That fateful day was indeed special in Azinke's life, as she grinned all the way from her royal bed--positioned by the side in a pink-painted room of two classy chairs and an ineptly made but manageable wardrobe she kept as a memento from her past--to the bathroom three steps from where she laid. Staring at herself in the cracked mirror therein, she seemed bemused by the reality of seeing another feather added to her three-decades-old cap after 365 days now as a Queen. Although a part of her was abound with joy and gratitude to her Maker, the other was blighted by pain stemming from how much she was underestimated by many.

In her densely populated Ekdivia village, the consensus on how hapless Azinke is facially and shape-wise remained unchallenged for a long time. Most peers of hers affirmed certainty in her absence that she was proverbially not created on a Sunday morning. Azinke's slightly-pointed forehead, bulgy eyes, flat nose, massive lips, deep dark complexion, and figure one shape could just aquit such persons of oblique character ridicule. "Azinke may not be as beautiful as we are but her beautiful heart defies doubt," Ivero admitted to Adiza and Besa, Azinke's friends, as they sauntered home in the evening after visiting the latest mother in the village.

Having lost her mother at 12 to negligence by neighbour farmers after she was bitten by a cobra while farming, Azinke, disconcerted and soaked in tears, made an uncanny resolve to help people seemingly helpless. Unknown to her, she developed a heart of gold which inclined her to support maltreated widows, accomodate orphans, and feed the hungry without seeking recognition; a quality scarce among most of the highly admired maidens. When Ekdivia's king and household mysteriously died, which some villagers attributed to his high-handedness and inhumaneness, a search commenced for a new leader. "We must learn from history and choose a leader with people-concerned antecedents," the village electoral commitee agreed. Azinke was elected to the amazement of all and sundry. Although astonished, most Ekdivians could not doubt her capacity and maturity to wear such big shoes. "Indeed, there can be prettiness amidst ugliness," they realized.


Kaycee Naze
(Rational Pen)

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CC:Lalasticlala, Seun.

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