Year: 1885
The drums began at dawn.
Not the mournful rhythm of death but the thunder of celebration. A sound that had marked the coronation of every Oba for generations, echoing across Benin City and into the forests beyond.
Thousands filled the grand plaza. Farmers from villages three days' walk away. Merchants who had closed their stalls for the first time in years. Warriors in ceremonial dress. Children held on their parents' shoulders, straining to see.
Akenzua walked the ritual path in full regalia--coral beads heavy around his neck, his wrists, his ankles.
"The king approaches!" heralds cried.
"The kingdom awaits!" the crowd roared back.
---
The procession moved slowly. Priests preceded him, swinging incense burners. Drummers walked alongside. Warriors in ancient armor flanked the path.
Behind Akenzua, the court followed in strict order. The Uzama kingmakers. The great chiefs. The nobles and officials who formed the machinery of government.
Esohe walked among the royal women, her face composed, her eyes missing nothing.
The sacred space waited at the plaza's center. A raised platform surrounded by symbols of royal power. The ancestral sword. The bronze masks of past Obas. And at the center, the coral crown.
Chief Oliha waited there.
"Do you accept the burden of the throne?"
"I accept."
"Do you swear to protect Benin and its people?"
"I swear."
"Do you pledge to honor the ancestors and maintain the traditions that have sustained us?"
"I pledge."
"Kneel before the ancestors."
Akenzua knelt. Around him, thousands held their breath.
Oliha raised the coral crown.
"In the name of Osanobua who created all. In the name of Olokun who guards the waters. In the name of every Oba who came before."
The crown descended.
"Rise, Oba Akenzua of Benin."
He rose.
---
The crowd's roar shook the plaza. King. He was king now.
The ceremonies continued. The oath of the chiefs, each one kneeling to pledge loyalty--even Osaro, his face a careful mask. The blessing of the priests. The presentation of the symbols of office.
Through it all, Akenzua's eyes never stopped moving.
Osaro watched with calculation poorly hidden behind celebration. Itsekiri merchants from Warri assessed the new ruler who had spoken of territorial integration. British observers took notes for reports that would be read in Lagos and London.
And everywhere, scattered through the crowd, Osarobo's people. Watching the watchers. Protecting the king they had helped to make.
---
The final ceremony was the presentation of the new Oba to his people.
Akenzua walked to the edge of the platform, looking out over the sea of faces.
"People of Benin! I accept the crown not as a privilege but as a duty. I will protect this kingdom. I will strengthen it. I will pass it to my children stronger--and larger--than I received it."
The crowd roared approval. But Akenzua's next words were not in the traditional script.
"Great changes are coming. Foreign powers gather on our coast, hungry for what we have built. They come with treaties that promise friendship and deliver slavery. Benin must be ready. We must be strong. We must be united."
The plaza fell quiet. These were not comfortable words of celebration.
"And we must grow." His voice hardened. "The Itsekiri at Warri were once our vassals--they will be again. We will establish naval facilities on the coast. The rivers of the delta carry our trade to the sea--we will control those rivers through partnership with the Ijaw, who know every channel. The Igala kingdom controls the Niger-Benue confluence--they will ally with us or submit to us."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. This was not traditional kingship. This was ambition on a scale most had never heard articulated.
"By the end of this decade, Benin will function as a naval and river empire. The Urhobo will provide agricultural support. The Isoko will maintain our trade networks. Every territory will serve a purpose, and every purpose will serve Benin's survival."
"Work together. Trust each other. And trust me. I will earn that trust by building something greater than our ancestors dreamed. An empire that cannot be conquered. A people who will never kneel."
Silence stretched. Then, from somewhere in the crowd, a voice called out.
"Oba ghato kpere!"
Others took up the cry.
"Oba ghato kpere! Oba ghato kpere!"
---
The coronation feast lasted until dawn. But Akenzua slipped away before midnight.
In his new chambers, he stood at the window and looked out over his city.
Esohe found him there an hour later.
"You should be at the feast."
"The feast doesn't need me. The chiefs need to see each other, make their alliances." He turned to face her. "The speech. Did it work?"
"Some people heard a warning. Some heard a promise. Some heard a king who intends to conquer." She moved to stand beside him. "The Itsekiri merchants looked nervous. They'll carry word to Warri. The Ijaw traders are already calculating how to position themselves."
"Good. Let them understand what's coming."
"You're confident."
"I'm realistic. We have weapons they don't have. Training they can't match."
She studied his face. "You're different now. The crown changes things."
"The crown is just a symbol. The power was always there." He picked up the crown. "But you're right. Something has changed. When I was prince, I was building toward something. Now I have to use what I've built."
---
"I made promises today," Akenzua said. "To protect them, to strengthen them, to expand their borders. I promised things a traditional king would never promise."
"Can you keep them?"
"I don't know. The enemies are too powerful, the timeline too short." He met her eyes. "But I'll die trying."
"Then we'll die trying together."
Outside, the sounds of celebration continued. A kingdom celebrating its new ruler, unaware of the forces gathering against them.
"Get some rest," Esohe said. "Tomorrow, the next phase begins. Envoys to Warri within the week. Proposals to the Ijaw trading chiefs. Overtures to the Igala king."
"The transformation of Benin into a naval and river empire."
"Yes. And you'll do it as king, not prince. Your orders carry the weight of the throne now."
"And my failures carry that weight too."
"Yes. That's what it means to rule."
Akenzua stood at the window until dawn touched the eastern sky. A new day. A new reign. A new phase in the war for Benin's survival.
He looked at the crown in his hands. Then he set it aside and began to prepare for the work ahead.
Whatever came next, he would face it as Oba.
That would have to be enough.