haha, another regular update.😉
this is the LONGEST FF chapter I've ever written. 😳
Four
"Hukum, what are you doing-"
"Please prepare the pancakes fast Kishan ji. You know how much Raajkumari Maanyata likes them."
Kishan, the breakfast cook of the palace for the last thirty years rubbed his eyes. Even in his father's era, the arrival of a royal in a kitchen was more of a result of them having knocked off too many imported wines the night before than anything else. If Raajkumari Maanyata would have committed such a gaffe, he could have easily reprimanded her and sent her back to her bedroom, for she was prone to skipping into the kitchen to get 'secret treats' and he often found it impossible to dissuade her from finishing an entire box of Swiss Chocolates.
But what could you say to Raajkumar Udayveer? Kishan had seen him playing with Maanyata when he was a child, and at that time he'd been a harmless fellow, an ordinary seven-year old with a puffed-up childish ego and a penchant for breaking the cookie jars that the Rajmata treasured more than her some of her precious jewels. The royal family had been a happy lot in those days, and could be mistaken for an ordinary rich family. Then Raajkumari Maanyata had been kidnapped, and they had become a bunch of cold, dignified stiff-backed people. The prince had changed, and he knew it was unwise to disobey his command now.
Kishan cowed back into a corner and began smearing syrup on the pancakes as Udayveer absentmindedly hummed 'Tumse Milke' while heating the water in a microwave. "Kishanji, pass me the milk please." The bewildered cook gulped as he took out a jar of milk from the fridge and handed it over to the prince, who continued singing the song under his breath. "It was my mother's favourite song you know," the prince said, as if he were reading Kishan's mind. "She would always sing it whenever she made anything in the kitchen." Kishan nodded his head, wondering whether he should start packing his bags right then.
"Don't worry, this is our secret," Udayveer whispered, putting a finger on his lips and looking like a heartbreaking apparition of his late mother. The Maharani of Jaigarh would always say the same thing whenever Kishan happened to feel queasy about the fact that he was allowing a royal to work in the kitchen. It was odd how both Uday and his mother possessed that unnatural telepathy with people they'd never talked to in their whole lives.
When the coffee was made, Uday put the mug on a tray, along with two plates of pancakes. "Double for the princess," he grinned. Then slowly, as if he were in a trance, he skipped out of the kitchen. Kishan shook his head as he saw the prince head away from the kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief. The Rajmata would have had his head on a platter for that. He began wiping away the tabletop, and even though he knew he had no business thinking about his employers, he couldn't help but think about the expression on the Yuuvraaj's face.
It was the look of a man who'd had his heart broken, and was oddly, still at peaceful terms with it.
Maanyata opened her eyes, surprised by the darkness in the room. Hadn't Anjali come to draw the curtains yet? Then she saw the darkness outside, and realized. She stifled a yawn as she got up, cursing herself for waking up so early. It was only six 'o' clock, the time when Maanyata usually studied in England. She had been counting on sleeping late now that she was home, but she knew it would be impossible to close her eyes now.
She was about to toss her blanket away, when she became aware of the presence of another person beside her. Surprised, she turned around and her eyes landed on Akash, comfortably snoring away with his head plopped on one of her pillows.
Maanyata panicked. He stank of alcohol, and she doubted whether she could move him away before the caretaker came to give her a wake-up call. She wondered whether she should drag him out, but even though he had a lanky frame, Maanyata doubted whether she was capable of hoisting a hungover Akash out of her bedroom. She was about to go to the bathroom and fetch a bucket of cold water when the door swung open.
"Rise and Shine, Princess," Uday called out, perfectly balancing a tray with a cup of coffee and two plates of pancakes in his left hand, the right hand poised on the knob of the door. He then closed it and walked inside, his eyes searching for Maanyata. He did see her face, looking pale and frightened. "Did you have a nightmare, Maanyata?" he frowned in confusion, before he stepped forward and got a closer view of the bed. Then all the blood in his veins froze as he saw Akash lying spread eagled on the bed, his shirt unbuttoned, comfortably cocooned in La-La land.
