MELAMINA THE QUEEN

CHAPTER 5

KUHLEKONKE ZULU

"I have a bad feeling about this." My brother, Nqaba, murmurs as he fixes his tie for the thousand time. I chuckle. This is just lunch with Inguga, the Mhlongo king. He is friends with dad, so I doubt he would invite us to his home just so he could do harm to us. That would spike up war which will affect everyone.

"Chill. I am sure this is just an informal lunch, nothing important." I answer and he shakes his head.
"If he wanted an informal lunch, he would have invited his buddy, dad, not you. And I don't understand the presence of aunt Sethembele and Samkelisiwe. You know they aren't your biggest fans, right?"
"Do I need to give you a chill pill or something?" I ask and he rolls his eyes. "Fix your expression brother." I murmur as the cars enter the royal gates. We climb off the cars in the driveway and I immediately spot the Mhlongo prince descending the stairs in a forest green three piece suit. He smiles widely as he extends his arms.

"Nina bangasenhla. We are so honored that you accepted our invitation on such a short notice. Welcome to our humble home. We hope you feel welcome." We shake hands and he moves to shake my brother's hand before leading us to the terrace.
"We are pleased to be here also, Njomane. Your lands are so beautiful and magical. When I saw the river on our way here, I was so sure I was going to see Inkosazana yamanzi (mermaid/water princess) swimming around. The water was so clear and the lands were so green." Nqaba compliments and Prince Dumakahle's smiles widens even more and he gestures for us to sit.

"I am pleased to hear you say that, Ndabezitha." We sit down and helpers bring fruits, water and juice to us. They place everything on the table and quickly rush out after bowing. "Please, help yourselves. I am sure you are thirsty after such a long drive." Being on a car for 4 hours is no joke. I take bottled water and grapes. I munch on them as I look around.

"My brother is correct. Your kingdom is very beautiful and rich in nature." I add and before Dumakahle says anything, a young girl walks in and sits next to him.
"Our lands are indeed beautiful. We are glad that you could notice that, Your Royal Highnesses." This girl comments and I try so hard not to frown.

"I don't know if you have met, but this is my sister, Zisanele. She already knows who you are." Dumakahle comments and the girl smiles, extending her hand to me first.
"Ndabezitha." She blushes as our eyes meet. Maybe she is natural shy. Her eyes move to Nqaba who shakes her hand as his eyes scan her body like a hungry vulture. My God. Does he want Dumakahle to kill him?

"I think I saw her when she came with His Majesty, the king, to my little sister's wedding." I quickly speak up, wanting to snap Nqaba out of it. There is nothing wrong with admiring a woman, but unless you have a death wish, never openly admire her in front of her brother.
"Indeed. You were with your wife when you greeted me. How is she doing by the way?" Her smile has flattened a bit.
"Great, amazing actually. She is launching her company offices today in Peru. I was meant to be there but His Majesty invited me and my wife insisted I come just to hear him out." I respond and she nods.

"Your sister is very beautiful, Makhedama. Is she promised to someone?" My brother asks. He sure does not beat around the bush. I hope Duma doesn't get offended by this. But who am I kidding? I was overprotective of Nompilo and Lisa up until the day they got married.
The prince smiles. "She is not but that is going to be sorted soon. Father had to rush out for an urgent meeting but he will be back by the time they serve lunch." He looks at his sister with a smile. I know they are trying to be friendly and stuff but the level of smiling in this palace is starting to creep me out. "Zisanele, how about you show Prince Kuhle around the palace? I am sure he is dying for a tour."

Not necessarily dying, and I don't mean to be rude, but I have much more important places to be than touring a royal palace. And I don't know why he is being specific about his sister showing me around. What is he hoping to achieve? This girl is probably 19 or 20. I would have a more enjoyable conversation with him and not his baby sister. But I don't voice all that out. People are too fragile for straight-forwardness and easily triggered nowadays. Instead, I smile at the princess as I pop a few grapes into my mouth and down them with water.

"After you, my lady."
She stands up and leads the way to the gardens. I follow her. Well the palace is really beautiful and the flowers are pretty, giving you a warm and welcoming feeling. How I wish my wife could see this. I am pretty sure it would give her some inspiration and what other flowers to add in our garden.

