CAUSE OF THE RIVALRY

The throne of Afugiri by traditions moves within the royal family for generations. It’s a sacred tradition that the King’s (Eze) first son would be heir to the throne and the throne moves to his brother’s family if by any means the Eze (King) doesn’t have a male heir.

Therefore Eze (kings) kept marrying until they marry a woman that’ll give them a male heir because they want the kingship to remain in their family as it has been for generations.

But Eze Nwadinobi couldn’t get a male child, he has 20 daughters already with 7 wives and he was already getting old.

But the oracle told him that he’ll have a son with one of his 7 wives if he is patient.

But as he got older and the hope of being able to father a child gets slimmer he started getting impatient especially when he sees how Emeka the son of his younger brother who may inherit the throne is behaving. He feared for his people.

So his best friend Mazi Kalu promised him that he’ll have a son if he follows his plans for him.

Mazi Kalu whispered to his ear that he should adopt a son and declare him as his biological son but at first, he declined because it will mean dishonesty in his dealings but because some elders in the council are gunning for him to cede the throne to his younger brother’s son which is the tradition; when a king doesn’t now have a son to sit on the throne, the first son of his closest brother will become heir to the throne. But the problem is, his brother’s son Emeka who should be the heir to the throne if he ends up without a male child, is known to be ruthless.

Emeka is the only son of his father and so he wasn’t properly disciplined so he became rude and ruthless because of the enormous power he has been over the royal family.

Eze Nwadinobi has observed Emeka for years and saw that he has no sympathy for the people under him and no respect for him as his uncle and Eze (King). He wondered at the fate of the Afugiri people should he cede the throne to him. So he decided to follow through with the plan his best friend Mazi Kalu gave him.

Mazi Kalu has impregnated a lady called Ujunwa and confirmed that the child she was carrying was a boy, so he asked the Eze to marry this Ujunwa in the presence of the people, that when she gives birth to a boy, that boy can pass as his son without anyone knowing but for the three of them.

That would be a secret between Mazi Kalu, Lolo Ujunwa, and Eze Nwadinobi.

The King adopted the plan and married Ujunwa, when she gave birth, it was a boy called Arinze and the kingdom rejoiced. 

They threw a wild party for 4 market days; Eke, Orie, Afor, and Nkwo.

Ujunwa became the celebrated queen of the land and other senior wives started holding her in high esteem because she has a male son for the Eze but one of the wives called Ada suspected foul play but she held her peace as she decided to carry out her investigations discreetly.

After few years, one of the Eze (King’s) earlier wives became actually pregnant for the king and gave birth to a son called Obinna according to the old prophesy from the oracle that one of the wives of the king will birth him a true heir.

Before then, the son of Ujunwa called Arinze has been paraded and celebrated as the heir to the throne and some of the elders who are called the Onowus (kingmakers) have commenced training Arinze in the ways of the people and in the behaviors of a king should the Eze (king) goes to be with his ancestors, so that he would be prepared.

Ada has discovered that Arinze shared the same birthmark with Mazi Kalu but that wasn’t enough for her to prove that he isn’t the true son of their husband the Eze. The birthmark on Arinze is a common birthmark in the family of Mazi Kalu. 

Ada continued to secretly investigate Ujunwa and her son Arinze if her child was truly the child of the Eze.

The Eze too has been worried about Arinze been his true heir because of the Oracle whose prophesy has come to pass that he’ll have an heir but he doesn’t know how to go about the lie he lied to his people that Arinze is his true heir.

Lolo Ujunwa was already scared, the truth about her son might be revealed so he confided with the Eze and Mazi Kalu and the Eze assured them that Arinze will be his heir; the truth won’t come out from him.

Ada tiptoed to the window when they were having this discussion, and so she was determined to fight against someone who isn’t the real son of her husband to inherit the throne; she believed that the Eze only made that promise to retain Arinze as the heir because he has been entrapped by the words of his mouth and not because he really wants that to be the situation.

So he went to the Eze and told him that she knows about what transpired between him, Mazi Kalu, and Lolo Ujunwa the newest wife, and told him that it was ok for him to go against the words of secrecy because he did that when he was cornered by the happens around him and the pressures of not having a male heir to his throne.

