Part 6 (1)
Only one moon was remaining for Babida the lumberjack to commence his mission as the Commander of the imperial forces.
Two moons had already gone since the passing of Governor Kola II.
The logger woke up and got off his bed in the splendid main guest room of the administrative headquarters and went straight to the bathroom to trim his beard and shower.
Done, he searched the closet at the left corner of the room and found a brand new military uniform. There were nice silk trousers and steel hand bracelets.
He wore them on and wrapped his tusk collar around his neck. He then found a brush on the cupboard and combed his frizzy hair while looking at his out-of-norm physique in the glass.
Ready, he grabbed his beloved Herculean steel axe that he had placed by the right side of the bed, then walked away.
He arrived at the office of the late Governor's aide-de-camp Polo and was surprised to meet uncle Bibi and the young maiden Suzie who he believed were still asleep.
"Oh, Good morning all. You're very early risers." said the lumberjack.
"No, My Commander, I think you slept a bit too long, for the dose of yesterday's palm wine was a bit too high," replied Polo while laughing along with uncle Bibi and the young miss Suzie.
"Ah, yes! You're right!" Babida reacted.
"So, what time is it?" He then asked.
"Soon it will be noon." answered the late Governor's henchman.
"Oh, really? Alright!" Babida replied back.
"Hence it will soon be lunchtime. I am already super hungry." The Commander of the imperial forces to be, told Polo.
"Yes, My Commander. Certainly an imperial guard will soon come to announce to us that food is ready and served." The late Governor's aide-de-camp responded to the starved Commander.
Barely had Polo finished speaking that an imperial sentinel knocked at his office's door and stepped into the room.
"Greetings My Commanders, please be informed that lunch is ready and you may come to the canteen." The imperial sentinel announced to his superiors while placing the palm of his right hand on the temple to salute them.
"Oh, that's a bit sooner than expected. Nevertheless, It's perfect. The Commander in chief didn't have breakfast. So please take him, and his companions right here to the lunch room." Polo ordered the imperial guard.
"At your service, My Commander." He replied while giving another military salute.
The lumberjack, uncle Bibi, and the young maiden Suzie then followed him to the canteen.
As was customary the table at the other end of the room was filled with impressive quantities of food.
The two gluttonous Babida and uncle Bibi as usual jumped on the food without much manners and put in their dishes almost everything they could.
The logger took a whole grilled chicken with fried potatoes and stuffed his mouth.
As for uncle Bibi, he filled his dish with dozens of fried duck wings that he mixed with tomato stew and boiled cassava paste.
The poor young maiden Suzie watched powerlessly the epicurean spectacle of her companions.
As usual, she showed grace and style as she served herself a fair quantity of food.
She took some boiled rice, which she could eat every single day, then added some fried chicken thighs to her dish. She thereafter poured some curry-flavored sauce on the white grains.
After a few bits, the three companions were full and fortunately for Suzie, the late Governor's henchman Polo wasn't around to offer them another bottle of palm wine.
The fermented beverage would have surely caused more embarrassment to her because of the incapacity of the two big men around her to resist the temptation to drink above what they could bear.
Done, they left the canteen and returned to the office of Polo and found the latter very busy, for he was arduously preparing the transition of power to the lumberjack.
"Ah, you are back, My Commander!" The late Governor's aide-de-camp exclaimed.
"I hope you had a great time at the canteen." He said, guessing what had happened down there.
"Surely they did." said the young maiden Suzie with a little grimace on her face.
Haha!
Polo laughed, having a clear picture in his mind of the two men devouring everything they could without any manners.
"Well…" Uncle Bibi tried to defend himself and his acolyte Babida but couldn't get to the bottom of his sentence.
The latter was interrupted by his lovely niece.
"Well…it's always like that. And surely it's never going to change." She said grimacing again.
"Oh, sorry young Miss! Well, I…we…promise that next time we will be as gracious as you are." The woodsman funnily told her.
"Well, let's see!" Suzie replied to him doubtfully.j
"Okay, let's go back to business now!" uttered Polo.
"Tonight would likely be the third moon since the passing of our late Master, His Highness Kola II." The henchman said.
"And hopefully it would be a full moon, meaning the ancestors have agreed and blessed the choice of the new Commander of the imperial forces and soon the Governor of Okunde." Polo added.
