Part 26
Just then, they heard a knock from the driver's direction. Armaan opened the small window that was their between them.
"Haanji Butler Bhaiyya?"
"Wo sir i am very sorry to disturb you, i actually did not want to at all say something. I can totally understand you guys need privacy, and mera yakeen maaniya, main aapko tang nahi karna chahta tha, bilkul nahi. Ulte mera bas chalta to hum log aap hie ko car de kar chale jate, we would have easily got another car lekin...", the butler kept speaking, his each word increased the red colour on Riddhima's face, and Armaan's irritation as well.
"Aapko kuch bolna hai bhi ya main window band kar du???", he spoke. The chauffeur laughed softly, while the butler stiffled his smile.
"We've reached the colder part of our journey, so i'd suggest you guys put on your warmers", he said.
"Erm, aap log nahi pehnege kuch?", Riddhima questioned hesitatingly. The butler was touched by her concern.
"Mam, we live here, this place is our home. We've spent more than half of our life here. We arent effected by the climate, but am afraid you will be", he answered her.
"Yeah, thats ok, but i do have some spare stuff, if you want any cap or stole, please dont hesitate to ask. And just in case you're worried, its not the girly stuff. You guys won't look weird, i promise", Riddhima explained like a small kid.
"Mam its really ok...", he tried to speak, but was cut in between by the chauffeur.
"Lady, i'll be glad to take up your offer. Honestly, i was starting to get a feeling of the cold outside", he said. Riddhima immediately ruffled through her small bag kept next to her, so she missed the glare that the butler gave to the chauffeur who just grinned back at him. All this while, Armaan's gaze didnt move from Riddhima. He looked at her lovingly, amazed at her so concerned behavior. Finally, she was satisfied by her search mission. She pulled out a dark blue coloured stole, and passed it on to the chauffeur. Next she took out a white cap, partly made of fur, and handed it to the butler. The cap was a bit fancy, and he hesitantly took it. He looked first at the chauffeur, who sniggered a little, and then at Armaan, who just gave him an i-cant-do-anything look. He closed his eyes, and finally put on the cap. He opened his eyes, only to see Riddhima look at him with an expectant gaze. He just nodded, to let her know he liked it, and Riddhima smiled at this, while the other two somehow controlled their laughter.
"Mr Butler, you look sooo cute, mujhe aapke saath pic khichaani hai, please please please, mana mat kijiyega na. Chauffeur ji, car rokiye jaldi se, haan haan aap rokiye to sahi. Aaeeye Mr Butler, hum ek pic khichate hain", she spoke with a childlike excitement.
"Mam, please, aap pehle khud kuch garam pehen lijiye, tab hie main aapke saath car ke bahar nikluga", he insisted, and Riddhima complied to his request. She pulled out a stole, a pair of mittens, and a cute cap. She put them all, and jumped out of the car. The butler followed her lead, and so did the rest of the two. Riddhima was left mesmerized by the view that hit her eyes. She stood next to a lake filled of sparkling blue water, too large for her eyes to import at once. She had to look around again and again to get a full picture of the whole thing. Beautiful snow covered mountains filled the background. As her eyes followed them down, a myriad of green and brown took her by surprise. The golden sun shone against the bright cerulean sky, and Riddhima felt captivated by the sudden picturesque scene around her. She was just travelling through the magic of the place, in utmost peace and calm, when a touch on her shoulder brought her back to the real world.
"Basket? Do you like it?", Armaan's inquisitive eyes bore into hers, and she formed a frown at his question. Armaan misunderstood it to be her disapproval of the place, and was about to apologize, when Riddhima understood his intention.
"Like it? Armaan I totally am in love with this place. I had never imagined there could ever exist such a beautiful place on earth, and even if there were, I hadn't imagined myself living to watch it. But here it is, alive and on its feet, right in front of me, full of the beauty one can only dare to think of. What place is this, Armaan? I don't think I've ever heard of it, even though I've visited Paris many a too times?", she looked at him questioningly. Armaan just looked at her with a mysterious grin on his face, and shook his head ever so slightly, as if to say that she wasn't getting her answers any soon. She gave him an annoyed look, and turned to look at the butler and the chauffeur, and stood rooted to her place. Right behind them, at a distance, was a road. What surprised her, wasn't the fact that the other scenes were equally pretty, but the fact that the road was immensely wide, and on both the sides, were trees so tall that Riddhima gaped in shock. The height of the trees was just too long for her to digest. The trees were long, way too long would be the actual word, with slender grayish-white colored trunk, boring a bit too many leaves to be true. The trees reached a great height, and then they bent towards each other. They bent towards the trees on the opposite road, such that the trees on both sides seemed to be joined above the central divide of the road, to form a curved ceiling.
