1 Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

NIGHTMARES(Epilogue)

A beautiful girl clad in a royal robe, her hair adorned with beads and cowries, dripping her glamorous personality as she soared high in the beautiful blue sky, the Princess figure levitates in the sky, she was as beautiful as a budding rose flower, a veil over her face obscuring her facial features, she elegantly loomed down upon a kingdom of great civilization, she could clearly see smokes puffed from factory chimneys, men and their chariots moving to and from, children playing in the empty fields, several livestock and herds of cows, she drank in the beautiful sight and glorified in it, but suddenly, an incredible dark wind blew towards the beautiful kingdom from an opposite direction, the wind to form, the face of a beautiful but aggressive woman, it continue through the kingdom ravaging everything on her path, pulling down mighty towers, bringing to rubble huge temples and displacing the inhabitants.

The beautiful princess could not interfere even when she tried to, her body refused to move, she stood there spellbound until the mighty wind blew across and to the end of the kingdom taking the civilization with her, and when the tide past, the tumult Subsided, to the awe of the princess the kingdom below had been laid desolate, the livestock were no more, carcasses of men lie here and there, the beautiful green vegetation had become eerie of abandoned land, the mighty buildings had crumpled to the ground. The fair Princess cried out bitterly as she beheld the heart-breaking sight, she tried to raise a finger but was withstood by an opposing force, what could this be, she made several efforts to move but to no avail, she cried out in anger and let out a great aura that blinded the skies.

******

"Father! father!! Father!!!" The voice of a little girl called as she ran through the large throne room in fear. The throne room was majestic, an ancient monument representing the unrelenting push of the kingdom towards greatness.

An elderly man in his 70's, King DUNUSE, a figure of immense power and countenance, resilient eyes yet caring at least to his little daughter, he stooped down and scooped up the 14-year-old adorable girl in his arms and enveloped her in the confines of his bosom, he cuddled and rubbed her back gently.

"OLAEDO my dazzling star you've had yet another dream," the king said knowing already what was wrong with the little child. She huddled further into her father's bosom trembling in fear.

This same scenario had replayed over and over again for at least five years, the princess had always had a dream every single night and each time she tells the dream, it turned out to be the same dream 'every time'.

As a kid she couldn't handle the trauma that came with the dreams, it affected her so much that she only can stay, talk or play with her father the King, she developed a repulsion to the palace maidens and guards who were recruited to care for her, she had no known friend and had become the greatest of all wallflower.

This had bothered the king a lot, he had summoned various priests and wise men from far and wide, in search for an interpretation of this horrible dream and its effect upon his daughter, but they end up telling him each time that the dreams had everything to do with the Kingdom's future but wouldn't want to talk about the girl directly, they feared the news might affect the king's psyche and morals.

What stressed the king most, was how his innocent daughter and only heir was laden with such an enormous burden to foresee the destruction of her father's kingdom. But since there wasn't anything anyone could do about it, he then made sure he would watch the child all through till she had grown to be a woman and until she was married. As for the destruction of the kingdom by whatever force there could be, doesn't bother the king in any way, he was quite prepared both physically, spiritually and in warfare to face any challenge that comes his way. He continued multiplying his army and preparing for the impending doomsday.

*****

The great and prestigious kingdom of Azukah stretches into the distance as far as the eyes could see, it was a majestic kingdom, located beyond the river Mori at the foot of mount Kaborh, a very powerful kingdom in terms of military might, prosperity and serenity, this caused the kingdom to be populated by outsiders who are not indigenous to her, but came to live there because of their businesses which were flourishing and clerical jobs, the kingdom was always marked with great merriments and flamboyant parties hosted by rich individuals. Above all, the kingdom was remarkably free from terrorist attacks and invaders as could be seen in other kingdoms.

At the centre of the kingdom amidst the mountains of Ashtoth sits the royal castle of Great king Dunuse, a mighty king who is revered in distant lands, his fame have traversed round the world, and he was notorious for his good deeds and for the countless battles he had fought and won, There is nothing possibly lacking in his life except one thing. He had no son who would succeed him, he was blessed with just one daughter before his wife HRM. Chikelu died, she died of the heartbreak of not being able to bare a male child, the pressure from villagers and the kingdom's kingmakers drove her insane and she took Ill and died of high blood pressure.

The King named his daughter OLAEDO translated from Azukah language to mean Gold or Cherish because she was all that The King had left, for now at least, the king loved her and valued her more than anything in his life. She was the future of The great Kingdom of Azukah. She was trained to know the rudiments of a true queen to be.