The First Queen (Completed)

Chapter 10 - Queen

For confession to take place at the fortress, at least one of the two parties involved must be present, they could come together or be ordered to appear and if one refuses to come and the one present is to confess his or her sin to the priest and people. If a sole confession is done and the confessor is dimmed worthy, the chief priest will order the absent party be punished as fit in the law laid down by the gods weather they be commoner, noble or Royal. When the kings is declared guilty and unfit by the high priest and he refuses to step down, the people are the given charge to riot and rebel against that king and not stop till he steps down.

Every king can be taken to trial if his dimmed bad and unsuitable for the throne, but some times, the people may not have much of a choice if there's no Royal heir left to replace him. A commoner also can demand a trial of the king, but in case the king might refuse to turn up, he need to have enough resources of men to be able to take on the kings guards and warrior before getting to the king himself, just like Ajifah had done which wouldn't be possible if she went out on her own.

The chief priest is standing at the higher ground of the fortress, his head is bald of hair and his beard full and uncut and on his forehead are three small dots made with white clay, wearing a white overall and brown sandals made from wild animal skin.

He steps forward a little and raises his hand, silencing the noise which has been going around since Ajifah got here, "People of this great kingdom, we are gathered here to witness the confession and trial of Ajifah and Tyosar, they will stand here today before the gods and be judge for their sins like mere men and not the royals that they have been." He says before turning to the Twp and beckoning, "Please step forward both of you"

"I will need you all to stand back," Ajifah says in a whisper to Nnamdi who is standing beside her, "uncle and I will need this moment to stand before the people."

Nnamdi is quick to voice out his skepticism, "Princess do you think that this is wise, these people may not want you either and would only try to hurt you with their words and actions." He says.

"I can't rule them if I'm always shutting myself away from their reach. I need to bare myself to them and make them see the real me." She places a warm and reassuring hand on his, "I can take care of myself, I'll be fine."

Tyosar is taken up, accompanied by the warriors who leave him at the higher ground close to the chief priest before returning to their earlier position and Ajifah step forward towards the priest and Tyosar, onto the higher ground of the fortress as well, this way they can easily be seen by all the people and a murmur begins among the people.

"That's princess Ajifah." She hears the voice from the crowd

"Yes and that's king Tyosar,"

"Why is the king in chains?"

"Wasn't the princess banished by the king?" Yell a male voice from behind and the crowd uproar continues.

Just as she hears that, her insecurity sets in. What if she still end up being rejected after everything? Sure she might win today, but what if the people still despise her and rebel against her? She would have no choice but to let go of the throne she's fought so hard all her life to be worthy of. Just as she looks around she sees Ema standing at the front urging her on with a smile on her face and she smile down at her as well and just like that, her insecurities fade away.

Tyosar is first to speak, "My people, I stand before you and the gods of the land to be judge, but why am I being judged? Because I stand for the truth! No one wants to say it, everyone is afraid to but the truth is always the truth. Ajifah is an unfit heir to the throne and that was why I banished her from this kingdom, but here she is and look how she has treated your king! Take a look at my hands, bruised and all in chains, your king maltreated and manhandled by the thugs she has follow her everywhere." He raises his hands and the crowd gasp and begin to small talk and whisper to themselves, "Once she becomes queen, these thugs and lowlifes will come and oppress you in your home, take advantage of your wives and daughters and kill your sons and fathers. If they could do this to me, you can't escape it. She is the reason why a girl child should never be allowed to rule, they don't think and will always need direction and when they are not being directed they do the worse you can think of." He says, backing his words further by raising his chained up hands again. "You need a king, a king who doesn't need to be held around with everything he does because he knows what is right. The kingdom has not been at it's best since we lost the king, a lot of resources went into trying to make him better which we couldn't in the end, but I can assure you that that's only for a temporary time because we will soon have a turn around, but if she becomes Queen the kingdom will be lost and we will be cursed, rejected and abandoned by the gods. My brother your late king wouldn't listen to advises from me his brother and his council of elder and give her away so the gods could have mercy and give him another child; he believed she was a blessing, a gift from the gods themselves, but look at how he died, killed by a very strange illness, I believe the hands of the gods were in it. The gods may not say much but we should know whats is right and wrong in their sight and how to appease them, a woman on the throne is one of them. My sins are wanting a better heir for the throne, my sins are wanting a better tomorrow for you and your children and your children's children. My sins are many but the greatest of them all was not having her killed when I realised she was a girl, a curse to this kingdom!"