The Unexpected Princess (Completed)

Chapter 15

The darkness was thick as it wrapped the land in a black blanket of night when Naledi walked to her house that evening. She found the kitchen door open slightly to let in the night breeze even though the weather was dropping. Her grandmother loved the chilly air that hung over the village right after twilight - said it makes her feel refreshed and it opened up the lungs.

Inside Dineo and her grandmother were sitting at the kitchen table talking in hushed tones. They didn’t notice her, the way they were engrossed in their conversation.

“I don’t think she knows,” Dineo whispered leaning closer to her grandmother.

“Do you think I should tell her?” her grandmother whispered back. She sounded worried.

“I don’t know.”

The two women stared at each other for a second. Naledi could feel the tension rolling off of them. Clearly there was something wrong.

“Tell me what?” Naledi asked as she walked through the door. She pulled it closed behind her. She shivered slightly as the warmth inside the kitchen seeped into her skin. She hadn’t realized how cold it had gotten outside.

Dineo stared at her as though she’d never seen her before while her grandmother stared at her hands on the table.

What was going on here? Naledi asked herself as she took in their tense faces.

“What?” Naledi asked coming to stand next to the table.

“Uhhh….uhmm,” Dineo began her eyes bouncing off her grandmother to the objects around the kitchen.

If she didn’t know better, she would think they were hiding something from her, Naledi thought as she stared at them. She tried to think of what might have happened while she was at work.

Maybe they heard what happened at the royal homestead that morning. Naledi cringed at the thought. Her friend and grandmother’s opinions of her mattered. She didn’t want them to see her as the other people in the village did. She wasn’t opportunistic.

“Joyce, she…uhm she came to the market and asked if we can remove you as a member of the Outreach Program.”

“Why?” Naledi asked flabbergasted.

“Remember we were going to have our w****y meeting tomorrow. So she…” Dineo trailed off.

“I know what she did.” Naledi sighed. She thought her friends wouldn’t turn on her too. It seemed she was wrong. Suddenly she felt tired. “I’m going to lie down.”

“Don’t you want to eat first?” her grandmother asked her concern clear in her voice. Naledi shook her head as she walked out. She walked down the hallway, before she could get far she heard Dineo’s words.

“I told you that tea makes her loopy.”

Her grandmother grunted in response.

Naledi didn’t know what that meant. And she was too tired to figure out Dineo’s sometimes disjointed thoughts.

She walked into her room and sat down on her bed. Sleep was the last thing on her mind. She was tired but she knew that sleep will be slow in coming.

She’d barely sat there for a few minutes when there was a knock at the door. Dineo opened it a second later when she didn’t answer.

“I brought you something to eat,” she said walking in with a plate in her hands.

“I thought I said I wasn’t hungry.”

“I know, but you need to eat something, even if you’re not hungry.”

Dineo placed the plate in her lap and sat next to her on the bed. Naledi stared at the food. She didn’t have any appetite, even though she hadn’t eaten since morning. She picked up a piece of beef with a fork and popped it in her mouth.

“Your grandmother cooked,” Dineo said manipulating her into eating more, because she knew she didn’t like it when her grandmother did anything that resembled work. Naledi sighed and went for another bite.

They were silent while she ate. Dineo sat with her until she finished.

“All done,” Naledi said brandishing the plate. Dineo gave her an approving smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “What is it? Come out with it.”

“I wasn’t going to ask you this, because maybe you have your reasons. But can you tell me what happened last night? Because I don’t get it!” Dineo’s eyes bulged out in frustration. “You’ve been dreaming about this all your life and then it happens, you run!”

“I…I…” no words came out. Naledi didn’t know what to say to that. No one better knew her dreams and desires than Dineo. But what happened last night had been beyond her dreams. Yes, she wanted a life of her own, a man to love, but a prince…that was something else. She wasn’t prepared for that.

“What? You can’t tell me you don’t know what to say. You said no to him, ‘thee guy’ of all people.” Dineo shook her head in disbelief.

“You can’t tell me you’re blind to the situation. In case you forgot, he’s a prince and I am a…a” Naledi couldn’t even bring herself to say it. It was becoming painful to accept her station, especially after hearing how low other people in the village viewed her. Even though she had thought of herself the same way. But to hear people say it, ridicule and then shun her because of it was even worse.

“You are a what? That’s not who you are, it’s your job.” Naledi rolled her eyes. They’ve had this conversation a thousand times.

“My great-great-great grandmother was a…”

“I know the history. But baby girl that man chose you, there has to be a reason why.”

Anthony’s cousin’s words filtered into her mind.

‘“He chose you for a reason.”’ They were simple words, yet they had the power to drive her crazy or give her hope. And Naledi knew she couldn’t choose either option. She was who she was and she had no way of changing that.

“And you said no?” Dineo shook her head in disbelief. “No woman in her right mind would do that.”

“Can we please stop talking about this?” Naledi begged. She didn’t feel emotionally strong to go through another autopsy of her actions last night. “It happened Dineo, I said no. He’s gone. He didn’t even wait to see what happens next. He’s gone.”

Dineo stared at her, her lips moved as if she wanted to tell her something. She shut her mouth and then looked away. She blindly took Naledi’s hand, almost knocking the plate out of her hands. Naledi winced as Dineo’s palm came in contact with her calluses. Dineo looked down at their intertwined fingers.

“What? Is your hand hurt?”

“It’s nothing.” Naledi tried to pull away. Dineo turned over her palm, and inspected the swollen ridges of her palm. She winced as if she was imagining her pain.

“What happened?”

“Like I said, it’s nothing. We had a lot of cleaning to do at the royal house, you know the dance was big this year.”

“Yes, I swear people are going to talk about it for a long time to come.”

Naledi nodded, glad that Dineo had accepted her explanation. She didn’t think she could go into what happened at the royal house that morning. “The doctor was asking about you. I didn’t know what to tell him.” Dineo continued.

Naledi gasped, she’d forgotten about the village doctor. She’d left him standing there as she ran away. “I hope he didn’t feel like I didn’t want to talk to him. It’s just…everything happened so fast and it was confusing.”

“Nah, he’s intrigued by what happened, thought something like that happens here all the time.” Dineo laughed, “I had to bust his bubble.”

Naledi laughed halfheartedly. She could pick up the censure in Dineo’s tone. Her friend wanted her to be a princess. Well, they couldn’t all have what they want.

They sat in her room talking about common place things, until Dineo decided to leave.

“Good night then,” she said taking the plate with her. “I have an early day tomorrow.”

Naledi watched her leave. And then she got ready for bed.

Afterwards she lay in bed trying not to think of Anthony…the prince. A futile exercise because after a while all she could think about was him – his eyes, his lips and the very touch of his hands. She turned onto her side bringing the duvet to her nose as her body burned with desire. A masculine, dark and spicy scent drifted into her nose as if he was there. And she was touching him. Her breasts became heavy, her n*****s tightened. Wetness pooled between her legs, and tingles bloomed on her skin. Naledi moaned, wanting…needing him.

She shook her head pushing him out of her mind.

But he lingered in her mind giving her the soothing comfort she craved. With a whimper, Naledi closed her eyes and breathed him in. She imagined his arms wrapping around her body and pulling her close, and she could feel him, all of him. His name was the last thing on her tongue as she drifted to sleep.