Chapter 21

Buhle responded;

"Buhle… Buhle… She just left. Buhle just left. A few minutes ago."

"Oh," said The Prince. "Do you know where she went to? I will send these guards of mine to go look for her."

Buhle shook her vigorously. She denied; "I do not know where she went off to."

There was a short silence. It seemed The Prince was beginning to suspect that the Buhle in front of him was lying about something. Buhle diverted his attention;

"And by the way, what are you doing here?"

There was a silence. Buhle released her impudence, she thus added; "My Prince."

"It is alright", The Prince said to Buhle, then turned to grandpa. "I was just hoping to see your granddaughter too. But it is alright, I might catch her next time."

Grandpa nodded.

"I had gone to your house, but came here when I did not fine you there. I brought some parcels, and I would appreciate it if you accept them."

Grandpa refused to accept anything from The Prince. He did not feel comfortable about it. By saving The Prince's live, grandpa was not expecting a reward. All he hoped for was to save a life. The Prince expressed to grandpa that he wished to thank them in some way. Prince Abasi assured grandpa that if he accepts that one parcel, he would not be bringing more. Grandpa accepted. With that, The Prince left.

In the evening, grandpa and the girls retuned home and found the parcel from The Prince. He had left it in the food storage house. The Prince had found the key in a whole in a tree next the little storage house. He had learned that during the days he lived with grandpa and Buhle. The parcel included a bag of clothes, jewellery, fabrics and foods. They carried the bags into the house except the food bag. It was left in the storage.

While in the house, the girls dug into the bags and discovered jewelleries made of gold, jade and silver. They also found the silver and the lace fabrics.

"Wow! Look at all of this", remarked Mini as she marvelled at the fabrics.

"I know! They are all just so pretty. Just look at this necklace", Buhle admired, placing the necklace on her neck.

Mini continued digging into the sacs. "The are all so expensive!", she proclaimed. "I wonder how Nisa will feel if she sees us wearing these. She will hate us."

The two girls laughed.

"The Prince must really like you! I think it is time you come clean to him and tell him you are the Buhle he was looking for", said Mini.

"No. I have more pressing matters at hand", said Buhle.

Mini paused, wanting to hear more.

"I am taunted by three rascals at the palace. And I cannot face. If I do, I might get fired. More especially because they have been working there longer, and I am just a disobedient 'Missing maiden'. I need to figure something out", said Buhle.

"But if you get fired, then that is a good thing. Is it not?" Mini asked.

"No", Buhle replied. "If I get fired, it will mean that I failed to carry out my sentence properly. And the consequences of that are most likely death."

Mini gulped in shock hearing death.

"Anyway, The Prince once called for me. He seemed very kind to me on that day. Therefore, I think I will hide behind him… I will hide behind him from those girls", Buhle planned.

Mini nodded in agreement.

"After all," Buhle said. "I am in this predicament because of him."

The break was over. The servants that once went away, returned. They all scrambled back to their jobs at the palace. The happy smiles that were on the faces of Lebo, Sana and Letho dissolved to displeasure when they saw Buhle walk in. That plain moment brought back their frustration and deviousness within their hearts. There was a gloom in the room that cut the air into half and left them all in an uneasy state.

The next day, everyone returned to work. Lebo, Sana and Letho were at it again, they conspired. They planned their next mischief on Buhle.

"We should poor flour on her", said Lebo with spite in her eyes. She was annoyed that Buhle seemed fine and unfazed by them after the short break. She was hoping that Buhle would seem anxious about returning to the palace to live with them.

Sana liked the idea; "Oh, I like that! It is a great idea. I think Letho should bring the flour", Sana looked at Letho. "You work in the kitchen as one of the cooks."

"Yes", Lebo agreed.

With Lebo and Sana agreeing with each other, Letho had no choice but to accept the order. Letho managed to snick out a small sac of flour from the kitchen and brought it to her friends as planned.

