Ring Of Fire

Ring Of Fire 6

A mad man entered the rich city of Bami and headed straight to the palace of the King of Bami. The entrance guards were angry at him for daring to enter the grand palace of the powerful King. They beat him mercilessly but surprisingly the mad man insisted he must enter the palace of the King.

"What business do you have with the king you dirty thing" one of the guards said angrily.

"It is my destiny to marry the Princess of Bami" said the mad man.

The guards laughed and the mad man joined them in laughing. He already sustained injury from the beating they gave him and as he sat on the ground right in front of the King's palace gate and laughed with the guards the beautiful princess of Bami was crying inside her luxurious chamber. Her mother was inside her husband's chamber and was angrily saying to the king, "my daughter is crying today of all days!!! Soon the famous prince of Ikotu will be here with his great father. What am I going to tell them? That the princess has been crying since morning and has refused to come out or eat anything? Lamented the Queen.

The king stood up and went inside his daughter's chambers. The maids in the chamber excused themselves immediately the King entered. The King sat beside his daughter and said, " tell me sweet daughter? What has been bothering you for months now? Today is supposed to be the happiest day of your life and you are crying? Don't you love the prince of Ikotu?

"I love him father" cried the Princess.

"Then what is the problem? Asked the King.

The princess raised up her face and said to the shock of the father, "are you the mad man?"

"What are you talking about Princess?" The father was surprised.

The princess stood up, looking at her father in a strange way. "Father, am I mad?" She asked again.

The king stood up slowly and for the first time realised that his precious daughter had run mad. He was moved in anger as he stormed out of the chamber.

Outside the chamber, the king screamed annd the palace generals came running to him.

"My lord, what makes you angry" they asked him.

"My daughter has run mad. Today the prince rides from Ikotu to perform the marriage rites and now my daughter is mad!!!"

Outside the palace of Bami, the famous prince of Ikotu with his great father, the King of Ikotu were riding with over one thousand soldiers and elders towards the gates of the palace of Bami. The Prince was frowning. He was a mean and brave man with a deep straight sword mark that ran from his forehead down to his jaw due to many wars he had fought and won.

At the gates of the palace of Bami, the mad man was still laughing.

As the King of Ikotu, his son and their soldiers and elders entered the gates of the palace of Bami,the mad man stood up with blood in his mouth. He kept glaring at the Prince of Ikotu who equally turned and noticed the mad man staring at him. One of the soldiers at the gates struck the mad man to the ground and shouted, "how dare you look eye ball to eye ball with the prince?

The prince stopped the movement as he dismounted from his horse.

"what are you doing son?" The father asked but the prince didn't say a word. Even soldiers feared him. He was a great warrior. He approached the mad man, looked carefully into his eyes, turned to his father and said, "this is the mad man I told you I saw in my dream snatching my food from me" he turned to the mad man and hit him to coma with the armoured back of his hand, turned to the soldiers and said, "keep him here. I need him with me on my way back to Ikotu" the soldiers bowed and the prince got back on his horse and they entered the palace. The soldiers tied the mad man on a wood.

The King of Bami pretended that all was well when the King of Ikotu arrived with his famous son. The King welcomed them as one of his generals whispered to him, "the wizard is here and in the princess's chamber"

The princess was at this point totally mad while ten soldiers were positioned at her door to hinder her from breaking free from the palace. The wizard was seated inside the princess's chamber while the Queen who sent for him stood in tears. She couldn't believe what she just heard. "Are you saying that my daughter is destined to marry a mad man? The Queen cried.

" yes. And if you love your daughter you must sneak her out of this palace now. Her madness will not last. It will kill her if she is not united with her husband" revealed the wizard.

"But nobody knows where the husband is" cried the Queen.

"He is already here in the palace. I feel his presence and so does your daughter. Your daughter and her destined mad husband can stop being mad only if they get married. But I fear for our lands for the Prince of Ikotu might start a war because of this development. Save your daughter's life" finalised the wizard as he stood to go. The Queen held him and knelt before him

, "I can't do this alone. Help me" she cried.

