Chapter 29

Buhle hesitated for a while. Eventually, she walked towards him, slowly. She stood at his side. The Prince looked up, at her.

"You should remove some of your clothes, did they not tell you?", he said.

Buhle twiddled her fingers.

"If you do not want your clothes to get wet, you should remove them", The Prince reiterated.

But she kept twiddling her fingers.

"The Prince is no monster", said Prince Abasi quietly.

Buhle was not the only one avoiding eye contact, The Prince too was avoiding eye contact. He kept his gaze on the water. She kept her gaze on the floor to her right.

Prince Abasi grabbed her by her wrist, dragging her down into the tub. He held onto her waist to keep her from falling. Their eyes finally met. Breathing became hard, for both of them. They wanted to look away from each other, but they also wanted to stay gazing at each other. Each one felt that the other was extremely beautiful and attractive. The Prince's grip on Buhle's waist was strong and manly, he was truly grown. Veins on his arms protruded, Buhle saw them. He had always seemed childlike in his nature, but in that moment, it was clear; he was a grown young man. He was capable of feeling and being sensual.

Buhle's eyes strayed from his eyes to his broad chest and then to his arms. She felt her strength drift away from her body. She wanted to kiss him and make love to him in that instant; he was irresistible. Her chest tightened. Blood rushed through her veins. She wanted him. She wanted his body.

On the other hand, The Prince wanted that moment to last forever. He wanted to stay gazing into her eyes. He felt that he loved having her in his arms. He felt he wanted to protect her and to ensure that life gets easier for her from that moment on. She was intriguing and unique, both physically and in personality. He truely loved the feeling of being in her presence.

Prince Abasi wanted to know her. Wanted to be with her. And he wanted to be the reason she is happy.

Buhle's uniform had come unbuttoned on her chest, when he grabbed her into the water. Her cleavage was showing. The Prince saw it, but simply went back to staring into her eyes. Before making sexual advances, he wanted to secure his position in her heart and he wanted her to feel safe in his arms. He felt that leading with his body might cause him to lose her eventually. He needed to be smart about this.

His body, however, wanted her. He was already naked anyway. His heartbeat began to pound as he wrestled his dirty thoughts. He wanted to give himself to her, sexually. He wanted to spend the whole night right beside, entangled in her arms and her entangled in his. He felt that he was ready to know a woman.

The Prince, unable to resist the urge, pressed Buhle to his chest, hugging her and squeezing her in his arms. He moved his hands all across her back, trying to truly feel her. Buhle felt that she should probably pull away, but another part of her enjoyed being in The Prince's warm, strong arms. She loved his smell. Or maybe it was the scented body wash mixed in the water, that plastered The Princes wet body.

After a while of having her pinned to his chest, The Prince let go of her before losing himself.

Later in the night, Buhle laid in her bed, looking back at her recent encounter with The Prince in his bath tub. Her roommates were fast asleep, and the candles were all off.

She remembered his smell. And she remembered being in arms and closer to his chest. Buhle remembered feeling and hearing The Prince's heartbeat against her chest. She exhaled. She had all those thoughts in her bed, in her dark room, and so did The Prince.

He remembered feeling weak and strong all at once. And his chest against her plump, soft chest. He missed her warmth even more. The Prince grabbed onto him blanket and clenched it to his chest hoping it could provide him with the same warmth and sensual desire.

It is tough to say whether those two did sleep at all that night.

The following day was even more awkward for the two. They both shyly avoided eye contact with each other and other people. They could not concentrate on anything at all. Their thoughts were clouded by the previous night's events.

Lwani called The Prince to the side.

"What is going on between you and that 'Missing maiden'? You two have been acting awkward all day", said Lwani.

"Nothing. Nothing happened", said The Prince, with a bit of panic in his breathing.

"What do you mean nothing? The two of you keep stealing glances at each other and shying away as if you are ashamed of something", argued Lwani. He sighed and said to The Prince, sternly; "Since you do not want to tell me what is going on, then, do not make me ask again."

The Prince pulled Lwani back to him, stopping him from leaving. He asked; "Lwani, what do you know about Buhle?"

Lwani looked confused.

"Anything you know about her; I would like to hear it… For instance, her appearance, why does she look different from the rest of us?" asked The Prince.

