AUREN WATA BAKWAI

Description

In the dead of night, a young Fulani girl, Gaaji, no older than 14, stands at the palace gates, trembling and sobbing as she clutches the entrance, pleading in broken Hausa to see Prince Adeel. Her desperate cries, laced with a thick Fulani accent, reveal her anguish: her father, Baffa, is gravely ill, and she seeks the prince’s help. The palace guards, skeptical and harsh, accuse her of witchcraft and threaten her with whips, driving her to flee in terror. As she runs, a sleek Mercedes-Benz ML350 pulls up, and Adnan, a close aide, spots her distress. He calls out, stopping her as she stands frozen, her ragged Fulani attire and disheveled appearance betraying her dire situation. Despite her fear, her natural beauty shines through.

Adnan gently questions her, learning her name—Zainab, known as Gaaji from Rugar Jauro. Moved by her plight, he leads her into the palace to meet Prince Adeel, a regal figure exuding authority and charisma, whose striking features and commanding presence reflect his royal blood. Adeel, initially dismissive, is outraged when Adnan brings Gaaji into his private parlor, a space even his mother rarely enters. Adnan pleads for Gaaji, urging Adeel to help her father, but Adeel, steeped in pride, refuses, callously wishing death upon Baffa and ordering Gaaji’s removal. Adnan, defiant, challenges Adeel to act himself, sparking a tense standoff.

Reluctantly, Adeel offers a shocking condition: he’ll marry Gaaji for seven months, funding her father’s treatment abroad, but will divorce her afterward. Gaaji, horrified, rejects the proposal, unable to fathom marrying someone who wishes her father harm. She flees, reaching her village after an arduous journey, only to find Baffa’s condition worsening. Desperate, she races back to the palace, interrupting Adeel with another woman, Safina. Overwhelmed, Gaaji agrees to the marriage out of necessity. The wedding is swiftly arranged in secret, with Adnan and Shamaki as witnesses. Uwar Soro, Adeel’s caretaker, prepares Gaaji, who resists the unfamiliar rituals of bathing and grooming, her fear and defiance clashing with her new reality. Meanwhile, palace intrigues unfold as Fulani Babba and Hajiya Maimuna plan Adeel’s marriage to secure his succession, unaware of his secret union, while rivals like Hajiya Rabi plot to undermine it.

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