A Love To Remember

After the successful British invasion of Benin and the capturing of the emperor Ovorunwem in 1897, the resolve of the other Kings of the Niger river to rid their lands of the British was destroyed as none of them would believe great Benin would fall.

Although it seemed like all hope was lost, some of the royal families weren't going to give up. To them they would rather lose their heads than bow to foreign powers they termed "the white men". In the east of the land of the Niger river, the royal families of unified Arochukwu and the towns of Ekemeku were still engaged in active warfare against the British, in the north of the Niger river, the sultans of Sokoto and Kano repelled British forces from their lands on several occasions.

While most of the Kings and Chiefs were engaging in open warfare against the British, some of them refused to sacrifice the lives of the people for their cause though this didn't mean they gave up fighting. The Nkuku (king of kings) of Annang arranged a meeting to send some of their men to England to learn the ways of the British. To make sure the other rulers would join heads together to achieve this common goal, he decided to send his first son, Akaninyene to Europe as this would prove to the other kings he had a lot to lose.

"Good morning your highness, your father sent for you". Said the maid. "He is waiting for you in the garden". "Tell my father I'll be there soon". I replied. After the meeting with the eastern and southern rulers, my father's desperate act drove me to consider if this was the best or the only way to rid ourselves of the British and the company.

"You sent for me father?" I said when I walked up to him in the garden.

"Yes, walk with me son." My father replied " Are you angry with the decision I made?" He continued "I assure you I made that decision keeping you in mind son."

I was about to explode when he spoke those words but I managed to keep my cool and decided on my words before I said "Father, there's no need to justify your words and actions to me or anyone even, you are the king and every decision you make is for the greater good of our kingdom".

"Listen to me child, you are my son and I really care about you and your well-being"... "I know father"... I trailed off as my father raised his hand in the air.

"I'm still talking boy and you should know better than anyone that I do not like being interrupted whenever I'm speaking". "I'm so sorry your highness it was my mistake". I said.

"Another interruption son but I'll let this one slide, it seems you have a lot on your plate but that's expected. This is the burden you carry as the heir of the Annang kingdom". "You'll be leaving for Liverpool in two months time, use this time to bid farewell to your friends and after your return from England, you'll be getting married at the earliest, am I understood?"

I was at a loss for words and could only nod as affirmation to father's words.

"Very good then, you can leave, it wouldn't be right to keep you from enjoying the rest of your day son." He said.

After the so called "walk" in the garden with my dearest father, the rest of my day was surely going to be bad.

"As if sending me to faraway lands wasn't enough he wants to force me to get married." I muttered to myself as I went back to my chambers. There was a maid standing in the hallway, I turned and said to her "Hey you, what's your name?"

"I-Idara your h-highness." She stammered "is there a-anything you need my-my lord, I'll bring it to you right away"

"Brush up on your words Idara, I shall have no tolerance for the filth you spew." I said coldly to her still fuming from the talk from my morning walk with the king.

"Bring some food to my room, I won't be eating at the dining this morning." I ordered. After my breakfast I went to meet with my friend Afia who was the son of one the chiefs in Annang. I told him I wasn't happy about having to go to a foreign country not to mention England, the very home of our greatest enemies.

"If it makes you feel any better, my father told me I'll be joining our little expedition in Britannia." Afia said.

"Your father forced you too?" I asked.

"He didn't force me, I volunteered. As much as I detest this decision, the fact remains that we have no other choice." He continued "We have been backed into a corner with barely any chance of escaping so it's best we surrender and then attack when we stand a much better chance at victory. You know what they say; if you can't beat them, you join them, but here's the catch, when the British think they've won and relax their defenses, we attack in such a way that they'll never rise against us in battle ever again.

"Finally someone's making sense today." I thought to myself. "Afia, you know even from the time we were children you've always been the smarter one." I said to him.

"And you're always the stronger one, that's why we make a good pair my friend." Afia said. "And we'll always be friends for life or at least until we die in war." I sadly responded.

*TWO WEEKS LATER*

A message arrived at evening from Afikpo that the forces of the Obong (Lord) of Calabar were defeated at Bakassi.

"Well, that was expected." My father said. "I had tried to convince him that open warfare against the white man was akin to suicide but he would not listen. This wasn't a battle of charms and his spiritual powers wouldn't help him in battle and now only the gods know what will become of him."

"What happened to the Obong?" I asked the messenger.

"My prince, he has been captured and is being prepared for trial and I can only imagine his punishment..."

"That's enough out of you, it's not in your place to think about what punishment will be meted out on the king, leave." I commanded. As soon as the messenger left I turned in my father's direction, I knew exactly what was on his mind as locked my eyes on his.

I didn't even wait for him to speak when I said to the hearing of everyone; "I think it's best I leave as soon as possible."

I could have sworn my mother had something to say about this but she was just quiet. Silence hung in the air and after what seemed like eternity, my father spoke.

"You'll be leaving in three days, we have to make sure everything is set before the British March into Annangland and the neighbouring kingdoms, that's all."

"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.