Lwani thought for a second.

"I have heard a rumour about her being a child of a witch", said Lwani.

"A witch?", remarked The Prince. He was shocked there was such a rumour yet no-one tried to exile her to the mountains with other witches.

"Yes, but that is all I know. I will do some digging, and get back to you. Not many know about this rumour though. The majority of the people believe that it just a deformity. I'll do some digging right away", said Lwani.

Gleefully, The Prince said; "Really? You are my hero. When I grow up, I want to be just like you."

Lwani laughed it off and left.

Later on in the day, The Prince and some of his guards secretly disappeared into the abandoned garden. He and his guards cut the wild grass and tamed the shrubs. They brought other colours of flowers and planted them. They also cleaned the pond and introduced in some new fish. The Prince also installed some swings. They renovated a small gazebo in the garden. After a long day's work, the garden was clean and tamed, and it was beautiful. It was full of life.

Buhle went to garden that night, to enjoy the stars. For a moment she wondered if she had come to the right place. She loved everything. It was all so beautiful and smelled fresh. It was also mystical. She also felt worried, she thought that the garden was renovated so that it could be used again. That meant she no longer had a place to hide from the world from time to time.

She went and sat by the pond. The fishes had different colours, shapes and sizes. She loved them.

Meanwhile, The Prince watched her from the hidden. He smiled as she marvelled at the beauty of everything in the garden. He was glad to have put a smile on her face. He watched her a little longer before he eventually left for his palace.

Lwani walked in and spoke with The Prince, who sat in his throne.

"I have found some things about Buhle", said Lwani.

The Prince listened on.

"Her grandmother is the witch at the highest mountain. This was a story of about 20 years ago", said Lwani.

Lwani went on and told The Prince that the witch, Zitha, at the highest mountain killed her son for falling in love with a non-witch.

"Zitha's son fell in love with grandpa Duma's daughter. People soon found out about their relationship, and all things turned upside down. One night, Zitha and her son had an argument. She wanted to train him in his sorcery, but he wanted to stop. He wanted to be with grandpa Duma's daughter. So, during the course of that argument, she killed him", said Lwani.

The Prince frowned.

"That news travelled across borders. Witches from other kingdoms came to Simunye, they wanted to wipe out the entire kingdom. But thanks to the gods, they forbade them from doing so. So, they cursed grandpa Duma's daughter, who was pregnant at that time, to die after giving birth and to have the most hideous child ever. The pregnancy turned out to be the one we know of today as Buhle the 'Missing maiden'", Lwani told the story.

The Prince frowned even more.

"Buhle looks like that because she is cursed. And there is no cure for it… And by the way, her mother died after Buhle's birth in accordance with the agreement between the then King and the witches", Lwani added.

The Prince's sadness showed on his face. "There must be a cure. There is a cure for everything", said The Prince. "Goodness, had I known she was dealing with this, I would never have had her come and serve her sentence. I would have tried to convince The Queen to have mercy on her."

"By the way", said Lwani and leaned over to whisper to him. "Rumour has it that looking like that is not a curse. Apparently, her curse is actually her inability to transform into human form whenever she wants to. For safety reasons against the humans. But I guess she does not need that ability, the humans are not threatening her with knives when they see her."

"What do you mean by that?", asked The Prince.

"They say, some witches look like her. Some look like bats, others look like wild cats. Witches come in all forms. But when among non-witches, they transform and look human-like", Lwani clarified.

"So, her looking like that all day, simply means she cannot transform whenever she pleases, thus she has to live a life of being judge for her appearance. Non-witches judge her because we have not seen witches in their true form for generations. Witches have been hiding their true form to protect themselves from us. From our cruelty as non-witches", said Lwani.

The Prince nodded; "Yeah, that makes sense, we demonize, dehumanize and mock everything and everyone that does not look like us."

Lwani agreed with The Prince.

"I will find a cure for Buhle. It does not matter what happens, I just cannot let her live a life like she has been living", said The Prince. The Prince had an epiphany; "I guess that is why Head-maid Kamva has not been caught. She the ability to switch."

Lwani tried convincing The Prince not to involve himself in Buhle's affairs, but The Prince had already made up his mind.