Cape Town
Mapula
Am so tired, this time of year Cape Town is too hot you feel like you are melting, not to mention when one is wearing the type of uniform I have to wear to school every day. But am lucky because its November and am writing my exams next week. All this will be done and am going straight home right after exams. Am not waiting for schools to close and besides being tired I miss home, my mother’s cooking and no she doesn’t cook everyday since there is a chef but when am around she cooks for me. She says she doesn’t get to take care of me enough and I miss the beauty of nature.
Oh my home town is peaceful and not as busy as it is here. I just finished with writing for today and I walked out of the hall. When I got outside my one and only friend Kwezilomso but I call her Kwezi is waiting for me outside and I walked up to her, we then shared a hug. “Friend how did you write?” I asked smiling at her, I know she hates science and that’s what she was writing today. “Girl you know am not good with science, it made me sweat! But the tutoring lessons you gave me helped.” She shrugs.
“Glad I could help, let’s go it’s hot out here and my driver is already here.” I say after spotting my driver parked at the school parking. “let’s go to the beach, get some ice cream and cool down a bit.” She suggests. “Okay let’s go and change then I will pick you up then head to the beach.” She jumped up and down in excitement and I can’t help but smile.
We went our separate ways Kwezi going to her transport and I to mine. I got in and greeted my driver Pule and off we drove to my place in Clifton, my home away from home. I have been living here for the past 3 years, Kwezi has been my friend since I started school here, she’s the only friend I have and as a princess I can’t trust that easy. But Kwezi has been nothing but a good friend to me and I know that my brothers investigated her maybe found nothing. Which is why they let me be friends with her.
Now since I have been here things have happened to me, not exactly to me but when I cry it rains, Kwezi even says am weird because of that. This happened 3 times while I was with her, the first time was when my math teacher asked for my assignment but I forgot it at home, I did it and printed it but I forgot it on the printer. But my teacher didn’t want to hear any excuses, he said I was just another foreign student with no brain that is going to bring a bad name to the school and told me to get out of his class.
His words hurt me so much because I didn’t mean to forget the assignment, so by the time I went out I was teary eyed already and Kwezi went out with me and when I got outside I couldn’t hold my tears and the moment one tear dropped out of my eye rain fell too. The more I tried the more the rain fell. It was like the universe could feel my pain and the rain was a sing that something or someone out there was watching and crying with me.
The second time was when I was at the mall and I saw the prince from back home one of my brother’s friends. He greeted me but when I got closer to him as he was about to hug me I heard cries of women asking and begging for whoever it was not to hurt them. Their cries were so loud that they cut deep in the roots of my heart and my head was pounding and I couldn’t handle the cries that I let out a loud and excruciating cry and immediately hail storm was upon us. Raining hard big rocks hitting hard on my body, the way they hit my body was so painful that it left bruises.
But the next day they were gone. The prince took me to one of the stores to get me away from the storm and Kwezi comforted me because the more that prince got close to me the louder the cries and the louder I cried. People were looking at me with nothing but pity, maybe they thought I got hit hard by the hail outside. When I finally calmed down and stopped crying the storm stopped as well.
The third time, there was this boy at school I had a crush on and he asked me to go for ice cream with him after school. Yes am a princess but am allowed to mess with boys as long as I remain decent and pure. Mother’s words not mine and she gives the best advice. Anyway this boy and I went for our ice cream. It was fun and we got along just fine then the princess of the school and her friends showed up, I saw them before Chris the boy I was with did and I quickly texted Kwezi and told her that I needed her.
I sent the text with my location, I put my phone in my pocket and continued walking but I new if they even tried to do something funny my guard is not far behind but that was a girl’s thing that is why I texted Kwezi. Chris and I continued with our walk but they came and blocked our way. By then my mood was already on 0%, Lina the princess kissed Chris then turned and looked at me.
She asked Chris what he was doing with me, she said he shouldn’t hang with the likes of me as it will taint his family blood, whatever that means, then she went and said you know your father doesn’t like these people. She said this looking at me up and down, I was so hurt but I held my tears, I felt worthless and small. Chris turned to me and told me his was sorry but he has to go because Lina will tell his father.