"What is Buhle doing now?", Lebo wanted to know.

Letho, who worked in the kitchen like Buhle, answered; "She is currently washing the dishes. But she will be done soon."

Letho was the one who always informed the other two girls of what Buhle next chore was. And let them know where they would find her and taunt her. Letho and Buhle were both working in the kitchen thus, it was easy for Letho to know of such information. The difference between them was that Buhle was new thus, she worked as the scullery maid and also picked fruits, vegetables and flowers for the Prince's kitchen. While Letho was one of the cooks in the kitchen, she and her fellow colleagues in the Prince's kitchen prepared meals with a large variety of side dishes for The Prince. On other days, Letho was responsible for joining the crew that cooked for the servants.

"Before I left", Letho continued. "Buhle was instructed to take the dirty kitchen curtains to the laundry group. So, she will be here in the next four to five minutes."

The girls nodded, signalling to Letho that they understood. The three girls waited there.

The Prince appeared. He was taking a walk across the beautiful gardens. He did not see the three girls. But they saw him. They quickly hid.

Buhle came, she was indeed going to the laundry washing group. She had a basket full of curtains from the kitchen. She passed by the girls hiding behind some shrubs. A bag of flour fell upon her head, the flour poured onto her head and ran down on the rest of her body. She was a mess. Buhle screeched and looked to see who it was. She managed to see only the backs of three people running away. That was enough for her to know who they were.

The Prince, who was farther away, looked over when he heard the screech. He saw Buhle and walked over to her.

"My goodness! Are you alright?", Prince Abasi wanted to know.

His sudden appearance startled Buhle. She immediately stopped dusting herself and bowed her head to The Prince. The Prince went on ahead and started dusting the flour off of Buhle's uniform. He was so immersed in what he was doing, so much that he did not realize that his act was forbidden. And could be misunderstood as abuse of power, and inappropriately touching subordinates.

He dusted her shoulders, then arms and went to her chest area. Buhle blocked him with her arms. She placed them crisscrossed on herself. The Prince realized his actions and had an eye contact with Buhle. They stared at each other, seemingly dazed. As if he had come back to his senses, The Prince looked away immediately. Shyness showed on his face, and he was embarrassed. He kept his gaze on the ground. He wondered what had come over him, and why he had his hands all over someone else; a female at that.

"I am sorry. Truly", he apologized.

There was complete silence. The Prince had never been that close to a girl, let alone touch her.

Unexpectedly, Buhle saw the kitchen supervisor walking. She thought that the supervisor would see her, and that would put into trouble. She almost imagine the supervisor scolding her for not looking perfectly clean. And she was certain that she would then be sent to the washing duty, where she would have to wash heavy blankets all day long. Now, that's not something she wanted, so she looked at the young Prince with her glaring eyes. It was him who had caused all this in the first place; at least that what she felt. She said;

"If you are sorry, then do something for me."

"Something?" asked The Prince, he was getting worried. He suspected it would be something that would go against the constitutions set by the palace. But then again, his inappropriate touching would get him into great trouble if reported. He asked her; "What is it?"

"Is there anyone at your palace?", Buhle wanted to know.

"No. Why?"

Buhle grabbed The Prince and ran with him. The Prince did not have enough time to react, so he held back his shock reaction and allowed himself to be pulled along.

While they ran, The Prince could not believe the boldness of the young lady. She seemed to completely disregard his title in the Kingdom. The Prince was revered by everyone for his title, but not her. A part of him, that he found strange, felt warm and fuzzy about his wrist entangled in the girl's hand, and being pulled along. He felt that her hand was cold, that made it even more refreshing to have his wrist in her hand. In that moment, he felt that he was willing to go wherever she wanted. He just wanted to be with this girl who was bold enough to drag him. To be that close to him.

While he went through all his thoughts, Buhle's main hope was to dodge the kitchen supervisor. They disappeared into The Prince's palace.