Dear Reader,
Remember, King Laku’s wife, the queen, hasn’t been able to bear a child for him so he has resorted to turning to a palace maid, Nwe, for help. After learning of the king and Nwe’s dalliance, the queen confronted Nwe.
Nwe left to her maternal grandmother’s home after the stern warning from the queen. She cried as she walked through the thick bushes of Alante village.
The day was clear and the king came out just as he normally would and took a walk round his palace. While he took this tour, he hoped that he would coincidentally bump into Nwe. He didn’t see her, nor any sign of her. “Something seems strange”, he muttered to himself while continuing the walk. The queen peeped through the window of the room and saw the confused look on the king’s face. She immediately knew he had noticed Nwe’s absence.
He entered the room and asked, “Where is Nwe?”
The queen gave a surprised look at first, as though she had no idea. The king looked at her eyes and said “Manee, you are my wife and I know you, where is that young girl?”
She replied, “I sent her away, she was obviously becoming a distraction”. The king was furious, his hand balled into a fist within seconds, veins protruding. The queen who had not seen her husband this angry screamed out in shock and said “So you’re in love with her? How could you?”
The king didn’t let her finish her sentence as he screamed, “I want a son!”
He stormed out of the room leaving the queen in shock.
Nwe arrived her maternal grandmother’s house. “My child, May evil never befall you”, her grandmother proclaimed as she dragged a chair for Nwe, seeing how tired and downcast she was.
She sat down and leaned on her grandmother’s shoulders while crying uncontrollably. Mama knew Nwe’s tears weren’t an expression of tiredness, but of frustration. Mama continued to rub her back as she encouraged Nwe to cry out the hurt. Later that evening, while she ate dinner she told Mama everything that had happened.
After sharing the story, Nwe paused. Mama noticed and immediately knew something was wrong.
“Let it out Nwe, don’t hide anything”, Mama said. With a shaky voice, as though she wanted to resume her long episode of crying, Nwe said, “Mama I’m with child, the king’s child, I don’t know what to do.”
Mama told her, “This child is a blessing, don’t cry.”
Back in Alante, the king was in the palace worried and still thinking where Nwe must be or whether she was with child. He was deep in this thought when the guard ran in and informed the king of a battle between the warriors of Alante and the neighboring community that had had some people killed already.
The king, who was also a warrior, immediately requested for his sword to be brought to him and stormed out of the palace. News got to his brother about how the king was going to fight and his brother met him on the road asking him to return to the palace immediately.
“Brother, if I can’t save my people, will I be qualified to call myself a king?”
It was obvious no one could convince him to do otherwise. He went to the battle front and he fought selflessly, ignoring the signal from his aging bones. While the king fought with dignity, the worst happened.
What happened? We will find out on the next episode.
Till then dear reader, stay energized. Do not forget we are here to help you answer your DNA questions. Call us at 08147411921.