Maanyata looked at Uday's face, and knew instantly that any measure to save her boyfriend's life would go to waste. The jovial smile with which he had greeted her had been replaced by an expression that chilled her to the bones. All the blood had drained away from his skin, and the only sign of life in the otherwise dead face was the cold, freezing anger in his eyes.
"Uday please," she pleaded. "He was drunk last night; he probably didn't know what he was doing."
Uday put his fingers on his lips and said, "Sshh." Then as calmly and innocently as a two-year old baby with no sense of its actions, he picked up the mug of steaming coffee and tilted it over Aakash's head.
Maanyata opened her mouth to scream, but the stream of coffee showered on Aakash's head faster than any entreaty to calm Uday down could escape from her mouth. Aakash woke up instantly, spluttering, "What the hell, it's burning!" Maanyata instantly grabbed tissues from the box by her bedside and began wiping away at his scalded face. Fortunately, the coffee seemed to have cooled down during the journey from the kitchen to the bedroom, and Aakash seemed to have sustained only minor burns.
"Are you psycho?" Aakash slurred in disgust. Uday ignored him. Instead he concentrated on Maanyata, who was soothingly telling Aakash that it was okay, that it had happened by mistake.
"Yes Maanyata, it certainly was a big mistake," he let out, his voice unnaturally high-pitched, before walking away from the bedroom.
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Breakfast was even more silent than dinner, as a result of the deathly glares Maanyata and Uday were shooting each other, especially when anyone happened to ask Aakash what had happened to his forehead. Maanyata had immediately called Doctor Sahib, who had tended to Aakash's wounds.
"But I don't understand'how did the coffee land on your head?" Vijay asked, immediately sensing that his two future brother-in-laws seemed to have waged a battle. "Were you practicing one of those 'Can You survive a Jwalamukhi?' things they show on Kal Tak?"
"Vijay," Menaka warned. Vijay 'hmphed' and continued munching on his omelette.
"Actually I'll explain," Uday said, calmly swallowing down his French toast. "The thing is, Maanyata asked me to bring some coffee for her, and unfortunately, Aakash seemed to be having some kind of early-morning chat too. So it's my fault the coffee got spilt on him. I apologize from my heart, Aakashji. I hope it didn't inconvenience you too much."
"Yeah whatever," Aakash muttered, unable to retort partly because of Maanyata's warning glances from across the table, and partly because of a splitting headache induced by too many tequila shots.
"Hello Dadisa," J said blearily, stumbling over to her chair. She blinked at Aakash. "Hey, what happened to your forehead?"
"Can we please not discuss this?" Maanyata said hastily. "Vijay, pass me the orange juice please." J narrowed her eyes, and then dismissively started gorging on her pancakes. As long as the Aakash fellow didn't snitch on them having sneaked out to the nightclub, she couldn't possibly care about her future jijaji's travails.
"But is it true that you were drunk?" Vijay asked, unable to resist himself. This time Menaka didn't admonish him. Aakash stared down onto his glass plate, aware of the fact that the entire royal family's gaze had swiveled to him.
When breakfast was over, everyone left without saying even a word to Maanyata. She once again felt tears of frustration well up in her eyes, and tried her best to smile when Aakash shot her a pathetic look before going off to have a cold bath. Trying her best not to concentrate on the collective disappointment in the air, she began clearing the tables, much to the protestations of the butlers.
"Maanyata," Uday said, firmly pulling her back by the arm. "It's their job, not yours. Stop doing this."
"Leave me," she said, trying not to just wail out an 'alone' as she picked up the dishes.
"Maanyata," he said, a no-nonsense tone in his voice, "look at me." She turned around to face him, and couldn't help but feel embarrassed at the fact that they were in such close proximity in front of their servants. Apparently Uday understood it too, for he dragged her into a nearby corridor, which was thankfully deserted due to the influx of workers in the dining-hall.
