The winds that once carried cries of anguish now bore laughter, whispers of harvest, and children's songs.
Abiriba, ancient and proud, breathed easier. The land had seen two maidens rise beyond rivalry, a prince reborn through humility, and a kingdom tempered not by fire alone, but by the slow forging of spirit and story.
In the quiet of the moon's third rise since the judgment, a sacred fire burned at the palace courtyard—lit not by decree, but by tradition. The Feast of Remembrance had come. Calabashes brimmed with palm wine. Yams roasted under banana leaves. Drummers played not for war or warning, but for joy.
At the center of the gathering, Queen Uzoaru sat beneath the ogbu tree, her head crowned not with jewels, but with scented flowers picked by village children. Her lap cradled a small clay journal—one she had started the night after the prince awoke.
She had written of the river that demanded silence, the forest that whispered names she feared, and the choice that bent her path toward a future she hadn't sought—but now embraced.
Across the field, Nwanne danced with the young maidens, her steps light but precise, instructing with laughter and pride. She wore no bitterness—only wisdom won the hard way.
She had chosen to rise again, not as queen, but as a pillar. And the girls of the land had begun to listen.
King Nwabueze watched both women, his gaze full of gratitude. His illness had stolen time, but in its wake, he had found clarity. He ruled now not as a prince with ambition, but as a man forged by trial, tempered by love, and humbled by consequence.
Later that night, Uzoaru would return to the same grove where she was fortified. She would offer kolanut to the earth, pour libation to the ancestors, and whisper:
"I did not walk alone. The road walked with me."
And in the wind, in the trees, in the hush of the earth below—the spirits would answer, not with thunder, but with peace.
The curse had lifted.
The crown now rested.
And the tale of a prince, two maidens, and the land that tested them... would live forever in the songs of Abiriba.