Nyansakrom: Chapter 4

As she left the cave by a darkened route, Araba smiled to herself, "the others will be pleased to know she passed the test so quickly, yet i wonder if she will do better on the final test than the other asuafo or..." her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of two sentries who skidded to a stop in front of her, blocking her path. "halt!.. they yelled but as she continued walking, her warriors attacked them,smashing through their staffs with their own and knocking them over."tie them up and keep them in the lower crevices with the others" she said as she walked past them." my subordinates are either becoming too lax or the real prison sentries are still putting up a fight after 2 months", she sighed. either way , this prison must be completely mine in the next two days for the plan to work" she decided after stepping out into the sun and walked towards the village.

"remember, asuafo, music has always and may well continue to be the source of historical, present and future events, intoned the griot to the music group." so to disregard music is to disregard what?", he asked . one's culture, the class yelled half heartedly for the fifth time. ''who at all is this man trying to impress, whispered adisa to aba in the third row us or the absent minded looking princess on the platform behind him?". probably both". thought aba, "all the same, telling us to repeat the same thing after only two lessons is tiresome but i think i agree with him on the record taking bit.

she whispered back. 'aba, we all know that praise singers only praise those in power at a certain time. but let them get overthrown , especially illegaly, these people praise the usurpers and denounce the previous rulers." a low voice muttered behind them. "so,it continued, how can their oral records be factual?". antwiwaa. Adisa replied that is true but that doesn't apply to all the songs we know". ' anyway, who said we are going to learn praise singing anyway, said Adisa loudly. and by the way, how come you have chosen just this moment to speak to your friends, are you trying to impress us or something?'' 'class ,please be quiet , kofi the griot yelled, mistaking her voice for that of the class. 'at the age of 14 , antwiwaa sighed, "she is still too loud". now, we all know and love princess oforiwaa who is with us today, and so today, we will begin with any song she would like us to sing" he said. i will have to think about the final stages of the trading policy later, thought oforiwaa as the griot looked at her expectedly.' i don't really care about this stuff as much as thinking up policies and problem solving so I'll make this brief. "si si si si lal la ko". she said and reumed pondering over how the village could get more marketplaces and trade routes and how to get them in a win win situation with older villages.

by the time, they had sung it five times, at kofi's insistence, with accompanying instruments, she had thought up five promising ideas to share with her parents. after the class, antwiwaa , adisa and aba slowly walked to the grand kitchen for their final group work for the day. for them, learning how to cook under aba's auntie was not pleasant. in the previous month, they had been on the receiving end of dede's nit picking, when she had asked them to cook at her home last year. she complained about everything from how they stirred soup clockwise instead of anticlockwise to how they inhaled too little steam from the foods they were preparing before tasting them! 'aba, dede can cook but it just takes too long for her to do so. adisa confided. she's also that way when it comes to her strict warrior training regimen at dawn, she sighed. as they reached the entrance, they spotted Badu in the front row,already preparing something that smelt good.

as usual, "although he is a boy, badu is quite skilled in cooking just like his mother was before the arrest, aba sighed. sika, badu's mother in the previous month had been known throughout the village as the best cook, savvy market trader and a generous provider of aid. even the palace cooks met her publicly before any royal feast began. this was before she was exposed as using faulty weights and selling fake goods in the markets as well as setting up a black market. her husband's participation and in some cases control of these actions shocked the community. I don't care whether sika passed on some of her culinary skills to him or not, adisa whispered to aba, i just wish your number one fan would stop trying so hard in a class that he only visits once in a while". 'he is not trying hard , muttered aba, and he is not my number one fan, he just holds me in high regard, what's wrong with that?". dede stood in the front row, crinkling her nose at other food preparations but nodded in approval at badu, 'if it were not for his age , he would have been instructing and i would have been in the front seat". " my niece and company are late again , she sighed as they tried to sneak unsuccessfully into the backseats.

after class, dede walked with aba and her three friends. 'as expected, only badu's food was excellent but if they think i am going to comment on that, they can't be serious".she mused. 'so, aba how was music class? "boring, replied aba. very boring chimed in adisa, right, antwiwaa.'if you say so, antwiwaa coolly replied." however, she smiled, it was interesting when the griot mistook your chatter for that of the entire class, she teased. 'that is not true, I am not that loud am,I , badu. asked adisa. 'err,... oh look, a crow, said badu pointing to the sky. ''Argh, don't change the subject, badu, remember there are 3 strong women here and you are just one boy, so you better speak he truth or else... she said, rolling up her short sleeves.

they continued chatting until each person went home, minus dede and aba. at aba's house, dede asked her,'from your opinion, was sumina trying to kill you or merely wound you?' huh, i was sure that he was going to kill me since it seemed that he was not holding back but wounding me as a warning to the asafo may have been his intention all along. 'hmm, either way, dede thought , that sort of warning only occurs in wartime and i doubt if the abrewanana osuani competition would become so intense that, someone would try to knock another abrewanana osauni out of it. " but then again in the days of the settlement wars, strong captains fought one on one form opposite armies. but doing this in peaceful times and from a group of bandits , something is off" 'by the way, were his patterns hard to read, aba?. dede asked. at first yes, but later they became easier to see over time". she replied.