They left me there standing hurt and confused. Anyway Kwezi got there few minutes after they left and when I saw her I ran into her arms and cried. As soon as I started crying rain fell, Kwezi comforted me and told me that Lina was jealous that Chris asked me out and not her. I calmed myself and the rain stopped, sigh see why she says am weird? But I will definitely tell mother when I get home.
When I got home I got ready then went and met up with Kwezi, we picked her up and the driver dropped us at the beach in waterfront. We bought ice cream and took a walk. While we walked Kwezi suddenly stopped and I stopped as well. “why are you shopping” I enquired “isn’tthat the guy we saw a few months back at the mall?” it can’t be “where?’ I asked “There he is standing on the balcony of that building” when I looked indeed it was him “Kwezi lets go I don’t want him to see me.” I said as I turned around to leave.
“Why don’t you want him to see you, do you have a crush on him or something?” if only she knew “No Kwezi but something about him is not right” she stops walking again and looks at me. “Not right like how?” she enquires “I don’t know Kwezi but I don’t want to be close to him, now lets go before he sees us.” I said dragging her along with me.
“If you don’t know then am sure you are just fighting what you feel for the guy huh” she winks at me “its not that friend trust me but what I feel when am around him is dark” she shivers “I don’t know what you mean but you sold me, am never going anywhere near that guy and knowing how weird you are he might just be a serial killer.” He might as well be because this is the first time this has happened to me.
“I don’t know friend but I don’t like how I feel when am around him.” We left and went about our day, when we were done we went home, I showered and got to bed then studied for my exam.
Prince Tsietsi stood at that balcony looking at the princess running away. So, my princess is running away from me now, I wonder what she knows because I know they saw me and am sure they think I did not see them. If Tokelo told her to stay away from me then he has another thing coming, I might just kidnap her then go pay bride price to her people. That way they will not have a choice but to bless our union.It’s not like I will be doing something that has not been done before, this is the way of our forefathers and its about time she knows about me so that she stops wearing revealing clothing, going around showing people my assets
The princess was having a peaceful slumber when she dreamed about the people plotting against her and the king. She could tell that the people plotting against them were close to them however she could not tell who they were but their plans were evil. The dream changed and she saw her brother Lebo in some gun fight but what seemed strange was that he was fighting his friend the prince she met back in Cape Town.She was woken up by a knock on the door and she rolled out of bed and went to open the door. Her personal maiden was standing on the other side of the door with a smile on her face and she turned it then made way for her to get inside. “Greetings my princess” greeted the maiden “Greetings my dear Kgomotso” answered the princess rubbing the sleep of
The following day the princess was up before sunrise due to the fact that royals don’t enter the chief priest’s hut after sunrise, one has to wait for him to come to them if they come after sunrise. She went to the bathroom and did her morning hygiene routine, when she walked out her personal maiden was making the bed and she bow her head and greeted when she saw the princess.“Sunrise greetings my princess” the princess went to her dresser to lotion her body. “Greetings dear maiden, how are you this morning?” asked the princess while busy applying lotion on her body. “I well my princess my thanks for asking, I do hope that the princess is also doing well.” Asked the maiden looking at the princess. “Very well dear maiden.&rdq
BaTloung KingdomPrince ThabisoSo am told that am getting married in two years, apparently they are waiting for the princess to finish high school and also reach maturity. Am saying they say because I wasn’t involved in the decision making, not that I care anyway because I have a girlfriend but I can only take her as my second wife and that will only happen after three years of marriage with the princess.I know its unfair on my high school sweetheart Boitumelo but that is how things are done, I cant take a commoner as a first wife for her children cant
BaKoena KingdomMapulaLast week I was informed about my arranged marriage to prince Thabiso of BaTloung kingdom. Am okay with this, it’s something that I have been groomed for since the age of 9. I just didn’t think it will happen soon after I reach maturity. I hope he is a good man, yes I know that he wont love me the first day we meet but I hope we will be civilized with each other and make this marriage work.Mother says the key to a happy marriage is honesty and communication, she says without communication there is no trust. I hope the same wo
