"The riches of the gentiles shall be yours."
(Written).
(Edited).
•...•
The female had woken up to the dripping of leaking water into the calabash. The heavy rain that fell last night had made her clay-molded, bamboo-erected hut cold to the touch. She got up from her bed and made her way out of her sleeping chamber, wanting to take a nice bath in her bathtub, that had been installed by the whites. Oh yes! The whites... At the border of her clan, spanned a water of a large mass, about three hundred feet away.
After the water was an island no one had been to, apart from her. Well, that is where the whites now stay. They've been useful, even though they looked brainless as a white fowl. But she was wrong, and now she knows not to judge soone from their looks alone.
The old ruler of the Kingdom had been a fool, bringing in the oyibo's to live with the natives of the clans, not caring about how they would feel living with foreigners. She mused in her mind, her eyes narrowing, and lips quirking upwards in pride.
She entered her bathroom and busied herself in her tub. The water-cistern toilet and bathtub looked glass-like and smooth at the surface, almost a jewel. They had connected it by digging a very deep pit into the ground, and they cented and also cast it before it was covered with a stone slab to prevent the stench from oozing out. The bathtub and "WC", as they had called it, were connected underground by a pipe, which led to the pit so that all the wastes would flush down there.
The whites also brought along sothing called a "GP tank" whose pipes were connected to the other side of the Kingdom, at sea ends, beyond the pine forest.
They said it would be easier for water usage, rather than fetching. Thinking about her not being able to fetch water or wasting soone else's strength to do so made her happy, as she would avoid queuing up just to bathe in a shabby erected wooden four-cornered space. Now, energy spent fetching water from streams would benefit her, as the ti is taken up by a steam-powered engine generator that would draw the water through the pipes, channeling it to the GP tank.
Their inventions are... brilliant she must say.
Speaking of other things, the whites had brought along more "shipnts" of equipnt. They had made her a tool tagged "bow and arrow". The people explained that all she had to do was to "nock" the arrow using the bow, that had been crafted with a strong wooden stick, maybe from a tree called mahogany or so.
The bow was C-curved and sothing resembling a string was tied vertically, in the middle. The only thing was that it operated like a catapult, and it made her think it was easy. Oh gods was she wrong. To nock the spear-like arrow was sure enough problem, talk less of keeping her hands steady. Her arms had hurt from all the training, and the female frowned when she rembered the feeling.
Also, they had brought an inverted L-shaped item called a "gun". They and their weird nas.
They told her the construct of the gun, as it has a small hole at the tip nad "muzzle" and a compartnt casing they had labeled "magazine". The small space inside it (the magazine) is where all the "bullets" are loaded, and when they are all shot out through the "barrel", one would have to refill it with a new set of "gun-powdered bullets". It was confusing for her to morize and rember, but it was in dire need.
The instrunt isn't shared amongst the clans' though, as it was only given to the n she trusted. Yes, she was supposed to allocate these items to other clans, but she felt that it would cause fights to break out here and there, which was sothing she would want to avoid. She still didn't know the aims of the whites, but she knew that it was sothing that would benefit themselves only.
She rembered that she had once chanced upon snippets of conversation of the whites between themselves, but only heard sothing concerning ‘— die... Colonization... Female... War’, but she had shrugged it off as nothing. She thought that maybe they had a hint of what she was going to use these warfare materials to do, so she didn't put her mind to it.
Ever since she ca into power, the people felt a change in the air... It was almost palpable. They saw her as soone who stepped forward to help them, even after all they had done to her. They saw her as a savior; a savior taking them to redemption. Their redemption... through destruction.
The question now is, whose destruction? Theirs or hers?
She snickered at that thought.
“Is sothing the problem, your Highness?” Her guards asked.
Ah! She had forgotten that she had long gone and stepped out of her house, taking a stroll through a bush path. Although she didn't want them to co along with her, they had said that it was for her image.