The men saw the look of astonishment on Riddhima's face, and couldn't see her bearing any more torture.
"Welcome Miss Riddhima Gupta, to the 'Land of Aritone'. I know you have lots and lots of questions in your mind. But given the lack of time, I shall try and tell you everything I can, in brief. But we can have our chatting session as we move, we're on a little tight schedule you know", the butler spoke up. Seeing a glum expression rise on her face, the chauffeur immediately intervened.
"Its ok Miss, you can have some pictures, but I would advise you to kindly hurry up"
Riddhima smiled again, and handing the camera to Armaan, that she'd extracted from the depths of her bag, she immediately began posing for him. It was a child's play for her, as she dragged both the butler and the chauffeur with her. Even after many pictures, when she held the two of them for another picture, Armaan gave her a very dirty look, which was missed by her, but not by the two men. They gave him an evil grin, as he clicked more and more pictures. Finally after some time, they felt pity, and asked him to get some images clicked with Riddhima. When Armaan went and stood next to her, she whispered softly in his ears,
"So Armaan, how sweet was the pain of jealousy?"
Just then the camera clicked an image of a giggling Riddhima and a shocked Armaan looking her way. They started a sweet little banter and a few seconds later they got over it, posing for the camera. The two men smiled at the images of the banter, and Armaan and Riddhima themselves giggled looking at the images caught off guard. They all settled in the car, and once again the butler moved at the back with them. Riddhima immediately threw off her sneakers, and crossing her legs, sat down like an attentive child to listen to the story. The butler smiled at her act, while Armaan just shrugged.
"So mademoiselle, right now, you are in the Land of Aritone, as I've already mentioned before. Aritone isn't located on a map, if you ever try to find it. On the map, this area is just a piece of jungle, but a massive one, let me tell you that. The Aritone is stretched over a very large area, quite close to Paris. The people of Aritone like their privacy, so there is no outside intrusion. We have a lot of standardized security for the similar purpose. Aritone is a country within itself, it has its own capital, though not as big as compared to the other countries, and small chunks of divisions, that equal the cities, and are called mini-cities, because they are not exactly cities. The capital has its own administration, different to that of the mini-cities, and the crime rate is just 1.7%, quite low on the global level you know", the butler kept speaking, while Riddhima listened in awe.
"What you mean to say, is that Aritone is a country in itself, not like the other countries, but a country for sure. And it has its own capital as well, and some divisions, called mini-cities. Something resembling Delhi, in India. It isn't exactly a state, but a state to many extents?", Riddhima questioned, and the butler first shook his head, but then nodded slightly, confusing her.
"Actually Miss Riddhima…"
"Call me Riddhima!", she interrupted the butler.
"What?", he sounded baffled at the casualty of her statement.
"I said you should call me Riddhima. Miss Riddhima, mam, all this sounds so formal", she replied. The butler looked at Armaan in surprise. "Uski taraf kya dekh rahe hain, I am telling you na, usko iske beech mein mat lao, samjha?", the butler nodded at her demanding tone.
"So, as I was saying that the actual thing is that Aritone is not a country, or a state, but a kingdom", he finished. Riddhima who'd placed her head in her hand that rested on her crossed knees, slipped as the import of the words passed through her.
"Kyaaa?", she literally shouted.
"Er Basket, cheekhne ki zarurat nahi hai. What you heard is the truth. Aritone is a kingdom, with real kings, and queens, and courtiers, and all that you've probably ever read about. It is ruled by the kings and queen of the family that has been here since this place has ever existed. It is a democratic kingdom, as the ministers to run the government are appointed by the citizens, and not by the royal family. The real power lies with the royal family and it is because there hasn't been any problem to the citizens in the previous years. But yes, they've been granted the power to overthrow them, if they face any adversities from the royalty", Armaan explained, as Riddhima made an 'o' of her mouth.
"Matlab, matlab I am actually going to see a kingdom, like in fairy tales, full of kings, queens, the sound of trumpets, knights in armors, ladies in full, floated dresses, with high pointed witch like hats, and all those…", Riddhima kept on speaking.
