Chapter 24

Lwani and The Prince's search seemed to be hopeless. There was no sight of the maid they were looking for. Lwani was already giving up. But The Prince was hard at work.

A green glow appeared from their far right. They looked and wondered what it could be. The glow grew bigger and bigger. The Prince turned his horse and headed to the glow. Lwani warned;

"That light seems to be associated to witchcraft. I advise you not to go there, My Prince."

The Prince went on ahead. With a sigh, Lwani followed behind. When they got there, they saw a young lady unresponsive. Prince Abasi got off of his horse and turned the girl to see her face.

"Buhle?", The Prince said.

Lwani came closer on his horse. "That is Buhle? Who is Buhle? Is she the maid we are looking for?"

The Prince shook his; "No." He said; "This is someone else. We need to take her to the palace. Taking her back to her home will be dangerous because of the bandit situation."

Lwani nodded.

Buhle had transformed into her beautiful form. That was the form that The Prince lived with while recovering from his accident. The Prince advised Lwani to take the beautiful Buhle to the palace while he continues to look for the other Buhle, the one he knew as the servant.

Lwani, concerned over The Prince's safety, refused. He argued that if The Prince does not stop his search, he will not be taking the unresponsive young lady to the palace. He swore that he would be following The Prince with the young lady on his horse.

The two exchanged words, arguing. While Lwani was concerned over the Crown Prince's safety, the Crown Prince himself was concerned over the safety of the unresponsive young lady and Buhle the maid, whom he thought was still missing. The Prince eventually made the decision; he returned to the palace.

Prince Abasi told Lwani to hide the young lady. He explained that he did not want to have to explain to The Queen where he was and he did not want to have to lie about who the young lady was. And so, the journey to the palace began.

The girls from room 112 were still in panic. How could a simple, harmless prank turn into something that could end in death? One paced up and down in the room, the others sat on their beds. They were… deliberating. What next? What lie would they tell?

"Guys, we need to find a way to wash ourselves out of this", said the pacing Lebo.

"I have been thinking for the last 4 hours. But I cannot find an idea", said Sana. "What about you, Letho? Have you any idea?"

Letho shook her head.

"You started all this", said Lebo to Letho scornfully. "If anyone comes up with a plan out of this, it has to be you."

"Oh, come on, now, Lebo. You know that she did not mean for any of this to happen", Sana defended Letho.

In that moment, Letho found refuge in Sana. The situation had already turned her timid, now Lebo was pinning it all on her. She stood up as if she was about to make a grand announcement.

"Let us come clean. Let us just come clean", she said breathlessly.

"Are you crazy?!", spoke Lebo. "Do you understand that by doing that, we are leading ourselves to the abattoir?"

"Well, what other choice do we have?!", Letho counter argued. "If we keep quiet now, an investigation will be launched. And then what?!"

"Yeah, but…!", shouted Lebo. "They will not know we have something to do with any of this. I mean, none of us has told anyone outside this room."

"Actually, they will start questioning from the point of Sana knowing that Buhle went to the market", argued Letho.

Confused, Sana asked; "Wait. What?... What do you mean by that?"

"Well, when Buhle was sent to the market, she went straight there from the kitchen. She did not go to tell you that she will be going to the market. So then, how did you know that she went to the market, unless you had something to do with her not returning to the palace. You are the one who told the head-maid that she went to the market, remember?", Letho explained.

Sana got worried. She could not think of an excuse for herself.

"You will just say that Letho told you because you were wondering why Buhle was not here in our room after the sudden curfew", suggested Lebo.

Sana practised repeating Lebo's words. She wanted to say them perfectly without skipping a word. Lebo helped her rehearse. With that, the girls were set for questioning in case one is conducted.

Although the girls were practising how to get away scot-free, they also wanted to take some responsibility. They were scared on behalf of their roommate, Buhle.

"Oh, she must be scared wherever she is right now", said Letho.

"Oh, poor girl", remarked Sana.

Lebo could not think of what to say, she just wore her genuine sadness on her face.

On the other hand, The Prince and Lwani managed to get into the palace without the young lady being noticed. They were in The Prince's palace. The Prince laid Buhle in bedroom, that was the only bedroom he had in his palace. He adjusted her head on the pillow and tucked her in. the Prince returned to the living where Lwani was.

