The sun rained down on bared heads as Onochie led a silent Ezinwanyi down the path to the queen mother's quarters. Celebrations were in full swing at each turn, but his scattered mind could not register anything but her. She—Ezinwanyi—was etched into every inch square available on the pads of his consciousness.

He glanced at her at every interval when he was sure she wasn't watching. If he weren't so worried about making her uncomfortable, he would have ogled her without shame, as he itched to do so. Her beauty mesmerised him. No matter how many times he had laid eyes on her, it appeared to him as if he were catching a first glimpse of her perfection whenever they met anew. And he was starstruck at every encounter.

Darting another gaze at her, he admired how her Uli and Nzu drawings accentuated her beauty. She was the apple of every man's eye with those bewitching patterns that crept across her natural curves. Her breasts, though small, were round and perky with dusky nipples. They held the paint swirling on them with great pride. Onochie imagined one of his children suckling on them and felt the blood in his body rush down South.

"Gods," he muttered under his breath, cursing himself for being so reactive when it came to her. He needed to learn self-control where she was concerned, or someday he'd offend her with his wanton lust.

For Onochie wasn't sure why he was so affected by the Uli dancing on her chest or by the brilliant curls that'd began twirling at her thighs and eventually crept up into her short wrapper. It was a vision that could drive him mad if he gazed too long. Unfortunately, looking away was near impossible.

How could he not stare when she was the incarnate of a goddess amongst women? It would require self-restraint from him, which he had not yet mastered. Tempted already he was by her despite there being no action on her part to encourage or spur his desires. Oh, how he hated himself for being so fickle.

With Onochie still leading the way, they passed by a group of performing acrobats. Ezinwanyi made an appreciative sigh in her throat, nearly sending the king tripping over air. At that point, he knew he had to introduce a new topic, or he would launch himself into a muddy swamp.

Clearing his throat, he turned to her. "You have been served some food, I hope."

Ugegbe glanced up at him as if surprised that he was speaking to her. Onochie was ashamed of himself. It was his fault that she felt that way. After asking her where she was headed in haste, he'd posed no more questions or utterances afterward, too busy rubbernecking her in a dangerously lecherous manner. Of course, she must have interpreted his silence as a wish not to hold any more conversation with her.

"Yes, Your Majesty." She replied without a trace of the venom that usually coated her replies to him. Onochie was afloat with the idea that she could be warming up to him again, that his sins would not keep her from opening herself to him indefinitely. It was such a sweet notion that it was much more than he deserved. Onochie wrestled the heavenly image away.

"Good. You will need your strength." He nodded to those bowing low to the ground. Though he still was not keen on the performative act of smiling as king, he managed to nudge his lips upward into a non-threatening expression. These were his dedicated servants who were working hard on his behalf. The least he could do was acknowledge their effort.

Directing his gaze beside him, Onochie noted the satisfaction on Ugegbe's face. Her mouth was not twisted in a frown as it usually was when he was before her, nor were her eyes wide and stark in surprise as they had been when she'd collided with him. Serenity instead was soft on her features, clinging fast to her beauty, and he was delighted to note the change.

Still, the picture of her running from the direction of the servants' lodge nearest to his palace court had not worn out of his mind. He'd recognized the emotion at once. It had remained stamped on her face even when he'd caught her from falling as if she'd been expecting someone else other than him. The familiarity was unsettling, for the same emotion had once driven him mad. It wasn't so long ago that it had been on the cusp of causing him to moult his mind.

Fear.

The emotion was more powerful than one could even begin to imagine. Onochie remembered all too well how it had struck him in his sleep. How his fears had permeated the veils of his dreams, transforming them into coarse nightmares that'd threatened to tear him into pieces. He knew what he would have given to escape them and could not keep a sliver of worry from penetrating his cool at the thought of Ezinwanyi suffering similarly to him.

His question then was, what did she fear so? Had someone been in pursuit of her? Onochie cocked his head to study Ezinwanyi. She was not the troublesome kind. He'd watched her long enough to know she was peaceful, kind, and wise beyond her years. He had nothing to worry about in regards to her nature.

Mulling over this thread of information, Onochie concluded that he had no reason to hold any suspicions about whether or not she might have committed a wrong act. He knew better than to doubt her in that manner. Still, he was rather certain she had been terrified when he ran into her in the inner courtyard.

As Onochie walked with Ezinwanyi, another thought overtook the former, filling him with pure trepidation. He wondered if she would regard him with fright if she found out what he'd done in the past. A sharp pain lodged beneath his breast upon considering that she could come to see him as a monster. Would he be able to survive if that happened? Would he be able to move forward with the understanding that maybe the gods hadn't fated them to be together? For more than a few reasons, Onochie knew he wouldn't.

He wanted to marry Ezinwanyi. He wanted her to be his. He wanted to belong to her equally. But he couldn't. Not when he'd deliberately obscured his past from her. The problem was that he did not want her to hate him. If she knew his past, he had no doubt that would be the case. Considering this, was it fair for him to make her his queen when she did not know his truth?

Onochie was torn. He had been fighting his feelings for Ezinwanyi since the day he laid eyes upon her. Watching and getting to know her had only caused the wicked attraction to grow. And now, here he was, stuck at a crossroads, unable to move forward or backward.

Because the king of Zoro had to admit that he'd been overcome with both terror and elation upon hearing the native doctor affirm that the only woman he could marry was the one he'd helped save from death's brink. More importantly, he had to accept that only little more than duty was keeping him bound to Ozioma. One way or another, he would have to keep his word to her. And for an unexplainable reason, Onochie felt himself sinking in cold dread at the notion.

