Chapter Six

A week after the welcome ceremony of the princes and the princesses. They began the painting of the palace walls and buildings for the imminent annual festival. There was going to be a meeting among kings of the kingdoms which Niyeye was in alliance with. The reason for the meeting was to discuss the festival activities and things that would be needed to come together to made the day an extraordinary one. It was common among all the kingdoms in coming together if they eventually had their festivals. It had become a custom, convening a meeting before any festival that was going to take place among the kingdoms in an alliance. The kingdoms contributed a lot to another in terms of an invitation of other kings, bringing of more contestants for the contests, donating of cowries, ivories, etc. The King that were present were the kings of Putu, Deore, Jojoyo, Tenga and Baebo.

The King of Putu was a very young king who just accessed the throne and one of the youngest king in the west. Putu was bordered at the east of Niyeye. They had one of the largest frontier Garrison in the west. The alliance among her and Niyeye was recently formed in other to stimulate inter-kingdom relationship. Before the current king, Putu and Niyeye were bitter rivals. They had gone to war on several occasions in which both parties suffered numerous damages and enormous casualties. One of the recent war before the accession of the current king was the war fought on the battlefield named Neni, popularly referred to as the "fourth battle of Neni". The war lasted for about a month. Both parties amassed reinforcement from different kingdoms and myriad of citizens were also recruited into their respective army. Niyeye army wasn't as much as those of Putu during the war but Niyeye with their genius army leaders made sure they never lost as the war ended in a tie, both parties retreated. Niyeye later retreated and reinforced to all their borders. The three children of King of Niyeye, Muhu, Yon and Dejoe played a crucial role in securing the lives and properties of their father's kingdom. If they had lost the war as predicted by many especially scholars and experts, they would have lost a lot of their vassal states, and many would have been taken as captives of war. Muhu with his archery ability laid an ambush when their spies made it known to them that they should be expecting an unplanned assault from the Putu minor army. Dejoe who was the assistant army general of Niyeye and Yon who was also a great fighter was among the generals that led the war. The King of Niyeye didn't sit back and they all left the Queen in dismay. Even though the Putu army was two times more than the Niyeye's, the war still ended in a stalemate. But since after the death of the last king. The new king had called for peace to protect the lives and properties of their citizens and command peaceful trading with the Kenne market. The King of Putu was given a grand welcome by the maids at his arrival to the palace. He was glad to have secured such a great feat by constituting alliances with Niyeye. He knew together they could put an end to the ascendancy of Kohoe the greatest Kingdom in terms of army and warfare in general. Kohoe armour and shield were called by many as "god-given" because many kingdoms were still after the emulation of their genius blacksmith. No kingdom had ever defeated Kohoe till present, either those kingdoms retreated or suffered waterloo.

The King of Deore came with the highest number of followers. He was one of the oldest kings in the west. He was tall and agile. He had been in alliance with Niyeye for a very long period. He was one of those kingdoms that gifted Niyeye reinforcement when they were at war with Putu during the reign of the penultimate king. He had a rough face. He rarely laughed. He was called "the death" in his kingdom. He didn't tolerate abnormalities. Most of his ministers feared him and no one dared go against his wish. He was the commander of the army and the army general of his kingdom though, many regions and kingdoms were always left surprised learning of it. It had never happened before that a king would be the army general in his kingdom, it was because he believed only in himself. He killed people like a chicken on the battlefield. The only country he feared was the Kohoe because their army was extraordinary in all areas of warfare and couldn't afford to lose his life like that. Some kingdoms that he was in alliance with did call for his help to lead their army on the battlefield because he was a very much feared. He had a fear factor. He rarely answered their calls. He believed that he was a god and there was a need for him to be worshipped. He had a very long hand, long leg with a thin neck. Very dark in complexion and always seen frowning. He had never changed his sword since he had become king, the sword was a gift from a genius blacksmith to him when he was inaugurated as the king of Deore. Any thief that was captured in his kingdom were immediately killed by him without any questioning. In war, if his army failed to execute a plan or strategy they were immediately killed. That was the case of a particular day, one of his army lieutenants failed to execute a plan when he was laying a siege at the border. He immediately killed the lieutenant. The main reason he respected Niyeye was because of the large profit his kingdom amassed from trading with them. He always came to the rescue of Niyeye if there was any trouble or war against them.

