Year: 1886
Obi had a decision to make.
He lay awake in the darkness, listening to Adaeze's steady breathing beside him. Three years at the secret forge. Three years of lies to the woman who shared his bed, the son who looked up to him.
Now they wanted him to recruit.
"You know good men," Eze the foreman had said. "We need more hands. Production has to increase."
More hands meant more weapons. More weapons meant a better chance when the British came. Every rifle was a choice, a possibility.
But more hands also meant more lies. More lives bound to secrets that pressed down like the weight of the earth.
Adaeze stirred beside him. She thought he was having an affair. Better she think him unfaithful than know the truth. An affair could be forgiven. Treason against the British would bring death to everyone he loved.
Tomorrow, he would have to choose.
---
The evening brought a rare moment of peace.
Obi sat with his son Chidi on the steps of their compound, watching the day surrender to dusk.
Chidi was ten now--old enough to notice things, young enough to still ask the questions adults learned to suppress.
"Papa, where do you work?"
The question hit like a blow.
"At a forge, my son. Making things."
"What kind of things?"
"Important things. Things that protect our family."
"I want to work with you someday."
He pulled Chidi close. "Maybe you will. When you're older."
If we survive that long. If the secrets I'm keeping don't destroy us all first.
But looking at his son's face, Obi knew what he would do.
He would recruit tomorrow. Because the alternative was surrender.
---
The morning brought clarity.
Obi found Emeka at his usual spot near the cloth merchant's stall.
Emeka was Adaeze's cousin--a carpenter known for careful work and honest dealing. Steady. Quiet. The kind of man who could keep secrets.
"I have something to show you. But once you see it, there's no going back. You'll be bound to something that could cost you everything."
Emeka's expression didn't change.
"What kind of something?"
"The kind that changes everything. The kind that could get us both killed. But also the kind that might save everything we care about."
"My grandfather fought in the last war," Emeka said. "He told me about what the Europeans did to other kingdoms. The Ashanti. The peoples of the coast. He said we were living on borrowed time."
"The time is running out." Obi leaned closer. "The British are already moving. Trading posts becoming military bases. Traders counting our warriors."
"Then what?"
"Then we make sure we have something more than luck and walls."
"Show me."
---
The walk to the hidden forge took two hours through forest paths.
When they emerged into the clearing, when the compound came into view with its smoking chimneys and constant hammering, Emeka stopped.
"How many people work here?"
"Fifty. Sometimes more."
Inside, the forge compound was a world unto itself. Furnaces blazed. Workers moved between stations. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of hot metal.
And everywhere, weapons.
Rifle barrels cooling on racks. Completed weapons standing in rows.
"This is what I do." Obi's voice was steady. "Building weapons so that when the British come, we'll have something to fight back with."
"How long until they come?"
"Years. The fever visions showed the king what's coming, but we don't know exactly when. Could be a decade. Could be sooner."
"What do you need me to do?"
"Learn. Work. Keep the secret. And when the time comes, be ready to fight."
"That's everything."
---
Emeka took Obi's hand.
"I'll learn what you need me to learn. I'll work as hard as anyone. And I'll keep the secret until the day I die." He paused. "What happens with these weapons? Just defense?"
"Defense is the beginning." Obi looked around the workshop. "But the king has larger plans. Warri for naval facilities. The Ijaw delta for waterway control. The Igala kingdom for the northern rivers. We're not just building weapons to hold walls. We're building weapons to take them."
"An empire."
"A naval and river empire. Strong enough that the British can't simply march in and claim us. By the time they come, Benin will control the coast, the delta, and the northern trade routes. We'll be too large to swallow."
"And these rifles?"
"Will help our soldiers secure those territories. The Itsekiri integration begins within months. Our troops will need weapons. The Ijaw negotiations may require military persuasion. The Igala might need convincing."
Emeka nodded slowly. "Then we'd better work fast."
"Welcome to the forge."
---
Evening found Obi walking home through fading light.
Adaeze met him at the door.
Her eyes searched his face, looking for the exhaustion, the distance. She found them. But today, there was something else.
Something that almost looked like peace.
"Another long day?"
"They're all long days now. But today was a good day."
"The work is progressing?"
"The work is progressing. And it's expanding." He kissed her forehead. "Everything I'm doing, it's for us. For Chidi. For the future."
She studied him for a long moment.
"Dinner is ready."
---
They ate together--palm oil stew with pounded yam. Chidi talked about his day. Adaeze listened with patient attention.
And Obi watched them both.
This is what we're protecting. Not just walls and bronzes. A family eating dinner together. A boy talking about lizards. A woman who loved him.
Outside, night settled over Benin City.
And somewhere in the forest, the fires burned on. The hammers rose and fell. The weapons multiplied.
The forge had gained one more worker today. Tomorrow, it might gain another.
One rifle at a time.
One recruit at a time.
Until the naval empire was complete. Until Warri was secured. Until the Ijaw channels flowed with Benin's trade. Until the Igala territories strengthened the northern flank.
Tonight, there was family.
And that was worth everything they were building to protect.