Sorry for updating so late! I've been busy, plus I haven't been able to get part six written well. Sigh. So part five will only be up sometime next week after I've written at least part ssix and seven.
part four
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"We have to go in this shop!" Unnati grabbed Manyata's hand and tugged her
"Unnati, mujhe bhook lag rahi hai," she whined. "Aur mujhe thakavat aa rahi hai, hum kuch kha ke wapas kyun nahi aate?"
"Nahin, Manyata," Unnati grinned at her friend. "Yeh humari sabse favourite boutique hai. This will be the last for today, I promise."
"For today?" Manyata repeated. "Unnati," her eyes widened. "I cannot shop like this everyday."
Unnati squeezed her hand in reassurance. "Manyata, aap ab ek Rajkumari hai. You will have to dress like a princess, completely. I know you don't really like it, but it's a fact of life that cannot be changed. We'll take it slow, okay?"
Sighing, Manyata nodded. She had been resisting the change, but she knew in the end, it would make things harder on her. And maybe if she behaved, and did as she was asked, she would be allowed to visit her friends, and keep them.
"Aur," Unnati turned around again to face the older girl. "No more of your usual outfits. We have to prove Jay wrong."
Manyata would have protested if not for Unnati's last statement. Instead, she smirked at her friend, receiving one in return. She let Unnati pull her into the boutique and stood quietly as the younger princess asked for some outfits to be shown.
As the attendants showed the two outfit after outfit, Unnati pulled out her phone to let her Dada know that they would eat out before making their way back to the Rajgarh palace. She got a quick reply, her Dada telling her to inform him when they left and when they reached the palace.
Less than a minute later, she received another message from her Dada.
'Make sure she buys something in purple. It'll suit her.'
Raising her eyebrows at the text, Unnati smiled slightly. Her brother was so smitten. She had never seen him act like this before. Maybe it was because it was Manyata. It would always be different with Manyata for Dada. As if thinking about her conjured her, Manyata appeared at Unnati's side.
"Unnati, kya kar rahi ho? Meri madad toh kar please?" She scrunched up her nose. "Mujhe toh kuch pata hi nahi."
Unnati guided her friend back to the attendants and asked to be shown the clothes again. She held up a few against her friend and put them aside.
"Could we see something in purple?" she asked, before adding on, "Dark purple, something that will compliment her skin tone."
The attendant bobbed her head and hurried off, gesturing for the others to follow her.
Manyata turned to Unnati. "Purple? Purple kyun?"
Unnati smiled. "It'll suit you," she quoted her Dada, not that Manyata knew that. She simply followed the other girl's lead. They sifted through the clothes the attendants brought back carefully until Manyata pulled out a deep purple anarkali suit, longer than the ones she had picked up earlier. Holding it up to herself, she noticed that it hit just above her ankles, and it was stunning. The sleeves were long and made of net, the neck was square, and the work, it was not overpowering. It screamed elegance and royalty. Manyata's eyes were wide, even as she wandered away from Unnati and the attendants towards a mirror. It was obvious that she had fallen in love with the outfit, but equally obvious that she was debating with herself on whether she could get it.
"Ma'am, would you like to try that on?" one of the attendants asked.
Manyata whirled around, stunned, having been lost in a world of her own. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and she looked a little shocked at herself. Unnati wondered what she had been thinking. "Ji?" she stuttered. "Who – I –" She took a deep breath and started again. "Thank you, but no."
"Why not Manyata?" Unnati was stunned. The outfit was gorgeous, and Manyata obviously really liked it.
The look in Manyata's eyes was a little sad. "Because I'm Moniya, not Manyata. Aur Moniya yeh kapde nahin pehn sakti."
Unnati rested a hand on Manyata's arm. "Aap Moniya hai, yeh hum maan sakte hain. Par aap Manyata bhi hai. Aur yeh baat koi nahin tehl sakta."
Manyata looked down at the outfit in her hands, brushing one thumb against the net work that adorned it. They stood there in silence for what seemed like eons but was in actual fact just a few minutes before Manyata finally acquiesced and slipped quietly into the changing room.
If Unnati had thought the dress had made Manyata look like a princess, then the anarkali made her look like a queen. 'Dada ki Maharani,' she thought to herself. She nodded to the attendants and asked them to pack the outfit, even as Manyata declined it to another attendant. She would present this as a gift to her friend on another day, she decided. Manyata's reluctance was fear, plain and simple. Fear of what, Unnati was not sure, but she would give in to the older princess for today.
Manyata instead picked out a simpler anarkali, in a different shade of purple, and much less regal for herself. It was pretty, and it flattered Manyata. After paying for it, they left to get something to eat.
Lunch was a quieter affair than Unnati expected. Something was troubling Manyata, and had been since she had tried on that first purple anarkali. She wanted to ask, to help Manyata in any way she could, but they were only just becoming friends. Instead, she managed to make Manyata laugh by telling her stories of her childhood, stories whereby Jay always managed to end up embarrassed.
They reached back to the palace easily enough, and although it was evident that Manyata was still bothered by whatever was on her mind, she was pleasant and chatty. Jay was still out, a fact that Manyata relished in and joked about, leading to the two having to stop on the middle of the stairway because they were laughing so hard. Komal came to greet the two, and waited at the top of the stairs as the two tried to contain their chuckles. Her heart warmed at the sound of her oldest daughter's laughter. It had been so many years since she had heard it so freely given, and she prayed silently that it would be present all the time now that she was home.
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