Yisishiyagalombili

"Enough," commanded the volcanic haired Queen of Mpande Pride.

The circle of warriors dispersed from around us and quickly busied themselves with studying the growth of the grass. Cowards.

I had yet to unlock my eyes from Riley's amber orbs. She used to force herself to not blink until I cowered under her glare. It never worked but that never stopped her. She dried out her cornea after a particularly heated fight and, as a punishment for irritating the darling princess, Lucinda made me apply the eye drops to her idiotic daughter's eye every other hour for three days. Three days! For a fight, I didn't even start. Riley was the one that got her braids in a bunch because I ditched her to play at the lake with my other friends. It's not my fault the girl expected me to follow her around like a puppy. Her eyes were different now though; they were slightly darker than when she was a child with a fleck of sage were visible around the glowing ring of amber in her furious eyes.

"Nikky!"

"Nix…"

"Riley Nandi Lolade Mpande, control yourself," her mother instructed, lulling the amber storm into a dazed hazel. I was also lost for words. It was as if we had stepped out of time for a moment and I needed to assimilate to reality.

I looked away from the silent princess and met the eyes of a curious Lissa. Samuel looked at me with a similar look on his face. I didn't have any answers to offer them.

"Office, girls," Lucinda spoke carefully. This woman was everything that the sun was known for. She was brought light with her as she entered the day but when provoked, she would unleash an inferno onto to those who dare cross her.

"Everyone else – I don't need my kingdom defended by ghosts … get back to training," she instructed before turning on her heel and strutting back to the house. I looked at my family once more before turning and following the queen back into the house.

Riley trailed behind me. She took the extra step to stomp, making her ankle bracelets jingle with every step she took. She knew that her actions were getting under my skin, but I did not get her the satisfaction of seeing my agitation at her actions. I remained silent until she took it upon herself to imitate a stampede on two legs.

"Stop," I seethed at her. She only glared at me, stomping her foot again.

"I swear…" I was trying my best to quell my temper, but the princess has a unique ability to chip away at my restraint.

"What? Not in a playful mood anymore?" she said between clenched teeth. So that's what this is about. Guess some people never grow up. I rolled my eyes at her immaturity and turned towards the chief's office once more. Only to have her grab my arm.

"They're not- "

"Shut up. You don't know them … or me," I said looking directly into her wide eyes. She blinked back her emotions. I couldn't decipher what exactly was brewing behind her stormy eyes. I took the opportunity to pry her fingers from my arm and finish my thought, "come on, your father's waiting."

I left Riley in her daze and made my way to the chief's door. I knocked on the heavy wood. I heard a rough "enter" and took that as my cue to open the door. I waited until the princess walk in before me until I closed the door behind us.

We stood in tense silence for an eternity before the chief cleared his throat and looked up from his build in E-windi. I smirked at the model. I was one of my earlier models, but It would appear that the chief was not keeping up to date with the latest tech.

"You know we made a new model, right?" I said, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work. He merely pushed a button on his desk and allowed the liquid display screen to dissolve into its origin point. He then cleared his throat and motioned us to sit down.

Riley was playing with the bangles on her wrist and activating and deactivating the build-in microblade as she waited for her father to speak. The chief walked over to us and places a large file in front of us on the table.

I raised my eyebrow at him. He was taking this suspense thing way too far in my opinion, but I would rather swallow my own tongue than say that to the chief. I open the folder and surprised to see a collection of familiar and other awful obnoxious faces from my childhood.

"What happened on the field this morning, amantombazane," he asked us in a surprisingly calm voice.

There was a pause and I could feel Riley's eyes on the side of my face. I folded my arms and clenched my jaw. Riley was completely at fault for the argument this morning, but I was waiting for her to admit that herself.

"Tata… I," she looked at me for support. There was a part of me that wanted to, but I told that part of me to shut up. She realised that I wasn't going to speak up, so she continued, "the ghosts were distracting the warriors from this morning training session."

I quickly unfollowed my arms and shot to the left so that I was a fist away from her. She only rolled her eyes at my reaction. The chief looked at me for confirmation. I shrugged.

"Lissa was just showing the pride snow. They've never seen snow here in the south," I said. It was a sweet gesture from my Norse girlfriend. Riley smirked as a frown formed on her father's face.

"I missed it," the chief pouted. I couldn't stop from giggling at the chief's poked out bottom lip. I felt a bit bad because I remember him loving our winter trips to the Tanzanian peaks.

"Don't worry Lissa will be more than happy to make another snow show for you, tata," I said with a grin. This was turning out better than I thought. But then I returned my attention to the opened folder on the table.

"Um, chief?" I asked pointing to the stack of faces. This caught his attention and made him straighten his posture in his seat. It also brought Riley out of her sulking slump. The chief cleared his throat and looked at us with a serious look in his eyes. Which was a striking contrast to his previous cute expression. I also perked up at the stark change in the atmosphere.

"I have watched the two of you from little girls. You have both grown into beautiful young women, praise the gods," he paused, slightly scratching his beard, "You are no longer little girls, amantombazane ami. And you," he said looking at Riley directly. "You are the future leader of our pride. I need to ensure that you find the right person to lead besides."

Riley tensed in her seat. Her jaw was clenched. This was not going to end well.

"Now that you are back from your sacred pilgrimage with the orishas, it is time for you to meet a good marriage match," he finally said. "There is a meeting of the southern chiefs this weekend and you will be going on behalf of our pride. This is your opportunity to decide who will be the next King or … Queen (I avoided the chief's eyes on me at this point) to rule our people with you. Life is not meant to be lived alone."

I expected Riley to throw a tantrum, but she remained silent in her seat, deep in thought presumably. This was not what we had planned for her future, but she was the future queen and her inheritance didn't include an exit clause. I was also feeling slightly smug. This was the perfect chance for me to cut the time I had left shackled to her. Married, she was a more formidable queen and she would be able to ascend to the throne quicker and thus buying me my freedom sooner than I expected.

"Nikola, you will join her. To make sure my ntombazane yami stays safe and finds a perfect partner," he said with a persistent smirk that made me feel slightly on edge; he was up to something.

"I will ensure that the wedding bells are rung before years end, tata," I said smugly. I was more determined than ever to ditch the princess. I was not excited about the fact that I would have to leave the twins with pride for the weekend. There is no way that the chiefs would allow two ghosts to attend the royal meeting.

"I will make sure that your family is taken good care of in your absence, ntombazane yami" the chief said. He was really excited about this weekend's events. I was still confused about his intentions.

I looked towards Riley, who has yet to speak. To my surprise, she was grinning.

"Thank you, ubaba," she said grinning and jumped up to hug her father.

What the fuck was going on? This from the girl who told me horror stories about the suitors in that folder when we were growing up was now being at the prospect of getting married to one of them.