.

Wtf is dis

Nice collabo..let see how it comes

ROYAL PALAVER

CHAPTER ONE

Ikoro kingdom was one of the oldest villages in the history of the Igbo traditional society. It was founded before the advent of the white colonial masters who had tried conquering this kinddom to no avail. It was said that the gods that they worshipped struck anyone who dared to raise an arm against the kingdom.

Ikoro Kingdom had two major gods. They were Anyanwu, the god of the sun and light, and Amadioha, the god of thunder and lightening. They held these gods in great esteem and reverence. according to folklores passed down from generation to generations, it was said that Anyanwu and Amadioha were brothers who descended from the heavens to live amongst men.

The first village they went to rejected them so they left and built a small hut on the outskirts of that community.

On the eve of the new moon, the brothers went into the community and massacred the palace guards and summarily executed the king. The warriors of the village were alerted and came to fight.

Amadioha, the younger brother was swift in the use of bows and arrows so he killed three warriors at once with one shot of his bow and arrow as they came towards the palace. The rest frightened to their bone marrows, paid their obeisance to the two brothers.

Amadioha was the more ambitious of the two and wanted to rule over the kingdom. Anyanwu let him become king and left the palace to stay among the village folks.

That was centuries ago. But now, in this 21st century, there was another king. His name was Igwe Nelson.

Igwe Nelson was from the royal bloodline of Amadioha. He was the only child of his parents and as such had the unrestricted right to the throne. He was huge and tall and dark in complexion. When his father was alive, he was made the commander of the village warriors. In that capacity, he had proven himself a brave warrior and leader but was also a kind and caring leader.

When his father died, he was made king and his wife of a year was also made Queen. But eight years later, Igwe Nelson was yet to get a heir. His wife was barren or so it seemed. For eight years, they had been married. When in the 2nd year, queen Ugonma had not conceived, tongues began to wag. People especially the market women said all sorts of things,

Some said that the gods were punishing her for her immoral and promiscous life in the past. Others simply said she was barren while some said the king was impotent. That was fair enough. In the eight year, the elders and his palace cabinets simply asked him to marry a second wife. King Nelson resisted all attempts from all and sunddry and stuck to his wife.

His faithfulness paid off two weeks later. When he heard the news, he could not express his joy and happiness. Words were not enough to do so and they would never be enough. His wife was actually pregnant after eight years of marriage. So she had told him. She hadn’t seen her blood for a week now and that meant it had happened.

He was so happy that he decided to hold a feast. He had to hold a feast because he really needed to. His heir to the throne had arrived and everyone in the village had to be aware.

He sent out messengers to the four clans that made up the Ikoro village. They were Abama, Isoro, Ogboru and Ntinga. He had ordered the chiefs of each clan through his messengers to come to the palace with all members of their families.

His wife, Lolo Ugomma was not left out in this happiness. She had been so overjoyed to notice the changes in her body and to receive its confirmation from the village doctor.

From the moment the news was heard, the palace began to pamper her like a newly laid egg of a chicken. She was no longer allowed to do anything in the palace; not that she was doing anything before but even the little things to be done like attending meetings, supervising the maidens and the other servants were not allowed.

The chiefs of each clan and the various members of their entourages had begun to arrive. They were warmly welcomed into the large courtyard of the Igwe where seats had been placed for the purpose of the feast.

The maidens were asked to make palm wine and other drinks available while the male servants were ordered to bring out more seats so that the people coming could equally be accommodated. In the midst of lots of drinks and discussions, the king stood up and cleared his throat

“Today is a very happy day for me and for all members of my family. Do you know why?” he asked looking around for someone to provide him with the answer.

Nobody seemed to know it. It was either they didn’t really know it or they just didn’t want to talk. After about a minute of silence, he continued

“Yes, you might not know because this wonderful thing that has happened to me is barely two weeks old. It’s possible that you might not have heard it but I will tell you all now. I have gotten a heir to the throne”

The chiefs all looked very shocked and surprised. There was never a time they heard that their queen was pregnant talk more of she giving birth to a son. What then was the king talking about? Or did he get a child out of wedlock? Or maybe he had adopted a son. They just couldn’t tell.

All they had to do was to wait for the king to break down the news they had received into smaller understandable swallowable morsels.

“My wife, the Queen is pregnant” he continued “after eight unfruitful years of marriage. The gods have finally decided to give us a child. I have waited and waited for ten years now and finally, the gods of our land has decided to give me a child because of my patient virtue. May the gods of our land be praised. Good tidings should not be hidden and what the gods have done for us should be told to all and yonder. I couldn’t contain my happiness so I decided to call you all to come and share with me. Let us all drink and be happy for what the gods have done for us. Ikoro kwezuonu!” he concluded

The chiefs were as happy as a lark. They loved their king so much and really wanted the best for him so this news was a very welcome one. They all congratulated him earnestly.

