We were only allowed to admire them from afar,
Great men of valour,
Strong men of substance,
Young warriors of Ichaka dynasty.
It seemed they were chosen for this daunting role,
Because they were uniquely endowed,
Both in character and looks,
Versed in knowledge and impeccable in wisdom.
Emenike was the chief warrior,
I don’t really know of other qualities,
But his looks made him outstanding among all of them,
Tall and muscular,
Creamy dark colour accentuated with deep brown eyes and a pointed noise.
I have always admired him even while I was still a teenager,
Wondering who will be his lucky queen.
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He remained ever young,
One will think he is in his early twenties,
But he is actually in his early thirties,
Because he was made a warrior at twenty.
In two Afor market days,
The kingdom will reward them with a bride.
Their brides are always the most beautiful in the village,
Succulent and ripe for marriage.
The game goes like this:
The warriors are fourteen in number,
Fourteen beautiful brides with reputable background are chosen from the village,
And they will dance to the tune of “Osankwa”
The beating of love and bonding,
Under the watchful eyes of the spectators and “Prospective warrior husbands”.
I was not distinctively endowed,
Though I was “ripe and succulent for marriage”,
But I wasn’t selected,
We were only allowed to lead out the beautiful selected ones,
Cheering them as they wring their curvy waist to the sweet melody of the “Osankwa”,
And to the magical gaze of the warriors,
Wondering who to choose among the ladies,
Starting from the Chief Warrior; then the second in command and the rest follows.
The day finally arrived,
It is always memorable,
Because prominent men from other neighbouring villages are always invited,
To witness the event,
The fourteen strongest warriors of Ichaka dynasty are picking their bride,
It is not an occasion anybody would want to miss for anything.
As we led out the beautiful ladies,
Three of us, groomed to attend to them before and during the occasion.
The drum started,
The ladies were good dancers,
So it was hard to choose anyways.
It is not a game of loss after all.
Because every lady is assured of a warrior to her self,
But the luckiest person is the one chosen by the
chief warrior,
Everybody knows why.
As the drummers intensified their beating,
The dance arena become hot,
The ladies are not taking chances either,
They sway their hips from side to side,
Emenike the chief warrior whispered to his next in command pointing to a particular direction,
We all anticipated that,
Oluoma is the most beautiful and the best dancer as well,
She is really the bride of the occasion.
Emenike signal to the drummers to stop,
He stood up amidst cheering from the crowd,
Emenike is loved by the people, no doubt.
He advance towards the dance arena in his graceful gait while Oluoma shyly covered her face,
Everybody knew he was coming for her,
But what he did shocked everybody including myself.
He stopped in front of me.
“Ola! he whispered.
“Aa…h”, I answered, stupidly.
My heart reverberated.
“How did he know my name? I asked myself.
“I have always wanted it to be you”, he said.
He hold my hands and walk out of the dance arena amidst jubilation from the crowd.
Oluoma broke down in tears and ran out from the arena.
I felt so bad, but deep down I was so happy that my dream man is finally here with me in reality.
I could see Nne from the crowd,
Her tired eyes beaming with pride and happiness.
It is a new life for us, henceforth.
My warrior groom held me tightly to himself as he signal for the occasion to begin.
It was raining congratulations for us.
I quietly look at my husband, wondering if I was dreaming or not.
His eyes met mine and he laughed.
He knew that he has many questions to answer, because I have many to ask.
The gods of our land has truly favoured me,
I was not selected for the warriors,
I was among those chosen for maidly duties,
But my missing rib found me right there,
And he is the CHIEF WARRIOR.
