The demigods series: Book one

Royal tantrums

King Adeleke had two objectives, to ignore his wife and to find a rectifying solution to Eze chikwe threat. His sources had it that he was trying to find a loophole to the magic shield in order to give Adetayo room to attack the triangle. He had sent a messenger to deliver his offer to Chikwe. He hoped chikwe was a man of reason although he knew chikwe was an ambitious man and his offer was tempting. His wife, having enough of being ignored, striked up a converstation that her husband could not ignore.

"so..."

she began,

"Have you chosen your heir?"

Adeleke dreaded this question . He had four children and it was a very difficult choice. A choice he had to make because he was king. He had to tell his wife something to appease her curiosity,

"well.."

he started slowly picking his choice of words,

"Adetoye is my first legimate son and the throne is his birth stool but he is over ambitious and he tends not to listen. Adegboyega is one with a warrior's heart and fearless, he will be a great asset in a time of war but he is not of marriable age and could be left without an heir. Adeola is a woman. Adewale is..."

Before he could finish, Ayaba Bukola cut in,

"Don't even go there. He's illegitimate."

The truth was bitter but it was the truth

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/demigods-book-one

. Adewale was born as a result of a drunken encounter. He had the virtues for a great leader but that was the problem. Sometimes Adeleke wished he could rewrite history for him. The boy had suffered Injustice all because of the circumstances behind his birth. He did not have time for his wife's bickering, he had a lot on his head already so he left his wife to let out her pent up frustration on a stubborn knot in her hair. He on the other hand had to attend to the people's affairs and disagreement. He put on his mantle and walked out of the room as his wife having untangled the knot in her hair summoned a maid to have it plaited. It was times like this Adeleke wished he was not king but a simple villager living his life as he pleased.

***

Chikwe could not express his joy when Adeleke'a messenger arrived. Truth is, he never wanted to make an offer with Adetayo. The man was far too unpredictable and dangerous. He did want to uncover a way to harness the power of the crystals but for other purposes. The couple he however enslaved for the purpose had tricked him and escape. This infuriated him. He hated things he could not control and the fact that they even fled his kingdom made him mad with rage but this was something else, Good news. He was coming for the treaty, marriage between the house of chikwe and Adeleke. That was an offer he couldn't refuse, not when it could form an empire in which would grant him access to usurp the the throne. How gullible Adeleke could be, he thought as he saw his plan coming to motion. Nothing could stop him now as he sat in his pure gold covered throne that cost eighteen lives to build. He took a quill and signed the necessary document. His carriage was ready. What are you waiting for? He whispered to himself. He was going as soon as the c**k crows. He returned the scroll to the dumbfounded messenger who paid homage before he sprinted off. Soon everyone would bow to the sound of his name, Chikwe the great. Chikwe raised his arm and a servant came rushing. Being slow could cost him his life.

"Sire?"

He said in a fearful bow.

"Get me my daughter."

He said as the man clumsily sped off. His daughter, Amaka appeared almost immediately. She knew she was an only child and the princess but she dare not delay from fear of her father's wrath.

"Yes father."

she called in a trembling voice. She suspected her father calling her in was not for family bonding time. Her father grasped the armrest of his throne and smirked at her. She trembled more at this gesture coupled by fear. It was unlikely her father could be happy for no obvious reason,she could smell something fishy. Chikwe seemed to ravish his daughter's discomfort before he threw the bomb,

"we're leaving for Ayetoro, at dawn."

Amaka was dumbfounded and she subconciously asked,

"why father?"

"For your marriage."

He replied flatly before leaving her to attend to more pressing matters. Amaka slowly digested her father's words and thought of how her life had gone terribly wrong, It had to be the day she was born to her father's house and worse there was nothing she could do, the gods had failed her and woefully too.

***

The last few days had been hectic for Remi. The training of the hundred had taken a toll on him coupled by lack of sleep. He practised sword fight mostly at night where he could fail and not be mocked or punished but he still wasn't good at sword fighting. He took out his sword from it's sheath and hit the training dummy with aggression in a fit of frustration and tiredness.

"You know a bad workman blames his tools but in this case, A bad swordsman punishes his sword."

A hoarse voice said from the shadows.

"Who's there?"

Remi snapped. He heard a croaking sound. A familiar sound that had hunted him since childhood.

