The Lost Princess
They gathered us in one room. Standing around, we all looked like colorful birds in our different school uniforms. No one had told us why we were there and I really wanted to know so I sidled up to the girl I thought looked smart enough and cleared my throat.
“Hi, I’m Sabrina” I introduced myself with a smiling face.
“Jane,” she said. Her face twitched as though it wanted to smile or weep but couldn’t make up its mind.
“Do you know why we are here?” I asked. She shook her head. She was a pretty girl, her long hair had been made into ten cornrows. I knew because I counted.
“I don’t know. Is it some kind of modeling contract or something? We all look pretty cute” she said looking me over. Our eyes traveled through the room until they landed on a girl standing at the back. She had buck teeth, slanting eyes, and small white patches on her skin. Despite our best intentions, we both burst into laughter and afterward tried our best to feel guilty, even if just a little.
Standing there, I thought about my family; My mother and my three little brothers waiting for me at home. The thought jolted me and I got up, making my way quickly towards the door. When I got to it, I knocked hard three times. Putting my ear to the door, I heard voices on the other side and then approaching feet.
The door opened and a middle-aged woman stepped through. She had a humongous belly for one who looked so agile and my first thought was fibroid. I remembered our last biology class, where our teacher had taught extensively on fibroids and tumors that can grow unannounced in a woman’s womb. Then she rubbed her belly and I changed my mind. This woman was heavily pregnant.
“Who knocked?” She asked. I stepped forward.
“I did”
She looked me over. Her eyes passed over my slim figure and spindly legs. I knew I didn’t look like much and her raised nose said so too.
“What is your name?” She asked.
“Sabrina. I have a request, ma’am.” I replied.
“And what is that?” She asked.
“My brothers. I need to go pick them from school. It is past noon” I said. Other voices began to rise in the room. It was as though they had all been waiting for someone to speak up.
“Be quiet! All of you” the woman hissed when the noise became unbearable. She patted her belly and continued “I am sorry. I should have said this beforehand. Your families are being taken care of. You all” she pointed at us with her stumpy fingers “are here because the king sent for you”
“The king” “why” loud whispers went up in the room.
“You will all find out very soon. Meanwhile, follow me.” She said. “Single file!”
Trying not to rush, we all followed her through the door and into the hallway we came through. Unlike before, we did not go through the front door but detoured into a smaller hallway that led us out under the sun and the blue sky. Two large buses were waiting for us outside. I counted the girls. We were thirty in number. All of us about the same age. Some were tiny of course and others huge, but if my guess was correct, we were all about sixteen years old.
The bus drove through the back gate of the palace. This was the second time I was coming to the palace. The first time, I was here for an excursion with other students of my school and we had only seen the museum. Now, all the girls oohed and ahhed at the sculptures that lined the small tarred road we were driving through. We got down at the back of a building, from where we stood, we could see the palace garden in all its luscious glory.
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“Will they allow us to walk in the garden?” Jane asked. She was holding unto my arm.
“I don’t know. Damn, it is so beautiful” I said. “I would love to get married in a beautiful garden like that”
“Then marry the Prince!” Jane said laughing.
“We are in the palace. That doesn’t seem so impossible anymore” I said. We both giggled at the thought of seducing the prince.
“Girls!” The megaphone sounded. It was the woman who led us here that was speaking. She was yet to tell us her name.
“When will she tell us her name?” Jane whispered near my ear.
“I was just thinking the same thing” I whispered back.
“Follow me!” The megaphone commanded.
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Our sleeping quarters were a great upgrade from what any of us had ever had in our lives. We were all standing in a large hallway that held ten beds that were so huge. I never knew they made beds so huge. The beds were also pink and canopied. When our sleeping arrangements were announced, Jane and I made for the last bed by the window. Another girl joined us as we stared out into the night. The excitement was waning and the reality of our situation was shrouding our hearts like the darkness was shrouding the sky.
“I am an only child,” Jane said “What if they never allow us to return to our families?”
“I don’t know. It is the King. We or our families have no say” I replied. I wanted to tell her we would all be okay but I couldn’t lie to her like that. We had only known each other for a few hours but I felt she was my friend already.
We went to sleep with heavy hearts and were woken up by a voice speaking through the megaphone. Yes, fresh clothes were beside us. Yes, we most certainly should take our baths. We were expected downstairs by 9 pm.
“So someone came in here while we slept,” one of the girls said. A murmur rose.
“Calm down, ladies,” I said, walking towards the center of the room. I just checked, we have ten bathrooms. This means we have to start bathing now. It is 7 am. 9 am is not a century away.”
“I’ll go first,” the paranoid girl said, picking up her new clothes. A packet fell from her arms and she bent to pick it.
“What is that?” Someone else asked.
“A set of panties and four sports bras.”
“Nice,” I replied. Thoughtful of them.
When we got out of our room. The sun was filtering through the glass windows and kissing the marble floors. We walked down the hallway we came through, led by and flanked by guards. They led us into a large hall where we were told, we would have our breakfast. We all sat down and busied ourselves with admiring the beautiful dishes and cutlery on the table before us.
A tall man walked into the hall. The chatter slowly died as he moved to stand before us.
“Ladies, you are all here because the King wants you here,” he said and smiled at some of us in an effort to put us at ease. “In the next few days, every one of you will be tested and the results will determine your fate”
“Sorry, sir. What do you mean by fate?” A girl asked. Mr shiny shoes who was about to walk away turned around and stared at the girl who asked the question. For a moment, I thought he would not answer but then his face softened and he walked closer to our table.
