CHAPTER ONE (KUGAMA KINGDOM)

"We only need to perform a small ritual and we are certain that the gods of your ancestors will give you a solution." Said Kadu to the king.

The spirit whisperers made preparations for the ritual. Palm oil was poured on the walls of the cave and they all gathered around.

Slowly the Izagi started humming, each of them chipping in a tone and soon it turned to a piece of loud and yet beautiful music.

Music without words but one that held spirituality and strange rhythms in them.

Suddenly a butterfly flew into the cave, It was a butterfly whose wings were larger than most butterflies the king had seen before and it also had such incredibly beautiful patterns on its wings.

The butterfly landed on the small rock in the middle of the cave then a huge gust of smoke erupted from the rock making the whole cave stuffy and hard to see.

When the smoke cleared away, the king saw that the butterfly had transformed into Queen Izala, King Bajju's late mother, his late father King Jaja the Fifth's dear wife.

"Mother." The king gasped in surprise and with a bit of fear.

His mother, the Queen was the first woman to ever go to war for her people and the first woman to become king.

She was born into a family of warriors and the only daughter among the seven sons of her father.

When she grew older, she pleaded with her father Doja the greatest warrior of all time to be just like her brothers, a warrior, and be allowed to train with them but he kept refusing her, rather he insisted she go to her mother and learn how to be a woman and a wife.

Izala secretly trained by herself whenever she had free time and managed to learn a lot in no time. Her timid face became fierce and her tender body became tougher even though it still looked tender on the outside.

In one of her secret training, she was caught by a handsome young man. While looking at her with a smile on his face, his legs got caught in a twig.

"Yesh, yesh, ouch." He screamed continuously and Izala heard his scream, She turned sharply in that direction and saw him.

The young man looked up after he managed to free himself and didn't see Izala again which was surprising to him.

"She was just there a while ago." He wispered looking around, confusingly.

"Ahhhhh." He screamed and his eyes opened widely when he suddenly saw the sharp tip of a spear move swiftly before his eyes and straight to his neck.

His heart started beating fast as Izala came in front of him.

"How dare you spy on me?" Izala asked staring fiercely at him and she held the spear so close to his neck that if he moved an inch, it would slit his throat.

Being so close to her, the young man finally saw how beautiful she was. How strong she looked and the charismatic posture she had when she moved.

Her stamina and the way she held the spear were firm and not slacking at all, he smiled.

"I wasn't spying."

"Stop lying or else I will kill you." Izala thundered at him.

The young man smiled again and moved his head to take a closer look at Izala, his neck pressed on the spear and it pierced him but he didn't seem to mind that.

"What are you doing smiling while a spear cuts your throat," Izala yelled at him shocked by what he did, perhaps he could be a madman, she thought to herself.

"I saw a beautiful woman, she is unlike any woman I have ever seen in my life. She is strong, like a warrior, I was so impressed that I watched her in secret afraid to face her and get murdered by her beauty." He even spoke like a crazy man.

"Don't dare admire me or have interest in me because I will not allow any man to marry me and ruin my chance of becoming a warrior." She spoke to the young man angrily making sure her voice sounded threatening.

But even as she spoke in anger, all the young man did was watch her with admiration and love.

After a while of silence, Izala saw his blood drop on her spear and she quickly moved the spear away. Then she walked away without saying another word to him, he stood staring at her with a smile on his face as she walked farther and farther away.

The young man kept showing his interest in her and wouldn't stop bugging her. He hoped for a relationship to form between them but she wouldn't allow it.

She changed her training hideout five times and still, he always found her.

One day after coming back from getting her hair done because her mother suddenly asked her to, she saw her father discussing with some elders about someone's marriage proposal.

"It can't possibly be my marriage proposal," Izala said to herself even though she knew that she was the only girl in the family.

When she went in with the refreshments her mother asked her to take to them, she saw the same man she rejected so many times sitting with a smile on his face in her house.

She was later told by her father that the young man was the crowned prince of Kugama kingdom, her future king and he has come to ask for her hand in marriage.

"I do not agree to this, father," Izala said bluntly after her father told her of the crowned prince's intention.

Her father smiled falsely at the elders and the crown prince and then to his daughter, Still hiding his anger he said.

"Izala, come with me now."

They went into one of the rooms and her father shut the door after them in a violent way.

Before saying anything, he landed a tight slap on Izala's face.

It was sudden but she didn't show any pain or cry out, this surprised her father but in his anger, he didn't think about that, he just went ahead beating her.

Her mother ran in pleading with her husband and holding onto his legs but he pushed her away from him.

He cursed at Izala who was unmoved despite her father's strong hands hitting her body continuously.

"Stop." A voice said authoritatively, They all turned in the direction of the voice, and at the door, they saw the crowned prince.

He was furious seeing the woman he wanted to marry and his queen beaten up like a slave by her father.