"Ladele?!"

He asked as a wave of nausea hit him. As if on cue, his brother came out. He had a huge gourd of palm wine tied around his neck as he staggered towards him. He took another sip and spoke,

"you know when father said you ran away I had a gut feeling you would arrive here."

Remi was petrified until an idea popped into his head.

"Then you must know I'm sixteen now and there's nothing you can do."

Remi said struggling to keep his steely resolve. However, Ladele just cackled before replying,

"What about stealing? Stealing a chief's horse. I hear such offence is punishable by hanging. It would be a shame to get everything and just lose it again."

Those threats hit Remi hard. Something sinister popped into his head, he could end ladele there and no one would find out but he also suspected Afolabi also had his secret. He had to act fast.

"Tell anyone you wish but no one believes a drunkard"

Ladele looked at Remi,untainted rage in his eyes then his expression softened as he spoke,

"I need not worry. With moves like that you'll be expelled in a week."

With that he began to walk away. The taunt battered Remi badly as he fought to keep his humanity or kill his jerk of a brother right there. He went back to his camp.

"How was training?"

His only companion,Adegboyega asked. Sometimes he left Remi in awe. Despite being born in affluence, he chose to humble himself and qualified for the legion.

"Full of surprises."

Remi answered. His body aches in places unimaginable as he rested on his mat. Adegboyega kept talking about the scrolls his father had on sword fighting and how he could get them. Remi was too exhausted to contribute in the discussion. He had a lot on his mind but this matters were no match to the most important one,sleep.

"Hello? Hello?"

Remi called as he walked down a strange road. The road was filled with ashes instead of soul and he could hear voices calling out for help but no one was present. He looked up to the heavens and saw an unfathomable sight. He saw a snake like creature with wings devouring people. It had vultures perching on it's rotten flesh and it turned to Remi screeching. Remi began to run but quickly disappeared to a river. It wasn't water. It was blood. He knelt to have a closer look but a gigantic snake leapt out to swallow him was whole. Remi woke up startled. It was a dream or was it a message of foreboding. He had to see Ifadoju. He ran out of the camp to the castle ground. Ifadoju lived in a small brick cottage that was surrounded by trees. It wasn't hard to find but strange enough. There was no door. Was he in another dream? Remi blinked his eyes to see Ifadoju smiling at him. There was a black door.

"Come in."

The seer said in polite tone. Remi entered and shut the door behind him. Immediately the door touched it's hinges, it turned to stone. An illusion spell. The house appeared larger on the inside judging by the artifacts in Ifadoju'a passage. He sat on a wooden chair as Ifadoju went to attend to his brew. The seer returned with two steaming bowls of concoction.

"Drink this. It relaxes the nerves."

After having a taste of the diabolical drink, Remi spoke,

"I had a strange nightmare."

The man looked at him intensely before speaking,

"and what was the message?"

Remi needed no seer to tell him the interpretation, doom. The seer sttood up and paced around the room,

"your gifts are stronger than I suspected. The animal you saw, it symbolises the coming h*******t. Feast of blood and the snake is going to be the perpetrator."

Suddenly the Royal bells rang. It signalled the coming of an important person.

Read " Living The Pureblood Series " by the same author ( samuelade. )

. Ifadoju stared at the early morning sun as it glimmered on his face.

"You can leave now."

He said to Remi as the latter took his leave. Ifadoju collapsed on his chair as he said to himself,

"and one of them is here."

***

Chikwe smiled as villagers came to have a peek on the v.I.p visiting the king. His daughter on the other hand looked pale as ghost. Although she could not confront her father, she could punish herself. She starved herself for days and refused to drink water but even with those, her father did not budge. She accepted her father and had began to eat although that did not restore her former beauty. The chikwe's arrived at the castle doors and were welcomed by king Adeleke and his family. They acted like friends due to each other's motive.

"Glad you could make it",

king Adeleke spat out feigning joy. The Eze surveyed the area before bluntly saying,

"it'll do."

The Eze brushed past the king and made himself at home.

"What a dog!"

The Queen spat out in anger after chikwe was out of sight. Adeleke had to agree but he was at the receiving end and had no choice but he pitied his sonwho would be getting married to his daughter. They would go through fire but it was his duty as king and the guardian of his people.