CONQUEST

A SELFISH REQUEST I

Durodola smiled as he heard the king's words and glanced slightly at the Yewande who was sitting in a corner and replied "Don't worry, king Boluwatife, you can be sure that i would do nothing in my stay in your kingdom."

Folarin frowned as he watched the crown prince of ife, from his aura, he could see that the crown prince was actually ridiculing the king in his thoughts and his desire to possess Yewande was increasing everytime he glanced at her, but Folarin knew he couldn't be faulted for this, even in the twenty first century where there are many beautiful woman as there are stars in the sky, Yewande would still be able to overshadow most of them with her face alone, she was a kind of beauty that could cause the fall of a nation, even without her abilities involved, just her beauty would make countless men attracted to her and the prince was no exception, even Folarin who had been single throughout his life in the twenty first century found himself greatly attracted to this woman.

The prince moved back and stood besides Bandoke who was still watching Folarin like a child who had just discovered a new toy to play with while some guards took away the box full of treasures that prince Durodola had given to the king.

King Boluwatife then clapped his hands and immediately some servants appeared with food's of different kinds and huge calabash filled with palm wine, the king looked at everyone in the hall with a smile and said "Today is a day of celebration and no celebration would be complete without a great feast so i invite you all to dine as much as you want today, your wives would not have to work so hard to cook your foods tonight." Everyone laughed at the joke the king made and then focused on the food in front of them as they began to discuss amongst each other.

The king from his throne and shot a glance at Adebowale and Mobo and then at Folarin before walking out of the hall, Adebowale and Mobo both understood what the king meant as they immediately signaled for Folarin to follow them and soon three more people dissapeared from the hall but no one really noticed as everyone was busy socializing with one another, no one noticed except for one, Abeo looked at the corner which his father and the three people had dissappeared to with an expression of hate on his face as he mumbled to himself "Make all the plans you want, Father, this kingdom will belong to me in the end." He immediately threw all distracting thoughts from his mind and put a smile on his face as he began walking towards the corner where Yewande was standing.

Beautiful, this was the first words that came to Folarin's mind as he stood in this section of the palace, it was an open space filled with nothing but plants and trees that created a feeling of peace to anyone who stood there, ever since he reincarnated, Folarin had noticed the beauty of nature more and more, something he didn't really have a chance to admire in the twenty fist century as he didn't really care about nature back then but now that he was in the past, he had begun to fall in love with the beauty of nature, if he had a phone, he would have taken a picture of this place just to keep looking at its beauty.

The old king sat on a mat without a crown on his head and his legs crossed, he had lost any of that regal bearing he had a moment ago and just looked like a regular old man now, his back was turned to them as he asked "Folarin my boy, what do you think of this place." Folarin was startled as he never expected to be the first one to be called on by the king when his father and grandfather were still here but he quickly calmed down and replied "it is a beautiful place, my king, it is as if it was crafted by the gods as a gift to the kings of Oyo." The king immediately burst into laughter as he heard this and said "you have a sweet and flattering tongue boy, but yes i do agree with you, it's a beautiful place, i come here to calm my mind and think whenever i am facing problems."

"What do you intend to do, Bolu, the direction this kingdom is heading is not a good path at all." This time, it was Mobo who spoke first and Folarim was surprised as he called the king by the name but he immediately understood that the king and his grandfather were from the same generation so they may have been friends for a long time, in front of others, Mobo would act with respect but when they were alone, Mobo acted how he wished but he never went too far and still respected Boluwatife, the king who heard Mobo's words sighed and said "Do you think i don't know that, i gave birth to two sons in my long life and both of them are complete dissapointments, neither of them are suited for the throne." Folarin was surprised as he heard the king's words, it was true that Abeo was unsuited to be king but the second prince Adetola was rumored to be a man of kindness and compassion and would make a good king, Folarin had seen his aura earlier and he knew Adetola was a good man but to the King, it seemed Adetola was just as bad as Abeo, the king looked at Folarin with a knowing smile on his face as he said "Folarin my boy, do you know why i called you here with your Father and grandfather." Folarin shook his head, he knew he was not qualified to be here in normal circumstances as it was quite obvious that the king wanted to talk about something special but the king had still invited him, king Boluwatife looked at Folarin and said "I do not know the you of the past and honestly i do not want to know because from the rumors, you were just a useless person depending on his family's influence but the you of today has shown me that you will have a bright future, i know you are wondering why i said none of my sons are worthy of the throne but to answer your doubts, let me ask you a question, what do you think makes a great king."

