THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

The next morning, Emperor Sasu was in a really bad mood. He did not get enough sleep. He did not get the one thing that relaxes him the most – sex. And he may never get it. He was lying in his bed – thinking. His only option was to ignore his feelings; feelings he could not explain for his new wife and just treat her like the piece of toy she is. The only way to get rid of the feelings is for him to sleep with her immediately. Once he has tasted her sweet apples, he can reject her and treat her like garbage.

He began to think hard. “What should he do so that she can surrender herself to him completely without him feeling bad about it?” He smiled. Maybe he was finally getting the answer when he heard a loud thud; someone was knocking his door. He ignored it but the persistent fellow knocked again and again. He just jumped out of his bed in his birthday suit, opened the door and shouted “what is it?!”

It was an emergency. Something unexpected was going on inside the kitchen and one of the female servants had come to report to the Emperor. Custom demanded that servants kneel before the Emperor when talking to him. You can just imagine how uncomfortable she felt with the Emperor’s manhood dangling in front of her like a pendulum; swinging to and fro. She tried not to look but it was literally in her face.

Empress Ashanti was new to the world of royalty. Prior to her wedding her training had begun but everything happened so fast that she could not complete her training. The day after her wedding, she got up early, entered the kitchen and was determined to prepare her husband’s food. The kitchen staff advised her that this was not an accepted practice but the Empress was too stubborn. She exclaimed “that the love between husband and wife is strengthened if the wife prepares her husband’s food herself with love and devotion. Serving this food made with love is the key to the husband’s heart!” Where did she learn that? Tell that to a 21st century woman and see what happens.

Eventually, the servants in the kitchen could no longer argue with the Tinle (Empress) and called for the big gun – the Emperor himself. Emperor Sasu thought “she will not serve me in bed but fights with servants to prepare my food. What a strange woman.” He dismissed the servant, threw on some clothes and hurried to the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, the misunderstanding had been resolved. Her royal highness, Empress Ashanti realized these women were as stubborn as she was. She therefore agreed to let them cook but only under her supervision, and they agreed. So like a commander barking out instructions on a battle field, the Empress was leading her army to prepare the best breakfast ever.

That was probably the first time the Emperor noticed her for the woman she was; beautiful, confident, hardworking but headstrong. He stood at the entrance the same way he did when he first saw her admiring her. She was stern when she needed to be and gentle when it was necessary. Once in a while she would stir the contents in the pots herself and taste them; nodding if she was satisfied and barking out further instructions if she was not. He wondered if he was half the leader she was.

Lost in his thoughts, he heard a deep voice from behind him calling out “your majesty… your majesty”. Without looking he asked “What is it Okonko?” Okonko answered “some of the guests want to leave.” Still looking and admiring his wife he answered “tell them to wait for a few minutes, breakfast will soon be ready.” “Yes your highness” answered. He left Jaazi Sasu to his new found hobby. Breakfast and later lunch and supper were delicious courtesy Tinle Ashanti and her hardworking kitchen staff. Her first day of being a royal and already she had won over many of the servants in the Imperial Palace. She had brought something raw and beautiful into the palace.

When night came, Jaazi Sasu visited his wife in her bedroom once again. This time, he was not going to use force – he just wanted to talk. “You are looking very beautiful tonight,” commended Emperor Sasu. “Thank you Your Majesty,” answered Ashanti. “Thank you for today; I mean for breakfast, lunch and supper,” added Emperor Sasu. “You are welcome Your Highness but I was only carrying out my duties as your wife,” answered Ashanti.

“Speaking of duties of a wife, do your gods not teach that every woman must satisfy and serve every desire of her husband? So tell me my dear wife, why do you deny me the pleasures of your touch?” asked cleaver Emperor Sasu. He had cornered her. She walked slowly towards him while she answered saying, “you are right my lord. But the gods also demand something from a husband. A husband must with tact and tricks find the little things that make his wife happy and the things that make her sad. And with this knowledge keep her happy all the time. A happy wife makes her husband also happy, my lord.”

