Chapter 8
I had momentarily forgotten about my engagement until my eyes met the bangles on my arm. This one was different from the engagement bangle. You could tell that the one who made it was an amateur.
I remembered his eyes and the pain that lay locked up behind them. I had thought then, he like me was sort of forced into the marriage.
"Are you going to see the visitors off?" nanny asked me.
"No, am going to see Kuku, she said to go and visit her"
"What sort of excuse is that princess Zae? Kuku has not been here for a long time, and you only saw her seven nights ago.
"She said to go see her and she said to not delay"... I told her desperately. We where going back and forth about who was lying and not, when a maidservant came in and told me Prince Sepo wanted to see me outside.
I was scared at the thought of seeing him again, more than the actual person, I was scared of the painful feeling his eyes put me through. I remembered the feeling of pain I had felt when I looked at him.
Nanny could tell, I really didn't want to see Prince Sepo, so she told the maidservant to tell him, I couldn't because even though we where engaged, the king and queen would not allow it. The maidservant went and came back with the answer that left nanny speechless.
"The Kele Prince told me to tell you, he already asked for permission from the king to say his farewells to the Princess."
Nanny looked at me with a frown on her face.
"I'll go with you,so don't worry, Princess Zae."
Prince Sepo was sitting on a chair, under a Mango tree drinking mahau, a drink made from a fermented meali meal porridge.
When I sat down, I could feel his gaze piercing the side of my face, and I was too scared to look at him.
"You can leave nanny, am not going to eat her". He told her jokingly.
He had said it so politely that nanny was confused on whether to refuse his command that sounded like a request or not. She eventually decided to leave us.
"How are you feeling?" he asked me.
"Am ok, I can't complain."
"You can complain to me if you want,"he said trying so hard to see my face that I had firmly decided will just face the ground.
"Have you always been sick?"he asked, wanting to make that one thing a common trait.
"Not really, this type of thing started seven nights ago.
"Where you forced into this engagement?" he asked sounding really serious now, at the thought of the engagement having a negatives effect on the poor ten year old.
"I can't say forced per se but I was not told and no one has ever been engaged this young, so am not exactly a happy person right now, but we do what elders tell us to do, don't we?" I asked him expecting no reply.
He kept quiet and sternly looked at me, who was trying to dig a hole into the ground with my face.
I was ten but to many people, I didn't act it. I was a mystery some found scary.
Prince Sepo looked at me, his brow knit in bewilderment for a feel moment, something I was used to when people spoke to me for the first time. His face cleared.
"You don't have to be scared of me Princess Zae, we are not getting married today. I know you are still young. I have waited this long, I can do it some more. At how old do you want to get married?"
No one has ever asked my opinion about anything and somehow, his asking for mine made me feel at ease with him. Still not looking at him, I responded.
"I think at fourteen"
"How about we make it thirteen then? I'll really be an old man by then ".He said, sounding very serious but with a hint of sarcasm.
I gave out a gentle laugh."No one wants to get married to an old man I suppose, so thirteen it is then."
He was mesmerised by the little girl whose laugh could solve all his problems.
"Take care of yourself," he said standing up, not wanting to overstep the King's kindness.
"We have to leave early if we want to cover a reasonable distance towards Kele palace.
*******
That mid - morning when the Queen Maliwa and Prince Sepo left, I also asked for permission to visit Kuku. My parents seeing me look dead twice now, had become generous with my wants and this time was no exception. Although I was restricted to my carrier, I was happy. Nanny and I, two bearers, two male palace servers who carried a bag of rice, a bag of maize and three chickens where on our way.
" You can't go empty handed to visit, no matter how familiar you are with the people you are visiting." mother had always told me.
We passed through uncle Landa Mwane's and took Nandi and Dalo with us to Kuku's place, I asked Nanny to let me walk with them instead of using my carrier. She was hesitant, but she let me do it in the end.
Kuku was seated on a little bench with Lugi on her lap, Thabo and Lobe where seated on the reed mat when we entered the compound. Kuku was telling them folklore and folktales. They where very attentive until they saw us.
They came to us to receive the things we had brought for them.
"Come sit here with your friends." Kuku told me.
Being used to the respect people gave me, and demanding it if not given, I went and sat on the little space left on the little bench Kuku sat on while nanny and the others sat on the reed mat.
Kuku looked at me, trying to look comfortable on a bench that only sat one little bum of mine.
"Sit on the reed mat." Kuku commanded again.
I was so embarrassed, the fact that Lobe started laughing at me made it worse. Nanny knowing all my facial expressions knew I was not only embarrassed but offended and hurt.
"Kuku, Princess Zae doesn't sit on reed mats".
"Why" Kuku asked, the sooner she gets used to it, the better, you sit down here, she said pointing at the space next to Thabo. At this point, I was now upset that my pride wouldn't let me move my legs.
I heard a firm, commanding voice say to,
"You won't be a Princess all your life, you unlike other princess, will live your life for others. Keep this in mind princess Zae." I looked behind me, looking for the source of the voice but, everyone was just looking at me and my spoiled face.
"Sit down already, Princess Zae , so that Kuku can tell us a folktale Lobe said with a smirk.
I sat on the reed mat, with pride still knocking on my throat.
Seeing that I was now seated, Kuku started.
"Are we together?"
Everyone except me, answered loudly with laughter "yes we are together with you"
"Ok, so.... there where five girls who went to the bushes looking for okra leaves with their little baskets.
They couldn't find some near by, so they had to walk deep into the bushes.
They finally came to a place where they found a lot of green Okra leaves but that place was also an old cemetery.
