Atop the sacred hill of Bansoa, where kings of Aserewa had been buried for generations, drums beat low and slow. The final funeral rites of Nana Osei Kwabena Ankobia, the last crowned king of the Ankobia dynasty, was beginning with unease and forced silence. These rites had been delayed for several full moons but are finally being performed as custom demands.
A line of twelve cloaked figures, wrapped in royal kente that shimmered with gold thread, walked in solemn procession. They moved as one, like shadows of a fallen tree, heavy with roots. They were the last of the royal bloodline.