Chapter 12

A palace messenger showed up at Buhle's house with guards behind him. Grandpa and Buhle granted him their audience.

"I am sent by The Prince. I believe this is the house of the maiden that refused to show up at the Prince's bride selection day. That maiden resides here. We are here to take her", said the messenger.

Grandpa and Buhle stood there astounded.

Back at the palace…

The Queen called for his son. The Prince showed up.

"I read through your cases from yesterday. And I must say, you judged most of the cases wisely… except one", said The Queen.

The Prince looked up. He was looking at his mother.

"The maiden case… Do you not know the rules?", said The Queen.

"My Queen, I know the rules", Prince Abasi responded.

"Then… why?", The Queen wanted to know.

"I do not want anyone to die of trivial matters in my hands", The Prince gave his response.

"Prince Abasi!" The Queen roared. "This is no trivial matter. Choosing the future Queen is no trivial matter."

"Pardon my choice of words, your Highness", The Prince apologized. "I should have minded myself."

The Queen sighed.

"But, mother… I should have died. I should be dead in this very moment. But my life was spared by a commoner. Do I not owe the kingdom a few months of no deaths through prosecution?" the Prince questioned.

The Queen retreated.

"I feel I should be merciful in the next few months. And for that reason, I have sent my people to the maiden's house. They will bring her to the palace. And she will immediately begin her atonement" The Prince said.

"My son, custom says whoever refuses to show themselves at the Prince or Princess' bride or groom selection day, shall be prosecuted", The Queen reiterated.

"Mother, some of these customs, if I am being honest, were set into place by insecure men from the past. And they were the regular humans of that time", Prince Abasi argued.

The Queen was taken aback by the young Prince's bluntness.

"Alright", The Queen said.

The Prince was pleased to hear The Queen's response. He took that moment to make a request.

"Go on ahead", said The Queen.

"My Queen, can we please postpone the next bride selection? I fear that I have not mentally recovered from all that has happened", inquired The Prince.

"You need to get a wife. Someday the King and I will leave this kingdom to you. How then are you going to rule this kingdom without a descended of your own to assure the safety of the people?", The Queen asked.

The Queen paused for a moment.

"The people need to know that the King can have children… healthy children, so they can trust him. How will the people trust you? Especially if they do not know if you will leave them in good hands if you so happen to die?", The Queen explained.

The Prince hesitated.

"I am only asking for 8 months. After 8 months, then we can hold another bride selection event", The Prince responded.

The guards at Buhle's house began pulling the girl. That happened after she refused to come with them. They dragged her with them to the palace. Her grandpa tagged along, pleading with them not to be too rough with his beloved granddaughter. When they reached the palace, the guards received an order from the Queen. The Queen wanted to see the bold maiden. She was curious to see the face of the maiden so bold she refused to obey The Queen.

They tossed her at The Queen's feet. She fell, landing on her knees and palms. Grandpa kneeled beside her, in front of The Queen. The duo kept their eyes to the floor, it was a sign of curtesy. The Prince was not there. In the room, there was The Queen, her guards, her maidens, grandpa, Buhle and the guards that had brought her in. The Queen quietly glared at them for a short while. Discomfort fell upon grandpa and Buhle, they had been bold enough to defy royal order before, but were now in the presence of royalty.

"Do you know your crime?", asked The Queen in a condescending tone.

After a moment of hesitating, Buhle responded. Grandpa looked at her, silently encouraging her to be brave.

"Yes, your Highness. I disobeyed custom", said Buhle.

"And what is your punishment for the custom you have disobeyed?", The Queen questioned.

Buhle gave no response.

"Speak", The Queen sternly, yet calmly commanded.

The young lady started shaking, fear was setting in. The Queen's voice was too mighty. Although The Queen had not said a lot, the little she had already said in that moment carried intimidation. Grandpa held his beloved grandchild's hand and responded;

"The fault is mine, My Queen. I should have done better. I am willing to take on any punishment for her. Please understand that she is a peculiar looking person. For that reason, she has been taunted by many her whole life. That experience has led her to removing herself from people", grandpa excused his granddaughter.

"That is no excuse", stated The Queen.

"Your Highness, she is just a child. Please find it your heart and show us mercy. Especially her. She is all I have left in this world", grandpa said.

The Queen scoffed and then leaned forward. She deviously said with some sensuality in her voice;

"Mr Duma… why is it that your descendants are just always so troublesome? They are just always courting death. They are quite brave… First it was your daughter and now your granddaughter?"

