The Governor's Son

Titilayo bounced with every gallop. At times, she found herself nearly slipping from the saddle.In front of her, Wale held the reins, his beads bouncing rhythmically with every movement of the horse.She still remembered his touch around her waist as he mounted her upon the great black stallion. Her shoe had slipped from her foot, and Wale had picked it up and placed it gently back upon her foot.He smelled of mint and cloves.Titi had considered rejecting his offer.Truly, she had.She thought of Ronke.Of Bisi.Of what people would say.Even her own conscience seemed to protest.But mind and limb were not in agreement.Her mind thought it unwise.Her body did not seem to care.So she followed him.A sudden bounce unsettled her. She felt herself sliding from the side of the horse.The stallion came to a halt.Wale reached a sturdy arm towards her and held her in place. He had noticed her discomfort.Titi resettled herself.Wale dismounted.“Move forward a bit,” he told her.She did.Then he mounted again, this time behind her.Titi could feel his breath against her neck.He slipped his hands around her sides and reached for the reins.Titi shivered.Then he spurred the stallion into a trot.They made their way along the potsherd-paved roads, passing galloping steeds, donkeys carrying goods nearly twice their weight, and carriages nowhere near as ornate as Wale's.The roads were flanked by trees and unlit lanterns that would be lit once the sun went down.They passed the House of Orunmila, the ancient Karnakian building bathing them in its gargantuan shadow.A left turn took them through the Carvers' Corner, where sculptors turned iron into art, bronze into beauty, and wood into wonders.Bronze figureheads stared down at them with lifelike expressions, eerie and uncanny.It was only now that Titi's mind seemed to return to her.She finally found the courage to ask:“Where are we going?”“We are going to see my people.”“Your people?”Titi did not realise how loudly she had cried out.“Wh... What do you mean?”She knew what it meant when a man took a woman to meet his people.“Hmm? Oh... no.”Wale laughed.“I didn't mean my people in that sense. We're not going to meet my family. Besides, you're already acquainted with them.”She was.The thought opened the door for a smile to creep across her face.The few days she had spent at the Akinsola compound had been among the best of her life, filled with the kindness of Lord Oluwafemi and Lady Funmilayo and the antics of Horse Boy.“Although...” Wale continued.Titi looked at him.“I could go with you now to meet my people in that sense.”Her heart slammed against her ribcage.Wale leaned closer, his breath falling upon her ear.“You just need to say the word.”Her heart beat like a furious talking drum.“What?” she finally managed.“Say the word, and I leave your sister and wed you instead.”Titi froze.Everywhere seemed to fall silent.What was this man saying?And with such a straight face.She could not believe her ears.No.She concluded that he must be joking.Then she gave a forced laugh.“You're such a tease,” she said.Neither of them spoke another word after that.They approached a man made of bronze.He wore the attire of a warrior, his face calm and solemn. His palms rested atop the hilt of his sword, its tip planted firmly in the earth.Beside him stood an elephant-sized rodent, the beast upon which the warrior had ridden to war centuries ago.Was it a rat?Or a squirrel?Historians still disputed the species of Jogunomi's beast of war.Once they had made their way around the lifelike statue of Jogunomi of Kurunmi, Wale smiled.It was a wicked smile.He snapped the reins.The horse surged into a gallop.“Wai—”Before Titi could utter another word, her head jerked back as the horse gathered speed.Gallop!Gallop!They flew down the road.Titi screamed at the top of her lungs.Wale laughed all the while.He only stopped when they came before a large gate.Painted above it was a great iroko tree, beneath which were the words:WALE'S DOMAINTwo guards drew the gates open.Titi was still struggling to catch her breath.“What is wrong with you? Where is this place?”“Welcome to Wale's Domain.”He wore a triumphant smile.He dismounted and turned to help Titi down.A servant approached and took the horse's reins, leading the stallion away.Titi turned her back to Wale and crossed her arms, pouting.“Oh, the witch is angry.”He laughed.“She might cast a spell on me.”He moved closer.Titi continued looking away until she felt his hand take hers.“Come.”They went.Deeper inside Wale's Domain stood a group of men waiting in what was almost a formation.Wale released Titi's hand and walked ahead.They passed through a short gate into a grassy open plain.Ahead stood a small shelter with several people gathered inside.Wale turned to face her as he walked backwards.