The chief of Ntinga stood up to talk “Igwe birikwa. Ndi Ichie, ekele nam unu” he started “Igwe, I am very happy for you and I believe that my fellow chiefs are also very happy too. We have really been longing to hear this news but the gods know better. Finally, in their own wisdom, they have decided to grant us our heart desires at this time. May the gods be praised. Igwe, to your long life and prosperous rule and to that of our new baby, may I propose a toast!” he concluded.

Abama’s chief stood up to talk,
“Ikoro kelenu! Ikoro kelenu!! Ikoro kwezuonu!!!”

The chants of “Ya” every time he greeted was very encouraging. It could be clearly noticed that he was an orator and a very good one at that judging from the way he directed the mind of the people present towards himself before continuing and the way they responded to his greetings. He then continued,

“We have all heard the good news coming straight from the mouth of our beloved Igwe and we have also heard all that was said by our fellow chief. Are we all happy with the fact that our Igwe now has a heir or does anyone think otherwise?” he asked not expecting any response. He was soon to be shocked, by a response, not just any response but a very frightening one at that.

“Hehehehehe, Igweee live long” it was the village drunkard speaking in a slurry tone like someone that was tipsy. He continued

“Igwe live long again. The baby in the womb of our queen is a boy. Yes, a boy indeed. Hehehehehe. Lest I forget, my queen may you live longer” he said while prostrating.

Everyone was now listening to the drunkard with rapt attention while he swayed from side to side. It had always been that way with him even when he was drunk and when he was not. At times, no one could tell when he was drunk and when he was not drunk. But now, it was clear that he was, judging from the number of bottles of Star that laid by his feet.

He continued “Yes, the queen is pregnant. It is not yet protruding but I can see it. But why must such an evil thing happen to us? I can see it, yes, I can now see it very clearly, as much as I can see the queen’s pregnancy. But why? Why must the queen give birth to a bastard son? Why must the future Igwe of Ikoro be a bastard?”

Continuation will be on Wednesday.

Your comments will be greatly appreciated.

Let's go therrrreee!!

Looks more like a Nollywood script. Anyways, nice one. ]

*Nollywood and palace things*

Well @Neduzze, you ain't done with a new dawn yet you jump into another one!

Seems you must be errrrm *searching for the word to use*


















*still searching*














*YEAH!!! Found IT!*

Undisputed...............

yemi2plus2: Looks more like a Nollywood script. Anyways, nice one. ]

You are actually almost right there!

Just felt like writing a trad. story.

losprince: *Nollywood and palace things*

Well @Neduzze, you ain't done with a new dawn yet you jump into another one!

Seems you must be errrrm *searching for the word to use*


















*still searching*














*YEAH!!! Found IT!*

Undisputed...............

Lol... you too dey watch Nollywood oh


Thanks for the 'undisputed' stuff sha! But you also have to give kudos to my co-author, Chistar01. Without him, this wouldn't have been a reality!

As for A New Dawn, expect the update today.

Nice story. It seems more Colabo are emerging after enohbong and I initiated it.

I like ur story sha.

Today na wednesday o

@flow1759, we had it on our mind since last week but decided to officially open a thread on Monday. But thumbs up to you sha

@ Eze Promoe, by Thursday, we'll see how it's got man turn out but for now, its continuation of chapter one. It's a nice one though, a must read inspired by your trad. story.

@ yemi2plus2, yeah, it's Wednesday and it's going down soon!

*the continuation*

The Chief of Abama who could no longer contain his anger at the endless ranting of this drunkard sparked off.

“Guards! Guards!! Come and take this man away. Are you prophesying or what? Or are you among the sworn enemies of our king? You are very lucky I am in a very good mood now if not, I would have strangled you myself. I don’t even know how you managed to get here. Take him awwaaayyyy” he shouted angrily

As he was being taken away, he was heard saying “Igwe, be warned….”

“This drunk just came with the intention of spoiling our fun today. Just imagine. Igwe, please don’t think of anything the drunk said. His words have no meaning at all. It’s very clear that he was drunk” Abama chief concluded

“Let us all drink” Igwe Nelson said, smiling.

It could be clearly noticed that he hadn’t taken any of the words of the drunk to heart. He had promised himself that nobody was going to harm his son and nobody was going to do so.

Soon enough, everyone was lost in the euphoria of the moment. They had all forgotten the words of the drunkard.

