I BECAME HIS ZULU BRIDE

uncertain bride*(chapter 16)

The King's words had left us all stunned . No one spoke , silence was all that could be heard at that moment.

"My son has chosen a bride, no matter the colour or gender of the bride I still accept my son's choice!!".

The King's voice boomed so everyone could hear his decision. "Chief I'm afraid your making a big mistake", the queen mother refuted the King's words.

"Woman I see no wrong in my son's choice of bride" , "I happen to disagree chief , the boy cannot be a suitable bride for our son.

I mean look at him, take a good look at him , how can he meet the standards of worthy Zulu bride. Our customs are different from his , he knows nothing about our language and culture.

His simply a foreigner from some country , we don't know him, our ancestors don't know him .

I wonder , how can you accept him so easily chief ? Our son will be ridiculed by others for taking a male bride , can't you see that" . The queen mother spoke , she was supposedly trying to make the king see reason and take back his decision .

The king was silent for a moment making me hold my breath , I truly thought he would take the Queen's side but to my astonishment he did not.

"I stand by my words woman , nothing you say will make me go against my words as the king and your husband".

The queen looked angered to death at that moment , her hands were actually shaking. She shook her head and glared at me , "tell me white boy, did you bewitch my son and husband?" her words left me astonished .

"There is no way my son could fall in love with a man" . She still insisted refusing to believe what was infront of her eyes.

"I will never accept this marriage, I will not bless it, son tomorrow I'm going to Ungaku the traditional doctor , I'm going to consult with him and find a way to save your soul from his binding".

After spitting out those hurtful words to me she stormed out of the ceremony. My eyes were shinning with unshered tears . My thoughts were all over the place , I began to question myself .

Did I really want to marry Sthe? I mean I did not even know the man at all .

I looked at everyone around me holding different expressions and my spirit hit rock bottom. I was the one who had caused that , now there was no music playing , no children laughing , no men or women dancing .

The place was filled with a cold silence. Still lost in my negative thoughts I felt strong arms wrap around me and my heat skipped a beat .

"Dali, don't you dare think about going back on your word, you promised yourself to me and I will make sure your mine no matter what" .

"Sthe, what about your mother?, What about the whole village?". "Dali, not everyone is against us" .

I knew his words were true but still I felt guilty , he was going to be looked down apon by his people all because he wanted to marry me .

What was so good about me anyway ,that he would want to sacrifice his people's loyalty in order to be with me?.

I was weak , pale , and a little skinny if I do say so myself ,so what was so good about me ?.

This question began to plague my mind and it made me uncertain , why did Sthe, want to marry me ? Why did he want me? I looked into his eyes and all I saw was tenderness .

Was what I was seeing true ? All those unanswered questions made me feel a little suffocated. I finally made up my mind to ask him the most pressing questions of all.

"Sthe?", "Yes Dali?", "Why do you want me as your bride? What is so good about about me?". I wanted an answer to erase all my doubts .

Sthe, looked at me , "do you really want to know ?" The answer might take some time. His expression was serious it made me a little uneasy, but I was ready to hear what ever answer he had for me . "Yes ".