"Your garden is beautiful. It reminds me of the one we have at the main palace." I start off when it seems like she is content with the silence.
She smiles as she looks up at me. I don't know if I am losing it but I can see a bit of adoration in her eyes. Is it directed to me? "It is. It has to be, with over 30 employees taking care of it daily. And it is also my mother's pride and joy. To be honest, I don't know the end of it but I know it's over 1 kilometer wide." The king has three wives and a fiancé.

"Which one is your mother?" She frowns at me as if my question offends her but she quickly fixes her expression with a small smile.
"She is undlunkulu, the first wife." Her face lights up. I nod and look ahead. "So are you thinking of getting a second wife any time soon?" Woah. Okay. Where did that come from?
"Not if circumstances force me and the only said circumstance I can think of is my wife's death. Other than that, I am content with my wife and her multiple personalities. Also she has given me enough children and that's just a bonus."

She smiles but it doesn't seem like the smiles she has been giving me the whole time. "She is lucky to have you, but you shouldn't close off the possibility of having a second wife or a royal wife for that matter." Is that what this is all about? Getting me a royal wife? Who is orchestrating all of this? "Let me show you our stables. We actually have donkeys and horses there." Her face lights up for real this time around, showing how carefree and young she is. I can't help but smile. Whoever set this up was nuts. I can't marry this girl who is young enough to be my first born. Her beauty isn't even appealing to me. What the fuck? I feel like a pedophile just walking next to her.

***

"Princess Zisanele is such a beautiful and humble girl. She would fit right in here." Aunt Samke starts off as we arrive at home and walk inside the lobby.
"Absolutely, sisi. Kuhle, what do you think of her?" Aunt Senzi asks and I frown at her.

During the whole lunch, there were hints thrown around the table about Zisanele's beauty, her innocence, her purity, her education and royal status. The king straight out commented on how nice it would be if we became family in matrimony. The whole time he was looking at me and did not spare my brother a glance. Zisanele sat there the whole time blushing. My brother was pissed and kept on whispering in my ear his annoyance. Of course after he realized the intention of the lunch he started mocking me, but he couldn't hide his annoyance and hurt pride because he was really taken by the toddler bride's beauty.

"Here we go." Nqaba murmurs as he throws himself on the couch.
"There is nothing I have to say about Princess Zisanele. She is Nqaba's age mate. How about you ask him this question? Maybe he might have a more positive response than me." I reply, pointing at my brother as I start to walk out of the lounge.

Aunt Senzi scoffs. "I don't know if you notice this, but you are getting old, Kuhle. Whether you like it or not, you need to get a royal wife who will give birth to the future king after you. Yes, Melamina gave you an hear but she is a commoner. Her children don't count. Zisanele is the perfect bride for you. She is young, a virgin, educated and most importantly, royal. What more could you ask for?" The audacity of this woman.

I chuckle angrily as I shake my head and turn to face her. This woman has some guts. How can spew garbage like that about my wife? "I respect you, anti, and that is why I am choosing to walk away from this conversation. But just so you know, I am not going to marry that child or any royal woman out there. I am content with my wife and our ancestors approved her. So whether she is royal or not, it doesn't matter. Also, Manelisi will be king after me whether you like it or not." I walk away from them, bumping into my mother on the corridor.

"Konke." She calls out and I shake my head.
"Not now, salukazi sami."

***

I was supposed to sleep off my anger for a few hours, but when I wake up, it is already 3 am. I spot my phone on the bedside table and when I try powering it up, the blank screen stares right back at me. Damn it. The battery must have died a while ago. I put some light on and charge it. I wait for a few minutes before opening it. I see lots of missed calls and messages. Fuck, I am in trouble. I see my wife's message and I don't know whether to laugh or cry and get on the next plane out to Lima. Manelisi's video message stops me from doing that. Fuck. I can't believe I missed our outing and I am sure he snitched on me to my wife. The only way out of this is through, and that is telling the truth. I don't know how my wife is going to take it. She is a reasonable woman though, she doesn't act on anger. But who am I kidding? She can go bananas when provoked. I try calling her and her phone goes straight to voicemail. Shit. I need to go to my house right now and maybe try and appeal to Manelisi. Maybe bribe him with breakfast in bed when he wakes up.