Chapter 1

He was very deep in thought. The king rolled from side to side on his bed and couldn't sleep not that he has insomnia or any sleeping disorder and like problems. His bother now is probably about the barrenness of his dear wife the queen.

The gentle breeze and the fresher air in the room through the vent of the windows was not even enough to put the king to sleep. He was so engulfed in thinking that he did not feel like sleeping. His worries were many to put him to sleep. Nothing seems to make the king sleepy, not even his lovely wife whom he loves dearly.

Nana Sarpong-Kumankumah has no child to succeed him. It devastates him every now and then giving him sleepless night. What saddened the king most was that not only himself was suffering but also his dear wife and the entire town of Boman.

He loves the queen dearly and would not like to do anything to hurt her. But this is a situation where his dear wife Nana Serwaa Akoto could bear him a child and the elders keep pressuring him to take another wife since their custom allows or says so. He looked at his wife who was lying next to him. Even in her sleep, the king could feel that his wife was not at peace.

He knows that the queen has subdued a lot of distraction and devastation from the people especially some of the elders. The king caressed the cheeks of his sleeping wife. He felt pity for her and wished he could stop the agonizing pain that his wife was going through or carry the burdens of the queen himself. He would do everything in his power or authority to put a halt to his dear wife's agony but only if it was possible.

Upon all the riches or wealth, lands and houses, minerals, plantations, livestock not to mention the poultry that he possess, he is still not delighted because of his dear wife not being able to bear him an heir to inherit the throne someday.

"Who will succeed me when I have passed on or joined the ancestors!" he asked himself.

"Must I pay heed to the elders' grievance and marry another woman?" he asked himself again. He looked at his sleeping wife before continuing.

"The elder will not agree if I say no to their decision neither will it help my wife the queen if I say yes" he sighed.

The king knew he had to chew the cud about marrying another woman. He knew deep down in his heart that no woman on earth can take the place of Nana Serwaa Akoto for she is irreplaceable.

"I love you with all my heart and I hope that our love will overcome any barricade even if I do the will of the elders" With love overcoming everything, he fell asleep in his thinking.

Procreation plays a very crucial role in marriage so in the custom and tradition of every ethnic group. So if a woman is not able to bear a child within two or three years of marriage l, then she is considered or seen as barren. Even in some part of the Akans, barren women are counted among witches. That is a belief of the Akans.

No wonder that the queen, Nana Ama Serwaa Akoto could not stop torturing and bothering herself about bearing a child for the king and the entire town. Her only prayer and supplication is to free herself the unbearable shame of barrenness. She had been to many places and has been taking all form of concoctions, drugs and herbal medicines from shrines and herbalists but all were in vain.

But still, this did not prevent her from setting her heart on bearing a child for the king.

"Nana I heard the chief priest from Asempa is very powerful and due to his help, lots of women had conceived and bore their own children" Akyaa, the queen's chief maiden said to her.

"With the herb or medicine given to them, they conceive in less than a month. His medication works like magic so I will recommend that you go there also" she said to the queen again.

"Have I committed any crime? Tell me Akyaa? Or can the gods not hear the pain am going through just to bear a child?" the queen asked.

"You are a kindhearted queen and the entire townspeople knows that you don't deserve this suffering. Also the gods are there and can hear and do everything that you have requested" Akyaa insinuated.

"Nothing is impossible when you are determined. Don't give up my queen. Maybe it is not the right time, in the due time you will hold your baby in your arms and be singing praises" Akyaa tried consoling the queen who was now in tears and could not control herself.

"Up to when will I bear a child?" she asked in a lament. A hopeful thought came into her mind.

"Don't give up" At last her mind was made up. If seeing that chief priest will hell then she will go for there is no harm in trying. She decided to see the chief priest Asempa and to do what it takes to bear a child even if the king marries another wife.