the broken honour
Ozo Ayota was a highly honored man in his community...drunk with power and greed to have it all. Women and seizing farms of people were his best past time. By royalty, he was to become the next chief justice of his community. But fate could be unkind and ruthless...and upturn events whenever it liked... What happened to Ayota in a gathering was sudden and unfortunate. The eyes had never seen nor ears heard of it in recent time. The lion that sport at noon stooped ...and stumbled over...and fell face down, smashing into pieces his staff of honour...wriggling on the ground like a worm in a pool of salt.
PROLOGUE
Ayota
took a long deep breath. His head dipped forward, staring hard at Eke lying
down there. This was a younger brother, an obstacle to his quest, to the throne.
Who fought him on every ground, at all fronts.
Who washed our
family dirty clothes in the public and denied me the right to the throne, he wondered. Now, look at him. He is there, lying
helpless… lifeless. No longer would he make troubles. If this is the only price
he paid for rebellion, so be it. That consent, he had refused to give me, his
brother, is making fun of him now. Who would ask him for it now? No one…no one
would ever do so. Nobody would ask for his opinion, ever again. He would no
longer be a barrier to the next chief judge of this community. He would never be a trouble to me again.
The
furtive smile came up, and quickly melted away. His teeth clamped the trembling
lips together. His face became hard. His shoulders shook. He raised his head to
the sky, looking very sad. Tears filled his eyes. Through the film of water, he
read the faces of people around him, sporting for anyone who might have
accusing finger pointed at him.
They shall never
know what happened. Anybody wishing to know will clearly taste the temper of
the lion-that-devours-at-noon, he bragged.
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