Grandpa said nothing, but his mood did change. He did not appreciate having someone, even The Queen, speak ill of his family. The Queen saw his pent-up rage and said;

"You are quite lucky today. The Prince has given your granddaughter a slap on the wrist. He said a commoner somewhere saved his life. And for that reason, he felt that he did not want to hand a death penalty to anyone for the next few months."

Grandpa and Buhle listened attentively.

"Your granddaughter will work as a palace maid… With no pay", The Queen informed them.

Buhle looked up; she was delighted to hear she will still live.

"She will serve this sentence, curtesy of The Prince, for 4 months. And I have decided that she should move into the palace. I do not want to hear of her leaving the kingdom. She should move in today", said The Queen.

And indeed, Buhle moved in immediately. She was granted the freedom to bring a maximum of five most important items of hers. She took two hand-size paintings, one had herself, Mini and grandpa in it, while the other had herself, Mini and Mini's mother in it. She also took a wooden bead necklace; it once belonged to her own mother. She said her farewells to her grandpa.

At the palace, the maids stared at her as if looking at an unknown creature. They curious about how she looked. No human looked like her. News of the peculiar-looking girl spread across the servants in the palace.

Buhle felt very uncomfortable. Her bed was already prepared. The head-maid had delegated some of the maids to prepare the room for Buhle prior to her arrival. Her bed was in one of the maid houses. There, there were 4 beds in one room tidily placed. The room was somewhat fancy, and it was clean and spacious.

When Buhle entered, she was afraid to lift her head, but she tried her best to catch a glimpse of the room, and she liked it. She thought it was pretty.

Unlike the other maids that stood in a pair staring at Buhle, a prefect of that room went to Buhle and introduced herself;

"Hello, I am Lebo. I am the Prefect of this room. A total of 4 girls share this room. I also live here. I am responsible for reporting anything report-worthy to the head-maid. And she will relay it to The Prince. The maids this side serve The Prince. I am also responsible for maintaining order here. You are?"

"I am Buhle", said Buhle, timidly so. And still very much shy to lift her head.

"Right. That over there is your bed. This is room 112. The rules are on the door over there, read them, remember them", said Lebo the prefect.

The prefect turned around and faced the other girls;

"Letho, you are the newest one besides her. You will mentor her. If she messes up, you will take her punishment. Am I clear?", ordered Lebo.

Hesitantly, Letho replied; "Yes."

A young woman was going around the maid houses ringing a bell.

The prefect turned back to Buhle and said; "That bell signifies a lot of things, but right now, it signifies that it is time for our last meal of the day."

Prefect Lebo turned to walk away. She stopped after taking a few steps. She turned around and said to Buhle; "If you stay out of trouble, or if you do not make the wrong type of trouble, you will find that this place is quite habitable."

She left.

They all went to eat at the servant dining hall. Letho waved to Buhle as she said;

"Come. Let's go."

Buhle obliged. When she entered the dining hall everyone immediately went silent. The dining hall was filled with servants from other servant houses as well. They simultaneously went silent when they saw Buhle enter the room. She was peculiar in appearance. Some had seen her before outside the palace. Others had heard of her at some point in their life. Most had never seen her or heard of her. But one thing was common, they all did not expect to see her there and in that moment.

Although, Buhle had lived with people staring at her and speaking negatively about her throughout her life, being there in that dining hall made her heart sink.

A lot had happened in those few weeks. And just a few minutes ago, she had to say goodbye to her grandpa. And she did not get to say goodbye to her best friend and the mother. Contrary to her area, while others stared at her, some focused on their business; they were already used to her.

But, in that dining hall, she had to deal with a group of people that still needed to adjust to her. And they were all staring at her, some glaring, none of them minded their business. Not even one.

Buhle ran out of the hall crying. She found a stoop to sit on and put her food down beside her and sobbed.

Back at the hall, Letho, the girl who was assigned to look after Buhle as she adjusted to the palace, remained on her seat. She did not want to be affiliated with Buhle. She just did not want to be teased about her.

However, a part of her felt guilty, she felt horrible. After contemplating for a short while, Letho got up and took her plate with her. She went to look for Buhle.

When she eventually found her, she walked slowly towards her; she was ashamed. Letho stopped when she was about a metre apart from the crying Buhle.

Buhle realized that she was not alone, she stopped crying and looked. It was Letho. Letho walked even closer and sat beside her.

"I am sorry. I almost abandoned you, I am sorry", Letho spoke.

And that was how the beginning of their rocky friendship started.