"so, dede thought, aba defeated him fairly . good, either way, i am doubling your training, she said the asafo attachment was supposed to take place next year as we all know. nevertheless, i will try and find out why it's being done this year . meet me in my garden a bit earlier than usual . 'earlier, said aba, well yes we can go through a few more exercises for your sake. see you tomorrow, then , dede said as she walked into the sunset.

With their faces covered in thick black warpaint and in blue and white apparel, two men watched dede from a tree branch, walk home. 'so that is asafo captain dede, the shorter one said. ataa panyin, let's grab her now.' NO! ataa kakra, said the first, we were ordered to watch the asuafo and their families and nothing more. besides, she is too powerful to take on by ourselves.we cannot risk this when everything is almost..." his words were cut short when dede lunged at them from below, snapping the branch into two.' they leapt back seconds before she snapped it and landed on the ground below.

as dede landed in front of them,with a branch in each hand, she thought, these people may have been watching me for a while, if they have the answeres i seek, i cannnot let them escape". 'from her speed, i doubt that we will be quick enough to escape, ataa kakra, I will hold her off , you must escape.ataa panyin said. no , brother , i will not leave, abena has trained us well, we can defeat even her! ataa kakra . they then charged forward, staffs twirling in their hands. dede blocked both of thier attacks with each branch and pushed them back, before swinging each branch with full force at them. they ducked and attempted to attack simultaneously from below.

however, she still managed to block them in time and shoved them with greater force into the tree. they then changed tactics and while ataa panyin leapt and swung his staff from above, ataa kakra slid on the ground and struck from below. but dede leapt back out of range and then sped to the side of ataa kakra, knocking him down beforehe could rise. she then parried ataa panyin's successive strikes and struck ataa panyin with full force by attacking with both branches. despite this , they still attempted to rise after being struck down. "as twins, they show an almost mystical connection in their attacks" she mused , before striking them both with light strikes and crushing blows.

an asafo patrol arrived at the scene to meet them lying facedown. 'we heard noises, asafo captain dede , one of the asafo said. take these twins into custody for questioning later, abakan,dede said. also begin extra patrols around this perimeter specifically. if there are any more of them lurking around , i want to know about it immediately.' she said.

the next day, aba slowly crept towards dede,who was seated otuside. 'this is ridiculous,she knows i can't use a sneak attack on her yet she insists on this before we begin sparring everyday. she mused. 'i do not expect you to ever surprise me this way, dede said. suddenly a cat sprang at aba's back but was quickly caught in midair by aba by the nape. ad it meowed in protest, dede nodded in approval, good, good, you are becoming more sensitive to sneak attacks, just as i planned. 'so , she was training me using this cat that always ends up on my head, aba realised in surprise. however, whether you exceed my expectations or not is completely up to you, she said as she rushed straight fro aba, staff in hand. aba dove to the left and picked up her practice staff but so did dede , using her staff to change her direction. this forced aba to block dede's strike with her staff. the impact knocked it out of her hand but as she fell back, she avoided falling by spinning to her left and skidded across the dusty ground.

each time, aba struck with a blow, dede parried a few, then blocked the rest and then counterattacked with a forward swing. forward leaps from aba were dodged and her low attacks were also sidestepped. aba soon followed dede's pattern , at least her dodging pattern but was still unable to hit her aside her feet once. after a while dede noted that they were done for the day. aba,she noted, you have improved a bit form simply swinging your staff around and getting knocked to the ground every day. well, thanks, aba said with a smile, 'but there is still more room for improvement. so don't get complacent'. dede said . after a quick bath ,we willgo to the main courtyard to begin your day with the abrewanana you are assigned to for today." she said before heading back into the hut.

