Chapter 13

The first bell rang. All the servants on day duty got up. They rushed out trying to get to the bathrooms first. Servants that served night duty returned to the dorms to sleep. Letho woke Buhle up and took her along to the bathroom. She showed Buhle her locker. Buhle had received her key the previous day. The locker had underwear and hygiene items. Everything in it was new, it had never been used. She took out a toothbrush and tooth paste, and followed Letho to the sink. The girls brushed their teeth and thereafter hopped into the showers.

When they returned to their dorm, Buhle found a uniform on her bed. And on that morning, the head-maid visited dorm 112. The head-maid only visited dorms in the evenings for an inspection. But on that morning, she visited to brief the new maid, Buhle, on her duty as a palace maid. And she came to introduce herself.

"That on your bed is your uniform. You only wear that for your entire duration here. If it gets dirty, you will find other identical uniforms in your wardrobe", the head-maid pointed to Buhle's wardrobe.

"I am head-maid Kamva. You have kitchen duty. That means, you should clean the kitchen. In and around. That also means you do the dishes and you wash everything that is used in the kitchen. Are we clear?"

"Yes", Buhle responded with her eyes fixated on the floor.

The head-maid paused as if displeased. The rest of the maids in the room got tense, they knew what Buhle's mistake was. But each of them did not know whether to interfere and correct her or to let the head-maid do it herself. The dorm's prefect whispered to Buhle;

"Head-maid Kamva."

"Sorry. Yes, head-maid Kamva", Buhle recited.

Content, the head-maid proceeded;

"This", she pointed at Lebo, "is your prefect. She is the prefect and the representative of the girls in this room. Room or dorm 112. If you have a complaint, you speak to her. And she speaks to me. If you are in trouble, you will be brought to me by her."

Buhle looked up to make eye contact with Lebo the prefect and then stared back at the floor again.

"Mind what you do because she receives the scolding meant for all of you. Whatever you do, remember to take it easy on her; she has to look after all 3 of you and herself."

Prefect Lebo smiled. She appreciated being spoken highly of by the head-maid. The head-maid was also a young in her 20s. However, she had a stern look to her, that made her very well respected. She also had an empathetic and a kind side. That side made the head-maid very well loved among the servants, female and male.

"And to the rest of you, seeing that she is peculiar in appearance, I expect you to protect her. You may not understand why she looks that way, but treat her uniqueness as a talent. A beautiful talent."

Buhle looked up at the head-maid. She had admiration for the head-maid. Buhle smiled, she had never anyone, beside Mini speak so kindly about her appearance.

The head-maid looked at Buhle, who quickly looked away, and said with a small smile; "And besides… I find her adorable."

Buhle looked up again, she smiled. A part of her wanted to cry, she was over joyed. The head-maid left.

The days of labour began…

The Prince sat behind his desk reading through a new batch of cases delegated to him by The Queen.

"A young man made a baby with our daughter. And denied it. Our neighbours attested to him being the father. And even during an appearance to Prince Abasi, he was proven to indeed be the father. However, the young man is still denying the baby. And he has not provided anything for the baby. Not even a 10kg sac of corn or even his time. And he has never come to see his child."

The Prince turned to his right-hand man, Lwani, and said;

"This fool is getting on my nerve."

Lwani asked; "Who? What did they do?"

"It is the son of the Croak family from near the mountains at the east."

"Is it that fool who is denying his child?", asked Lwani, not wanting to assume.

"Yes", The Prince sighed. "Get the guards to bring him."

Lwani bowed; "Yes, My Prince."

In the kitchen, Buhle dusted unclean surfaces and tidied everything she found to be untidy.

"Come clean this up", said a chef to Buhle.

The chef was referring to a hot stove. She had made a mess after cooking on it. Buhle obliged. Upon cleaning the stove, she burnt herself and got startled. That resulted in her bumping onto a bowl close by, it fell and broke. The chef looked at her with a disappointed eye. Other servants, on cleaning duty, came to assist. They cleaned up the mess.