Folarin was silent for a moment and said "I believe a great king should be one who does his best for his people, one who looks dearly after his people and treat them with compassion and kindness." The king smiled and shook his head upon hearing this, Folarin noticed Mobo and Adebowale also shook their head,King Boluwatife's smile suddenly vanished and was replaced with a cold gaze, the regal feeling of being a king returned at this moment as he said "This is one of the reasons i called you here today, i do not have long in this world so let this old man bestow you an important lesson, your grandfather is a leader of men and so is your father and soon it will be you and you may never become king but this lesson still applies to you as a leader, the king you just described isn't a great king, he can be a good king but not a great one, this is because under such a king, the kingdom would not perish but it would not grow either but remain stagnant. A great king should be greedy, greedy for more lands, more wealth and more ambition, it is with such greed and ambition that great kings create powerful kingdoms but at the same time, a great king must also learn to rule with both kindness and ruthlessness and wisdom, Kindness and compassion to those he calls his people, this will bring stability and prosperity to the people's life and Might and ruthlessness to those he deems his enemies, this will serve as a deterrant to anyone who dares challenge his power or authority, a great king must learn how to extend his hands to those in need and his sword to those who dares harm him or his people." The king stopped for a moment to let Folarin digest his words and just as he expected, Folarin had begun to mule over the King's words greatly, his ambition and goal was extreamly great and for that ambition to be realized, countless blood will flow, Folarin knew this but he had been hesitating a bit, he knew he would have to kill a lot of people later on to survive in this world but as a person from the modern world, he wanted to find peaceful measures if possible to achieve his goals, the king's words helped him to realize something, throughout history, great men were always formed from bloodshed, Iskander the conqueror,
Dongmyeong of Gorguryeo, Genghis khan, Cao Cao of china were all men that made their great name in history through bloodshed and his twenty first century pacifist views may just get him killed in this old world, the king was right, he was going to be a leader of men in the future and he must learn how to be ruthless when necessary.

King Boluwatife smiled as he saw the renewed look in Folarin's eyes, there was a glint in his eyes that wasn't there before, one filled with determination and ambition, he then said "I said my sons are not worthy of the throne because neither of them are capable of being a great King and right now with the Oyo kingdom being surrounded by enemies at all sides, a great king is precisely what we need, My first son Abeo has ambition and cruelty but he has too much of it, under his leadership, this kingdom will suffer greatly, his rule will not be that of a king but a tyrant and my second son is a bit better, he can be a good king but not a great one, his greatest strength is also his greatest weakness, he is too kind, unless he had no choice, he always seeks to create peaceful solutions and he opposes violence greatly, he also has no ambition or greed needed to develop further instead he is content with the way everything is, the kingdom may be at peace with a king like that but we would also appear weak in the eyes of our enemies, do you understand now." Folarin nodded his head as a response, he had to admit that King Boluwatife was right, looking at it this way, both princes were really not suited for the throne.

Mobo intervened at this moment saying "But you still intend to put Adetola on the throne, don't you and you must want something from us, you wouldn't have summoned my son in law back if that wasn't the case so what is it you want from my Family, Boluwatife. " The king grinned as he replied "You know me well, old friend, you know more than anyone else that your family would be the first to be destroyed if Abeo takes the throne." Mobo and Adebowale creased their brows as they knew this was true, his family was powerful, so powerful infact that some people had already started seeing it as an eyesore, people like Abeo and the five other great families, if Abeo takes the throne, the Bashorun family would surely be the first to go.

Adebowale who had been silent all this while finally spoke up like he had realized what the king wanted from them"Your majesty wants our family to support the second prince in the fight for the throne?"