THE ROYAL LOVE IN THE SUBURBS OF AFRICA

Chapter one (1) In the very early hours of the day, lights brightly emit its glamorous shades over the mountains, hills, and the tree tops as she smiled to the very peaceful, cool, and breezy ambience in the very far away kingdom of Amagbini which was situated in the suburbs of ancient Africa. There, there were sounds of melodious percussions re- vibrating out of the most elegant and gigantic gongs and drums never to be seen before elsewhere in the whole of Africa. Indeed, it was a ceremony that called for magnificent euphoria: a child was born; not just a child, but a boy child was birthed in the suburbs of Africa. The lights traversed straight into the palace yard of Amagbini kingdom where the crown king, kuro who is neatly knighted in a dazzling apparel is surrounded by the Queen, his royal guards, and chiefs as he lifted the new born up above his luster beaded crown in the eyes of a large jubilant audience whom were cheering and singing and dancing to the ebullient tones from the magnificent percussionists of Amagbini kingdom; this was a memorable event in Amagbini kingdom! The crowd: (in unison) long live the king! long live! long live the king! long live! long live the prince! long live! .... euphonious sounds of drums and gongs once again erupted in the atmosphere blending with the sonorous voices and exuberant dance moves from the crowd. (king kuro waves the royal staff in the air as the melodies came to an abrupt halt) ...... great people of Amagbini kingdom indeed this day is a very precious one in our land, for the benevolent gods has smiled upon us in this land. The elation within my spirit calls for perpetual jubilation: for the gods had finally brought to an halt, the ponders and the desperate quest for an heir to the throne of Amagbini since from the days of our great progenitors. indeed no mere words and eulogies can match the splendor of my precious heartfelt gratitude to the great gods of our land: for the altruistic gods of Amagbini kingdom have finally provided the king, a rightful Heir to the throne. ( the king lifted the new born up above in the skies as the enthusiastic jubilant crowd sang in chorus) .....Ayoooooo! Ayooooo! long live the young heir to the throne, long liveeee! the crowd exclaimed with happiness. ....This is a great day in Amagbini kingdom my brother. who could have imagined that the king could still be blessed with a male child after all these years. the very elated and jubilant Ariwei said, to his brother in the midst of the crowd. ......t's the gods! may the great ones of Amagbini live forever! after all these long years of supplications they have finally break the yoke of bareness in great Amagbini kingdom!. the old man replied, in excitement as the two pusillanimous brothers engaged themselves in gleeful banters in the midst of the gathering. *********** Indeed, this day was a sight to behold in the history of Amagbini which is situated in the remote suburbs of Africa. King kuro, the fearless king over the years have metamorphosed greatly in appearance and have also grown in age as well. The glaring and inevitable clutches of old age are begining to gradually take a grip on the king: it is well to say that, both the beards on the king's face and the hears on his head have all become canities to when compared with the younger Kuro during the days of King Ebila his predecessor. ************ Although the Kingdom of Amagbini was mighty and great, it's seemed as though a spell was cast upon its kings rendering them unable to reproduce male offspring : a heir to ascend the throne of the great Amagbini kingdom. Including king Ebila, the immediate predecessor to king Kuro, three consecutive Kings have reigned in Amagbini without a heir to claim the throne of great Amagbini. So at the demise of each Monarchs, the gods gave orders to the chief priest to select among the youths of Amagbini whom would take for a wife, the princess, the king's daughter : wether young or old as long as she was unmarried prior to the death of her father. During these days, the princess stood as the only access for any aspiring young man to climb up to the ladders of authority to enable him cease the vacant stool and become king of the great and mighty kingdom of Amagbini that situated on the suburbs of Africa. ******* After the death of King Koka: the last king that ruled great Amagbini prior to the reign of King Ebila, the the royal stool was left vacant with no single eligible being to sit upon it. This was due to the fact that, King KOKA , father to the very benign queen ASAIBO, had no male child who could have taken over from him as King, for the king had only one child: queen ASAIBO, and she was female. Therefore, as culture demanded, the gods had to be the ones to choose the right husband for ASAIBO for him to be king over the kingdom of Amagbini. Irregardless of already being betrothed to her heartthrob, King Ebila even long before the passing of her father, the gods instructed the chief priest on how to choose a new king for the kingdom; for this was so immaterial to the gods as it was even a way of testing the authenticity of the kind of love the young man had towards the princess. Therefore, at the demise of King Koka, and as a result of his infertility to bore a male seed, the gods had ordered the youths of Amagbini to go on in a search for the golden box concealed far beneath the depth of the eerie underworlds of the very forbidden forest of Amagbini. But in the end of it all, after the long search in the forest, it happened that King Ebila was indeed earmarked all along to be king: for the golden box magically revealed itself to the young man beneath the dark underworlds making him the automatic ruler of Amagbini kingdom and he lived all his days with his darling betrothed queen! But during the days of King Ebila, he himself was unable to give Amagbini a male child for the queen only bore female children. As tradition demands: the king must not marry another wife, as this was forbidden since the queen was seen as the true heir and descendant of the progenitors instead of the King who was selected by the gods to rule. So for this reasons, the king never married any other woman who could have bore him a son. However things were different this time around, as Eru, the very ambitious chief priest was in an hurry to see Agbogidi his galant hooligan son crowned as King of great Amagbini kingdom even before King Ebila could think of sojourning back to the makers. For this reason there was a fierce wrestling contest for the throne of Amagbini in the days of King Ebila!! ******** There in a corner inside the palace yards, Ofini the tiny sun bird is seen joyfully floating Its wings in the the skies, while Owi, the fox is running all over the place! These two animal companions have been very pivotal for the kings mysterious rise to the throne. although they never agreed with each other for once! but today these two quarrelsome creatures seemed to be in the happiest moments of their lives as they played together all around the scene. Dancing and singing continued among the jubilant subjects of Amagbini while the melodious gongs of drums by the magnificent percussionists of Amagbini kingdom permeated the ambience as the lights flashes and travelled down memory lane.