12 Yishumi nambili

I dressed in haste, making sure that all of the necessary crests and ancestral tokens were visible, then made my way towards the banquet room.

When I reached the bottom floor, I was greeted by the sight of dozens of Chiefs, royals and other dignitaries all posed around the lobby. They were all engaged in conversation, some more lively than others. I recognised of few of the older faces and took a moment to place some of the younger ones. Time certainly smiled on our kind. As I stepped further into the room, some of the conversations turned hushed and eyes fell on me frequently. I knew what they were talking about, but I tried my best to remain calm.

Scanning the room quickly, I noticed Riley talking to an attractive man. He was laughing at something she said, and she was touching his shoulders playfully. The display was not helping my temper. I walked over to them unknowing.

I reached them, standing beside Riley, and placing my hand at the base of her back. I caught the bronze-haired man's attention. He smiled and met my eyes, offering me his hand. The tattoo of a feather on his forearm told me all I needed to know.

"Nikola," I introduced myself before gesturing to his arm, "you must be the Chief Kefetse Sawan's son."

He smiled and replied: "Katlego, but my friends call my Kat." His eyes fell on Riley again and I bit my tongue from growling at him.

"Well … Katlego. I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend. The princess and I are going to take our seats soon," I said, hoping that he caught the hint. He did. He bowed once more to Riley and strolled off.

"Let's go inside," I said to Riley. She was glaring at me, but I chose to ignore it.

I let her to our demarcated seats, my hand still secure on her lower back. Neither of us had commented on it so there it remained. As we reached the table, I pulled out her chair. She rolled her eyes, blushing, and took her seat.

I looked around the room, at all of the chiefdom ambassadors. Each tribe was grouped together and decked out in their ancestral colours. The room was decorated with the crest embroidered banners of each tribe.

Two banners stood out from the rest. The first was a blue and grey banner of the Neberu tribe. The boy sitting beneath it was new. He must be the new chief, Lwazi. His curly afro and black eyes were a clear giveaway. He was timid and frail compared to his legendary father.

The second banner was far worse to look at. It was my banner – my family's more specifically. It was pathetic to see the abandoned purple banner fly among those of chiefs. The sight of its wilted branches made me sick to my stomach. It had no place being up there – the Achebe tribe was no more. Its chief was dead, and its people were fighting in different colours now.

I glared at it until Riley knocked my arm. I turned forward to the head of the table once more. The master conductor of the ceremony took to his feet. He made the usual formal salutations to each tribe, according to their respective customs. When he got to me, he coughed sightly and immediately moved onto paying his respect to Riley.

"We are all every honoured to have your presence with us, princess," he said. His posture was rigid and his voice shaky. Everyone's eyes were on us now – on Riley. She was a bit nervous, but she always flourished in the spotlight. This was her moment. It was her first official appearance as the princess of the southern territory.

"I am honoured that the ancestors have given me their trust," she said. I was almost impressed by her poised resolve as she spoke.

I heard a scoff coming from the far side of the table. It belonged to Chief Kefetse Impundu, the father of the redhaired pest that was bothering Riley earlier.

"Do you have something to say, chief?" she asked.

"You have a very poor choice in companion, princess," the chief spat. I could feel the heat radiate off Riley's body and her temperature increased.

"Nikola has every right to be here; she has more right than most of you, I would argue," she said. I tried to get her attention by squeezing her thigh, but she didn't let up. I knew better than to verbally interrupt her in front of others.

"She has no right! She renounced her responsibilities and abandoned her people!" he bellowed.

It was my turn to raise my voice: "Be careful how to talk about me. I may walk among you and bleed like you, but I am still the child of an orisha." There was a rumble of thunder outside, misplaced against a blue sky. "I made mistakes. What I did was not out of bravery or honour it was out of fear and grief. Something all of you seem to forget it is that, when you lost your king, I lost my father!" My voice was trembling, but I didn't care. I tried to remain calm and maintain eye contact with the miserable old man.

Everyone was whispering amongst themselves until Riley growled under her breath, silencing them. I met her eyes and for a second, I felt calmer.

"I am not here to cause trouble. I was asked by our ancestors to guard our future queen until she is ready to step up and lead us," I reassured them, they looked visibly pleased until I spoke again, "then I will return home."

"Yes, my informants tell me that you are intimate with ghosts now. Like father like daughter," another relic mocks. I roll my eyes – this was water off my back by now. I was used to my whispered titled of 'phantom seed'. How brave he was to mock his King from above his grave.

"Look at you, sparks, seducing the enemy," a familiar voice said. It was the approving call from the infamous and always fashionable Zain. They were chief in their own right but refused to go by their family's name. They claimed that their name was title enough. I rolled my eyes at their comment but only after I'd already chuckled.

"What? We should applaud one of our own using her African wilds to conquer the ghost. I didn't know they had a pulse, but this is good to know. I might try out the northern cuisine for myself," they said, winking at me.

This was going to be a long weekend.

The rest of the dinner was as relaxing as a sunstroke. I tried my best to bite my tongue for the rest of the evening until Riley and I could retire to 'our' room.

At least Quaahir was enjoying himself. He and Zain spent a large portion bonding over my disgrace – much to Riley's amusement. At least the food was good.

"Well that was interesting," Riley said sarcastically as I closed the door behind us. She flew backwards onto the bed like a starfish. I chuckled at her childishness. It was so crazy at the difference in demeanour she had when she wasn't in the spotlight. Then I remembered that we weren't exactly on speaking terms. Somewhere through the course of the evening, our little argument had slipped my mind. Riley seemed deep in thought. Maybe she remembered too.

"You might wanna get ready for bed, Riley. Unless you want to sleep drench in toxic energy and a pantsuit," I told the princess. She didn't reply. She only huffed and rolled off the bed. I prepped the sleeping mat while she was in the bathroom. When she returned, she rolled her eyes at my set up and told me the bathroom was free.

I walked into the beige room, unsurprised to see that she had already messed up the once clean room with her millions of specialized hygiene and skincare products. Why someone as young and beautiful as the princess felt the need to pollute herself with the stuff, I would never understand. I merely cleared a spot for myself, tidying some of her things as well, and got on with my cleansing routine.

When I got back to the room, the princess was lying back on the bed. She was trying to play coy, but I wasn't buying it in the slightest. Then I noticed that my bed had been discarded to the side of the room.

"Riley…" I growled. She just rolled her eyes.

"Just sleep in bed with me. It's a queen-sized bed – basically designed for two," she said with a smirk. I scowled at her, before walking over to my discarded mat and reorganising it. I slid into the faux bed and covered my eyes with the blanket, mumbling an incoherent "ulale kahle" to the annoying brunette in bed. She huffed and rolled over without returning my greeting.

I didn't understand her. One moment she was down my throat and then next she was trying to get me into bed, platonically but still inappropriate. The only person I was willing to share my bed with was Melissa, and Sam when we had our 'friend dates'. Either way, I was not cuddling up to Riley anytime soon.

I sent a silent prayer to my ancestors that tomorrow would be better.