INTRO: THE GODS ARE YET TO BE BLAMED

This is a traditional themed novel, studded with African culture and tradition.

This is a story of a man, once a royal, now a mere chief, who is obsessed with taking back his ibgeritance- even when the gods have spoken against it!

AN EXCERPT FROM THE BEST TRADITIONAL THEMED BOOK BY KINGwax Oluwdamilare:

THE GODS ARE YET TO BE BLAMED!!!

PROLOGUE

... tonight, before the moon is swallowed by the cloud, the King and I, must know our fate.” Ajigi, Kuje’s father.

************

The night was very dark- dead without sound and movements except the crickets that chirp through the darkness into the silence and the fireflies that glow around the tall grasses. The moon has refused to show and the stars hid deep within the dark weird clouds. Everything was inexplicably unusual.

There was a hut, alone and isolated as expected by the policy of the Kingdom of Lisa- the Chief Priest’s abode must lie far away at the outskirts of the Kingdom. It is believed that any evil that is determined to visit the Kingdom must first meet with the Priest, who, by the powers conferred on him by the gods, will conquer them.

A thick white smoke crawls painfully out of the small window opening of the mud house, and the room flickers as the wind forces the fire on the oil lamp to dance to its tune. Ajigi, the Chief Priest of Lisa Kingdom lay carefully on a straw mat that was spread beside the fire that scratches the bottom of a clay pot placed atop it. Inside the pot were many herbs boiling what passed as a concoction of medicine. Kuje, the son of the sick Chief Priest removed the lid off the pot to check if the medicine was ready. 

  

“How is it?” Ajigi asked in a distant voice; a voice that seemed it was vaporizing and coming from the great beyond. 

“Just a few minutes, Baba; your medicine will be ready. This medicine will surely…”

“Surely do what?” Ajigi cuts in and coughs dryly. “You are just being stubborn, my son. I already told you what the gods wanted, and there is no going back even if we try. You cannot upset the balance.”

“But, we can try, Baba. The gods might change their mind.”

Ajigi, the sick, dying Chief Priest couldn’t hide his laughter at the foolishness of his son. He delivered it fine, admits coughing and wheezing, all in a huskiness.

“Relax, Baba.” Kuje helped his father lay his head back on the pillow made by bundling various clothes together.

“A man who draws back mucus into the nose only deceives himself; because when the time comes, the mucus will come back as phlegm. No matter how you try to save me, no matter how many ways you take, there will only be one result.” Ajigi said. “Where is the King?” He asked. His voice wedged to hang between the dead and the living.

“He is still in the consulting room, Baba.”

“You need to deliver the message to him…now.”

“But Baba, this message is too heavy for me. Maybe that is why the gods gave you the message themselves.” He said and looked away.

“Then, you must learn to be prudent in delivering life-threatening messages if it needed be. If one is sent a message as slave, one must learn to deliver as a freeman. The gods themselves visited this morning, and you must deliver this message to the King himself.”

Kuje sank on the floor, his arms on his knees as he pondered on how well to deliver such a message.

“But, Baba…” He wanted to start, but the Chief Priest cuts in,

“Go…now. It is running late. Tonight, before the moon is swallowed by the cloud, the King and I must know our fate.”

Kuje hesitated for a minute. He looked at his dying father who appeared to be sleeping without any concern. He stared him for a moment until his father’s cough reminded him of the message he has to deliver. He prepared himself to meet the King in the consulting room.

CHAPTER 1

“The words of the gods are madness, but only the wise understands them.” …Kuje.

                   *********************

 “Are you sure of this message or you will like to go back and ask your father again? I am sure the gods are not crazy. They purposeful chose my family to rule over this Kingdom!” King Balala whispered as Kuje delivered the message of the gods. “What you are asking is not only impossible, it is equally insane. I hope you know that?” The King said to the young man, Kuje, who sat on a big log of wood as a seat.

“We are not asking you to do anything; the gods are the ones who have directed you…”

“Then your gods are wrong on this one,” the King interjected with his deep, intimidating voice.

“The words of the gods are madness, but only the wise understands them.” Kuje replied the King. He continued, “I hope you will listen so that your child may succeed you as the King. Remember, what an elder sees while seated, a child cannot see even if he stands.”