The chef pointed out, suggesting that Buhle leave her sight. Buhle exited the kitchen. Outside, she saw female and male servants sweeping. Buhle grabbed a broom and joined in on the sweeping. Others picked up papers, peels and leaves that were scattered all over the ground and dumped them into waste bags.

The Prince had an audience with a young outside.

"You are still denying your child?", The Prince questioned.

The young man, on his knees, shook his head.

"Then are you saying that the mother of your child's family is lying? To The Prince?" asked The Prince.

The young man gave no response.

"You do understand that by denying that the child is yours you are essentially accusing me, The Prince, of lying."

The young man shook his head with some enthusiasm.

"The Prince could never lie", the young man proclaimed with fear.

"No, you are accusing me of lying. Your neighbor saw you running around with that girl. And I made you take a paternity test. It came out saying the child is yours. I gave the judgement that the baby was yours."

The Prince stopped for a moment. He walked around trying to intimidate the young man.

"You became a man the minute you dropped your pants in front of a woman. If you wanted to stay a boy, you should have waited. You led to your own coronation to manhood. And now you want to turn back and be a child?"

The Prince paused to hear response but, he heard none.

"Did she seduce you?" The Prince asked and stopped for his response. He gave none. The Prince stated; "If she seduced you then, that changes everything. Female people should not seduce male people, it is forbidden."

The young man nodded vigorously; "Yes. Yes, your Highness. She seduced me! I did not want to do it. She offered it to me, and I did it. It is her fault! It is that woman's fault!"

The Prince walked slowly around the young man, thinking.

"I see", The Prince said. "If she gave you poison, would you eat it?"

The young man went silent. His little confidence disappeared. Lwani watched on, he was amused.

"You did it because you wanted to. And besides… if your eyes cause you to see things you are not supposed to, you should remove them. They do not serve you; they betray you."

The Prince turned to the young man, with a devious smile, he asked; "Should we remove them?"

Afraid, the young man shook his head.

"No. No, My Prince! Please do not", he cried out.

"But then, you have created a child you do not want. You will certainly create another one. You are adding onto the poverty in this kingdom while the rest of us are trying to do away with it… Should I perhaps have you castrated?"

The young man remained speechless.

"Come to think of it, it seems to be a good idea. No. It is not a good idea. It is a great idea." The Prince smiled to himself, he was proud of his own thinking. He turned to Lwani.

"Get the guards to get him ready for public castration."

Lwani nodded.

The young became agitated. He begged;

"My Prince, I will not do it again! I will… I will raise that child. My child! I will raise my child as my very own."

The Prince turned to the young man. "I will give you a second chance if you answer this question."

The young man listened attentively.

"Of what gender is your child?"

Young man had no idea. After a moment of thinking, he answered; "A boy!"

"You dare guess? You deny a child you have not even gone to see!" The Prince's voice began to rise, which was rare. He seemed angry. He tossed his head at Lwani, signaling him to relay his order to the guards. They were standing by the whole. Lwani nodded to one of them.

"Your public castration will be held in two days", The Prince said to the young man and turned away as the guards dragged the young man away. The young begged and cried.

Some of the palace servants went on break. They went and got their food from the canteen, thereafter, they went to eat. At night and during bad weather conditions, the servants in the hall. However, during the day, with perfect weather, servants eat outside in a large pergola.

Buhle was mixed in with servants from other rooms, that she had to endure stares. The four girls from room 112 noticed the stares. No knowing what do, they just ate their food. Buhle stood and left with her plate of food. Murmurs began behind her, in the pergola among the servants. She ignored and proceeded. A male servant spoke;

"Goodness! Why does she look like that?"

Letho, the girl responsible for looking after Buhle until she gets familiar with the palace and her duties in it, followed her. Again, they ate alone.

"You should not be here", Buhle said.

"I should be here. You cannot eat alone. I will not let you", Letho responded.

"Trust me, you do not want to be labelled as 'the creep's friend'."

"If they call me that, then they are the creeps… I have made up my mind." Letho took Buhle's hand.

Buhle looked at her. Letho smiled. Letho then started her meal.

"By the way, you need to eat. You do not want to be late for your next shift", Letho advised.