"Is there something wrong, Your Majesty?" Ugegbe queried in a soft tone that barely left a mark on the silence that had bloomed over their heads.

"No," Onochie said, clearing his throat to dislodge the lump that had formed at the blatant lie. "Everything is fine, Ezinwanyi. I was preoccupied with thoughts of our marriage and the future that will come after."

Her features were blankly inscrutable as she replied, "I hope, for both our sakes and especially that of your kingdom, that the future will be filled with prosperity, Your Majesty." While Onochie was glad to hear of her goodwill, he could not help but be downcast. Of course, she had no thoughts of a destiny between them both. She probably didn't care enough to consider what it would like to have him as a husband. In contrast his brain was addled, bogged down with the dastardly feelings he harboured for her.

Onochie suddenly hated himself. He hated that he was torn over two women. That he could not decide when it came to Ezinwanyi and Ozioma. While he felt bound to the latter by a sense of duty, familiarity, and trust, he was afraid that all of these paled compared to the overwhelming, heady feeling that threatened to supplant him off his feet whenever he was near Ezinwanyi.

Even the mere thought of her caused every nerve in his body to hum with endless energy. The simple joy he felt when he saw her smiling was a phenomenon he could not explain. When she spoke, the world ceased to exist at once. All he could focus on was her and the wisdom she carried that surpassed her years.

Recently, she had become a treasure to chase after in his dreams. It was also with shame that he admitted she stirred his blood with warm sentiments that made his manly traits crave her without a single effort on her part. Never had he been this inconsolable over not having a woman in his arms. Knowing she was not his and that there was the possibility she may have known another in her homeland did nothing to dilute the hunger incinerating him from the inside.

Knowing he had veered onto treacherous paths with the trajectory of his thoughts, Onochie tried to backtrack. He thought of trees and stubborn grass and goats. Yet he could not erase the thought of her bound to his arms, pressing herself against his hard body. By the gods, he was a damned cad!

Lost in the middle of the fight against himself, he stumbled over his feet—submitting to the fate he'd barely avoided earlier—and nearly plowed into Ezinwanyi. "Your Majesty!" She gasped, stunned—Onochie was sure—at the foolish display before her. But then she began to laugh. A belly-aching, rib-cracking kind of laughter he knew came from a rich, genuine place.

Onochie could not help but grin, and when she wouldn't stop chortling, chuckled and then ultimately laughed aloud at himself. It was like a madness had completely overtaken him. He could not stop.

Finally, he regained his composure long enough to note they had arrived. There it all was. The very portrayal of his oldest nightmare—his own wedding. The ceremony was already in full swing even without the participants. Onochie watched, half in awe, as group after group of villagers trooped into the queen mother's compound, hands full and eyes darting left and right in wonder.

Some of his eager guests had set up seats under mango and orange trees. Many more stood in the hot sun. Zoro's chiefs were not under one or the other group. Instead they were spread regally under the thatched shed allocated to the king and his wife. One would think they were the ones to be married. Even the queen mother had not hoarded the king's space as they'd done.

She was contented to sit under her own roof half a metre from his. Onochie could spot the pristine wrapper around her chest from a neighbouring village; well, it also helped that her procession was lined up neatly behind her. But that was beside the point. The point was there were empty seats for Zoro's officials next to the heads of the various administrations of the palaces. But of course, Iwegbuna and his men would search for an avenue with which they could distinguish themselves from the lower-ranked servants.

Having known the chiefs for years and become acquainted with their tendency to employ wicked ploys, Onochie was thoroughly annoyed. He looked around at the crowd stood about with hope and watchful anticipation. Faces were brightened with huge smiles and moving laughter at the palpable restiveness in the air, which fed on the thrum of a festive event, and he felt his lit wick of annoyance die into oblivion. He was surrounded by those who loved him. That was a joy in and of itself.

These were his people, his loyal subjects whom he had sworn to protect, and he knew nothing would stop him from doing so. He would ensure their safety for the rest of his life, if the gods willed it. Taking another winding sweep through the grounds, Onochie felt his gaze stutter on Ezinwanyi. She had wandered away from his side, and was now in the midst of two maidens. One of them was strikingly familiar, and it was she whom Ezinwanyi turned to laugh at something she had said.

The king felt a pinch of jealousy at hearing her mesmerising laughter. He wished dearly that he was worthy enough to draw out that smile that seemed to be capable of lighting up the skies on the nights of the sprit-crossing. He would give anything to see her smile up at him with nothing other than fondness behind her entrancing eyes. For Ezinwanyi had bewitched him in ways he could not explain. And for some unknown, foreign reason, he had no intention on breaking out of her spell.

Indeed, Onochie would not dream of a world where he had not met her, where he hadn't tasted what it was like to fall for such an incredible woman. And watching her laugh in that gentle yet unrestrained manner, the king realised he would do it again. Even if it meant subjecting himself to a dilemma such as that he was currently stuck in...he would fall in love with her over and over again.

Because Onochie was not as selfless as his people thought him to be. No, he was the greediest fool who could not bring himself to let go of this wondrousness that was loving and caring for her. Ezinwanyi.

However, his greed had limits. No matter how much he coveted the beauty, he couldn't betray her like this and still claim to be in love with her. Wickedness of this kind could never be justified. And in that simple moment, Onochie hardened his heart and accepted the decision he had long avoided since he first met the dark maiden.

With that, the king set out to retrieve his bride.