The Unexpected Princess (Completed)

Chapter 5

Everything was ready for the dance. Naledi lingered and watched the men pile wood up high for the bonfire. She wrapped her arms around her body, the winter chill was settling in as the darkness became deep bringing the full moon in its silvery splendour. She looked to the skies wondering what the glow would bring this time. She’d gone to every dance before she started her work in the royal house, and she’s never caught it.

“Naledi come get dressed,” her grandmother said turning away to go to their house. Naledi followed her silently.

“I’m not going to the dance. I have work to do. I just want to take a bath and then go back,” she said when she got into the house. They went straight to her bedroom.

“This time you’re not going to dance for yourself. You’re going to dance for me,” her grandmother said forcing her into a chair and unwinding her head cloth. Long dreadlocks tumbled out to her waist.

“What are you hoping for?” Naledi asked as her grandmother threaded strands of colourful beads into her hair. Maybe she could spare a few minutes, plus the guests would be busy watching the dance anyway, Naledi thought. Afterwards she could easily slip back into her uniform, and go back to work.

“Happiness,” her grandmother said with a smile. Naledi smiled back at her, and got up to take a quick shower. Dance for happiness, she could do that.

There was a slight knock at the door as she finished up. Dineo entered a second later.

“Is she getting ready?” she asked as she budged into her bedroom. She buzzed with excitement. Naledi could feel it all the way from the bathroom. She stepped out with a towel wrapped around her body.

“How did you know I was going to dance?” Naledi asked looking at her grandmother suspiciously. Were they conniving to get her to the dance? She turned to Dineo. Dineo looked everywhere but at her. “Say it. This was your plan wasn’t it?”

“No,” Dineo said innocently.

“No?” Naledi asked and turned to her grandmother, “Koko?”

Her grandmother just smiled at her in answer.

“Isn’t the prince of Ga-Tloung handsome or what?” Dineo changed the subject. Naledi let her with a shake of her head. She wasn’t going to get anything out of them it seemed.

“Oh my, what did he say to you? He bought the most expensive necklace in my collection, I couldn’t believe it.”

Naledi listened to Dineo rave over Anthony Tloung. She couldn’t blame her. He was extremely handsome. Like some folktale prince.

Her heart sped up at the thought of him, and the way he had looked at her. She couldn’t believe he had looked at her that way. Her? Not anyone else. His eyes had crawled down her body, burning a lingering trail over her skin. Naledi released a cooling breath. It felt like he had touched her everywhere.

It didn’t matter. He was a prince and she was…Naledi shook her head again, and went off to get dressed. No depressing thoughts before the dance.

Fifteen minutes later she was ready. She was fully dressed in her traditional outfit that consisted of a colourful cloth wrapped around her chest to cover her breasts and two short flaps of cloths – one tied around her waist in the front adorned with colourful beads and the other plain cloth was tied at the back.

“You look stunning,” Dineo said and held out her hand, “and there is someone I want you to meet.”

“I knew it,” Naledi said slapping Dineo’s shoulder playfully. “He’s here?”

“At the dance,” Dineo nodded with a huge smile. They walked back to the dance. It had already started and it was packed. People milled about laughing and eating, and finding places to sit on the ground. Naledi and Dineo had no choice but to stand right at the edge of the crowd. They couldn’t hear anything happening in the front from there, but they could feel the energy of the people vibrating in the air.

“I don’t think we’ll find him at this rate,” Dineo said straining her neck to look for the doctor. Naledi said nothing as she wasn’t sure how she felt about meeting him. She looked around her at the festivities.

This was the Pulo ya Dikgoro dance; she thought excitedly feeling the magic.

Lit fires threw orange sparks in the air like natural fireworks. Drum beats thudded and echoed far and wide creating a festive atmosphere. Naledi felt each thud deep in her chest. She embraced it and moved to its rhythm. She watched as the chief got up on the makeshift stage lit by numerous lights to say a few words, though she couldn’t make out what he was saying.

Anthony stood very still listening to his father’s announcement that this night he was going to choose a bride. Their guests sat in their chairs on the stage in shocked silence, except the family of his intended. They sat there expectantly. She was amongst them covered in a gold shimmering cloth from head to toe, so no one saw her face. Anthony was yet to meet her.

He breathed in the fresh mountain air, hoping it will unravel the tight knots in his stomach.

He couldn’t believe he had agreed to his father’s machinations without a fight. He was the rebellious son, the one who set his own rules, but he hadn’t said ‘no’ when his father had asked him to make an alliance through marriage to his already chosen bride. And there she was sitting there for their destiny to begin.

Since he wasn’t looking for love, his decision should be easy. But he couldn’t help thinking of the brown eyed girl he’d met at the market earlier today.

A hush silence fell over the crowd after the words were spoken. No one moved, they watched as Anthony moved forward to lead the dance. He stepped down from the stage and someone handed him wooden stick with a blazing fire at the end. The ground beneath his feet shook, and the air seemed to vibrate around him. The torch felt like a searing flame in his hands.

Naledi’s heart stopped in her chest as she saw him… Anthony…the prince… stepped up to the pile of wood. He stood tall and poised…his very presence commanding. He moved with grace - in slow, flowing movements that took Naledi’s breath away. She stared at him, following each and every move he made. She became so enraptured by him, she didn’t realize she was bouncing in place with excitement as he touched the torch to the wood.

Magical wonders erupted into the already enchanted field as he lit the main fire. Then he moved back.

A group of colourfully dressed women circled the flames that climbed and licked the wood, turning into a glowing blaze. They hummed an enchanting rhythm and gyrated to the beat of the drums. Mist from the mountain swirled over them, creating an other-worldliness that was strange and mystical.

There was magic in the air, Anthony thought. He looked up and around him feeling something within him move. The sparks of the fire flew above like fireflies and all he could hear was the beat of the drums thumping and echoing in the night.

The women moved in sync with each other. Their rhythm enthralled the onlookers.

Naledi suddenly joined the dance on the other side of the crowd. The crowd parted for her like a wave.

And that’s when Anthony saw her. She shone bright and moved with grace and sensuality that had him captivated. His heart beat like the drums that echoed around him. He stared at her unable to look away.