The wizard decided to help her.

One of the soldiers from Ikotu who had been eavesdropping on the conversation between the Queen and the wizard ran back to the banquet hall where the King of Bami was welcoming the King of Ikotu and his people and stooping beside the impatient Prince explained what he just heard. The prince was totally angered as he ordered his soldiers to go to the gates and make sure that the wizard with the Queen of Bami didn't get to the mad man with the princess before them. The soldiers all made straight to the gates of Bami. The King of Bami was confused as he stood and asked the prince of Ikotu, "what is going on?"

"Your wife and your palace wizard has conspired with a mad man to take my food away from me!!!" Shouted the Prince.

"What food?" Asked the King of Bami.

"Your daughter" the prince said and his father, the king of Ikotu began to understand what his son was driving at.

As the Queen of Bami, the Wizard and the mad princess made their way out of the princess's chamber and to the gates where the wizard's magical power was directing him, the Ikotu soldiers from the banquet hall were also making their way to the gates

The mad man's eyes were still closed where he was tied up on a wood when the Wizard, the Queen and the Princess of Bami reached the gates. The Queen immediately commanded the guards to untie the mad man at once while the wizard beckoned on two horses.

"But my Queen, the prince of Ikotu commanded us to...

Before the soldier could finish, the Queen had given him a dirty slap across the face. " how dare you? Who do you serve here? Me or the Prince from Ikotu? Untie the mad man at once!!!" Shouted the Queen.

The guards untied the mad man and they mounted on the two horses. With the Queen and her daughter on one horse and the mad man and the wizard on the other horse. The Ikotu soldiers from the banquet hall were fast approaching the gate. The leader of the soldiers screamed, alerting the guards at the gates to stop the horses from leaving the compound but it was late. The horses had been fortified by the wizard and they ran very fast. They escaped from the compound. The Ikotu soldiers mounted their horses and pursued them.

Inside the banquet, the Prince of Ikotu was restless.

As the wizard rode the dusty road with the Queen, the mad man and the princess he looked back and knew that sooner or later the Ikotu soldiers will catch up with them. He used his magic to raise the dusts on the road and blinded the eyes of the horses the Ikotu soldiers were riding. Their horses began to fall heavily on the ground. The soldiers screamed while most of them broke their bones.

The wizard, the Queen, the princess and the unconscious mad man rode away.

Back to the banquet hall, the prince of Ikotu stood and received the sad news from one of his soldiers.

"My lord, they escaped" revealed the soldier. The prince chuckled wickedly before cutting the soldier to the ground in anger with his sword. His father stood up immediately and challenged him. "Hold your peace my son. The Princess of Bami is not the only princess on earth. Many princesses from great kingdoms die to be your wife. Let's go home"

The Prince turned and said, "father. This is an insult to our family" he turned to the King of Bami and said, "this calls for war"

"How dare you threaten me with war in my own kingdom" the King of Bami said angrily. The king of Ikotu watched as his son walked closely to the king of Bami and facing him he said, "you don't have a son King of Ikotu. What happens after you are dead? I have younger male and female siblings. You only have a daughter. Who will succeed you after I kill you?"

This statement made the King of Bami mad with anger as he declared for war. The Prince walked out of the banquet hall and mounted on his horse as he rode away from the palace with Ikotu soldiers loyal to him.

"Oh my son has gone mad" cried the king of Ikotu.

****

Across the mountains, the Wizard, the Queen, the mad man and the Princess landed on a dry land and the Queen realised that her daughter was now dying.

"Help her. Do something" cried the Queen.

The Wizard smiled and said to the shock of the Queen ,"you didn't believe I have my reasons for all of this? Your daughter is not destined to marry any mad man. I made both of them mad knowing fully well that you will send for me. It was a perfect timing when the prince of Ikotu was preparing to come for your daughter's hand in marriage. It was all my handwork. Very soon the prince of Ikotu will start a war and your husband will be dead. When this happens you will become mine"

The Queen couldn't believe her ears.