"Maanyata," he began, but she had already sunk down to her knees and begun sniffling. Uday looked at her helplessly, and by the time he had bent down to place a hand on her shoulder, the sniffles had progressed to sobs that made her body convulse with the humiliation of it all. "Don't cry," he said softly, tucking her hair behind her ears, but instead of stopping her tears, it only made her wail harder. Not knowing what to do now, Uday had only one choice-to hug her. As he enveloped her in his embrace, her wails automatically became slower as she snuggled into his arms, clenching tightly at his shoulders. Uday could feel a hot, pounding rush of blood in his mind, and it took him all his self-control to pull away.
"I didn't do anything wrong!" she burst out. "I didn't even know he would crawl into my bed like that!" "I know you would never do anything like that," he said in an assuring tone, but it was as if the princess had locked herself in another cruel and accusatory world altogether. "I've always-I've always told him I'm not that type of girl," she heaved, and he simply nodded, letting out a continuous stream of 'Yes I know' in an attempt to pacify her. She again buried her head in his arms, and this time, he let her relax into him as she slowly quietened.
"Maanyata," he said, once her flow of tears seemed to have dried up, "I wanted to kill him right then. I thought-I thought he'd forced himself upon you. It's only when you-"
"Of course," she snapped, the viciousness in her voice returning again, "when you saw me comforting him, you thought we'd obviously done something dirty, didn't you? Just say it Udayveer. You thought I'd slept with him."
"Have you?" he asked, and it wasn't in a confused or scared manner. Till a minute ago, he had been her protector and her comforter. He looked like a warrior now, his hand gripping her wrist tightly. "Can you ever sleep with another man, Maanyata, and not think about me?" She shuddered, wondering why the hell some servant didn't arrive right then and make him let go of his suddenly violent embrace. "Have you learnt to be truly happy with your boyfriend?"
"I have, in my own way," she said firmly, hoisting herself up. "Thanks for everything you said Uday. But now I'm okay."
She almost expected him to drag her back and comically insist, "No you're not okay Maanyata, you're not okay." But he remained stoic, and let go of her as easily as he had hugged her. "Suit yourself," he quipped, and walked away. She followed, automatically readjusting her ponytail, which had got messed up when she'd rubbed it across his shirt.
She went up to the guest bedroom, wondering whether Akash was feeling alright. She opened the bedroom. As expected, he'd fallen asleep again. In London, she'd always found his antics after a night out cute and funny. But now, in the background of her own house, they seemed demeaning to the respect of her family, shameful to their own relationship even.
In her own bedroom, she decided to put her mind to work on the CAT preparations, and forget the events of the morning. She didn't need anyone-neither a boyfriend, nor a Prince Charming. Her own younger sister, J, had spent a majority of her life in the search for the perfect prince, but Maanyata was determined not to be that way. As a princess, it was her duty to uplift her estate, and ensure the wellbeing of the people who worked for it.
In the end, what did it matter, who she married? She'd anyway made it clear to Aakash that he wasn't getting a share in her will, and he was okay with it. She just needed someone to smile by her side at functions, and she'd found him.
She began turning the pages of her books, and at the back of her mind, her memory was unfolding itself...
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Three years ago
"What was that?" Maanyata demanded, the moment she and Uday were in the safety of his car, away from the prying eyes and ears of the world.
"What?" he asked nonchalantly. He'd given the driver a holiday so that he and Maanyata could go on a long drive. It was now taken for granted with the Rajmata that Uday would accompany her to all the functions she went to. Maanyata hated the society life, and even nightclubs didn't hold any appeal for her anymore now that she had a specific code of conduct to follow there too. If it hadn't been for Uday's insistence and company, she would have abandoned all her duties as a budding socialite long ago.
