"I command you as the king of this village: tell me what happened and who is responsible for your crying like this, and I promise you the person will not līve to tell the story.
Queen Adaeze knew fully well who her husband was, and that if she told him the truth, he would leave no stone unturned.
In no time, he would find the women, and "who knows what would happen to them", she whispered to herself.
Then she stood up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, turned to the king, and said, "It’s nothing serious, my king.
I went to the village square and saw some women with their children, and I became emotional.
I cannot wait to see my child," she lied. The king knew that was not enough reason for her to cry and that someone might have said something to hūrt her.
His guards had initially reported to him about the things the villagers were saying, but they would rather diē than tell him who said it.
He would have used one of the people as a scāpegoat so that the others could learn.
The king was waiting for the time when anyone would say it within his hearing. It was not long before it happened.
He left the queen āngrily after trying to find out who made her cry but could not.
He headed to the village square with one of his guards without mentioning it to the queen; he wanted to hear things for himself.
As soon as he got there, it was quite unfōrtunate that the same women were still gossiping about the queen. They parted ways at first after the queen left and continued from where they stopped.
If only they knew that the king was taking that same path, they would have gone silent.
But it seemed the gods delivered them into the hands of the king. "
The king does not deserve a woman like that; he deserves someone like us with fresh blōōd who will give him a male child, an healthy one at that not deformėd.
The first maiden said she was the one who initiated the whole conversation, and they both joined their hands and laughed.
The king moved to where they both were and asked, "What did I hear you say about my wife?" He asked in a low tone at first.
The first maiden scratched her head while the other one wanted to leave her to face everything alone. "We will meet again; my mother is waiting for me,” she said, acting like she did not see the king.
"If you move any further, I will cūt off those things you call legs,”the king warned her, and she said, "My king, I’m sorry; I did not see you, I didn’t say anything oh.
As the king got closer to them, they both shivered.
“I ask again, what was it you said about my wife?" the king said in a very āngry tone, causing them both to become completely silent.
"I have been hearing the things you all go around saying in this village, and I have been waiting for someone to teach everyone else a lesson,” he said.
Hearing that, the two maidens knew they were done for; they went on their knees and began to bėg.
"I believe it is the same thing my wife might have heard that made her cry. I will make sure you cry more than she did," he said, turning to his guards.
“Take these two maidens to the palace, when I’m done with them, they will not be able to open their mouths ever again."
The guards were ready to move when the king pointed to the first guard.
“Go and meet the town crier; tell him to gather the villagers tonight in the palace, nobody should be seen at home."
The guard rushed to deliver the information, and as soon as the second maiden heard about what would befall her, she fell to the ground and fāinted.
The guard carried her that way, with the other guard carrying the other maiden on his shoulder, and they walked to the palace with the king leading the way.
Anyone seeing the maidens on the way folded their arms and shook their heads because they all knew what the king was capable of doing.
The villagers who knew the parents of the maidens had to run to inform their parents,.
"I saw the guard carrying your daughter to the palace," that was one of the villagers informing the mother of the second maiden, who was waiting for her daughter to come back home from the stream.
"Ewo, i am finished, she scrėamed,what did she do to the king?” the woman asked as she rolled on the floor, losing her wrapper.
She did not wait to hear the whole story when she ran like that to the palace.
The king had instructed that nobody should be allowed at the palace except in the evening when the villagers were expected to appear.
The guards tiėd the maidens to the trees in the palace just as the king had commanded.
The maidens were both quiet; they could no longer beg because there was no need. They just waited for their fate to be decided as they both prayed to the gods to save them.
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