The King of Jojoyo was the first king and the founder of the fated kingdom, Jojoyo. The name of the king of Jojoyo was Liyu. Liyu's father was the king of Jeungo (Now called Jojoyo) when Liyu was born but his father days were cut short by the mutiny of his army men and the treacherous act of the prime minister. Liyu's mother had to rescue Liyu and herself from the palace after he procures freedom miraculously from the cell. He fled out of Jeungo with Liyu and went to a remote kingdom at the Eastern part in a small region called Hane. At the Hane, a revelation was disclosed to his mother that he, Liyu would found a kingdom, avenged the death of his father and the royal crown would be returned to their family because he was sent by God to save the people of Jeungo from the hand of the wicked prime minister who killed his father. The hatred of the prime minister followed Liyu's mother to Hane but the gods were always behind her and her son. When Liyu was growing up the story of his father's death was disclosed to him by his mother. He was given a necklace which his father wore when he was still alive. The spirit of his father was in him. He returned to the Palace of Jeungo and he eventually became one of their army men who gained the trust of the prime minister who was now a king. Unknown to the prime minister that it was the son of the king he killed to access the throne because Liyu was fled away from the Kingdom when he was three months old. The necklace given to Liyu by his mother was always in his pocket. He fights as a gladiator in Jeungo and he won the heart of the people of Jeungo including the prime minister who accessed the throne as a King when he killed one of the greatest gladiators as a young gladiator. The prime minister invited him to the palace when the people were clamouring that he should be made the army general because Jeungo had been suffering back to back assaults from their neighbouring kingdoms. The reign of the prime minister as a king was never a fulfilling one as the wrath of the gods was upon the kingdom of Jeungo. Liyu visited his mother to inform him of everything going on. His mother gave him the last prayer as the words of the gods was about to come to past. His mother was living as an old woman in a cave in Hane. When there was a war between Putu and Jeungo he was given the mandate to lead the highest numbers of army men in the history of Jeungo. Army men both the mounted and the infantry marched. He persuaded and stole the heart of Jeungo army men he led. He prepared large numbers of boat at the sea of Cheu where all the army he was to lead to war were taken to another land. The prime minister who was the king never knew about his plan as they all believed he vanished with all the large army when they couldn't be traced him. Putu entered Jeungo demolished and defeated the kingdom. The prime minister fled as the king but Liyu and his army were already on their way to attack Jeungo. Jeungo suffered two assault in a day. Liyu killed the prime minister but before the prime minister was killed he told him all the story of how his father was killed, he regretted his action. Putu hand over the kingdom to Liyu as they were told by their priestess that the true owner of the kingdom would come for it and it should be handover. The Putu did as told by their priestess and the relationship between Putu and Jojoyo was sealed that day. The words of the gods later came to past and Liyu changed the name of the kingdom from Jeungo to Jojoyo, the name of his father. He named it Jojoyo to honour his father and to fulfilled the words of the gods. He returned to disclose to his mother the good news and he met her death in the cave. Every righteous was fulfilled as the gods never left their own. He was paid homage as a true warrior when he entered the palace of Niyeye for the meeting.

Tenga king whose name was Leemin. A strong king of his people. The throne was moved to his family because of the conduct of the sons of the old man on the throne. Leemin was chosen by the people. The king of Tenga was already old to continue ruling. The heir to the crown hadn't been decided according to the norms but he said his two sons should be in charge for the main time before he announced who to handover power to. But the two sons were ruling the people poorly. They were after all the ladies in the kingdom. Hijacking married women from their husbands. Prostituting and drinking alcohol and palm wine around the kingdom because the power was in their hand. If any case was brought before them they would kill both the innocent and the guilty without question. Leemin was the son of the prime minister and also the army General of Tenga. Due to the conduct of the two sons. The priest was invited after the two sons committed a grave sin; they impregnated about eight ladies altogether. The priest made the final judgement and they were thrown into the prison. The voice of the people was listened to and Leemin was chosen to ascend the throne of Tenga. He ruled the people competently. He also gained the trust of all the ministers. He was assisted by his father in ruling the kingdom. He gave a befitting burial to the last king after his death and the rule people peacefully thereafter. He was also welcome into the palace of Niyeye for the meeting. Songs were being sung at the palace entrance by the maids to welcomed the visitors into the palace.

The King of Baebo was the closest to the King of Niyeye out of all the summoned king, his name was He min yun. The relationship between them was just like brothers. The king of Baebo succeeded his father a decade ago when he was killed on the battlefield fighting the Kohoe. He was actually on the battlefield fighting with his father but he was rescued by his father's guards when he told them to make sure nothing happen to his only son after a poisoned arrow pierced into his heart. He min yun had three sisters. He was the second child of his father out of four children. They had a good family. The death of their father was a blow to them but they put their trust in He min yun as he would lead Baebo back to the glorious days. He was also welcomed into the midst of other kings. All the kingdoms were all in alliances. They even had a union that was still coming up.

At the meeting in the palace hall. The hall was very large that it could contain thousands of population. The hall was designed with some royal colours made by Onna. In the hall was also the flags of the kingdoms in alliances with Niyeye. Their meeting was conducted at the upper side of the hall. The upper side was specially made for people of high positions if any meeting was to be done with the masses in the hall. It was painted brown with the chairs which the people sit on made from wood. The chairs at the upper side of the hall were made of gold. They discussed the festival coming forth, what they had to donate to Niyeye. The kings were happy to be in such a cordial relationship with one another. They also discussed their warfare and how things were going on in one another's kingdom. The King of Deore brought up the topic about Kohoe and need for a spy but other kings downplayed his thought because they knew Kohoe advancement would surely be noticed if truly they want to assault any kingdom. But they also discussed the imminent war with Kohoe because they were unpredictable. After the meeting, each was presented a gift by the Niyeye king in honour of their presence. They acknowledge his generosity, they had a petty talk outside the palace hall and some minutes later they all took their leave.

The King had prepared to go to visit the shore to have some fresh air as he hadn't done so since he regained his health. Some Guards were prepared and some horses also. Some soldiers also followed the king, Yon decided to follow her father since he didn't have anything doing, though he was planning walking through Kenne market and from there to Jangogo workshop. She was about to leave for Kenne market when she heard of the king stroll. Along the road, the king was attacked by bandit but Yon stood on the ground to make sure that nothing happens to the king. At the shore, she made sure the security were alert and she stands beside her father she couldn't afford to lose him just like that. Some of the bandits were arrested by her. When it was twilight they returned to the palace. The captive was sent to the prison.

Remaining a week to the festival the arriving and departure of things were visible all over the places. The Queen was busy preparing with the maids. Onna was busy making different designs for the Queen and the king also for his brothers and sister. She knew Yon wouldn't wear her own because she didn't like them. Yon did dress like a man. Dejoe was discussing with the prime minister in the chamber. Muhu was in the library reading. The king entered his room and Yon depart to the market.