ÀWÈLÉ: Hell Hath No Fury ☑️

• two•

On the days leading up to Àwèlé's eighteenth birthday, her household was agog with preparations. Her father had bought various foodstuff and two large goats in lieu of the special day. Àwèlé was ecstatic as she counted down the days, and the whole village , including the royal family, had heard of the coming celebrations. Àwèlé, being a beautiful girl of many talents was known by everyone in the  village, and this ultimately led to problems.
These problems started when the prince, who had been on a journey to some neighbouring villages, in a quest for training and knowledge, decided to come back home. His father was ecstatic and he had been received with  celebrations and rejoicing. After a while, the prince, tired from his journeys, retired to his room in order to get some rest. But Adéronké, his father's youngest wife , would have none of that. She pounded on his door, itching to tell him about the most eligible girl in the village. "Adéoba! Open the door!. I have news o!".
In his room, the prince, Adéoba, scowled at the door and muttered angrily, "go away! I want to sleep". Then he added a polite "please" as an afterthought. Adéronké huffed outside the door. " Is it because I am respecting your privacy àbí ?. I'm coming in , you'd better be decent". And she pushed open the door and stepped in(A/n: my mom always does this 😥)
" Go and meet your husband and leave me alone", Adéoba angrily muttered to himself. Adéronké, his step mother, raised an eyebrow and asked in a deathly calm tone. " What did you just say?".
A sigh. Then,
" Nothing maami "
"Thought so."
She sat beside him and patted his leg. "What we want to discuss is for your own good, my son. You are getting older and it's time for you to take a wife."
Adéoba groaned and threw his head backwards. " Maami, I don't need a wife. I'm alright with the way my life is right now", But Adéronké was persistent and continued as if she couldn't hear him grinding his teeth together. " There is this beautiful girl in the village, every man wants to Wed her, she would be a perfect fit for you. She's...."
"Look, maami" Adéoba cut her off. "I'm tired and sleepy, can't we talk tomorrow?".
"No!" She glared at him and continued. " If you see this girl, you would forget your protests in a second. The gods really took time in moulding her, she's a good girl. Multi talented too."
Adéoba just smiled and nodded, his brain not really registering her words, eager for her to leave so he could fall into a deep dreamless sleep.
"... Promise to meet her and consider her?"
" Hmm?" He replied absent mindedly. He hadn't been paying attention to her words. Adéronké scowled and asked him again " will you  meet with her and see if she's a good fit?"
" I will, maami. Are you happy now?"
"Very" Adéronké replied, pinching his nose like she used to when he was younger, and her son smiled at her, he had missed his mother and her affection.
Adéronké stood up and patted his head. " Now go to sleep, you have a busy day tomorrow. No sleeping in for you." Adéoba chuckled.
"Goodnight mother"
" Goodnight"
When his mother closed his door, Adéoba rested his back against the wall and thought of the girl his mother had boasted about to him. He wondered if she was really like she'd been painted to be or if she wasn't as perfect as she seemed.
Shrugging, he laid down and closed his eyes. soon, he would find out who she really was.
"Soon" he whispered, as he fell into a sleep filled with dreams of a faceless girl who beckoned to him, teasing him, but was always out of his reach.