Only one person was perturbed and seemed to be lost in thoughts, thoughts that were far away from the happenings around her. She had to be, yes she had to be, the baby was the only hope for her continued stay in the palace and nothing was going to stop her from giving birth to this baby. Nothing!

More drinks were served and everyone drank to their satisfaction. Even the maidens and their male counterparts drank as much as they wanted that evening.

Only the queen was exempted from drinking except for a glass of wine given to her by the king. The essence of this was to protect the baby. If only they knew what laid in store for the baby…!!

Later that night, Queen Ugomma lay awake. She couldn’t sleep. The words of the drunkard were really taking a toll on her. She, give birth to a bastard son? How possible was that? She tried to solve the missing link to the puzzle. She first of all began by explaining the meaning of a bastard to herself. A bastard was a child without knowledge of his or her father.

She had never slept with any other man apart from the king. Of course she hadn’t.

Then she remembered. It was only a small fling with her former boyfriend in secondary school. He had invited her to his house one day.

She went without the company of her maidens and bodyguards. They had just sat together reminiscing over past times and how he had restrained himself from touching her at that time just because she wanted to be a virgin until she got married.
He had protected her in a way, so he had said that particular day, from other boys who would not care a hoot about her view about virginity.

It started with looking into each other’s eyes, then holding hands before it graduated slowly into kisses. There was no much romance; he had gone straight for her bosoms which he teased for a while before entering her.

Minutes later, he was through. She didn’t know then why she did it, if it was out of respect for the guy who had taken care of her in secondary school or if it was because she was desperately in need for a child. She didn’t know if he had used condoms or not and she hadn’t cared to know. But she knew she hadn’t gotten pregnant after that incident.

That was three years ago! There was no way she could be carrying a baby from him three years ago. It was not medically possible, she thought as she continued to stare at the ceiling. She didn’t notice that he was awake and was staring at her.

Igwe Nelson was awake. The strong urge to go ease himself had awoken him. But five minutes later, he still hadn’t gone to the toilet.

He was staring at his wife. She was very beautiful in a devilish way, he thought smiling to himself.

She was looking at the ceiling in such a way that the black pupil of her left eye was hidden away from his sight and the white part of the eye looked whiter than ever. It made her look like one of those witches he saw in movies.

He noticed that she hadn’t noticed him. She must be deep in thought. He called her name softly. She didn’t hear him. He tapped her lightly. She didn’t feel it. He then sat up.

She felt the bed move a little under her and looked towards the direction of her husband. He was awake. Staring at her and smiling. What was making him smile?

“Honey” she called tenderly while caressing him a little on his cheeks.

He was awakened from his reverie.

“You are awake” she said

“Yes, I am. I noticed you were awake and staring at the ceiling. I tried bringing you out of your thoughts but I couldn’t. I didn’t know when I began staring at you”

“Hmmm, I am suspecting you. What were you staring at? I know you were staring at my bosoms”

“No, I’m not. I was only looking at you. What were you thinking about?”
She let out a loud sigh before saying anything.

“I was thinking of what the drunkard said today. I’ve not been able to sleep. It sounded as though it was a prophecy. I was and I’m still really scared about what he said”

“What did he say?”

It seemed as though Igwe Nelson had forgotten all that the drunkard had said about a few hours ago. Ugonma looked so surprised. How could he dare forget this critical issue she thought to herself?

An issue that bordered on the life of their unborn child.

An issue that could make or mar the ascension of his descendants to the throne of Ikoro kingdom.

The child they had been waiting for almost ten years now.

Maybe he was planning to get married to a second wife. She didn’t know but she only had to wait and hope that he does not do such a thing.

“Did you not hear when he said I would give birth to a bastard child?” She asked rather angrily

“I heard him and I’ve forgotten it. It’s not important. You heard him clearly. A bastard child is a child without the least knowledge of his parents. I am the father of this child and you’re the mother of this child. What is there to think about? You should know him. He drinks and talks that way. Please don’t mind him” Nelson concluded.

“I’m not still assured. Please, I would love you to do something for me”

“And what could that be?

“I want you to summon the village dibia to the palace. I want him to confirm on this issue”

“Is that all?” Nelson asked nonchalantly

“Yes, it is”

“I will do it for you”

“Thank you very much dear”

“Can you now go to sleep?”

“Yes of course”

He cuddled her in his arms and they both went to sleep together.

*end of chapter one*

@neduzze nice chapter, you made it easy for me to continue..and thanks.

.....@flow, thanks man.
@eze & yemi, we just wanted to give it a try, and since NL is now filled with mordern day scripts, we decided to go back in time and do a little traditional, but it would merge with the mordern day world, trust me, ill make sure of that.

