NO NEVER, YES

"Your Royal Ladyship, the King does not want to come calling for the eighth time!" The bodyguard announced in such an authoritative tone.

I bit my lip and dropped the phone on the couch unconsciously. I realized my surroundings and immediately got to know the mess I was in. I had been looking at social media trends on my phone whilst everyone was looking ahead to my arrival at my sister's pre-wedding meeting.

"I'm coming!" I managed to say and rushed over to my mirror which was embedded in pure Ashanti gold. I took a good look at myself. I checked if my headgear was intact, that my free flowing kente dress was perfect, my makeup and everything was at it should be. When I was satisfied with my look, I turned around to see if I looked 'princessly.'

I gathered and held my dress and dashed out of the room. I run like never before to the Yaa Asantewaa Hall on the other side of the palace.

All the while I was thinking of the excuse I would give, of the the apology I would render. I knew that I wasn't the only one who would be blamed. I imagined how hurt my sister would be, and how the guests would say that such a powerful king did not have control over her own daughter.

I ran through the hallway and realized at some point that the guards were also running behind me. The maidens and servants bowed to me as I run pass them. Everyone stopped what they were doing and made way for me. The palace elders greeted me with all dignity as I rushed pass them. All the while, my shoe was clicking madly on the 3-D epoxy tiled floor. They were all trying their possible best not to stare at the youngest princess who was making a fool out of herself.

I scolded myself all I could, so as to clear off the guilt I was feeling. I shouldn't have been left behind like this!

I came to a sharp halt at the entrance of the great hall of beauty, royalty, glamour and finesse. The golden door was wide open and overlooked the spectacular hall. I watched the two different kings sit in wealth and royalty with their families, comrades and all those who mattered. I tried not to stare as I took the scene in:All eyes were turned in the direction of the princess who was holding her dress and panting and sweating. It was such a terrible sight! Come to think of it, that my father was one of the richest kings on the continent.

My eyes were almost popping out as I breathed in and out. I almost cried but quickly consoled myself. I finally let go off the dress. As I resolved to enter, I looked at the sides of the golden door which served as an entrance to the hall. It wasn't only the muscular guards holding sceptres. There was another person...

He was breathtakingly handsome! I concluded there and then that God is the master artist of all . He wore his royal regalia and stood tall and confident. Looking at him, he was around my age, sixteen, but the sight of him commanded respect and submission. Oh my gosh, and was his skin beautiful and flawless!

Here I was, breaking rules because of him. I should have entered straightaway. I shouldn't have stared, and I knew it wasn't culturally right to have a crush on my brother-in-law to be. I recognized that he had also been staring at me.

I turned and looked straight ahead. I began walking majestically, like nothing had happened, as the guards trailed behind me. I gave a curtsy before going to my seat which was in between my second eldest sister's seat and my second eldest brother's seat. My sister-in-law gave me a dirty look. She was also a princess from the Akyem land.

I sat down slowly,'princessly' and behaved as I was supposed to.

"You are d*mn lucky, Princess Peniella." Sister Gloria, or let's say Princess Gloria whispered into my ear, all the while, looking around and smiling, like she had done nothing.

I smiled without any reaction to what my sister had said. The atmosphere looked business as there were some talks here and there, some proposals and a whole lot of others. I nodded my head at a long line of baskets which were beautifully wrapped. They were the bride list. Oh, so this what was pre-wedding meetings were like.

My! The King of the Ewe people who was my sister's prospective father-in-law. I never knew he was that handsome. He had six male sons who all sat in a line. Not only were they fair and handsome! The beads they wore were my turn on;as they looked gentlemanly, including my age mate.

I watched the Ewe king carefully. I felt he had a hidden agenda for the marriage. The way he smiled and nodded, was like he knew something my dad, the Ashanti king didn't know. Or maybe he wanted our gold?

"Stop staring!" Princess Gloria whispered into my ear again.

This time I was really irritated. "What the f*ck is this? You are getting on my nerves, gosh!"

"It's prohibited to use swear words, darling." She replied calmly.

"To hell with that b*llsh*t. Thank you for reminding me." I whispered back into her ear with a smile.

Princess Gloria and I didn't get along very well sometimes. I thought she was extremely irritating!

There was soon a display of the Ewe culture. I had to suppress my laughter because I found their words and energy funny. There was also a lovely display of the envious Ashanti culture.

The ceremony was quite a rush because Daddy had a long list of big profile people who were visiting, including winners of the National Science and Maths Quiz, and one presidential hopeful. The engagement ceremony would be the main thing.

The Ewe Prince who was my sister's fiance, Prince Seyram, rose to have a dance with my eldest sister, Princess Angelica. Everyone watched her as she graciously walked to the prince.

It was the first time such inter ethnic marriage was happening between us the Ashantis and the Ewes. We thought that they belonged to the West African country of Togo since colonization did us apart.

As they couple to be began to dance, slowly, the adults left, leaving us the youth to dine and dance and know ourselves well.

I watched Daddy as he left. One man was holding a royal cloth umbrella over his head. One other man was fanning him. There was a boy before him. He was known as the soul, per tradition. There were his bodyguards holding swords, some palace elders around him and a whole lot of squad carrying certain things and doing other things.

In our tradition, it wasn't my mum who is the queen, but rather, my grandmother. I was watching the portraits on the wall when one of the guards came to me with a news.

"The King wants you to come to his quarters in two hour's time. As he left, I saw the smile and the satisfied look on Princess Gloria's face. I knew trouble was brewing.

My eyes moved from the emerald green curtains with some sparkles of gold, to the royal red carpet, to the portraits on the wall. I could see that Daddy closely resembled the former Ashanti chief, who was his uncle. My eyes went to the few statues around, to the golden jars.

I watched as my family and that of the Ewe King's family bond. So far, Sister Gloria and I were the only people sitting.

I sighed and stood up from my seat. I couldn't bear another minute with my darling sister who was overprotective.

"Where are you going?" She asked me fluently in our local language-Asante Twi.

I didn't respond to that because I also didn't know where I was heading to. My eyes went to the wine stand. I walked over to the place and folded my arm, without saying anything. The servant waiter quickly poured me a wine of glass.

I just felt like saying thank you so I did and began to turn around. Here we go again! There was the Ewe Prince standing before me, with this look of submission on his face.

It suddenly began to irritate me so I rolled my eyes.

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"Hello Princess Peniella." He slightly waved with a smile.

I wondered how he got to know my name but I didn't ask him of it. I had to behave like the Princess that I really was.

"I'm Prince Sedinam."

I only nodded my head without saying anything, with an expressionless face. I gave him a deep stare because I wanted to know what he had come to seek of me.

"I just..."

Just then, someone grabbed my hand from behind. It was my darling sister again, Princess Gloria.

"Yes?" I quizzed her.

"C'mon Lady Pee!" She began in our local language.

I turned around to see Prince Sedinam watching us.

"Excuse me Prince..."Princess Gloria began to say.

"Sedinam." He offered it.

Then, she turned back to me. "You are not to drink or eat in public!"

"Sorry, I forgot about it."

"You shouldn't again, ok?"