The Night Beauty

Chapter 5

Upon hearing that the young man could be The Prince, Buhle sprang up and said; “If he is The Prince, then we should alert the royal family.”

Grandpa immediately stopped her, grabbing her by her elbow.

“We are at odds with the royal family. Refusing to attend a royal bridal selection is a crime worthy of a death sentence… And this predicament we are in right now will not pan out in our favour”, grandpa said.

Buhle was confused. She was wondering how sending The Prince to the palace, in hopes to save his life, would turn out to be harmful for them. All she wanted was to save the person.

“Buhle, if we send him back, we will be killed”, grandpa tried to clarify.

Shocked, she asked; “Why? We did not do anything.”

“Yes, but to them, this will be interpreted as us trying to get rid of The Prince. To avoid marriage”, grandpa explained.

Dumbfounded, Buhle went silent.

Looking at the hash laws of the kingdom, she realized that grandpa could be right.

“Come on, I will bring him into the house. I will try to save him”, grandpa said, staggering as he lifted the boy.

In the evening, the palace seemed to be in panic. No-one had seen The Prince in hours. The sun was already setting. The Queen interrogated Lwani;

“You are The Prince’s guard, servant and friend! And you do not know where he is?”

The sorry Lwani said no word.

“And you did not see him leave?!” The Queen yelled.

“I am truly sorry, your Highness. I should have been more attentive”, Lwani apologized, equally worried about The Prince.

Lwani had already gone to places The Prince usually went to, these were; the army camps at the borders of Simunye, the uninhabited mountains of the kingdom, the flower fields, the market place and even to some neighbouring kingdoms. He still did not find The Prince.

Some guards were sent to go look for The Prince in the jungle and within Simunye. They were asked by The Queen to keep the search discreet. Public panic was not needed in that moment.

Meanwhile, grandpa went through his medicines and herbs. Buhle prepared some water to wash the young man’s wounds.

As she cleaned the wounds with water laced with some of her grandpa’s medicines, grandpa boiled some herbs on a small table-size three-legged pot, fired buy Buhle’s magic. The curtains were closed. Buhle only used her magic in secrete. No-one in the kingdom knew that she could practice magic. Their house was lit with candles. They never boiled anything inside the house usually, but on that day, they did. They wanted to be as discreet about The Prince as possible.

“Grandpa, are you sure he is The Prince?”, Buhle asked, gently dabbing a wet cloth onto the young man’s cuts.

“If he did not steal those beads, then he is The Prince”, grandpa answered.

The girl looked closely as she cleaned the blood off of his face. She smiled gently; she was amazed at how handsome he was. The locks on his head could reach his slender waist. He had perfect youthful skin; resembling burnt bronze. His eyebrows were full and dark. He had a kind face. His masculine body complemented his soft face perfectly.

Grandpa’s concoction was ready. He poured it into a bowl and took a cup. Grandpa then poured the concoction back and forth the cup and the bowl, he was cooling it. When he felt it was cool enough, he went to the young man. Grandpa stared at the young man;

“He is quite decent-looking, isn’t he?” he said, to which Buhle agreed with admiration in her eyes.

Buhle lifted the young man and pulled open his mouth. Grandpa poured in a couple of teaspoons into the young man’s mouth. The grandpa and granddaughter duo looked after the young prince all night.

It was way deep into the night, and The Prince was still not found. The Queen sat in the royal living room. She remembered what the Sangoma had said to their messenger earlier in the day…

Without turning to the royal parents, the Sangoma spoke;

“You already know the answer to your questions. Custom must be followed, unless otherwise stated. It is only then that The Prince shall marry. And if things do not go accordingly, The Prince will die.”

That recollection sent shivers down the Queen’s spine. She calmed herself down, trying not to panic. The King entered. He noticed the Queen sitting alone, in silence. Worried, he gently placed his hands on The Queen’s shoulders. Assuming that she was thinking about the Sangoma’s message, The King said;

“We will find him. And he will be alive”, he assured her.

He sat behind her, and gave her a back hug. The King was gentle in nature. That was a side he only let his wife, The Queen, to see.

Grandpa and his granddaughter took turn waking up to watch over the young man. They hoped that he would make it through the night. The young man’s condition kept them on their toes; his temperature kept fluctuating.

Grandpa and Buhle needed him to live. Returning a dead Prince’s body would lead them to a harsh death sentence by vicious land animals or vile sea creatures.

At some point in the night, the young man gained minimal consciousness. His vision was blurry though. And although grandpa and Buhle would have been happy to see that; he slipped back into unconsciousness. They did not catch that wonderful sight. However, they were at least aware that his temperature had returned to normal. That left grandpa and Buhle with a bit ease, and a lifted burden of anxiety.

The next day began with the royal couple discussing whether to alert the public about the missing Prince or not. The Queen explained that it would be better to leave the public in its utter oblivion. Upon hearing the news, chaos could break out. Chancers may ask for ransoms from the palace. And she added that neighbouring kingdoms may see that as an opportunity to conquer the kingdom of Simunye.

Simunye had survived multiple attempts of enemy invasion in the past. It was the wealthiest kingdom across the land after all. And its people were known to be the most artistic individuals. Even the Sangomas and the witches were famed to be the most powerful. Thus, conquering the kingdom of Simunye was on nearly every neighbouring kingdom’s bucket list.

Although The Prince was merely a young man, his spectacular battle skills were well praised and recognized within the kingdom and beyond. He took on two personas; one was an elegant, graceful flower and the other; a masculine, ferocious fighter, capable of destroying an army of a thousand soldiers, single handed. The news of him being ‘gone’ could bring the mice to play.

Although the kingdom had many enemies, it also had devoted support from some kingdoms. There were some kingdoms that truly respected Simunye and willingly pledged their loyalty to it. Even with that, The Queen still wanted a strategy that prevented the onset of a combat.

Meanwhile, in the commoners’ home, The Prince fluttered his eyes. He was waking up. He started moaning as he took notice of the pain. Buhle, sitting right next to the young man, heard the moaning. She woke up. He was fully conscious. The young lady quickly turned away and then alerted her grandfather. Grandpa examined the young man. He pressed his pressure points and checked his breathing.

He sighed and stated;

“He will live.”

Relieved, Buhle smiled.

“Young man, tell me your name”, grandpa instructed.

The young attempted to respond but he could not talk. He could not even properly open his mouth. His vocal muscles seemed paralysed.

“Aah, worry not. This will only last a few days. Worry not, young man”, grandpa assured him.

Buhle swiftly got up and wrapped her body with a blanket, not wanting The Prince to see her face or her arms that were covered in scales. While turned away, she mentioned to her grandfather that she was heading to the farm.

“We should stay home today. We have been up all night trying to see the young man through; we are exhausted”, grandpa said.

Buhle disputed; “We do not want to raise suspicion. We should continue with our daily lives as usual. You stay, I’ll go.”

The young woman stepped out.