A King size Love - vignettes - update on page 12 - Page 2

Originally posted by: abba12

Fab display of emotions. 👍🏼

The drop of tear rana imagined , or that actually made its way out of her deserted eyes. Loved the way its written ..

And rana dreaming about her was actually a very good addition ..

Once I was wondering why ranag don't even think once about the girl he met in library ..saved her then at mandir in show ..

But u filled that loophole here

THE TOAST

"I respect your intent and your sentiments, Bauji...I only wish you had respected my agency too..!"

Govind looked at his daughter with tear-filled eyes.

"Forgive me, my dear..but there was no time...not while your mother held the loaded gun in the form of Damodar Das to your head!"

He glared at his wife, who sat shedding tears by his side.

" I have destroyed my daughter's life with my own stubbornness...I should never have blackmailed you to accept that old man...your father wouldn't have had to resort to such desperate means or else...!"

Gayatrhi wiped the tears off her mother's cheeks..

"Stop crying, Mother...there is no point to it...what is done is done...!"

Her mother stared at her wonderingly.

"How are you able to be strong, Gayathri? You are not shedding tears despite the fact that your life is in shambles...!"

"The Queen does not shed tears!"

Govind Seth flinched at that.

"I want to see my chutkuliya back. That lively girl whose laughter filled this house's dark corners and who did not shy away from tears when hurt! I don't want my Chutkuliya to turn into this cold stranger...this Queen!"

"What is done cannot be undone, Bau ji...the crown has been placed on my head. Its burden I shall bear until the King or his subjects choose to strip me of it..!"

Govind Seth could not control his anger at the thought of his intransigent son-in-law.

"Why is he so determined to think the worst of you? I will go to him and tell him that, but for this deal, he would have had to face me in the court of law...that you saved the royalty from ignominy...that you had no part in this deal that his mother and I fashioned...that all you are guilty of is loving him with all your heart...!"

"No Bauji...you will do no such thing...he is determined to believe the worst of me and no explanation is going to suffice. Besides, did you not tell me that so long as we were convinced of the truthfulness of our ways, we should continue to walk ahead down our chosen path, no matter what someone else thought! What he thinks does not matter to me now...if he wishes to find the truth out some day, he will...if he chooses to sentence himself and me to a life of misery based on his erroneous assumptions, then so be it...I will do nothing more to convince him...!"

"But how can you let your husband think the worst of you?"

Damayathi cried out plaintively.

"What would you have me do, Mother? Go down on my knees in front of him? You think that would help? How do you convince someone of your truthfulness when they are determined to think of every word you utter as a lie..!"

Gayathri's voice cracked the slightest before she exercised iron control.

"Gayathri, it's alright to bury your face in your mother's bosom and cry your heart out...!"

"I have no more tears to shed, Mother...I exhausted years worth of supply overnight...I am empty now..!

Even these words were spoken without inflection.

Govind Seth grew increasingly angry.

"I am not going to listen to a word of what you say. I am going to take the royals to court if they continue to treat you this way! I am not Seth Govind Das for nothing. Nobody treats my chutkuliya this way, not even the King!"

Gayathri rose to her feet.

"This is treason and Queen Gayathri Devi shall have no part in it! If this is the stand you take, I choose to leave your home right now! I will not allow the honor of the King to be compromised. I may have my complaints as a wife but I have none as a subject or as a Queen!"

Govind Seth glared at her.

"But I do..I have a complaint against my son-in-law. He has reneged on a deal and broken my daughter's heart ...!"

"Your daughter's heart was never part of the deal, Bau ji...the crown was and that remains firmly placed on my head...what will you accuse him of...is not loving your daughter in return a crime?"

"Isn't thinking the worst of you without any reason a crime..?"

"But he thinks there is reason...and circumstances are such that he appears justified...!"

"Then I will challenge those circumstances...I will not let my daughter's happiness be snatched away from her...!"

"Bau ji...no one can ever snatch away my happiness...I need to look in the right places to find it...maybe I wasn't looking in the right place after all...!"

Damayanthi gasped...

"What are you saying? That you want to leave your husband forever, you want to break this marriage?"

Before Gayathri could reply, they heard the booming voice of the royal attendant announce the arrival of the King.

Damayanthi's face was now wreathed in smiles.

"See Gayathri...he is here...your husband is here to take you back...he has seen the error of his ways...go change into a better saree...and comb your hair while you are at it...we will entertain him in the meantime...!"

Gayathri smiled at her wryly.

"Mother, he wouldn't care if I was dressed in sackcloth and ashes...!"

She turned to her father.

"The King is at your doorstep, Bau ji. Please accord him the respect that is due to him!"

She swept out of the room with her parents in close pursuit.

As she reached the living room, she saw her brothers and their wives falling over themselves trying to offer him refreshments.

He rose immediately at the sight of her and nodded courteously.

"Rani Gayathri Devi, your presence is required at the palace urgently..!"

"I'm sorry, Ranaji. I thought we were done with rituals for the day..!"

His eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out if he could detect a note of sarcasm in her voice. Or was she simply making a point?

"Badi Rani Ma requests the pleasure of your company at the dinner table...we wouldn't want to disrespect a family elder, would we?"

"Of course not...that would be churlish...we can leave right away...!"

He was taken aback.

"You are willing to leave right away? "

"I thought that was what you wanted...!"

"Why are you plucking the petals off that poor flower, Kokiley?"

"I am trying to decide whether she will or she won't, Maharaj!"

"What?"