"She needs to treated. She was out in the cold for too long; it is taking a toll on her", said The Prince.

Lwani was against The Prince having a common in his room. He felt that The Prince was crossing the line.

"My Prince, you are unmarried. It improper to have a woman in your room. You are not supposed to be engaging in immoral conduct. You are a man", warned Lwani.

"Well, we are already here", said The Prince. "Now we just need to make sure that she makes it through the night."

"My Prince!", yelled Lwani.

"I know! I should not have brought her to my chambers. I know", The Prince said. "Now, can we focus? She needs help."

Lwani eventually cooperated, he went out to find someone who knew herbs among The Prince's staff. He explained to the servant that it should all be kept a secret. That servant was head-maid Kamva. She was snuck into The Prince's room and found The Prince sitting beside the unresponsive Buhle.

The Prince spoke, perplexed; "Head-maid Kamva, you know medicine?"

"Yes, My Prince", said head-maid Kamva timidly. She was remembering her interaction with The Prince earlier. She was embarassed. Remembering that she saw him bare-chested made her face heat up.

"I could not find Buhle. But I found this young lady. I give you my word, tomorrow morning I shall rise before the birds and go look for her", said The Prince.

The head-maid stood there not knowing what to say. She thought in her mind;

The Prince has not realized that that girl is Buhle. Should I tell him?... But then, The Queen knows. I think if The Queen wanted The Prince to know, she would have told him. And also, it seems that Buhle herself does not want to tell The Prince. I should just mind my own business, and let her tell him herself. But I still cannot let him go look for a person he has already found.

"Um, My Prince. You need not rise early tomorrow to look for Buhle. She will be fine. In fact, she is safe now", said head-maid Kamva.

"She is safe?", prompted The Prince. "How do you know? Is she back? Bring her to me."

The head-maid hesitated.

"Um, no. She has not returned. I know that she is safe. I have a very credible source", said head-maid Kamva.

The head-maid assembled her items and began treating Buhle. She crushed some leaves on a pestle and then added some dried powder in. Beside her, she was boiling some water. Head-maid poured the mixture into a small pouch and then tied it. She dumped it into a cup and poured the warm water in.

She took the pestle again and threw in a different kind of leaves and a tree bark. She crushed the mixture. Water was added little by little. That batch went into a basin. She filled that basin with the remaining warm water.

She took the cup, swirled in around with the intention to ensure that the medicinal mixture dissolved into the water. Head-maid lifted Buhle's head. Prince Abasi helped. The head-maid poured the medicine into Buhle's mouth, one drop at a time.

There was tranquillity in the room. The Prince and Lwani watched on with curiosity.

"I have always known medicine. My mother was a witch. But my father was a non-witch", said the head-maid.

The Prince and Lwani were left in awe. They never would have thought that head-maid Kamva was a witch.

"But how could your parents be together despite the tight rules?" Prince Abasi wanted to know.

"My mother and father were from a different kingdom. They came here and hid their identities. They adopted new identities. Living under false names in a foreign kingdom was the only way they could be together", she answered.

People usaully reacted unkindly when they found out that a witch was among the. But Head-maid Kamva revealed her identity to The Prince because she had always known he was of the opinion that witches and humans were all the same. She had always known of The kindness The Prince always showed to witches.

She was unaware of Lwani's standpoint though. She avoided looking up at him, for she feared she might be disappointed by his reaction.

Head-maid Kamva wrung the wet cloth in the basin of herbal water. She then gently dabbed it on Buhle's forehead. Prince Abasi turned to Lwani.

"Why do you seem like you did not know? You brought her here", said The Prince.

"I had gone to ask her if she knows anyone who knows medicine. And she just said that she wanted to see the sick person. And that is how we got here", said Lwani.

"Oh", remarked The Prince.

When head-maid Kamva finished treating Buhle she suggested to take Buhle with her. The Prince argued that she stays there so that he could return her home without anyone else in the palace knowing about her. The head-maid counterargued that she would make sure that no-one finds out about the unconscious Buhle situation. She also assured The Prince that she would escort the young lady out of the palace without attracting unwanted attention.

"And besides, it is improper for The Prince to have a woman in his chambers", concluded the head-maid.

The Prince let the head-maid take Buhle with her.