"We are all now acquainted with each other. Based on who you have introduced yourselves as you have been judged. As you can see, not all of you were favoured. There is a slightly smaller gathering compared to your initial turnover. Please note it shall only get worse." Daa Isiguzo's nostrils flared ferociously, fanning wider than a water tunnel.

"I have noted that the lot of you have bonded with each other, forming small cliques. Do not be fooled. Such relationships will lead you nowhere. Expect your acquaintances or friends to be sent home any moment. In fact, it would do you well to fear for yourselves. Not everyone will become the king's wife. Only one maiden will be lucky enough to sit beside him. The process of selecting the bride will be fair and just. No dissents or complaints will be entertained. Whatever your lot is, you must accept it at the end of the day. Anyone who goes against these rules will be escorted off the royal family's properties and will never ever see the inner four walls of the palace in their lives."

The queen mother chuckled beside the mistress. "You have scared them enough, Isiguzo. Let the maidens be at ease. This is not a funeral." Her grin was infectious, but there weren't many women to smile back at her. Not when most were preoccupied with other matters.

"I hope that you will relate well with each other. While this is a contest, it is not necessarily a competition. Choosing the best wife for the king will benefit everyone in this kingdom. Therefore, I encourage you to present your best self today. Do not hold back from showing your talents and astonishing those about you. For you all have an equal chance to become the king's wife. And any one of you beautiful women today can become the next queen of Zoro!" A cheer broke through the previously damp crowd.

Ugegbe shucked her wrapper underneath itself to wound it tighter around her waist. What she had recently learnt zipped from one end of her mind to the next, as she was sure her confession did in the dowager queen's head. It was all fair and square: the king's mother had traded Ugegbe's secret for one of hers.

Fortunately, Ugegbe was still here. Well, it wasn't like she could be gotten rid of easily with the knowledge she was armed with. But now she was indebted to the queen mother, for she was the one person other than her father who knew who she truly was and hadn't sent her away. Though, Ugegbe couldn't be so sure she wouldn't be cast out after the queen of Zoro was decided. Time would have to tell.

"The first section of today's contest will begin with crafting Uli patterns." Ugegbe was overjoyed even as groans of dismay became the resounding response from the restless maidens. Last she checked, her talent for painting Uli was subpar. She would not have to do much to disqualify herself.

A number of guards passed wooden slates to the women seated on the red, hard clay that formed the core grounds of the dowager queen's palace. They'd moved from the place they'd camped near the servants' quarters and were closer to Her Majesty's chambers.

Daa Isiguzo continued with gusto. "The graceful swirls and elegant whorls of the art found on a woman's house and patterning her body are signs of quick, nimble hands. The queen must show precision and accuracy in what she does. She must know how far to extend her reach, when to withdraw it, and the pace she must maintain throughout. Uli is not merely drawing. It is a form of beauty. The goddess of the earth, Ala, has blessed women with the gift of Uli. Keep this in mind as you stain your designs onto your assigned canvasses. Only the favoured will be able to make art worthy of the king's wife."

Ugegbe could have laughed at the nervous expressions tugging down on the maiden next to her. On the other hand, she had no reason to care about the results. The guards were presently passing out bowls of plant dyes, and she couldn't wait to finish her painting. Once she put her skills to work, she was confident she would not make the list of select chosen.

Peering ahead, Ugegbe regarded queen mother, who was on a stool, overseeing the procession. She whispered to Daa Isiguzo, who nodded before straightening to her full height and stepping forward to, no doubt share another piece of information.

"Maidens, you are to note that after this round, there will be two more contests. Then, the top ten maidens will be chosen overnight to be announced tomorrow morning. By dusk tomorrow, the queen will be chosen to be announced on the third day of the contest. With that, you may begin your Uli once the gong rings. You will be given three verbal warnings before you are asked to stop. The gong will ring then again."

༄༄༄

Ugegbe was weary and exhausted to her bones. She'd not done anything per se, but she was tired regardless. Not doing her best had also found a way to take its toll on her. Though how this was so, she could not summon up a single presumption to make fit.

The Uli round had sailed smoothly without a hitch. For her, at least. A few maidens had been on the verge of tearing their hairs out at mistakes made or for the simple fact that they could not come up with a design to emboss on their canvasses.

Ugegbe had especially pitied those who could not stand by the drawings they'd originally made plans for. She'd wanted to cry for a particular maiden who'd erased and redrawn her whorls more than thrice. For the likes of her, it unquestionably was a frustrating experience.

