Azalea The Queen

Azalea

A week went by with me living in the palace and trying to adjust to my new life. It was still hard to get used to some things but I was always told to be the adjustable type. I had my share of tolerance when it came to most things, trust me I do, but for the love of God I couldn't stand my husband.

He was so petty, annoying, upsetting, arrogant-
"Thinking about how handsome your husband is, are we?" And narcissistic. He was so full of himself, I don't think he noticed anybody else.

"I was thinking about you, but definitely not the way you think." I glared at him as he tried to tie his tie. It was weird seeing him with one when he always didn't seem to love wearing one. "I was thinking about arrogant, stupid-"

"Sure sweetheart. Do you know how to do a tie?" He did not just cut me off. Oh, I was not the one. He is so infuriating. When he saw that I was just standing there glaring at him, he sighed and gestured to the fabric in his hands.

"Mxm," I stepped closer to him. I yanked the tie from his hands aggressively. He rolled his eyes making me have second thoughts about doing his damn tie. "You know, if you were a bit nicer to me, our living arrangements wouldn't be like living in hell." I tiptoed to wrap the tie around his neck.

"I am nice, just not to you." His deep voice never ceased to make me feel warm inside.
I was almost done with tying the tie when I lost my balance but large hands wrapped themselves around my waist and pulled me close.

Samkelo looked straight into my eyes. I was really bad at keeping eye contact but his stare drew me in and I couldn't look away.

"Why not me?" I whispered, my hold on the tie getting tighter. I felt the prince's hand cup my face. It was so warm and nice that it was hard for me to not lean into it.

"Because I don't like you." Then my trance was broken. I stepped back like I was struck by some electric bolt. "Thank you for the tie, dear wife." He kissed my cheek. Upon seeing my face he smirked.

___

The entire day I couldn't stop thinking about the morning I had with the prince. He was so complex. Why did he have to go and confuse me like that? Kuhle came to the garden to tell me that the queen has summoned me. I sighed because this meant another one of the royal demands that I had yet to fulfill were going to be given to me.

I followed her to the queen's chambers. I found the Queen Mother and the queen having tea. These ladies were always so elegant looking. Their attire did not disappoint even for a second. You'd swear they actually had somewhere to go and not sit around the palace the whole day.

"Oh, you here. Take a seat, my dear." The Queen said, what a sweet lady. She nodded to Kuhle to make me a cup of tea but I waved her off.

"I got it," I told her. She bowed and excused herself from the room. I poured myself a cup and sat back. We exchanged some pleasantries, we did not have to go deep since we saw each other at breakfast that morning. "May I ask the reason for why I was summoned, my queen?" I looked at the woman in front of me.

The Queen looked at Grandmother like they were exchanging some unspoken words between them. I immediately felt uneasy.

"Dear, every time the crowned prince takes a wife, there are some responsibilities that are required to be fulfilled. I'm sure you are familiar with the matter of sexual intercourse." I spurted the tea. Oh my God!

"Oh dear, are you alright?" grandmother asked as she handed me a serviette. I nodded and smiled at her. "Ngane yam, have you and that boy not consummated your marriage yet?" The crease between her eyebrows said more than enough about her feelings about the matter.

My lack of response was loud enough for the two women. They looked at each other and back at me. I shrieked. I suddenly felt small in my form.

"This is not good, what have you two been doing? How can you share a bed and not do anything?" Grandmother seemed more upset than anything. The Queen looked like she expected this news.

"That's because they were not sleeping in the same bed, Mother." The Queen sighed. How did she know that?

"What? What do you mean by that?" I tried to hide my face behind a cup but it really did nothing. "Then...?"

"They sleep in separate beds. The couch is a pullout bed. That's why I called you here princess." I gulped, damn this woman knew everything. Was there any privacy in this palace?

I didn't even know whether it was okay for me to speak or just keep quiet. But I decided on the latter. The Queen pulled up her phone and dialed a number before putting it on loudspeaker. Then, the prince's voice boomed in the room.

"Ma, what's wrong? You never call me when I'm at work." He sounded concerned, it was new to me and quite surprising to know he had that kind of side to himself.

"You need to come home now, and I won't be taking any excuses Samkelo, uyangizwa?" Grandmother was the one who spoke and the queen immediately ended the call. I really didn't think it was that much of a deal to not have sex. It was my marriage and my choice, I didn't see the point of people meddling in it. But again, I was married to the prince of Zulu land.

Well this was going to be long.