Destined to Rule

ADEGBOLA Escaped Poisoning

Another person to whom the killing of Adegbola was very important to was Lewa. She was his step mother. Adegbola's father married her when he got to Bunduga. Lewa gave birth to a child called Ojuoba. She wanted Ojuoba to ascend the throne after the death of Baoba the king of Bunduga.

Because of this, she hated Adegbola so much and looked for a way to snatch away the throne of Bunduga from him and give it to her son.

Because of this, Lewa and some people in the kingdom hated Adegbola and planned all means to cause hatred between him and his father.

When they heard that Adegbola had come, they ran to welcome him pretending as if they loved him. They told him, "We have heard about you,that you are the son of our king. We are very glad to see and have you in our midst. We love you so much. Because of the love we have for you, we have a secret to tell you. It has been long that the king has been talking about you.

Every time he prays to see you before his death.

Because of this, many deceivers have come to him in disguise claiming that they were his son Adegbola. Because of his old age and bad sight he accepted them but they later robbed him and disappeared into thin air."

"Because of those experiences, anybody who comes to the king, claiming to be his son will be killed. For this reason, you should not rush to the king's presence. What you need to do now is to stand at the gate of the kingdom while we go to the king and tell him about you.He may ask his guards to come and kill you. We are revealing these to you because of your love for us. We know you have good luck in meeting us first before seeing the king". What all these people told Adegbola were lies. What they wanted was to put him in trouble. While Adegbola was at the gate of the kingdom, the people rushed to the king and told him. "There is a man with sword at the gate of the kingdom, threatening to kill you my Lord."

"We thank the gods for exposing him to us and we have stopped him at the entrance of the kingdom". "Abomination! What a bad omen!? Please, tell me what to do," requeste the king. Immediately, Lewa came in and said,"My Lord, send for him to come to you. Do not behave as if you do not want him. Let's put poison into wine and give to him to drink for entertainment. He will just drink and die." The king immediately accepted her advice. She prepared the poisoned wine and asked the king to invite Adegbola to the palace. The king sent one of his servants to invite him in.

when Adegbola came into the palace, he immediately ran to the king and knelt before him. He called him "my father" and kissed his feet. Adegbola told the king that his mother Yaoba had sent him to come and pay him a visit. While he was saying these words, the king looked at him. At times, it was as if he knew the young man. He studied him from toe to head and discovered that his hair and his eyelids looked like his. They both had a space between their teeths.

When the king wanted to question Adegbola,Lewa his wife immediately stopped him and whispered to him "Why are you asking him questions?" "Don't you know that man is crafty? Everything he is saying is a lie. Give him the wine to drink."

While she was saying this, the king was busy looking at Adegbola. He did not know what to do. He had the believe that Adegbolawas his son.

But after listening to Lewa's words, he became doubtful. The king looked at Adegbola again and discovered that his mouth, nose and fingers looked like his. He was as light as the king in complexion. The king was confused about leaving the young man or killing him.

When he left Adegbola alone, Lewa went to the king and whispered into his ears saying"Do not spare him. If you do so, consider yourself getting a death sentence. I am saying it again, please, save your life. Give him the wine to drink so that you will remain alive."

The king then called on Adegbola and

welcomed him again into the palace. He

ordered Lewa to get him a cup of wine for the visitor. The king collected the cup of wine and gave it to him, saying, "Take this wine and drink. It is the wine I usually reserve for special visitors. When he stretched his hand to give him the wine, the king's hands started shaking. The king withdrew his hand and was puzzled about it.

While this was happening, one of the chiefs ran to the king and said "Your highness,please don't change your decision because it is dangerous. Give him the wine to drink. If you refuse to do so, he will kill you. Look at his waist and see the sword with him. If you refuse to kill him, he will kill you". The king agreed and stretched his hand again to give Adegbola the wine to drink. When Adegbola reached for the wine, the king's hand shook again and the cup fell to the floor and broke. At that point, the king saw the sword that was tied to Adegbola's waist. He asked "how about this sword and how did you get it"?

Adegbola breathed a sigh of relief and answered. "This sword belongs to my father. I am also putting on his sandals. My mother Yaoba told me this when I was young,. She told me the story about how my father Baoba, went to the kingdom of Bunduga beside Dunga.

"She told me that he hid this sword and sandals under a stone in my village and gave an order that when I grew up, I should take them and visit him in his kingdom."

"As I was growing up, I tried to lift the stone, but I couldn't. It was only last month that I Was able to lift the stone, take this sword and these sandals and start searching for my father"

When Adegbola had finished talking, the king shouted "My son! My beloved son." As he was saying this, he rose from his throne and embraced him. "Please, forgive me, come and inherit my throne as it is yours." "Now, I have discovered that you are truly my son." "Your mouth is like mine. Your eyes are like mine while your nose is like that of Yaoba,your mother. My son, you are my hope and the

expected liberator."From that time the king always called Adegbola beside him. Adegbola narrated the story about his mother, his kinsmen and how he tried to lift the stone where his father kept the sword and the sandals. All these stories aroused the king's interest and made him to believe the more that he was Adegbola his son.

When the king discovered that Lewa his wife and his chiefs were after Adegbola's life for nothing, he sentenced the chiefs to jail. He ordered his guards to put a knife into fire and used it to inscribe these words on Lewa's face."You are a bad woman, anybody who marries you

has married a problem." When they finished inscribing these words on her face, the king ordered her to leave his palace and she left