THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

Prince Duba had just returned from running his errand. He looked very excited and was all smiles. He asked one of his servants the whereabouts of his best friend, Prince Feitu. The servant saw Prince Feitu climbing the stairs. She guessed Prince Feitu might be in his room after his beautiful performance with Princess Ailla earlier. Prince Duba smiled and whispered, “I knew he could do it.” He quickly climbed the stairs, took a right turn and after about six steps, he was standing in front of Prince Feitu’s door. He was in his very best mood. He pushed Feitu’s door and what he saw inside almost gave him a heart attack. He clutched his chest and fainted.

After some time of relaxation and fun having in the lake of cleansing, Kiwakaazi and Deila continued their journey. Their goal was the pyramid; the most distinctive feature inside Adopedan. They were already there. Meeting them at the base of the pyramid was the next dwarf; the fourth dwarf. He introduced himself as Kuntunkunu or simply the grey dwarf. He was identical to his brothers but his grey hair provided enough distinction.

He wore a grey robe. He threw the robe to the ground and slapped the ground hard. He gently lifted his hand and the soil rose along with his rising palm. When the soil was at about his height, he stopped. Kiwakaazi and Deila were eager to see what his technique summoned. “Is that a…?” Kiwakaazi asked Deila with great astonishment.

After Kinwa united the kingdoms; after he became Kaazi (emperor), he decided to unite the different cultures. Marriage was a very important institution in the Central Empire. Kaazi Kinwa formulated a ceremony that captures the essence of marriage. The bride will dress gorgeously and decorated with pure gold. She would appear before the Emperor and kings of the Central Empire and wait. Five men whom are not the groom would come in. The first man would be very attractive. He too will be dressed very well and he would kneel and beg the bride to accept him. She would turn him away and say no to his proposal. The second man will come inside holding a book. He would recite a lovely poem to the bride and show her how knowledgeable he is. She would still say no to him. The third man, a warrior, will come dressed as a warrior with swords around waist and a shield in hand. She would not even look at him. A man who has power would come in. This man would not come alone. Someone holding a staff will lead him. But this is still not the bride’s choice. The groom comes after a very rich man had tried to change her mind with his riches.

The groom, a prince, will be wearing almost rags. Just a piece of cloth around his body to show that princess is not marrying the prince because of his power, wealth, looks and so on. She is simply marrying him because she loves him. I liked this ceremony too. So after it has been established that nothing but love is the reason why two people get married, the groom and bride must kneel and gaze into each other’s eyes while the Kaazi (Emperor) prayed and blessed the marriage. After he places the two crowns on the heads of groom and bride, the kings will take turns blessing the couple by simply resting their right palms over the heads of the groom and bride for about five seconds. The difficult part was the part where Prince Feitu would have to gaze into the eyes of Princess Ailla.

A few hours before Prince Duba fainted, “Um… I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to rehearse your wedding for you. Why don’t you let me run this urgent errand for you instead?” Feitu countered. “Not even my twin, if I had one, can run this errand. Besides, I know my role very well and this is just a mere formality. Just stare into her eyes like you really love her — pretty simple,” explained Prince Duba. He paused and waited for Prince Feitu’s excuse. Prince Feitu was busily thinking and just when he thought he had found the perfect answer, Duba said “I have to run. Please don’t be late.” Feitu placed his palms on his head and run them through his hair. He feared the worst is yet to come.

Kiwakaazi and Deila saw a well-known predator; the male of its kind. Some call it “King of the jungle”. It belongs to the cat family — the second largest in this family. It had a brownish color and a distinctly large head. The size of its head can be attributed to the presence of its mane which was black in this summons case. It had the usual small waist and its tail ended with a tuft of fur. It shook its body for a while shaking off the dirt in its fur. It tilted its head to the left, opened its mouth wide showing the large and pointy canines and ROARED! The lion just got invited to the party.

Kuntunkunu rubbed his bald head with his fingers and said, “I guess I should have summoned his cousin first.” He slapped the ground hard again with his palm once again and raising it, the soil rose. Guess which predator it will be this time?

Thirty minutes… thirty long minutes of staring into the eyes of Princess Ailla. Prince Duba tried to look away. He tried several times but he failed. The man playing the role of his father kept on reminding him to stare into the Princess’s eyes. He wanted to yell at him and tell him he was just filling in for the groom but he held back and stared. It was the hardest thing he had to do his entire life. Anyway, it was over. However, the bride and groom must continue kneeling until all the important guests, elders, chiefs and kings had left their seats to another room for refreshment. Princess Ailla smiled and Prince Feitu smiled back. With her beautiful smile she whispered, “Thank you,” and he responded, “You are welcome.”

