Dowry

A young king is desperately trying to hold his kingdom together in the backdrop of his diminishing powers owing to the influence of the new French colonial masters. He flexes his muscles and takes his sister out of her conjugal home by arrogating to himself the use of his traditional powers over the issue of the bride price. Her overzealous uncle with an overactive imagination challenges the new king in a French court, thereby highlighting a bizarre but insightful case of the clash of occidental and African cultures. The beleaguered princess finds herself at a crossroads and acts the best way she sees fit. "The Dowry" is the sixth story in the short story collection entitled "The Usurper: and Other Stories". It precedes "I am hated", and it is sequentially after "His Majesty's Trial".