Chapter 3 ACROSS THE SEAS

"My lord, the ship will be here any minute now." Akpan said to me.

"That's good, I was beginning to think our ship was lost at sea." I replied.

After the defeat of the Obong of Calabar, the pressure of war on the eastern kings had increased significantly, the Kings of Arochukwu had refused to submit themselves to British rule hence another gruesome war had just begun in the east of the Land of the Niger river.

Amidst all of this confusion, the southern rulers had decided to surrender to the British. They didn't have the resources to fund another war so they decided to play it safe. Delegates were sent to London as a show of loyalty to the British. At least this was what the British thought. The real reason was that these "delegates" were all spies. The plan was to learn the ways of the British from their battle methods, language, mentality, to even their rulership ranks. They were given a five year period to gather resources, establish unbreakable business and political bonds with other enemies of the British empire across the oceans.

And there I was thinking about my role in all of this, it was hard to imagine recouping the losses if our little "expedition" failed. "It's going to be a long night." I said to myself as I stared at the night sky across the Atlantic.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Someone said behind me. I recognized that voice instantly.

"Afia, you know you don't have to sneak up behind me, but I'm surprised because I had no idea you were on the ship." I said.

"You're right my friend, I was supposed to come later on but father decided he'll deal with matters back home in Abak by himself." he continued "So here I am onboard the HMS Sultan with a rose on my mind and a sword in my hands."

"Speaking of swords Afia, we haven't sparred together for a long time now." I said

"Two years to be exact, Akaninyene." he continued "But no worries my friend, there's this empty hall in the ship, I'm sure we can improvise, that's only if you're up for a challenge."

I laughed at his words, true I haven't practiced in quite some time, but I was still one the best generals in Annang. The threat of the British empire has forced every young boys in the land of the Niger river to prepare for a war that could be triggered at anytime.

"When have I ever refused a challenge Afia?" I asked "You're forgetting that no matter what happens, in the end I always win."

"Is that so?, Let's see how you keep up." Afia said jokingly, "You can bring your valet Akpan along just in case I cut off your fingers, at least there will be someone to carry you to your room, ha ha."

I was surprised at how large the hall was, it could have been a training ground for a small group of soldiers. I picked up a sword that hung on the wall, there were quite a few of them, the British used them as decorations. I could see that some of the "white men" there weren't happy at the sight of two black skinned men walking freely in their grand ship but there was nothing they could do about it as we weren't ordinary men.

"I'm so sure that if weren't royalty we would be the ones cleaning up the toilets or working in the engine room." Afia said.

"You're right Afia, they think we're beneath them, if things were different, I would make sure every single one of them would be burning right now." I replied.

"It's so satisfying seeing the look on their faces, at least for now let's parry while our white spectators are watching." said Afia.

"Clank, Clank, Clank." sounded the swords each time they clashed together. Afia had been practicing and not surprisingly he stood his own against me, but I have been fighting my whole life and was still more experienced than him. After a few more parries, Afia's sword fell and he found the tip of my sword on his neck.

"I told you before no matter what I always win." I said to Afia. We were both sweating profusely after our little show.

"Well, you were right." Afia responded, "You're too good at this.

One could imagine the look at our faces when our little audience applauded and they weren't doing that as a pretence. We could all see that they were impressed.

"Akaninyene, I think were going to enjoy England." Afia said.

"If in fact there are some open minded people in the white man's country, then you're right, we're going to enjoy this." I replied.