The Unexpected Princess (Completed)

Chapter 17

Naledi sat in Joyce’s pottery store ready for their w****y meeting to begin. She could feel the eyes of the other woman on her. They didn’t want her there, she could feel it. They huddled in a corner at the door with Joyce standing in the middle of their caucus. They whispered in hushed tones Naledi couldn’t make out. Naledi sat there alone and pretended not to notice their side eyes and pointed nods.

She stared at Joyce’s latest center piece. This time she had made a sculpture of a hand reaching out from the belly of a very menace looking whale.

The statue looked bleak and sad, much like the way she was feeling. Made worse by the way the others were looking at her.

Naledi looked away. She hoped Dineo would come soon. She didn’t think she could go through another minute with everyone treating her like she wasn’t one of them.

After what seemed like forever the group broke up and they came towards her like a wave with Joyce in the lead. They didn’t look happy.

Naledi held her breath as they came closer.

“Naledi, we didn’t expect you here,” she said with a fake smile. The others nodded behind her concurring with her. “I mean we thought Dineo would talk to you. I spoke to her. We didn’t want to do this. She should have saved us the agony.”

Joyce’s voice sounded so innocent with every word. She stared at Naledi as if she should know better than to show her face at their meeting.

“Maybe you should tell me what she should have told me since she didn’t tell me anything.”

“Oh dear. I think you can guess, Naledi. We don’t want you here.” Joyce said and stepped aside to allow her to pass. The others followed suit. They were like a swarm of bee, following her lead.

Naledi stared at them. Tears filled her eyes, and she held them back by clenching her jaw tight. She took a deep breath.

She wanted to ask them why, but thought better of it. She didn’t want to hear how she was reaching beyond her station.

Naledi walked out of the shop. She stared at the road leading to the royal homestead. The white mansion was like a reminder of where she truly belonged. And it wasn’t on opulent, golden embossed chairs or on beds with silk sheets, no it was on her knees scrubbing floors.

She turned towards the market. From where she stood she could see people milling about, and she knew if she went there to find Dineo she will be treated as she’d been treated before – with disdain. And she didn’t think she could take it anymore. Naledi shook her head and turned away.

Her molars literally hurt the way she’d been clenching her jaw for the past thirty minutes as she climbed the mountain to her secret place. She sat looking at the landscape below, and unlocked her jaw. It made a clicking sound as tears fell from her eyes unnoticed. Her world was falling apart right before her eyes. And there was nothing she could do about it. Everything seemed to hinge on that fateful moment when Anthony had asked her to be his wife.

What if she’d said yes, would things have turned out any better? Naledi didn’t know. She didn’t know if they would have accepted her or not. But she knew no one wanted a maid for a princess. She was the lowest kind of human being in their eyes.

Naledi sniffed her tears.

She sat on the lip of the mountain until she felt better. It was dark when she got home. She got into the house and went straight to bed. She didn’t even have the desire for food. All she wanted was to shut herself in her room, and forget the whole world existed.

***

Life didn’t get any better for Naledi as the weeks went by. It seemed like a dark cloud of torment and hostility had fallen over her. Everywhere she went people turned away from her, and treated her like she didn’t exist. The situation in the royal house became worse. The other maids didn’t want to work, they sat around gossiping and laughing at her. And Tutu, the chief’s adviser made it a point to berate her and point out her flaws on a daily basis. He made her clean rooms she’d already cleaned until her hands were sore and she couldn’t move her fingers.

Naledi was tired all the time from overworking and depression from the constant maltreatment from the people around her.

However she put on a brave face through it all. She didn’t complain. She cooked, cleaned, and cleaned some more from morning until the sun set over the mountain. When she got home she threw herself on her bed forgetting to eat most nights. Her grandmother would put her food out for her, and Naledi would eat a few bites to appease her, but it was not enough.

She could feel herself fading, losing the desire to live. And for some reason she didn’t have the strength to pull herself from the abyss she was sinking into. She allowed the darkness to swallow her, and numb the constant ache in her heart.

Dineo came one night to find her sprawled on her bed, praying the ache in her chest would disappear. And let her drift into a space of nothingness where she couldn’t feel the pain of being shunned by the people she had known all her life.

Naledi moaned as Dineo came into her room switching on the lights and opening the windows to allow a cold breeze from the mountain to fill her room and freeze her to death. She shivered on the bed, and shifted to get under the duvet.

“No,” Dineo said stopping her from hiding under her duvet. “What are you doing?”

“Let me sleep.” Naledi growled.

“No, I won’t.” Dineo pulled her into a sitting position. Naledi groaned in pain as her muscles resisted her sudden movements. “You have to eat. Your grandmother is worried about you. I’m worried.”

“Leave the food there and I’ll eat later.” Naledi tried to stretch her muscles, but gave up when her limps felt too heavy and sluggish. She rubbed her face roughly to bring life into it. She had to wake up in order to deal with Dineo.

“What’s happening to you?”

“Nothing. I’m just tired.” Naledi got up. She limped to her bathroom. Maybe a bath will wake her up, she thought yawning all the way there.

Dineo followed and help her fill the tub. Naledi unwind the cloth on her head and let her dreadlocks tumble to her back. She got into the tub, and sat down. The warm water felt amazing on her aching muscles.

“When was the last time you did something about your hair?”

“I don’t have the strength to deal with this hair right now.” Naledi leaned back on the tub, and closed her eyes. She felt Dineo’s eyes on her like hot brand of disbelief. “What?”

“I’ve known you all my life. Nothing keeps you from taking care of your hair.” Dineo gave her a pointed look, “what’s going on with you? Is it Joyce’s stupid arguments or the stupider people in the village?”

“Dineo please.” Naledi pleaded. She couldn’t do this now. She was too tired to even hold a conversation.

“Okay, I’ll help you with your hair,” Dineo said softly and left her to her bath.

Naledi breathed a sigh of relief. She closed her eyes and enjoyed her moment of peace.

After she finished bathing and washing her hair she found Dineo sitting on her bed with her hair oils and beeswax next to her. Naledi walked into her room barefoot, wearing her gown with an old t-shirt wrapped around her head.

“Sit,” Dineo pointed to the floor in front of the bed. Naledi complied. She handed her a plate full of food. Naledi accepted without any complaint. And started to eat while Dineo unwrapped the t-shirt around her head to get to her hair. The wet mass of hair tumbled to the middle of her back, releasing a soothing jasmine scent she infused into her black soap shampoo. She breathed it in, feeling calmer, while Dineo’s hands worked their own magic on her scalp as she massaged it. She started to twist and lock it with the beeswax. She hummed as she worked.

Naledi felt herself relaxing.

“I don’t think I like the prince of Ga-Tloung anymore,” Dineo declared out of nowhere, and then continued to hum as though she hadn’t said anything.

Naledi’s heart thudded in her chest and her whole body tensed at the sound of his name. For weeks she had avoided thinking about him. And hearing his name so suddenly brought back the feelings she tried very hard to bury in her heart.

Naledi stared into space and continued to eat. She blocked her mind from thinking about him. Her life now was about surviving the present, and thinking about the prince made it hard to do because he wasn’t in it.

Naledi closed her eyes and enjoy Dineo’s ministrations. She prayed that everyone will forget what happened at the dance and her life would go back to normal.