Part 1
It was a moonless night. The sky, a blanket of glossy velvet with stars glimmering across its surface, enveloped the palace in a calm embrace. She stood at the window of her room on the second floor, her thoughts belying her serene exterior. To the world, she was a bride - a royal bride. Which meant that she was supposed to be on cloud nine. After all, it wasn't every day that a girl with not even a drop of blue blood in her body married into a royal family. And if that wasn't enough of a deterrent, the fact that she was a manglik was enough to send even a commoner running away from her, as fast as his legs could carry him, clinging on to dear life. So all her life because the stars were too busy tossing around her fate, and it was too much for the humans to handle, she had been content in her happy little life, weaving and spinning dreams of gold, sprinkled with happiness. And ever since she'd laid eyes on the handsome, brooding king of the kingdom, Rana Indravadan Singh Deo, he had smoothly sailed into her dreams and her happiness had automatically shifted center to seeing him happy.
But never in her wildest dreams had she ever thought that she would actually be married to him! There was no end to dreaming or having fangirl moments, but Gayatri Govind Seth had never thought that the bliss of matrimony, with Rana Indravadhan at that, was something that she would be blessed with. She had always known that were Society so kind as to honour her with a spouse, he would either be an old soul or a reprobate. Thus, she had given up thoughts of marrying a long time ago. However, dreams of individual independence did take center stage in her life. She had always strived to be more than what Society wanted her to be. Thwarting the dictates of Society hadn't been very difficult when she was the darling daughter of the richest moneylender in the kingdom. She may not be an aristocrat by birth, but it wouldn't be wrong to say that she was born with a silver spoon. Seth Govind Das ensured that when it came to his daughter, every wish uttered was a dream fulfilled. And that is how, today, Gayatri found her name associated with the King of the kingdom of Amerkot.
The door opened and in walked the subject of her thoughts. Dressed in a sequined, blue-gold sherwani, he was perfection incarnate. Right up from his dark raven hair to the chiseled jaw and tall, lean frame. However, when his eyes lifted to meet hers, she could only see an endless void in them. Her breath caught in her throat at the pain that she saw hidden behind the facade of the honorable, dutiful king. She knew that he had loved his wife dearly but she hadn't known that her death had left behind such a chasm in his heart. In the few fateful encounters that they'd had, she had never seen beyond the chivalrous man. She knew that she could pin that to the fact that he could mask his emotions flawlessly. However, tonight, the pain in his eyes had captured her attention like no other and she realized that this marriage had been painful for him. The thought hurt and scared her at the same time as the implications of it.
Rani Sulakshana Devi was alive in Rana Indravadhan Singh Deo and his memories, and he refused to let anyone close, even to the precincts of where she reigned: His Heart.
And if the thought and what it meant for her hadn't shattered her already, his words did.
"You needn't have waited for me. You can change and head to bed."
She stared at him, confused and a little hurt that he wasn't even willing to have a proper conversation with his new bride.
He sighed, "Listen, you know this is a marriage of convenience, and while there are certain things that are expected of us in public, we don't really need to continue the farce of a happily married couple in the confines of our chambers."
"What do you mean?" She heard her voice crack against all her better efforts.
He raised a brow at her question. From all their past encounters, he had thought her a many things but dim-witted was definitely not one of them. But as she continued to stare at him with a big question mark on her face, he realized that probably she was a little slow on the uptake.
"Very well," he smirked, "The kingdom of Amerkot owed Seth Govind Das a debt that it could never repay in the timelines stipulated by him and he threatened to drag us to the English courts. The kingdom tried everything to convince Govind Seth against his decision but there was nothing that the kingdom could offer Govind Seth that would change his mind. Or they could - the king himself! Turned out, Govind Seth had a daughter who meant the world to him and her wish was his command. He could give her anything and everything - except, a husband!"
He saw her face change expressions from confusion to shock and hurt to anger but he did nothing to lessen the vitriol from his words, "Now, Govind Seth isn't the biggest moneylender in the kingdom for nothing. He knows when an offer is too lucrative to deny and that's exactly what he did when he received the proposal of the King of Amerkot for his daughter. The debt of the kingdom was a measly sum for the moneylender in exchange for his daughter's happiness."
Her mind was reeling as the haze of fantasy cleared, the wheels in her head started moving and she started putting things together.
"So Ta-da! Here we are - the king with his debt cleared and you with your husband and happiness," he gave her a perfunctory bow at the end of his tirade. His last statement sounded as if he was talking about two kids who had managed to finally get their most coveted toys. He clearly failed to realize how off the mark he was - especially with the happiness bit.
Before she could stop herself, she retorted, "Of course! I cannot think of one woman who was or will ever be happier than me on her wedding night."
He didn't miss the jab and raised a brow, "O' c'mon! I played along for your benefit but now let's end this drama here. You do not need to pretend to be the oblivious and injured party to this entire scheme - not when you have clearly had nothing to lose." The last was muttered as he looked away.
"Pretend?!" Gayatri was indignant. How convenient for him to think that she was pretending unawareness about the whole scheme and had nothing to lose. In truth, her heart had been shattered to a million pieces and her world had been turned upside down with his painful declarations.
When he didn't respond except with the raising of the infernal brow, she realized she wasn't getting a response. But she needed to get an answer to one last thing before she could go and bury herself somewhere and wish today had never happened.
"You didn't get my letter, did you?" her voice was barely a whisper.
"What letter?" His eyes narrowed, "Arunoday takes care of all my correspondence unless there is something important that requires my attention."
A sad smile flitted across her face. Of course, a naive, young girl professing her love for the King of the kingdom could not be considered important by his man-of-affairs. Such professions could not be uncommon for a man like him. Why would hers be considered any different? She wanted to rave and rant and howl with rage at the unfairness of it all. She didn't trust herself to speak with the turmoil going on within her. What would she gain out of talking or arguing about this now? The fight had drained out of her and she felt as if her very soul had been sucked out of her body. After tonight, a few things were crystal clear. Rana Indravadhan Singh Deo was still in love with his dead wife and his memories of her were too precious for him to let anyone take her place. This marriage was just a contract for him - a duty and an obligation. But then wasn't that how marriages were made in their Society? Wasn't it always the bigger the dowry, the better the catch? In her case, she should perhaps consider herself lucky, because after all, even with all her father's wealth, he hadn't been able to get her married to a decent young man until now, because she was a manglik. Why had she expected her life to be any different? Because she believed in love and its magical powers, a little voice whispered in her head. It was just as well that he didn't know she was in love with him. What a silly fool he would think her if he ever knew that!
She turned to leave but not before he caught the look of betrayal on her face and the tears glistening in her hurt-filled eyes as she said, "I wish Papa had told me the truth before it was too late."
***