"Yes, correct, Polo the cunning!" expressed uncle Bibi while calling the late Governor's aide-de-camp by his nickname.
Babida listened to the slender warrior and stayed quiet for a while, for he was beginning to visualize how tremendous his mission was.
He felt the level of seriousness it demanded and had goosebumps.
Then finally when his little moment of quiet reflection was over, he jumped into the conversation that was going on between Polo and uncle Bibi.
"Yes, comrades, indeed, tonight shall be the night of my elevation as Commander of the imperial forces." The lumberjack reacted.
"However, I won't be able to accomplish my mission without the blessing of the divinities, your help, and that of the troop in Okunde's garden." He stated with an air of great seriousness.
"My Commander, you can rely on me. I am willing to make the ultimate sacrifice should I have no choice." Polo declared to the logger.
"Same here, My Commander!" Uncle Bibi gave his commitment too.
"I may be a bit old now but I still got something in the tank. Moreover, I would rather die on the battlefield than on the comfortable couch in my chalet." He then emphatically spat out.
An atmosphere of solidarity was hence created and for the young miss Suzie, it was out of the question that she stayed aside.
Her little voice suddenly resonated and took aback the three men in the room.
"I'm coming to the forbidden mountain with you, My Commander." She exclaimed.
The big eyes of the big men nearly dropped from orbit. Their tympanums were in shock, for they couldn't believe what had just come across.
Babida looked at the young maiden and told her: "Sorry, Miss! What did you just say?"
And with even more confidence, she repeated exactly what she had spoken before.
"My Commander, the young miss is trying to say that she will be the first woman in the history of the Batang empire to defend land on a battlefield just like one of your devoted warriors." Polo rephrased the young miss' words.
"Yes, that's exactly that!" confirmed Uncle Bibi.
"Well, therefore there are going to be two headlines tonight." The lumberjack admitted.
"I may go down as the first non-member of the imperial family to ever occupy the position of Commander of the imperial forces. And the young and brave Miss right here shall become the next role model of the young girls in our land." Babida concluded.
The afternoon went on calmly and the sky began to darken, for the evening was about to take over.
The late Governor's aide-de-camp Polo hadn't taken a minute break, even to eat something.
He was so involved in the organization of the transition of power to the new Commander of the imperial forces that he couldn't spare some time for himself.
Babida and his companions, uncle Bibi and the young maiden Suzie had left him and gone back to the guest rooms, so they could get some rest and prepare for what they believed was going to be a long night.
Suddenly, the announcement horn resonated all over the administrative headquarters and Okunde's garden.
Babida, who hadn't seen the time flying by quickly, jerked from the bed and looked through the window.
The logger remarked that the night had completely fallen and a huge and full moon was enlightening the sky of Okunde.
He therefore understood that the ancestors' spirit was hovering upon him and that the divinities were putting into action the plan they had revealed to him.
Toc, toc, toc!
Someone suddenly knocked at the room's door. The woodsman rushed to open it and saw the young miss Suzie accompanied by two imperial Sentinels.
"Greetings, My Commander!" said the imperial guard in front as they made the military salute to him.
"You may come with us. It's time for your official elevation." The imperial sentinel added.
Suzie remained mouth shut and looked even more glamorous with the long golden silk gown and pearl earrings she had worn on.
The lumberjack tried to focus on whatever his comrade was telling him but couldn't help furtively glaring at the beautiful maiden.
However, it wasn't the right time to lose concentration. So he managed to get his mind where it had to be.
"One moment, comrades !" The lumberjack said to the imperial sentinels.
He then walked up to his bed, picked up his Herculean steel axe, and left with his escort.
They stopped by the office of the late Governor's henchman Polo who was along with uncle Bibi, standing and waiting for the lumberjack.
"At last, you're here, My Commander!" He exclaimed.
"Your hour has come." Polo then asserted.
"Let's go to the balcony now!" He said as he moved in front.
And as they marched to the balustrade, they could hear the clamor of an excited troop.
The tumult got even stronger when the imperial warriors at the foot of the administrative headquarters perceived the imposing physique of their next leader Babida the lumberjack.
Yeahhhhh!!!
They screamed with more vitality than at the reading of His Majesty's decree to the extent that the roar did not only reach the limits of Okunde village but went above the northern frontier and woke up the sleeping newborn Monster of the forbidden mountain as well as the nasty bats.