Thanks for reading. Expect my continuation by friday.

chistar01: @neduzze nice chapter, you made it easy for me to continue..and thanks.

.....@flow, thanks man.
@eze & yemi, we just wanted to give it a try, and since NL is now filled with mordern day scripts, we decided to go back in time and do a little traditional, but it would merge with the mordern day world, trust me, ill make sure of that.

Thanks for reading. Expect my continuation by friday.

itz mor lyk a nollywood tyn

CHAPTER TWO

It was barely sunrise in the kingdom of Ikoro when the first cock within the palace crowed. Lolo Ugomma was already awake and was pondering about the eventful previous day especially the haunting words of the village drunkard about her having a bastard child.

She had always been a light sleeper and now that she had things on her mind, she couldnt sleep well atall, she turned and rolled all night in search of a comfortable posture to sleep but rather than a comfortable sleep, she had nightmares each time she closed her eyes.

She vividly recalled the very last dream she dreamt before fully waking up...

It was a casual day in Ikoro kingdom and as she went to the village stream to have her bath alongside her servants who were to bath her due to the fact that she was the queen. She entered the stream and her servants went down to business, scrubbing Ugomma in the right and wrong places, when out of the blues, she was starled when she suddenly heard the voice of a very young child saying "mummy dont let me go".. She thought it was just her imagination at first when the servants claimed not to hear anything, but when voice kept on repeating same statement in her head, she was convinced it wasnt her imagination, so she started screaming out of fear until she suddenly woke up.

"what was that about?" she asked herself, but couldnt answer it, so she stayed awake all through the early hours of the morning in deep thoughts.

The morning sun had risen fully before Igwe Nelson finally woke up, he strecthed and was about to say a prayer to the gods of the land when he turned to kneel only for him to see a sight that caught his attention.

Lolo Ugomma, who hadnt slept all night was sitting on the bare floor at the extreme corner of the room lost in deep thought that she didnt even know when her husband woke up and walked up to her side.

For a short moment Igwe Nelson starred at his beautiful queen and he could see deep into her heart to know that she was realy bothered, so he cleared his throat then finally spoke..

"Our people have a saying, they say 'the real foundation of a kingdom doesnt rest on the shoulder of the king but that of queen', So unless you want the foundation of our kingdom to be broken, you had better tell me whats bothering your tender heart".

Lolo ugomma was starled by her husband statment because of she was absent minded, but she replied after she came back to reality...

"Nnanyi, it concerns the same issue i told you of last night, only that...'

"i thought i told you not to worry?" Igwe Nelson cut in getting impatient with his wife.

"yes i know, only that i had series of confusing nightmares last night" Lolo Ugomma replied calmly, with a sincere look of worry on her face.

"Hmm, you are only having bad dreams because you thought so much about it before you slept" Igwe Nelson replied.

"Honey, this is more than just a normal dream, it felt so real.."

"hmm, ok, so what do you have in mind?" Igwe Nelson asked.

"I thought you agreed to call the village dibia this morning on my behalf?"

"oh! That?.. Hmm, ok, if that would make you less bothered ill call him" Igwe Nelson replied relunctantly.

"dim daalu" she replied and hugged her husband totally excited.

***

The village dibia was one of the most powerful dibias in the entire eastern region, It was rumoured that he had direct contact with the gods and even ate on the same table with them. History also stated that there was a certain time there was a Two years drought in the Kingdom because He cursed the land for reasons unknown to the present world.

He wasnt fond of being late or wasting time when his attention was needed, so soon as He was informed by the King messenger to go to the palace, He quickly picked up a goat skin bag which contained coweries and a calabash which he intended to use for the incantations and consultation with the gods.

Just as he walked into the palace a thick dark cloud came over it and shaded the sun from penetrating through the windows.

King Nelson and the rest of the Palace occupants werent suprised at this sight because the were used to it since it happened anytime he came over. Why it always happened is a story for another day.

***

He was directed to go into the inner chambers of the palace to meet the king by the messenger which he did.

He sang a song of praise to the King as soon as he got to the chambers and quickly dropped his bag and sat on the mat which was placed at the middle of the chamber.

When he was done with the normal rites he looked up at Igwe Nelson and asked..

'My king what is the problem?'...

Igwe Nelson gave his wife a 'should i go ahead?' look, and after she approved it, He turned back to the dibia who was waiting patiently for a responce, cleared his throat and started talking..

'It has been....'

TO BE CONTINUED ON SUNDAY:

You apparently outdid my expectations my co-author.

Good work!!