“What I mean is, the tests will determine how quickly you are taken back to your homes. Is that okay?” He asked the girl. She nodded. He looked at us and when nobody else asked any question, turned around and left.
The megaphone was in our room a few hours later. “Follow me!” She shouted. Jane and I had been playing the Ludo game we found inside the drawer beside our bed. We were very reluctant to leave our game.
“I would leave that if I were you guys.” One of the girls said, walking towards us. “I am Helen”
“Sabrina”
“Jane”
“Cool. Now let’s go!” Helen said and sprinted out the door. I took Jane’s hand and together we ran to meet the others. Walking towards the garden from our side of the palace meant we were close enough to the statues that we could reach out and touch them.
“Don’t touch anything!” Megaphone’s voice stopped my fingers in their tracks. I was about to touch an artwork made of red earth and metal. It was a representation of a mermaid and absolutely beautiful to look at. The metal which made up her breasts and her tail was painted a dazzling aquamarine color. While her trunk, arms, and faces were glazed over with gold paint that was chipping away in some places.
As we neared our destination, the amounts of guards standing around began to double.
“What do you think about the guards, Jane?” I asked through the corner of my mouth.
“I don’t know what to think of them,” she said. “They make me feel scared.”
“Calm down. I’m sure they won’t hurt us” I said, even though I was not sure. The tall man was again standing before us. This time, he was dressed for a traditional event. His wrapper was white, and he had another red wrapper slung over his chest. Behind him was a small hut. There was no door, yet the insides were so dark, defying the brightness of the sun outside.
The first girl was asked to take off her shoes and walk into the hut. Nine other girls followed her and walked through the door. When they walked in, they disappeared into the untouched darkness inside the hut. Soon it was our turn. My heart was beating against my chest. I thought of several things. They could be about to sacrifice us to the gods under the pretext of searching for the lost princess in us. The terror in me began to rise when I realized I could be walking to my death and there was no way of escape for me.
I was startled when I reached the door of the hut. Inside was pitch dark and a prodding in my back encouraged me to put one foot before the other. I stepped through a veil into the other side. I was in the courtyard but it looked different from the one I had just walked through. The rain was falling in the distance but not where I was standing. The breeze wrestled with my hair and my baggy t-shirt, pouring sand in my eyes.
When thunder struck directly over my head, I ran and hid under the mermaid’s wide metal tail. All the other statues did not provide such shelter. The first droplet of rain hit me on my arm. I contemplated running out of the courtyard into other parts of the palace but I was scared of moving from this place that seemed like a sanctuary.
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Why was I here? Where were the other girls? I asked myself questions I knew I had no answer to. The rain grew heavier and I squatted so the mermaid tail would cover all of me. My arm brushed against skin and I shrieked in terror and tried to run. A hand gripped my arm, stopping me from moving forward. I looked down and it was a girl around my age.
“Don’t go into the rain.” She said smiling “we are both looking for a place to hide aren’t we?”
“Ye-s-s” I stammered. There was something strange about her. She looked like she was present and yet not present enough.
“Let me hide inside of you,” she said and my eyes widened. Before I could move or scream, she kissed me full on the mouth. Hugging me to her until I blacked out.
***
I woke up on even softer sheets than I had enjoyed in the palace before. The room was chilly because of the running A.C and I wanted to put it off. Cracking my eyes open, I saw that I was in a different room and I was alone.
“My Princess,” a voice rasped. I jumped out of bed in fright, picking up the bedside lamp and wielding it like a weapon. It was a female servant. I knew this because they all wore a uniform. She was still bowing to me.
“I’m not the princess,” I said, dropping the object in its place. The woman’s eyes twitched but she said nothing.
“What can I get for you?” She asked. I wrapped my arm around my rumbling belly. I was still terrified but apparently, my body didn’t care and wanted some food.
“I’ll get you food, your highness,” she said and walked out. When she was gone, I sat down on the bed and cried. In all my fifteen years of life, I had never felt so abused and taken advantage of. It was surreal. To think that some set of people could meddle in and attempt to destroy the lives of thirty young souls all because they had power was horrible.
I thought about my mom and how she would be sad and lonely without her elder daughter to talk to. My little brothers would be missing their playmate. I thought about Jane who was an only child. My mother had her boys but she was all her parents had.
“What happened to the other girls?” I asked the servant when she came back with food.
“They have all been sent home,” she said.
“Why? What about the Princess?” I asked.
“That is you, your highness,” she said, bowing effusive. I held my tongue and allowed her to leave. They must be mistaken, what on earth could make them think I was their lost princess? I walked over to the mirror and looked at my face. It was unchanged. I was still wearing the t-shirt and jeans from earlier. I brought the fabric to my nose. It smelled of rain and dust. My senses dulled for a moment and I could see her as clear as day. Smell her as though she stood right in front of me.
The girl who had grabbed and kissed me must have been the princess. It all clicked in my head. “Let me hide inside of you” were her exact words. All the pieces snapped into place with deafening impact. I ran to the bathroom and vomited my guts out.
The next morning the servant woke me and helped me dress up. According to her, the princess’ betrothed had come to meet her so they could continue plans for the wedding slated to hold in April. I considered the time I had on my hands. One month to learn the workings of the palace and know how to plan my escape. I followed the maid through the palace hallways. They were so beautiful that even in my confused state I noticed.
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Halfway through, a smiling young man began walking towards us. He was so handsome that my knees buckled. What?!!! This was who the princess was about to marry! For the first time in a few days, a genuine smile spread through my face but it wasn’t mine. Few steps away from him and the smell of dust and rain became overpowering. One more step and I lost control of my body. She was taking over, and I had no way to stop her.
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