'The day with an abrewanana occurs twice every week',said Aba excitedly, 'I will learn how to review cases first, learn from her mistakes in life and generally gain the wisdom and guidance i need to do well in the groups i have been assigned to". 'I see', smiled Dede that does sound interesting', as they climbed up the hill with other asuafo and their guardians. ' I know you will do well, my daughter, repeated ocloo, dede's mother for the tenth time. "i knew you would continue the family tradition of doing great things." she beamed.

'As it turns out, I will resume my post since i have recovered from my illlness', dede said . 'So one of the asafo leaders was your subordinate'. Aba asked. 'Yes ,he is' nodded dede as they arrived at the entrance. 'See you soon, Auntie, Maame,' aba said as she waved at them and entered the courtyard. i need to get back to work, those clothes won't make themselves' , Ocloo said as she also left downhill , waving back at dede. 'how long do you plan on hiding behind that tree, karikari, asked dede out loud which you are doing poorly by the way'. sorry , karikari said as he stepped behind a nearby tree., its just that ..." you fell guilty about not blocking the attack on my niece, don't be. if 20 bandits pressed on me at all sides , there, even i would have found it difficult to break free in time to stop it.'dede confessed.

'Alright, karikari said, i have some news to report though, sumina and his followers are not to be further interrogated and any access to them by the asafo or otherwise has been blocked.''why, do they have some infectious disease or something, dede asked. all reasons have been withheld as well. replied karikari. in my opinion , this is a bit unusual but an infectious disease may be just what that fool deserves. karikari, we will go and see abrewanana ama this evening, i need to confirm something with her.

' the dispute of twumasi vrs adu will resume'... intoned the linguist. in the courtyard, chief takyi and queen esi sat on their stools flanked by elders. seated further below the m was princess oforiwaa, their only child and watching silently were several asuafo and mbrewanana. In the first row sat aba and ama, her assigned abrewanana. the land case went on for hours until the elders called for abrewanana adwoa to help them resolve it in the decision room. Once they were out of sight, the quiet room became filled with several whispers. 'so what do you think the outcome will be, aba,” asked ama, barely suppressing a yawn. well, aba said slowly, it may not go to twumasi since he claimed ownership from a dream , which he said negated the previous deal. howver this was made between the two although details were sketchy,almost like adu was hesitant to state them for some reason, so it may not go in twumasi's favour.'

'Good, as long as subjective factors such as dreams are not used, in conflicting issues, they are easier to resolve', said ama, dreams of hope and aspirations are a different matter,arent they asked aba, "yes yes they are" ama softly replied. this subjective factor was pointed out to several osuani in the room since most mbrewanana agreed they could have been made up.

Adwoa emerged from the room with the elders and declared that adu had won the case. as they left the courtyard, ama asked, 'What is the meaning of the saying , a child can break the shell of a snail but not that of a tortoise?' .'It means that one must not try to move beyond reasonable limits' Aba replied.'Those who do so risk losing everything' ,ama added. '

'Those who clear a path need someone to to ensure that the path is straight from behind.. 'becoming overly autocratic or authoritarian as has been the case of past rulers leads to ruin. she said. 'if you do not help your friend to reach nine, you will not achieve ten'. Ama continued with Aba straining to keep up with her. 'stand in your friend's progress and you will also be denied progress yourself' . ' this is especially important in competitions and maintaining power'.

"One can never have too much wisdom' she said. ' it separates the women from the girls, the rogues from from the obedient, humanity from the beasts' no matter, how old, how desperate or weak or strong you may become, ama said slowly her eyes fully open.' never forget this'' Ama said firmly. 'yes, yes, Abrewanana Ama'' . 'good, she smiled now , i know that rumors often circulate that memorising a 100 proverbs is a sure fire way to become an abrewanana but that's just a wild rumour started by some mbrewanana that want to be held in awe. not that rumours are never truly certain, are they. they are as unreliable as liars. not that gossips are liars or anything. it's best to not state something at times unless completely certain, alright?".

in a deserted part of the forest in the afternoon, several people in blue and white stood in a circle, 'it is agreed then,I, Abrewanana Adwoa, will relay instructions to our people in the prison,Agadi you will lead the squad from the bushes in our first strike against Nyansakrom soon. We will have to do this right , given enough time, we may test Aba to see if she has what it takes to join us.". '

'humph, i think we must lay more emphasis on our grand scheme than on whether one of the most promising osuani can join us or not' said a bushy haired boy with bloodshot eyes. 'Oti, i think you are right', said Abena, we must also find a way to meet more often without worrying about asafo patrols or the dreaded nkatafo, the village spies. a murmur of approval rose throughout he crowd. we will decide on how quickly the weapons we need can be delivered by Ato', adwoa noted. "For when we strike, it must be swift and hard".