 She then asks the Eze ‘what if Mazi Kalu was plotting to inherit the throne at his death through his son Arinze.’ That was when she got Eze’s attention as he nods in affirmation.

That when he dies Arinze is enthroned, and then Arinze’s real father comes laying claim on Arinze as his son, then the throne you want to protect for the royal family will automatically move to his family. 

‘It’s even better Emeka your nephew sits on the throne than Arinze my lord’, she added

She then told the Eze (King) to reveal the truth so that his true son can be the heir of his throne so that the preparation to the throne which is usually done by the Onowus would commence on him and cease on Arinze.

The Eze (King) couldn’t be more confused. Presenting Arinze as his true heir would reveal his earlier deceit, and it would mean betraying his friend Mazi Kalu who was only trying to help him retain his throne.

The King decided to send Arinze away to the city and when he was gone, he decided to bring forward Obinna as his new heir. At least he couldn’t look at the boy he once called his son and heir, and now say to him, ‘you are no longer my son and heir, I had lied.’

He confessed the truth of what transpired to his elders in council and they forgave him but he couldn’t stand to tell Arinze the truth face to face because he loved the boy.

While in the city schooling, Arinze still held it in mind that he is the heir to the throne of Afugiri but sadly, when he returned from the city, he discovered his father has been long dead and his supposed younger brother Obinna has been enthroned so he got so enraged.

At first, he thought Obinna usurped his position and authority while he wasn’t around but later he was shocked by what he found out.

When begin inquiring while he wasn’t told when the Eze (King) died, they told him that it was because he wasn’t the legitimate child of the King, that Mazi Kalu, the late King (Eze) best friend is his father.

He couldn’t take it, he said, ‘as long as the King told him that he’ll be the king of Afugiri and didn’t tell him otherwise, that he’ll fight for the throne.’

That was how the rivalry for the throne started between him and Obinna.

He is now very wealthy and he started campaigning against Obinna and the need for a change from the traditional style of kingship to a modern elective style.

Arinze cannot claim the throne as long as Obinna is alive, his campaign wasn’t working because Afugiri people respect their age-long traditions of kingship so he was determined to kill Obinna and take over the throne but he has to do it discreetly so that no one knows that he was involved since he has publicly declared himself as an enemy to the Eze.

What came to his mind was to pay a powerful wizard to cast a curse on Eze Obinna so that he can die as though of natural cause. 

The wizard who was dressed in red, with a staff that has on it the skull of a monkey would appear suddenly in the Eze’s (king) palace and cast the spell on him and then disappeared in the thin air; this spell was meant to kill the Eze (King) in the next 30 days.

Obinna the Eze became feverish, his legs began to swell, and he was in intense pains and lost the strength even to talk. Each hour, he loses a bit of his consciousness as he remembers those around him less and less.

He couldn’t even explain what happened to him.

After all, elders came to see him, they invited the Oracle of Afugiri, a man known to be powerful in matters of the spirit. This Oracle is also committed to protecting the royal family.

The Oracle was dressed in a Leopard skin, laden with cowries and he had a palm front in his mouth. With some bones and cowries on cow skin, he was able to commune with the spirits and after he communed with the spirits by reading the signs on the cow skin he had spread on the ground and pours the cowries and bones on, he was able to sense the curse and the solutions.

He told the elders that the Eze will need to be administered with the Magic bean if he is to live and they have only 30 days to get the bean before the Eze fades into the spirit world.

When the elders inquired about where to get the bean from, he told them the beans can only be found in the forbidden forest and only the bravest of warriors can go and bring this magic bean.

The elders shook their heads in disbelief because they have hope never to have anything to do with the forest that has existed only in their folklores till now. 

Warriors have to be summoned immediately from the 11 clans in Afugiri, the bravest and then they’ll be coached and sent to fetch these magic beans.

When the Elders were done, the Oracle came and fortified them with spiritual powers and gave them some instructions and elements to us when confronted with certain kinds of creatures, mermaids, and evil spirits and warned them on the ‘Dos and Don’ts’ of certain lands they’ll be crossing on their way to the forbidden forest.

Right now, they are now ready to go.

 As the rest of the villages escorted them to the borders where humans don’t venture into, you’ll begin to hear the cries of mothers, wives, and children of some of these warriors because they know that not all of them would return.