MAIGARMAR

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

Silence reigned for about two minutes among the Igbimọ. Adebisi then breaks the decorum as she starts to spill the purpose of their gathering saying,

" Ekaaro gbogbo ẹyin tí ẹwà ni ori ijoko~ Good morning to all who are seated"

Everyone nods in approval as she continues speaking,

" I believe we are all acquitted on the reason to our gathering today, may Orunmila guide us as we decide the fate of the heir of the throne".

" He's no longer the heir to the throne Mama, he bears the mark of the Olossi" says Aganjusola sternly.

Ogundele rests his arms on the round wooden table with a threatening message behind the motion as he replies Aganjusola saying,

" And by whose verdict is Adedayo no longer heir to throne?!"

Aganjusola then looks back at Ogundele with an unbacking behavior and replies,

" The boys wears the mark of the sea demons, he should have been killed at the spot........speak less of even sitting the throne"

" How many times do I have to say this?!, he possesses seven Ashe marks....the marks of the Olossi are six, you can't kill him for a sin he doesn't bear"

Ademola then enters the discussion as he implies with his cool collective demeanor unaffected by the heat between Ogundele and Aganjusola's argument as he says,

" The Orishas has ordained the number of Ashe marks, a child of theirs should bear with the deities sharing the lot........whoever bears more should be considered an abomination"

" Did you just call my nephew and abomination Ademola?" Asked Ogundele as he gets up with a furious look on his face.

Aganjusola then points at Ogundele saying,

" It's the truth dele, you more than anyone else should recognize this.........I'm quite certain no here dislikes adedayo but he bears the sea's taint, YOU ARE THE BALÓGUN OF OYO!, you firsthand should be the one that ends him of unfortunate fate.......you s-"

Ogundele then hits his fist on the table halting Aganjusola's rant, ratting everyone as he did. After taking a deep breath with a tone that held audacity, he says loudly

" NO ONE!........No one harms Adedayo until he is proven to be an Olossi, no one does!...if anyone should dare attempt to take his life, their heads shall fall by my blade"

Aganjusola chuckles as he responds to Ogundele's threat saying

" You will do nothing dele, the law.....the law you enforce demands that Adedayo be slain"

He then gets up and looks Ogundele in the eyes as he says to him,

" Your status as the Balogun of OYO would be revoked if you go against customs......if you try to use force because of how powerful you are, we would pit the Akógún and all of OYO's might against you, ALL OF YOU-..."

Ogundele cuts Aganjusola's rant short as he begins laughing, hitting his chest while at it as the Igbimọ all face him in bewilderment of his behavior. He then ends his laughter as his look transfomes into a hostile one with no reflection of a past at which he was laughing. He then speaks

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

" Akógún?, OYO's might?..........against me?"

Aganjusola replies

" See ehn......the power flex you want to impose on this case won't stop anything, if you should dare fight, we have greater forces to face you.....you of all people should know this Dele"

Ogundele chuckles at Aganjusola's threat and then speaks back at him Ashe he beats his chest saying,

" Emi! Ogundele Abiola Odede!!!

~Me! Ogundele Abiola Odede!!!

Eni ẹjẹ rẹ ọ kán ìdá ríi

~One whose blood has never tasted the touch of a blade

Ẹni ọgọgọrun ọmọ Ogun ri tẹsẹ wán òsì kanlẹ

~One who Revealed his face before hundreds of warriors and they fled at the sight of him

Ẹni wọgun ni funfun ti ihamọra rẹ sí pupa ẹjẹ ẹgbẹ̀rún Ọkùnrin

~One who enters the battlefield in white and leaves with the blood of a thousand men"

He then turns his head making hostile glances at everyone as he continues,

" I didn't go to battle for this kingdom facing single men, HUNDREDS!!........HUNDREDS HAVE FALLEN BY MY HAND ALONE!"

" BRING EVERYONE, THE AKÓGÚN......BRING ALL THE WARRIORS OF THE CAPITAL.......THE DAY THEY FACE ME WILL BE THE DAY THEY KNOW WHAT THEIR TRUE LIMITS ARE!!"

For the first time since they started their meeting, Láaróyè finally speaks as he confronts his father saying

" Baba..........we are all aware of your might but we are not going to adjust to your verdict in expense of the law, everyone saw him take the evil mark, RULERS IN THIS LAND!!!......you just can't.....as long as one bears more than five Ashe marks, he should be crucified before he attains the sea demons' form"

Ogundele looks at Láaróyè in surprise as he reprimands him saying,

" This is your cousin we are talking about here Láaróyè.........Your Brother!, You would bid the bill that crucifies him?"

Láaróyè tries to responds but Aganjusola does so before him as he tells Ogundele that

" There is no one that holds hate against Adedayo.......OMO WA NII~ He's our child........but we must uphold the law of this country and the Orishas first!, these rules have been given long before our time and we are not tossing it aside because of bias"

Ogundele fumes as he looks from Aganjusola to all that were seated but his coming statement is then interrupted by the sudden entry of the Olu Awo and his boy escort that bears the EYES OF ORUNMILA. Sighting them, Ogundele drops to his seat as he and the other members of the Igbimọ look at the entries in anticipation of what they wished to do. The boy then prostrates before the Igbimọ as he greets them saying

" Ẹkáàrọ̀ ẹyìn ìjòyè~ Good morning Chieftains, the Olu Awo apologizes for being late to the meeting"

While he gets up, Adebisi welcomes his greeting as she stretches her hand towards him, blessing him for the act as she says,

" Ẹkáàrọ̀ OMO DÀDA~ Good morning good child......... Well we weren't exactly expecting him to show face as he hasn't been present for our previous meetings, Olabode normally took his place"

The boy resumes speaking on behalf of the expressionless Olu Awo as he says

" He comes here with a solution for Adedayo's case and he apologizes for his absence in meetings for he believes he shouldn't be given say in such gatherings as his role is communicating the wishes of Orishas but the Orishas have been silent for years now"

Ademola then says

" It is quite odd that we still wield their essence and yet none of the priest throughout the whole kingdom receive messages from the Orishas.......they have grown angry over our ineffectiveness in dealing with the Olossi......and now we have one as the next Aláàfin"

As Ogundele looks at Ademola with visible anger at what he said, the boy continues speaking

" He wishes to inform you of the solution himself so i would like everyone to look me in the eyes so i can connect your minds to his so he can speak to all"

The Olu Awo then moves to the other end of the council table so he can look at the boy's eyes with the others at the table as well. With everyone looking at the boy, his golden eyes then shine brighter as he connects all of the Igbimọ to the Olu Awo's mind. For some minutes, they appeared to be listening to what the Olu Awo speaks as they all went through a trance. Then later on, they start to show facial reflections of bad emotions as they all react to what the Olu Awo tells them with Ogundele showing the most of it. The boy ends the connection as they begin to get themselves, deeply pondering in what the Olu Awo said to their minds with Aganjusola rubbing his fingers and saying,

"OMOO......."

Ogundele then summons the guards at the door and instructs then to call Yetunde, the leader of the Iron Guard for him. As she comes before him, he then commands her with a tone that expresses subtle anger saying

" GO TO THE PRISON PIT AND BRING ADEDAYO BEFORE THE IGBIMỌ"