THE PRINCE AND THE WITCH

A powerful king captures Prince Ebuka while on his way to bring home the Ikenga, the village symbol of power. 

After working as a slave on the king’s farm for a while, the king decides to set Prince Ebuka free on one condition.

The prince must tell him within a year what he will do to make his wife happy or forfeit his head.  

In his search for the answer, he visits an ugly witch who tells him he has to marry her to get the answer. 

And so, Prince Ebuka finds himself between a rock and a hard place, and time is ticking away. 

Chapter one

The guard in front of them stopped, turned and put his hand across his lips. "Shhh!"

Prince Ebuka and his friends halted and held their breaths.  As their eyes scanned their surroundings, ears attentive to the sounds in the forest, they heard a susurrus of running feet. Before they could react, fierce-looking men surrounded them. 

Two burly men who had shadowed them throughout the journey to foil their mission watched the skirmish from a distance and then ran back to the village to announce the capture of the prince’s entourage to the man who sent them.

Prince Ebuka was an only child and heir apparent to the throne of the Ozala kingdom. As a child, his father sent him to a faraway land to a man known to possess wisdom and knowledge. His father wanted the man to train Ebuka and impart him with abilities to enable him to rule the kingdom wisely when he ascends the throne.

After many years as a sojourner in that faraway land, Ebuka’s father died, and he returned home to bury him. As the only son of his father, the throne belongs to him. But before ascending the throne, he had to observe a one-year customary mourning period for his father and embark on a task that would give him the right to the throne. 

While waiting for the mourning period to be over, Ebuka threw himself into learning the customs and traditions of his people. He left the village as a young man and was away for a long time. Now that he was back, he had to ingrain himself into the people’s hearts to gain their support when he became the king.

Prince Ebuka learnt humility and kindness from his master. His diligent acts and humbleness endeared him to the people, who lauded his good heart and eagerly waited for the day they would crown him king to take over the full rein of the kingdom under the control of his uncle Udensi. 

At the king's death, the mantle of authority fell on Udensi as the king’s brother and an elder in the king's cabinet. He took charge of the kingdom's affairs until they enthroned the prince, the king of the community.

But unknown to the prince, Udensi had no intention of relinquishing the throne. Udensi felt he was the right man to ascend to the throne, not Ebuka, a boy he knew when they married his mother and gave birth to him. 

The more Ebuka's kind gestures endeared him to the people, the more jealous Udensi became. The accolades Prince Ebuka received from the people tore at his heartstrings and made him more determined to destroy him and hold on to the crown.

On the last day of mourning, the late king’s household gathered all the black clothes the family members wore and set them ablaze as a sign that the mourning period was over. Later, the family held a memorial celebration, a last farewell to the king as he journeyed to the land of his ancestors. 

The next day, Prince Ebuka and two of his friends, Agu and Udoka, and two guards had set out to the Amaofia forest for the prince to retrieve the Ikenga, a staff of office that would earn him the right to ascend the throne. 

Before the king’s death, the chief priest took the Ikenga, the sceptre of power and hid it in the thick forest of Amaofia. According to custom, the next man to ascend the throne must embark on a journey to the Amaofia forest to bring the Ikenga back to the palace. If successful, he would wear the crown and become king of the land.

It was a two-day journey, and they were close to the sacred grove, the hidden place of the Ikenga. When some unknown men attacked them, the prince’s guards fought gallantly to save him, but the men overpowered them and took them away as captives.