“Meet my people.”There was an old man dressed in white, a white eye patch covering his left eye. His expression was solemn.Beside him stood a man with a brown beard who looked as though he might leap from excitement at the sight of them.A giant swung a large mace.A young, handsome man sharpened his sword.And a skinny man sat before a board, calculating strategies and moving pieces here and there.“Welcome,” called the short man, stepping forward.“Meet the White Witch of Walia,” Wale announced.“My lord,” said the short man, whose brown beard sprouted from his chin like that of an overgrown goat. “You are most welcome to our domain.”“My—”Wale corrected him.“My lord's domain,” the man amended.He bowed slightly.“I am Olalekan, but you can call me Lekan. The others call me the Joker. I haven't a clue why they do that.”“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lekan,” Titi replied.She looked at his beard.She needed no explanation for the name they called him.Behind him stepped a hulking behemoth of a man.The man dropped his weighty mace onto the ground.“This is Jaja the Giant. Slayer of Beasts.”Lekan laughed.“His true name is actually Aina.”Titi had never seen a man so large.He was almost entirely covered in thick tufts of hair and looked more beast than man. Beneath his drooping beard, he wore a nasty, frightening frown. His massive chest muscles twitched intermittently.Then he smiled.“Welcome, White Witch. We have heard so much about you.”“A pleasure to meet you, Jaja.”The giant gave her the warmest of smiles before abruptly returning to his frown.“Do you know that he is only one of two people alive to have slain a beast of war?”“That is remarkable.”The giant's frown disappeared.For a fleeting moment, Titi could have sworn she saw him blush before the frown quickly returned.Titi had heard of them both.Jaja the Giant had slain an amphibious beast at the Battle of Ifelodun.Adinoyi, the Lion of Veronya, had slain two beasts at the Battle of the Serpent's Neck.Balogun the Iron Bender had fallen by his hand.The old man was placid.Titi could not read his expression.His single eye studied her.“This is Ola the Eye-Snatcher.”Titi immediately recognised the name.It had garnered notorious infamy.Ola the Eye-Snatcher was a bandit leader who had encamped at Ajá Forest, from where he organised robberies and assaults upon travelling nobles before he was defeated by Wale.Titi found his eyes irksome.They seemed sore, heavy and sinful.The eyes of a man who had seen unspeakable things and done unspeakable things.“Quite the irony, don't you think?” Lekan went on.“The Eye-Snatcher missing one eye.”“It is a symbol of my lord's mercy.”The old man finally spoke.His single eye turned towards Wale, his expression unreadable.Then it turned towards Titi.“You are most welcome.”His voice was without tone, without emotion.Dry.Deep.Raspy.A handsome man approached her, his face aglow with a smile.He was broad-chested and broad-shouldered, with a sharp, aquiline nose and high cheekbones. His hair had been gathered into neat braids, beads dangling from their ends in a manner reminiscent of his lord Wale.He wrapped the swords he had been sharpening and handed them to Wale.Then he turned towards Titi.“Welcome,” he said.The voice revealed that the handsome man was, in actuality, a beautiful woman.“I am Yetunde,” the beautifully masculine woman announced.“Our lord has spoken quite a lot about you. You're even more beautiful than he described.”Titi's cheeks reddened.Wale's cheeks would have reddened too, had he been the same shade as Titi.“You talk too much, Yetunde,” Wale said, trying to hide his embarrassment.Yetunde smiled.Titi knew that smile.It was the same smile she had worn while watching Wale walk away with Ronke on the day of the feast.“All he does is talk about her,” the man at the board added, still moving pieces across the board.“Silence, Tunji!” Wale shouted.“As my lord commands.”The man rose.He was tall and lanky, almost frail, like a brittle tree branch.“I am Olatunji Abiodun. Though I am known, most regrettably, as Tunji the Frail.”Titi knew him.How could she not?Tales of his strategic brilliance permeated the walls of the House of Orunmila.The brightest student of Oluwasegun Aderounmu, who was himself a student of the great Ajayi.Tunji was said to be one of Walia's brightest minds, rivalling Veronya's Enesi the Lion's Cub.Tunji coughed.“As you can see, I am indeed quite frail. I can barely lift a sword.”“Yet your mind carries peerless brilliance,” Wale commented.“My lord honours me with his words.”Lekan walked towards them.“Once again, we welcome you here.”They all lowered their heads.Jaja struggled to stifle a smile.“Come,” Wale called.“There is one last member I need to introduce you to.”

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