“Well, not if the elder is a midget, and the child is a giant!” He countered. “You see, Kuje,” the King moved closer and whispered, “Have you considered that your father’s sickness may have affected what he actually heard from the gods?”

“My father is not sick, my King…”

Ajigi coughed loudly from inside the room and wheezed- his throat appeared to be blocked. Kuje threw a glanced at the King who looked away in contempt- He was vindicated. 

“King Balala,” Kuje called his name like a true Priest, “the gods do not whisper! My father heard them loud and as clear as the spring water.”

“Then what else did the gods say? Tell me, and I will prove to you that your father’s hearing is already impaired. Probably… maybe slightly, by the strange sickness that suddenly befell him.” The King said, enraged.

“Well, if you must know, the gods also said that I, Kuje, the first and only son of Ajigi, the Chief Priest of Lisa Kingdom, will be pronounced the Chief Priest after the death of my father!”

There was silence, a total one. Even the chirping of the crickets was swallowed by the silence. The King stood up quietly, his eyes fixed on Kuje. Kuje slammed the butt of his staff on the floor, and the charms tied on the staff make a resounding clang. 

“You are indeed mad!” The King finally said. “Now, I Know, that your father’s hearing has been affected by the sickness. It is indeed true that if a man takes too much of his time while defecating, the wrong flies shall meet him there! Your father’s sickness has been around for too long, I believe that other small sickness has started visiting him. He now hears the voices of the dead. I suggest you ease his passage into the great beyond before he does more damage.” 

Kuje shook his head and laughed.  

“How, how can the gods say that you will become the Chief Priest after your father when we all know, that by culture, tradition and rules laid down by the gods themselves, the Chief Priest will be chosen from the second family of Priesthood? In case it passed you by, and you didn’t have the time to grasp it, please open your ears and understand that, Alakija, the son of Akilapa will become the Chief Priest and not you! That is the tradition.”

“And since when did you become the voice of the gods, King Balala?” Kuje asked with all seriousness. “You are even worried about how the gods will work their mystery. I do not have to argue with the gods. I ask you to do the same.” Kuje replied him calmly.

The King looked at him with hatred and contempt before he hissed and stormed out to be swallowed by the darkness!

************************

Ajigi opened his eyes suddenly as the King stormed out. He shook his head and smiled.

“Whom the gods will kill, they first make mad.”

***********

...that same night

Iya Abiye, the Kingdom’s midwife who has successfully helped deliver almost sixty babies in Lisa Kingdom suddenly woke from her deep sleep. She was sweating and scared right on the spot. The frogs croak loudly into the air like they were rehearsing some kind of strange music. She placed her hand on her chest to catch her breath- she panted like rat pursued by a cat.

Slowly, she arose from her mat and grabbed the oil lamp beside her.  She walked slowly into one of the rooms to check on her patients whose time of delivery was near. She checked the two of them, and found out that they were both sleeping, sound and fine- in separate rooms. In her old frail self, she was glad, but nevertheless, still scared of what the gods has requested of her as they visited her in her dreams. She whispered to herself;

“I should see the Chief Priest and tell him this confusing dream. How can I invite the wrath of the Kingdom upon myself? This is an abomination! My enemies might have projected into my dream and hoped that I will misbehave. This message is not from the gods. It is impossible for the gods to ask me to do this. How do I know that this dream was truly from the gods and not a lie from …?”

Before she could finish her statement, there was a light breeze despite the tight walls around her, and the fire from her lamp started to dance frantically to the strange music of the strange wind. It danced, and danced, uncontrollably, until it died- abruptly! There was total darkness and total silence. Even the frogs, stopped rehearsing their strange music, as they buried their heads into the swamp. Her breathing was heavy and loud- she could hear her heart beat. Then suddenly, the light came on by itself with a whoosh sound.

Iya Abiye quickly went on her knees after the sign from the gods, “I will do as you wish”, she said, “I will do as you wish; please forgive me.” She whispered and there was darkness again!

THIS IS JUST EXCERPT- CHAPTER ONE!!!

THIS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN STORES, SOON. PLS, YOUR SUPPORT WILL BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED.