Asake is a sophisticated, classy Yoruba woman who has never been in control of her life choices - her education, friends, marriage, everything. Her family arranged her marriage to Chief Adebiyi, which was far from fruitful.
She only matters in her marriage because she's the only one out of Chief Adebiyi's many wives to bear him a son. Her son, Ademide, is all that matters to her. She begins the story docile, but her feral maternal instincts are exposed when her son is in danger. Asake's docility presents as a subdued temperament, a passive attitude to life, and a tendency to avoid confrontation.
Her husband is the Abobaku, and although enjoying the fruits of being married to him, when her husband goes missing and the council demands her son as his replacement, Asake goes over and beyond to protect her son.