Lucky for Ugegbe, she no longer had the burning desire to become queen. And if she lied to herself hard enough, she could even come to believe that the thought of being the king's wife revolted her. It didn't. Not before or after what she'd learnt. She'd be a hypocrite to let herself be the judge of what was right or wrong. Either way, she couldn't. Not when an invisible cord bridged her and Onochie as kindred souls. One that no hand could break or pull asunder.

Peeling her eyes away from the basket of foodstuff lined before the gathering, Ugegbe let her mind wander farther out to Onochie. She hadn't permitted herself to think about him ever since. But now she did. She rifted through her emotions and counted worry as the one gnawing at her most.

Ugegbe examined the sentiment, and unlike past instances, she was content to allow it to stay. It was okay for her to be concerned for him. To wonder if he was fine with the latest developments on the choosing of his bride.

She knew him to be painfully harsh on himself and hoped he wasn't creating doubts out of thin air. For it was no less of a truth that the king did not extend the same clemency he did to others toward himself.

"Prepare yourselves, maidens. Once the gong rings, you will be given until the cock's evening crow to cook a meal befitting a king. The gong will sound again to signal the end of this round. Be aware that the last contest session for the day will end with your intelligence being tested. As I have already given clear instructions on how this round will progress, I shall not repeat myself. Once you hear the gong, you are free to begin!"

The gong echoed in the courtyard, and a swarm of eager women surged forward. Ugegbe lingered, unmotivated to join in. But she had no alternative but to do so. The most she could do was delay the inevitable. Eventually, she would have to keep to her word. The dowager queen had made her vow before the Ofo staff to not betray the trust of the royal family. She had to see the end of what she had started. What would be, would be.

Most of the chattering maidens had returned to the tables set up for them when Ugegbe ambled to the spread of items. As a result of her late advancement to making preparations, there were lesser items to pick from, and it couldn't have worked better in her favour. At least, she could argue this to be the reason she was unable to concoct a meal suitable for an Eze.

Grinning, Ugegbe bent low to peruse through her options. There were yams. Lots of them. From her periphery, she could surmise many of the maidens would pound yam for their meals. Akuada was one of them. Standing not so removed from Ugegbe's spot, she washed a mortar and pestle.

For Ugegbe, there was not a moment less suited to hard work than the present. She had no intent on subjecting herself to gruelling labour. Granted that she'd spent a solid slab of her days in Osisi, slaving away without pay, this yearning to rest was understandable and could evade a possible attribution to laziness.

When her gaze snagged on the short and portly mock yams, it all clicked into place. Ugegbe knew what she would be preparing for the king. And it was one of the most lamentable of all peasant foods: coco yam. All left was settling on a miserly side dish to accompany her tubers. Then it would be perfect.

With a skip in her step, Ugegbe gathered a basket of coco yams. She would peel and cook a lot of them, so it would take her long to finish, and she would appear as if she was really trying her best and putting thought into what she was preparing.

Akuada waved at Ugegbe as she carried her baskets in passing. The wave was returned once she got one hand free to wiggle in the air.

"Are you well, Ezinwanyi?" She asked while checking on the water already simmering over the iron cage that contained burning wood shavings and coal.

Each maiden had one of the contraptions provided to them, and Ugegbe thought it was the best invention she had ever glimpsed. Not only would the fire more easily be controlled, but also there would be less risk of having one hurt themselves with an open flame. However, there was no escaping the hot iron box, as no food would be cooked otherwise. Still, there were enough positives to outweigh the negatives.

Remembering to return her greetings, Ugegbe flashed her teeth briefly at Akuada. "I am well, Akuada. I hope you are also."

"Yes, yes." She replied hurriedly as if one was pursuing her. "I am well but tired." That made Ugegbe laugh because she felt the same.

"Maidens! While you work, I must share vital information with you." Daa Isiguzo was speaking again. Ugegbe resisted the urge to vent a sigh. With the number of times she'd had to listen to the mistress, she was bound to have the woman's voice haunt her dreams. Still, she attended to her anyway. She had nothing better to do than slice the dirty skins of the faux yams.

"Ambassadors from another land have visited us today." Murmuring arose at the news. Ugegbe's brow slid upward. That was interesting to know. Could that be why the queen mother no longer oversaw the contest? She'd left a while after the gong had rang to conclude the Uli crafting.

"What has this to do with us?" Ozioma's question was loud and clear.

A vein ticked in Daa Isiguzo as she clearly tried to douse her irritation. "Your dishes will be presented to His Majesty and his guests."
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