After the rehearsal, Princess Ailla just wanted to pass by Prince Feitu’s room and thank him once again for playing the role of her future husband so perfectly. She knocked on his door but heard no response. She entered and looked around for a while but it was clear; Feitu was not in yet. She opened the door to exit and there he was; tall and charming Prince Feitu eye-balling her again. He should have been upset. She entered his room without permission. Quite to the contrary, he looked happy to see her again.

“So, you decided to invade my privacy like I did yours,” said Prince Feitu jokingly. She smiled and answered, “Sorry for the intrusion, but I did not come here to collect the debt you owe me. I came to thank you for helping us, Duba and I.” “Are you saying once is not enough? Then I guess I should thank you again for helping with my personal problem.” Prince Feitu entered and closed the door behind him.

To be fair, it was not Princess Ailla’s fault at all. She was ambushed. She least expected it. She only opened her mouth to say something and found her tongue stuck inside Prince Feitu’s mouth. It was Eve and the forbidden fruit all over again. All she needed was just a single bite and she was hooked.  Maybe I am being too hard on Prince Feitu. If my memory is as good as it was billions of years ago, he moved his head to give her another kiss on her right cheek like the first time. Somehow Ailla turned her head and stuck her tongue in his mouth. Poor Adam (Feitu) was just not strong enough to fight. He let go and enjoyed the forbidden fruit too.

With their lips locked, they forgot the entire world. The last thing they expected was Prince Duba to just walk in on them. The look on his face was the look of classic heartbreak and betrayal. He touched his chest and like a deck of cards — just crumbled to the floor.

The wedding was called off and Feitu was arraigned before his father, Kaazi Kiwakaazi I. He was banished for his actions. He lost everything: his family, his friends, his respect, and his throne. Kaazi Kiwakaazi (the first) did everything he possibly could to convince Prince Duba and his family to forgive the princess. She was young and naïve. She might have been scared to be getting married. She acted stupidly; they both acted stupidly, but forgiving others makes room for us to be forgiven too.

Prince Duba loved Princess Ailla too much. Love knows forgiveness. Prince Duba after some persuasion forgave Princess Ailla and brought her back home — close to him. Prince Duba noticed that Princess Ailla was working twice as hard to make their relationship work but what he saw that day never escaped his thoughts. The way they looked at each other. Princess Ailla has never looked at him like that before and he had never seen that look in Feitu’s eyes either. It is the real deal — true love. What should he do?

He did what was best for them all. He entered the princess’s room one very early morning between the hours of two and three. He entered from the room that had belonged to Feitu not long ago and almost changed his mind after what he saw. She jumped out of her bed as if she had been expecting a visit from that side of the room.

Princess Ailla enjoyed sleeping in the nude and Duba seeing her naked body, did not want this fresh piece of ass to go. She quickly wrapped her bed sheets around her body and demanded an explanation from Duba. The prince whom had turned his back to her said in his deep voice, “Come with me. There is someplace I need to take you.” The princess asked, “Where…?” He answered saying, “Just come, you will know when we get there.”

Two horses had been prepared by the prince. They mounted separate horses and exited the palace gates together. It was a long and silent ride. Ailla wanted to ask where he was taking her but kept her silence. Duba, after how she reacted when he barged into her room, wanted to know how long their secret affair had been going on. He too kept silent. Eventually, they were outside the borders of the Central Empire; towards the eastern part of Africa. Prince Duba stopped and Princess Ailla stopped too. He dismounted his horse and she followed suit.

A very narrow river demarcated the lands of the Nananompofie (Central Empire) from the eastern part of the world. Ailla was slightly frightened. She wondered why Prince Duba had brought her to the outskirts of the empire. What was he planning to do to her? She was about to ask a question when she noticed just how hard the prince was trying to see something far away from them. She turned and strained her eyes too.

It was Feitu. He was leaving Nananompofie (Central Empire) after his sentence and his destination was the east. When he got close enough, he was surprised and wanted to know how they knew about his destination? Duba smiled and said, “Maybe you no longer consider me your best friend but you will always be mine.” That answer spoke volumes about how Duba felt about his best friend and provided an indirect answer to his question. Ailla also understood why Duba had snuck her out of Nananompofie.

Duba took hold of Ailla’s hand and gave it to Feitu. He accepted their love. He understood their feelings for one another. He was not exactly sure how they would survive without the material comforts they were both used to. But if it is as real as he has come to believe, then, Feitu should go with Ailla.

“Why are you doing this?” asked Feitu. “Isn’t it obvious? For the sake of love and also to repay and old debt,” replied the honorable Prince Duba.

So it is the turn of the fourth dwarf huh! It is the turn of the Western Empire’s most intelligent geneticist, Bawa. The man whose hard work never earned him the recognition he deserved.