"When the journalist asked you who I am'why did you say I'm your girlfriend?" she asked, hoping that the darkness of the night concealed the redness of her cheeks. "I mean, you could have just said I'm a friend."
"Why?" he asked, his eyebrows raised. "You don't like the term girlfriend?"
"It's a very demeaning term for me," she said, pretending to stare at the trees they were passing by. "I mean, everyone knows that your 'girlfriends' generally don't last for more than three or four months."
"Of course," he said, "It really was a mistake to call you my girlfriend. What I really should have said was fiance," he whispered, leaning over so that his lips brushed against her cheek. She instantly turned around and spluttered hesitantly, "Fiance? What makes you think I'm going to marry you?"
"Maanyata, this was something which was planned when you were five years old. If you'd looked up from your Barbie dolls, you would have realized that there was a roka going on."
"I know that," she said uncomfortably, "It's just that'I always thought it was childishness on part of our parents. I never really expected you to take it seriously."
The car screeched to a stop, right in the middle of the road. Uday looked at her, and Maanyata could feel fear rise up at the back of the throat. It could have been longing in his eyes, or a desire to murder her, she couldn't be sure what exactly it was.
"Seriously?" he echoed. "Maanyata, what I've done with all the girls I've dated so far was just to establish my influence and position. They were nothing more than status tags for me. But you're something I've dreamed of ever since I was seven. I'm twenty one now, fourteen years. I'm old enough to drink for goodness' sake, but I'm not ready to leave you."
"So, you won't allow me to marry someone else?" she gulped, aimlessly fidgeting with her seat belt.
"Is there someone else?" he asked her firmly. "No," she breathed out.
"Good," he said, and leaned over again, this time not to whisper any sweet nothings the way he would when they were posing for the press, but to just kiss her on the lips, the way he'd probably being intending to do for fourteen years. If it had been anyone else, Maanyata would have coldly asked him to pull away lest anyone see them, or straightaway let go and given him a slap across the cheek. But there was no revulsion, no disgust, just the feeling of warmth that was spreading out throughout her whole body. His arms were squeezing her waist like she was something that would fly away if he let go, and the lightlessness she was experiencing almost made her feel the same way.
She had promised herself never to let a man close, to always keep an impenetrable barrier around her. But she had forgotten that Udayveer had been a part of her long ago before she'd made that promise, and hence none of her rules could ever apply to him. It was the reason for the fright she always felt whenever he happened to tenderly gaze at her-the fact that he could do anything he wanted with her, and she would allow him to get away with it.
She never even realized when he distanced himself and started the car again. Her mind was already lost in blissful dreams of what was to come-and her heart was still craving for the warmth of his body to be close to her own.
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"Can you ever sleep with another man, Maanyata, and not think about me?"
She hadn't slept with him, or any other man for that matter. But even when he'd simply held her close, it had given her a gratification which just couldn't be compared to tossing off her clothes and lying in what Gemma would have called 'the throes of passion' with someone. Maanyata did not believe in such terms, had not believed in them even when she'd been with Udayveer. What she felt for him was not passion, because passion was a temporary term which could evaporate as suddenly as it came. It was unique in its own right.
She sighed and once again scanned her eyes over the pages, making another miserable attempt to solve the problems. As she closed her eyes and muttered incomprehensible formulas to herself, she heard the 'click' of a lamp being switched on.
"I've told you so many times Maanyata, study with the light switched on. I don't want my princess to get spectacles."
Why, afraid you'll get a nerd for a wife? She'd always teased. Instead she muttered 'Thanks," and went back to being Ms. Unaffected and Studious.
Preview: "The truth is Maanyata, we really didn't want you to marry Aakash. But we were convinced that it was for your best," the Rajmata sighed.
"Who convinced you'll?" Maanyata asked, leveling her eyes to meet those of her grandmother's. For the first time in her life, the Rajmata looked away while talking to her daughter.
"Our hearts. Our hearts convinced us," she said quietly.
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Edited by IndigoBlues - 13 years ago
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