MapulaDays turned into weeks, weeks into months and am back at school in South Africa. It is now June and I just finished writing my midterm exams. Things have been going well on my side, the prince and I have been in contact since I left. He checks on me every day, which is what I prayed for, that we are at least civil with each other.Kwezi and I are going to the mall to spoil ourselves, we both just received our monthly allowances and she still doesn’t know that am a princess. I plan on telling her today, she’s been a good friend to me and always has my back so it’s only fair that she knows everything about me. We arrived at the mall and we went to
Prince TokeloIt has been a very busy three months for me, Lebo and I have been busy with clients and court nonstop for the past months. If am not in court am with a client and if am not with clients am busy at the warehouse sorting out a plan for Tsietsi and his father. Which needs a lot of attention, I mean one can not just act against the Romo king, he has Mexicans on his side and they are ruthless.So I have to have a solid plan before I act, our personal phones have been off for the past months because we don’t want to run a risk of being bugged and our conversations listened to. I have been out of the house before sunrise and returning after sunset. I have n
MapulaI woke up with a banging headache, I try to open my eyes but they are heavy. I tried multiple times until they open. My eyes wonder around trying to take in my surroundings, I don’t know this room, I look to my side and I saw Kwezi still unconscious, she looks so peaceful. I let her sleep because I know when she wakes up she will freak out.I keep looking around but I don’t see anything familiar, I got up and went to the window, I pulled the curtain and the window had bugler bars on it. Which are bolted in tight making it impossible to escape through them, I looked through the window and all I could see are wild flowers on a field tha
A year later, Mapula gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with nice blue eyes and she names her Keabetswe just as her father instructed. She gave birth in the mystical land because the queens said that still lacked in the shadows. So, she had to be in the mystical land to give birth, this did not sit well with Thabiso at all as he wanted to be the first to hold his princess.But they made up for that and he was the one to hold her when they came back home. Keabetswe was a sweet child and his father loved this about her, it meant that he got to spend time with her without her crying all the time. He was enjoying the life he and his wife had. He also loved their firstborn. They also moved back to their home at BaTloung kingdom but they made sure to visit Bakoena now and then.The guys, Thabiso, Tokelo, and Lebo made sure to meet up every second week just to catch up on things. Keabetswe took her father’s dark complexion and her mother’s beauty. Her eyes were t
The ball went on and everyone was enjoying themselves. Scelo, Kwezi’s cousin was just standing in a corner looking at Mapula and hoping that he could be the one to be in her presence, the one she gave attention to and the one she smiled at. But she paid him no mind, it was like he did not exist and that alone made him hate the ones who are fortunate to have her in their lives.He found them to be undeserving of her attention but he could not do anything but watch from a distance. Lebo and Kwezi were the happiest. Enjoying themselves and each other's company as her father kept an eye on them. He did not like Lebo close to his daughter at all, that was mainly because he looked older than her and he did not like that.Zasembo was enjoying herself, she was introduced to all the royals of Bakoena including Reneilwe, Thabiso’s sister and lover to Tokelo the king of Bakoena. She found them to be very nice people and they welcomed her with open arms. They did not m
The queen mother Mabotle decided that it was time for a celebration since they have been through a lot lately. She wanted this day to be the day of celebrations, with friends, family, and associates. Those who fit into that category were invited, among those invited was Ntsikayomuzi Zulu, Zasembo Mbanga, from those who came from far, Kwezi’s parents were also invited and her cousin Scelo.Scelo is one of the people who always had a crush on Mapula but never said anything. He used to see her when she would visit with Mapula but he made himself invisible. He loved her from a distance but since he came home for holidays he wanted to tag along with Kwezi and the family. The even was a sophisticated one, media was invited, the royal family of Batloung was also invited.The king of BaTlokwa kingdom was invited, associates from the hotel deal were also invited and that included those who were involved in the hospital deal, as well as the volunteers from abroad who worke
Since Lebo was still not well enough to go out, he decided to have the date in his chambers in the west wing, in his in-house cinema there. He selected a movie, made popcorns and snacks. Then when he was done, he sent a guard to get him black roses, dark chocolate, cream cheese, and crackers. When the guard came back with what he needed he set up everything then took out a bottle of chilled champagne and set everything.He then went to shower and change then went to the cinema to check on everything one last time. When he was satisfied he went out to find Kwezi, he was wearing sweat pants and a hoodie with sneakers. He was in comfortable home wear and hoped that it will not be a turn-off to his lady. He saw his sister first with her husband sitting in the lounge with him brushing her protruding tummy as she laid on his lap.“What a sight, can you two tell me where to find Kwezi.” He commented, Mapula lifted her head from Thabiso’s lap and looked at he