Jaazi Sasu listened and when she finished he just stood there. He could not argue with that. He waited for a while but came up with no reply. He sighed and left her alone, again. He had lost the second round of the game of love. First he attacked her physically and lost. Then, he attacked her mentally and lost again. But there is hope. She had just given him clues; clues to winning her heart. At first it was just about using her body as his sex machine and discarding it. But now, he wanted her to fall in love with him. “That would hurt even more” he thought.

The next day, Ashanti woke up early to perform her so called duties of a wife. She came down stairs and found her husband already up. He was busy supervising some work in the palace. When he saw her approaching, he gestured for her to come closer and when she did, received the first gift of love from Jaazi Sasu Basabasa III. She walked past her husband and could not stop admiring his gift.

It was simple gift. He had a small room in his palace. He had no idea what to use that room for. Then it hit him; “the ruhas (gods) and ruhushis (goddesses)!” The Emperor knew exactly how devoted Ashanti was to these man-made dolls and converted that room into a shrine for her. She was stunned; not really knowing what to say or how to thank him. Emperor Sasu asked, “Do you like it?” She turned to answer but ended up throwing her arms around his neck. She hugged him and whispered “thank you very much” softly into his ears. She struggled to hold back her tears. “What a simple girl. Many girls would have preferred something fancy; something only an emperor can procure but she cries with excitement for something this simple.” Emperor Sasu was humbled by her simplicity. Slowly, he was getting to know her and the more he knew, the more he liked.

Later that day, about an hour to noon he invited her for a picnic in a beautiful garden. The new couple; Sasu and Ashanti sat on their beautiful cloth. She served the food in the basket. He asked “tell me where you come from. I want to know everything about you, my wife.” She told him about her sad past and that was the straw that broke the camel’s (Sasu’s) back. He finally understood why he felt a strange connection to her. They have both endured loss but hers was far worse than his. What should he do now? He immediately decided to abandon his mission – his mission to abuse her. He appeared sad and Ashanti noticed it. She asked “are you alright?” He said, “I am sorry. It is just your story is so sad. I had no idea.” She said “Don’t worry. Everything I went through was for me to someday meet you.” Jaazi Sasu looked into her eyes and could have sworn he was looking at a goddess. She was the most beautiful, and, he loved her there and then. He loved only her and wanted to be with only her.

In the evening when the sun had long set they had another picnic. It was supposed to be a candle-light dinner for two at the roof top of the palace but Ashanti decided to move dinner to the ground. Sasu who was slowly falling for her had no complaints. They sat on the cloth that was supposed to cover the table on which the food was placed. After eating, she rested on her back and gazed at the sky. He lay next to her and enjoyed the starry view of the sky. “This is nice,” said Emperor Sasu. “Yes,” answered his wife. “I like looking at the sky,” remarked Jaazi Sasu. “Why?” asked his Tinle (Empress) Ashanti. “It reminds me of my parents,” answered Jaazi Sasu. Tinle Ashanti quickly turned her head. She looked at her husband on her left for a brief moment and resumed staring at the sky. He too turned to have a glimpse of her face for about a second and focused on the sky again.

Two strangers met; two strangers decided to marry. Two strangers became friends; then best friends and finally husband and wife doing everything a husband and a wife does. We think it started with a picnic and a conversation. But maybe it was destiny. The gods designed it before their births. Exactly how it was to happen, when and where were all predetermined by the gods.

Emperor Sasu played a dangerous game and lost. Without using swords, spears, bows and arrows, Ashanti conquered him; she conquered his heart. He was completely in love with her and she could not have found a better partner in life. They had the perfect marriage.

Did I say their marriage was perfect? Nothing is perfect in an imperfect universe. There was one very big problem and this problem could not be overlooked in the world at the time especially if you are royalty.