Bride Price ✔

II

"Rise Abebi, you do not know how happy I am to see you again." He replied and she smiled shyly.

"I am happy to see you too my Lord, I was afraid when you left for another war, but I should have known that you would always come back with the heads of your enemies." She praised him and his lips curved up just a little bit. If not for the fact that she was used to his manner of smiling, she would have thought it was a sneer.

Her lover was the chief warrior, fierce and fearless, and did not waste his muscles in doing such pointless things like smiling and laughing. That was for women to do, but when he was around Abebi, he reserved the little curve of his lips for her. A tall, built man, he was only older than Abebi by a decade, yet he understood her more than any other person she knew.

"Your belief in me is overwhelming my love, but tell me, there seems to be something wrong with you. You have been shifting on your foot since you arrived. Are you not happy to see me again?" He asked in concern, although his face gave no emotion away.

"Oh no my Lord, I am always happy to see you. I cannot wait for the day that I would see you every time I open my eyes in the morning, and before I close my eyes at night." She cried hurriedly, not wanting him to get the wrong impression.

"Then what is wrong Abebi?" He asked again, although he did not touch her. Sh was not yet his wife, and he could not taint her until he had the right to. All he could do was look, but he was forbidden to touch.

"You cannot come and ask for my hand in a full moon from now as planned." She said sadly.

"Oh, I was about to tell you that too. I am leaving tomorrow on business," she didn't need to ask what the business was, she knew it was war, "and so I can only come in two full moons from now." He replied.

"Oh my Lord! You must be careful. Although that is not the reason I wanted to give." She said.

"Because of the beauty pageant announced by the Oba?" He asked and she nodded.

"My family is preparing us all for the pageant seriously, and it would have to pass before my Papa considers another suitor." She explained. "So after the pageant passes, you can come and ask for my hand."

"And what if the Oba picks you instead, to be his wife?"

"The gods forbid it! I would rather kill myself than be the wife of any other man but you." She snapped immediately.

"Abebi, watch your words." He scolded. "The gods are watching."

"I apologize my Lord."

"Let us wait till after the pageant, then I will come for you." He promised.

"And if by an unfortunate circumstance, the Oba picks me-"

"Look at me Abebi," he used his index finger to raise her head, their brown eyes locking. This was the first time he had ever touched her, and the feeling of his skin, combined with the way his rich voice pronounced her name, sent unexplainable feelings down her spine. "I will come for you."

"Yes my Lord."

...

"Abebi my child." Mama hummed as she rubbed more locally made shea butter on her face, making her black skin glow. "My only remaining daughter."

The day of the pageant was already here, and since the first cock crow, Abebi and Mama had been preparing, just like every other mother and daughter in the whole kingdom. They got to the stream very early in the morning, and it was already crowded with mothers watching their daughters bath with scrutiny in their eyes. Using the usual ose dudu, Abebi washed her body until her mother was satisfied.