoning." The old woman gestured him to a boulder stone in front of the cave. 

"Please wait behind." She waved at the guard to leave the vicinity. 

"The messenger of the gods is the one in the womb of that young woman you saw. A strong warrior, well equipped for battle. The messenger will be delivered after ten full moons. Lift the child and give her a name."

"A girl?" 

"Yes a girl, a strong one. The gods have planned everything for her, so do not be dismayed when the drama begins to unfold."

"Please what of my daughter, will she be alright?" 

"The gods are watching over her." 

"Thank you, old woman."

Ezeudo left with mixed feelings. The gods did not carry out the plan as he expected. He felt disappointed.