"How long are we going to live like this?" the village women asked each other while staring at the almost dried stream.
"I told my husband about leaving this kingdom but he wouldn't stop staying, he can't leave his father's land." One of the women told the others and they went on talking about how their crops are dying since it didn't rain.
"I haven't suggested that to my husband but I will do that now that things are unbearable and if he turns down my idea, he should forget about me being his wife." Another woman said and the women burst into laughter for a few seconds before going to see if they could get water from the river in the forest.
Owu kingdom hasn't experienced peace in a long time since Okoro forcefully took over the throne and the drought made things worse. The people of the kingdom have been experiencing chaos, everyone knows the source of their predicament but no one is confident enough to challenge him.
Gloria the former Queen woke up panting.
"Are you alright?" Orji asked.
"I had a dream or should I say nightmare?" She replied.
"Tell me what it is, my wife." He replied to Gloria and got out of bed to get her water.
"We bore a child and he walked immediately after birth." She replied.
The cup Orji was holding fell from his hand and Gloria quickly jumped out of bed.
"What is it?" She stammered.
"I had the same dream some days ago but thought I was overthinking how my brother dethroned me and our barrenness," Orji replied.
***"We need to see Grandmother, she can help us shed light on the dream," Gloria suggested and they set out the next day at first light.
They arrived at grandmother's place at noon, she lives at the end of the kingdom and she was excited to see them.
"Yes will bear a powerful child very soon and he will reclaim this kingdom from your evil brother," Grandmother interpreted after they narrated the dream to her.
They were excited and were looking forward to the baby's arrival even though Gloria wasn't pregnant yet. A few years passed and they had forgotten about the dream when she conceived.
Immediately after Gloria got pregnant, King Okoro had a nightmare. He sent for the oracle diviner who immediately reported to the king.
"My King, your dream is quite complicated. A royal blood will be born and he will end your reign as a king."
The diviner was locked in the cell after interpreting the dream.
"No one must know about this and I must get rid of that child immediately."
The King made a decree that all the pregnant women in the royal family should now reside in the palace until birth. There was unrest in the kingdom after the decree was passed but the king was able to suppress it. Despite having strong armies and an alliance with powerful kingdoms, King Okoro still uses fetish powers.
The royal families bent to his rules and soon all the pregnant wives of the Royal family were brought to the palace. Orji resisted and was arrested while Gloria was taken to the palace.
"Henceforth, you all would live in the palace. Everything you need will be provided so don't be troubled." The King announced to the women and while some were sad about being separated from their family, a few of them were happy.
Gloria didn't like the idea and tried to escape several times but she was apprehended, the delivery time was approaching and Orji was troubled.
"The King must have known how powerful my son would be, he is trying to get rid of him," he grumbled while in the cell.
Months passed and the women started giving birth, all the women gave birth to female children and they weren't a threat to the throne. Gloria was the last and when it got to her turn, she gave birth to a boy.
Immediately after the king got the news, he rushed to where she was.
"Let me have the baby once you are done cleaning him up", he ordered as he paced around"
Gloria cried but was powerless and couldn't even move from where she was.
"He is a cripple, my King." The nurse told the King as she handed over the baby.
"Cripple?" He asked and returned the baby to Gloria immediately after he confirmed that the child was crippled truly.
"A crippled child is of no use to me," he said as he left the nursing home within the palace walls.
King Okoro was disturbed and sent his guards to start investigating if there was any new male child in the royal family but they got nothing.
A few months after Gloria gave birth, the king released Orji and the diviner. King Okoro felt relieved and assumed the diviner said rubbish back then.
Orji was happy to meet his son but was disappointed that he had a cripple child. They named him Nonso and took their mind off whatever prophecies and dreams.
Nonso grew like every other child, he was strong, brave and intelligent but couldn't walk. By the time he clocked 5 years, only a few people were left in the kingdom because of the drought.
"It's time we leave this kingdom, we can't continue surviving with the drought," Gloria told Orji while they were about to go to bed.
"I have been thinking about that as well but it's not raining anywhere near. We will have to travel for a month to reach where there is rain but it is a risk worth taking." Orji replied and Nonso interrupted the discussion.
"We won't leave the kingdom Papa, you and mama will take me to do the town square tomorrow," Nonso said and the couples were confused.
They went to bed and at daybreak, he reminded them about taking him to the town square.
Nonso arrived at the town square and people thought his parents brought him to beg for alms. Immediately after he was placed on his mat, Nonso closed his eyes for a few seconds and a whirlwind swept through the town square without hurting anyone.
The wind came to Nonso and lifted the mat, he began to float in the air. Everyone was surprised and after a few seconds, he started dancing. There was no drum and people wondered why he was dancing.
He hadn't danced for a minute before the cloud turned dark. After some time, it started raining heavily and the people were happy.
King Okoro got the news but didn't believe it until he saw with his eyes that whenever Nonso danced, it rained. He tried apprehending him but Nonso was too powerful despite being crippled, every attempt to capture him or his parents failed.
He got names like the bringer of rain, the god of air and others. The news went across kingdoms experiencing drought and they came looking for Nonso to come dance in their kingdom.
He was taken around by the wind and even his parents were scared of him.
"Nonso is too young for all this," Gloria expresses her fears but there was nothing they could do about it.
They accompanied Nonso to other kingdoms and the only thing Nonso asked in return for the rain was the support of other kingdoms to remove King Okoro from the throne and they agreed since they were in dire need of the rain.
On the family's return to the Kingdom, they met soldiers from different kingdoms preparing to attack Owu's palace. Nonso led them to the palace and without bloodshed, they captured King Okoro.
Orji reclaimed the throne and Nonso continued to dance for it to rain until two years after when the rain eventually fell.
Owu Kingdom experienced happiness and prosperity again.