"Rani Gayathri, Maharaj...I am trying to decide if she will return to the palace or not...!"

"Oh...and what have you decided?"

"You interrupted me before I could figure it out...!"

Kunwar Chachi stuck her lip out petulantly as her husband glared at her.

"So is your daughter-in-law coming? We can't be waiting forever for her highness!"

"She is the Queen, Badi Rani Ma...so wait we shall...this is her palace after all..!"

Badi Rani Ma glared again but Rajmata chose to look the other way.

"Maybe Rana ji is too busy enjoying the hospitality of his in laws...!"

Kunwar Chacha slyly inserted.

"Are you implying that he thinks so little of Badi Rani Ma, Kunwar ji...?"

Badi Rani Ma glared at her son as he opened his mouth to offer an inane retort.

Just then, the arrival of the King and the Queen was announced.

They all rose from their seats as Rana ji entered the drawing hall of the palace followed by Rani Gayathri Devi.

Without any prompting, Rani Gayathri went straight up to the old lady.

"I am extremely sorry for any hurt or pain that I caused you, Badi Rani Ma. Please forgive me!"

Badi Rani Ma looked at her grudgingly before inclining her head.

Rana ji was feeling unduly piqued.

She was behaving as if nothing had happened at all. She was being sufficiently deferential to Badi Rani Ma and Rajmata, polite to the Kunwars and warm to Swarna. It was like any other normal, family dinner. Not that normal was a word he would associate with his dysfunctional family.

How could she pretend that everything was normal though? As if last night had never happened? As if all that he had said did not matter? Did she not care that he thought the worst of her? That he hated her for her duplicity? Was she so secure in her royal status now that she thought she could ignore his thoughts and wishes? Who did she think she was fooling? Not him for sure!

He had expected some resistance when he had gone to fetch her. He did not have to be told that she had left the palace in a huff. So she expected him to run after her and beg her to return? Massage her ego so that she would deign to return? So she could display the power that she had over him now? She had hardly offered any resistance though and promptly returned along with him. So was it just a power trip then? An attempt to humiliate him and thereafter to pretend to be the dutiful wife who was at his beck and call!

He was not the one to take such behaviour lying down. He would show her and now!

The conversation at the table ceased when he banged the table with his spoon for attention..

"I know it is not customary to propose toasts once the dinner has begun. However, I have been unduly remiss on the matter and would like to rectify it, even if it means going against custom. So, I would like you all to join me in proposing a toast to Rani Gayathri Devi, who has proved that she is more royal than all of us put together, despite royal blood not flowing through her veins..!"

The kunwars looked disgruntled, Swarna smiled tentatively and his mother looked uncertain. But Gayathri's face revealed no emotion. So that was how she was going to play it! He would see how long she kept at the game.

"To Rani Gayathri Devi, who plays the royal game better than all of us royals! She is a master of the art of manipulation and planning, skills that will see her go a long way in the matter of political warfare! I am but a soldier and play by the rules of the battlefield. But Rani Gayathri Devi is a shrewd queen who will manipulate everything to suit her interests, which of course are the interests of the kingdom now! She is a master behrupiya, even if she is the newest addition to this family of behrupiyas!"

Rajmata rose to her feet!

"Rana ji...what are you saying..!"

"Nothing but the truth, Rajmata...aren't we all behrupiyas, smiling even when our hearts bleed! Our royal status does not permit us the honesty of emotions that is the lot of a common man even! And despite being a commoner, Rani Gayathri has perfected this art even better than we have...we owe her one, Badi Rani Ma...thank you Rani ji for ensuring that the pride of the royal family is maintained, the truth be damned...thank you for besting us at our own game...congratulations Rajmata...you have chosen well...Rani Gayathri Devi has all the makings of a great Queen...beware of her, Kunwar Chacha and Chachi..she has your measure...you too, Lakshraj...be careful of getting on the wrong side of the Queen...you will have me to answer to as well...so ladies and gentlemen, join me everyone in proposing a toast to my lovely wife...!"

All glasses were raised in toast. Kunwar Chacha and Chachi looked from Rana ji to Gayathri perplexed. What were they to make of this? Was Ranaji genuinely applauding his wife after all?

Badi Rani Ma looked hard and deep into Ranaji's eyes and what she saw there seemed to satisfy her.

Rajmata closed her eyes in exasperation as her mind started ticking on how best to handle things going forward.

Gayathri remained immobile, looking at no one in particular.

"Come on Rani ji, I have just proposed a lovely toast to you. Shouldn't you be saying a few words?"

He was determined to get a rise out of her at any cost!

She turned to look at him finally. What was it that he saw in her eyes, was it contempt or indifference?

He felt just a little pang as he recalled the adoring look in her eyes, at the riverside, the temple, during their wedding ceremony and right up to their suhaag raat!

He would have preferred the sheen of tears even. To match those that flowed from his eyes unseen. That he had been betrayed by a woman who had somewhere penetrated his subconscious, but her aim had not been his heart but the royal throne. To imagine that he had betrayed Sula's memory with this! A woman who was worthy of his contempt and who was manipulating him so easily now, like he was her puppet...!

He had no time to think further as she had risen to her feet and was holding her glass aloft!

"Thank you for the kind words, Rana ji...you have said it all ...I have no words to add really...if you will permit me, let me propose a counter toast..."

She looked at each member at the table before turning back to him.

"To the King of Amerkot and to all his subjects...to their good health and prosperity...and may their hearts be filled with joy and peace..!"