Waiting for today's episode.

Neduzze5: You apparently outdid my expectations my co-author.

Good work!!

Waiting for today's episode.

hmm, thanks, glad you like it.

*continuation*

"It has been just barely 24 hours when Amadi the village drunk made some foul statements concerning my wife pregnance, i'm sure you must have heard what he said from rumour mongers so i wont go into much details. I dont see it as a reason to worry but my wife thinks otherwise and even claims to be having nightmares over the issue, so we...'

'you want me to ask the gods what would happen' the dibia cut in.

'yes, exactly, and i want you to tell the queen she has nothing to worry about' Igwe Nelson replied. He totaly didnt find this necessary but if that would make his wife feel better he just went ahead with it.

'Hmm!' the dibia exclaimed and went down to business, shaking the cowries and doing things with the calabash, while Lolo ugomma and Igwe Nelson stared with rapt attention asin they were hoping to learn for mere looking.

After what felt like ages, the dibia looked up to the king and his wife with a neutral face which even made Lolo ugomma more worried.

'what is it!?' Lolo Ugomma asked getting impatient.

The dibia stared at her stomach and then her face asif he was searching for something then he replied her..

'Your child is at risk!, some people dont want him to be born so that the king shall have no heir. The gods said you should be careful, and take this' he brought out a substance wrapped in leave and gave it to the queen.. 'rub the contents of this every 6pm and 6am, it would help in protecting you from the evil ones.' he took a pause to clear his throat then concluded 'the gods has spoken'.

Igwe Nelson who has been watching in total silence now apologised to his wife for not taking the matter seriously and after a brief talk with the dibia he thanked him and ordered him out of the palace.

For the next seven days, Lolo Ugomma did as told and rubbed the substance as instructed, although she still had a couple of dreams once in a while, she didnt let it pull her down because of her strong faith in the dibia.

Eventually, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months until it was exactly a month for Lolo Ugomma to put to bed.

The Ikoro kingdom was a highly blessed kingdom, with the kind of wealth and prosperity that made other kingdoms envious. So when Igwe Nelson told his wife on one faithful day that he wanted her to travel overseas and give birth to his heir in a safer condition, Lolo ugomma wasnt suprised at where they would get the money to afford a ship ticket which was absurdly expensive at that time, but she was suprised about how her husband who few months ago couldnt careless about a drunkard statement now want to send her overseas where she would be far from and one who might want to do them harm, little did they know that 'charms' arent limited by distance.

After much debates on wiether she should go or not between her and her husband, her husband finally won, so plans were being made almost immediately.

A messenger was sent to the docks that same day to buy a ticket, he came back to inform them that the ship would be set asail in three days time.

The who village heard about the rumour of the queen travelling not out of the kingdom or province, but country just to give birth to a child. They werent happy that the king was wasting the kingdom finance like that but what could they do? Riot and be exiled?.

Much preparations were made for the queen and her head servant to travel on even on the eve of her leaving for the docks a party was thrown to celebrate the first person from the kingdom to leave the country, that was why it was such a big deal.

***

Morning eventually came and due to the time on the ticket, she was expected to be at the docks by 7am, so by 5am she and her head servant alongside a huge number of well wisher and of course 'evil wishers'.

There was a delay at the dock and because of that almost everybody who had hoped to see the ship sail away had to leave and return to the village to work on thier farms before the sun rises. Only the king, his chieves and the palace steward were left.

After what felt like forever the traveller were cleared and about to checked in, so King Nelson who wanted to cry because of this sad scene of watching the woman who he had seen and lived daily for over eight years go, had to man up and just wave at Lolo Ugomma who was about running to go and give her husband a last hug. She smiled and dried her eyes while on the long queue then focused at the person who was checking her in.

In a few minutes she was on the ship and it sailed away. King Nelson starred at it sadly till it was out of sight. Lolo Ugomma who was on the ship started thinking about how the oyinbo(white) people live and started feeling quite uncomfortable with her native attire while most of the people on the ship were on 'the white man' kindof clothings.

'Hmm!' she sighed as she drifted to a short nap.

END OF CHAPTER TWO

When should we expect the next update?

yemi2plus2: When should we expect the next update?

Ouch, my badt! Chistar, please we are waiting for you oh

So Collabo nah dey reign for literature section now?

Deiok: So Collabo nah dey reign for literature section now?

yes o. It a new and good development as it wil unite writers

Deiok: So Collabo nah dey reign for literature section now?

Yes oh, it's needed... just as books are written by the author et all...

yemi2plus2:
yes o. It a new and good development as it wil unite writers

Thanks man.... You're a real writer!!