‘How would the people feel if they see you walking all by yourself? A sense of insecurity would befall them, and seeing as their Leader is without guards, your image would be soiled. They would feel that you are not taking their security seriously,’ They had said.
Bah! The gods along with their image!! She cared not about her image, and as much as it hurt her to say, she had to do it.
She replied with a snarky tone, “No, there's nothing wrong. I'm very happy talking a walk with my guards”.
They noticed the venom in her last words, so they wisely shut up. Two males flanked her sides, waking at a pace behind her. She morized the scenery before her, wanting to take in every single detail there so that she could co here again whenever she wanted to clear her head. It's a beautiful place to walk, well, that's if you forget about the wild animals roaming the forest.
Her mind flashed back to mories locked deep inside her mind, and she marveled at how fast she had grown up, both ntally and emotionally. She was proud of herself, to say the least.
They reached the outskirts of the small town in her territory, and crossed it while looking around, taking note of the way the people went on with their daily activities; of how the won washed their clothes and hung them on a rope that was stretched out and tied at both sides of a wooden stick. The children played happily amongst themselves, joy visibly seen on the faces of the elderly people as they watched them, whilst biting on a chewing stick.
When they crossed the threshold of the small, lively town, everyone stopped to look at them. Realization marred their faces, and they blanched, not knowing what to do.
“Good evening, your Highness,” A woman said as she shook out of her stupor, and the others followed suit.
“Good day, your Highness” ;
“Greetings, your Majesty.”
Several greetings chanted out, and she waved her hands in dismissal as she said, “Please, continue with what you were doing.” She smiled, looking at the children. The children had quickly caught on with what was happening, as they rushed over to her. Her guards hurriedly reached out their hands to their sheathed swords, as they wanted to draw them. She held out her hand, placing it on those of the male who was ready to unsheath the sword, as a sign to stop them.
“Don't,” She had said.
A male wanted to refuse, but a single glare she had given him from the side of her eyes shut him up. She smiled amiably at the young on's as she let them drag her, and that motion almost sent her tumbling to her feet.
“I'm fine,” she rasped out quickly regaining her posture, before they could rush over to her. Under the watchful eyes of both her guards and the people, she played with the kids, who showed her the drawings they had done in school the previous day. She cooed at them, praising them for their hard work and encouraging them to make more for her to see when next she ca.
The sun settled, tainting the sky with a golden-orangish hue. The female, tired of being dragged around like a rag, t with her guards, who were standing in a corner throughout the afternoon, under the scorching sun. She grimaced, and her heart tugged with an emotion of pity when she looked at the thin sheen of perspiration on their tanned or golden bronze skin.
“Shall we?” she asked, wanting nothing more than to go ho and rest. They nodded their head in agreent and paved the way for her — letting her take the lead — as they moved behind her, with their posture taut, waiting to strike at any impending danger.
“How long has it been?”
Soone had answered with a “Roughly three hours, your Highness”. Her mind blanched in shock and disbelief that she had been playing for over three hours or more. She expressed her sincere apologies to them, for not finishing up sooner enough.
They didn't mind though; looking at her smiling happily, they knew it was worth standing under the hot gaze of the sun. It's been a while since she'd smiled — she knew that — and they knew what had happened to make her like that. They trusted her enough to tell her of their problems, and she trusted them too.
They all are family. They are one. Knowing these strong-headed males, they would have done the sa thing for her, as she would for them.
The female sighed in bliss, looking up at the sky that had slowly begun to darken, paving the way for the darkness to show itself. How she wished that today would be like this every day; like every other day. But she knew that tomorrow has much more importance attached to it, so she couldn't slack off.
Tomorrow, was a big day for all her arrangents to be set into motion, and after that, only one shall co out being the conqueror. It had to be her to win this fight, even if it was with her last drop of blood. She whispered, wishing herself the sa words that had drifted past her ears during her stay in the cell.
‘... May the gods be with ’
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