Amina came out to pick her groom. As she walked out of her tent accompanied by all the high ranking officers in her army and her friends Auta and Tanko, signals were made for the music and dancing to cease. The men who had been gathered were brought before her, about ten of them. They all stood as she sat on a bronze seat. It was a special seat made by an influential Benin trader and gifted to the Attah of Igala, but it had been taken by the queen’s army during the incursion. While nine of the men stared at the ground, one of them stared at the queen eye to eye. He did not seem scared at all. The people noticed, and they murmured.
A soldier who stood in the corner was already prepared with his knife, waiting for the queen’s order to kill him. But the soldier was disappointed. They all thought she would execute him. But she did not. She eventually chose him as her groom. The people were surprised and they murmured amongst themselves. She often ordered that any man arrayed before her who acted stubbornly should be killed. The other men were taken away and locked in a cage with others who had been captured as slaves. They were to be put in the slave trade market.
“Na gani ina,” she whispered to Tanko who was by her left. I like what I see.
Of course, she did. He was huge, with strong arms and a sculptured chest above his abdominal muscles. His inverted triangular shaped face was ruggedly handsome, perfectly complementing his attractive physique. He was about one foot taller than Amina, and looked much younger. Perhaps he was in his thirties or early forties.
The man was taken away and led to the chamber where he was to be prepared for his marriage with the queen, or more or less, his supposed last night as a living being.
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