Lethabo was pleading with his niece and nephew to let him go but they were having none of it. “My niece and nephew. Please I beg you my brother’s children, let me go and I promise never to do such a thing again.” He begged them on his knees, the pain on his arm was also not giving him any rest, Ngwedi had to bite his arm and the bite was now causing so much pain. But he could take that pain and get his arm treated as long as they let him go, he still had a chance.“It’s not up to us now uncle, look,” Mapula told him and pointed at the river that now had a hole opening in the middle and the alligators that already gathered there waiting. “Oh, dear niece, I am begging you here, please don’t take me there, please have mercy on me.” He pleaded; he could not even imagine what would happen to him if they took him there. “No, no one will take you there, dear uncle…” before Tokelo could finish Lethabo cut him of
Lebo still hasn’t woken up yet and it had been two days. Mapula went to check on him and told them that he will wake up when he is ready but Kwezi would have none of it, she insisted that a doctor should be called in to check on him. Indeed, the palace doctor was called, she checked on Lebo and said the same thing Mapula did. That he will wake up when he is ready, she was that he only needed motivation to wake.Kwezi has been waking up early for the past two days to go to Lebo’s chamber to check on him, this morning was no different, she took her bath then got ready for the day and went to Lebo’s room to check on him. She got in then sat on the bed next to him. “Lebo, you have to wake up now, its been two days and its lonely here without your jokes. I don’t know why I feel so connected to you all of a sudden but whatever it is that I am feeling, I want to experience it with you. Now wake up, everyone misses you but I miss you more. You have to wa
The following day Ntsika and Zasembo were getting ready to go to the palace, Ntsika was a bit sad that his journey with Zasembo is coming to an end, so he wanted to confess his feeling for her, he had gotten to know her over the past months and has developed feelings for her. He also did not like the idea of leaving her behind as they have grown close.He even thought of how calm his beast had been around Zasembo but also wondered if it’s because he had to help her or was it because it was content with her. He thought of all the mistakes he made with Mapula and did not want to repeat them with Zasembo. So, he decided that if Zasembo felt the same way about him she will show it somehow.Because this time he was determined to keep his kingdom safe and do the right thing for once. Zasembo’s journey taught him a lot about people and now he didn’t want to put his own people in danger because of his own selfish reasons. While he was still deep in thoughts,
In the palace the people were still shocked by what the queen mother said, the queen of the land could not stop crying, because traditionally a new born baby or a still born is buried by the elder women of the family only, the mother is not involved, this was so that they don’t put too much stress on her while she just given birth. That is why elder women of the family buried the child and the queen mother knew this very well.Back in the day African women did not go to hospitals to give birth, yes hospitals were there but the elder did not believe in them, they believed that women were made to give birth and could do it without the help of other people or hospitals. They believed that women were more than capable of giving birth in the comfort of their homes being helped by older women that have given birth before.If a child was a still born, the child would be wrapped up and buried under the stack of firewood. That was a sacred place where only women were allo
Kwezi was inside the palace with the guards and the queen mother trying to stop the bleeding on Lebo’s wound. They could not even call the palace doctor as she was at the hospital for her rounds and they were afraid of putting her life in danger judging from the situation outside. The queen asked for more towels and water to clean they would and keep pressure on it.The guards brought the towels and water, Kwezi had his head on her lap as the queen mother was busy with Lebo, she kept brushing his head telling him that everything is going to be okay and she sniffed as she said all this. Outside the queen and others were fighting a losing battle, the spirits were overpowering them and were determined to leave the palace with what they came for.While Mapula, Thabiso and the chief priest were fighting to make sure that does not happen. Tokelo was bleeding all over from being beaten by things he could not see, he got so angry that the ghost in him woke up, but this t