"Relax Basket, itna dramatic nahi hai sab kuch, please. Tumhe sab kuch milega, but not exactly in the old primitive form. This place has also developed with time, the people have made their own progresses. They call Aritone a kingdom, no doubt, but this isn't exactly the place you would choose for your history project on ancient royalty", Armaan replied.
"Wow!!!!", Riddhima's amazement was visible on her face. "Par Armaan, if this place is so secretive, then how did you manage to find it, and moreover, how did you convince them to let us celebrate my birthday here?", she asked, and Armaan turned his head to avoid her gaze.
"Armaan?", she asked in a warning tone, but was soon interrupted by another voice.
"We've reached our destination", saying this, he rolled down the black mirrors, that had been obstructing her view till now. The car was pulled to a halt in a large, circular driveway, that was bordered by flagstone courtyard, whose walls were spilling over with phlox. Riddhima stepped out of the car, only to face a number of stone steps, which led to a large wooden-oaken door. Something about the place made Riddhima feel weird. The wooden door belonged to a massive palace, a mansion, or whatever one could call it. It stood there, high, proud, and solitary: an immense stone edifice that looked like brought from other century with its high towers, and crenellated walls and a tiled conical roof. The windows were innumerous, all high, narrow and proud of it. The palace was ancient, arrogant, and confident, glowing warm and gray in its glory against the pure cerulean sky. There was no traces of sunlight, and Riddhima wondered the reason for this.
"Mr Butler, why is it so dark here? If I am not wrong, we've travelled for about an hour and half from the airport, so it's about 7 am in the morning, but it looks like the twilight to me", she looked at her watch and asked him.
"Riddhima, you saw those trees on the roadside, right. They are the tallest trees in the world…", he was cut in by her.
"The Californian Redwood?", she popped up.
"Er, well no. Though it is believed that the Redwood is the tallest, but like I've told you, we harbor a lot of secrets within us. Here in Aritone, grow what were once the tallest trees of the world, the Mountain Ash. It is believed that these giant trees that existed two hundred years ago in Victoria, are now extinct. But here, these trees find Aritone favorable for them, and we have the highest growth, and the only place left, perhaps, to have these trees. These trees can grow upto an easy height of 133 meters, that's 436 feet, taller than many skyscrapers of Paris. It is quite a height to achieve, and because of this height, and the fact that they're planted in a row, they become a barrier to any sunlight that tries to fall upon the palace. Because of this face, we have a cold weather all throughout the year, and snowfall, if we get lucky"
"But the sun might reach the top of the palace, at noon, vertically above. Kya tab bhi palace pe sunlight nahi aati?", she questioned.
"Nahi, these trees grow in such a manner, that they obstruct sunlight from all the directions, come what may. And moreover…", his answer was left in between, as another sound took over Riddhima's ears. The huge gate that had towered over them flung open, and much to Riddhima's surprise, a group of people walked out. Something about the way they walked, told Riddhima that the two people who walked in front were the King and the Queen. They weren't too old, but not young either, somewhat near her dad's age. They weren't dressed like the ancient kings and queens, but their attire shouted about their royalty way loud than expected. They were followed by a few more 'royal' people, and some kids. Her doubts were confirmed, when she saw the others bow, including Armaan, and she immediately followed them. She was bowing right next to Armaan, when she whispered,
"Armaan, do you think tumhe mujhe kuch aur batana hai?"
He turned his face to look at her, when she heard someone call him, and raised her head to see who did the voice belong to.
"Armaan my boy, let me see if you really are present here?"
Apparently, it was King himself who'd called upon Armaan as Armaan went forward and touched his feet, who took him in a tight embrace. Riddhima immediately straightened to see the sight, when Armaan came out of the hug, and turned to face the Queen.
"Rani Ma…", he touched her feet, and rose to hug her, but his hands encircled the empty air, as the Queen had already moved in another direction. Riddhima pinched herself, to make sure of what she saw. But it was reality, the Queen had stopped the people to follow her, with just a hand, and was now coming closer to Riddhima. Every step that the Queen took towards Riddhima, gave her an impulse to run away. She was very much apprehensive about this whole royalty thingy. No doubt the scenery allured her, but tits association with this whole kingdom fiasco just repelled her. The Queen now stood at an inch distance, and Riddhima's mind told her, that this could be her last chance. But something in her feet kept her rooted to the place. Riddhima looked at the Queen once, from top to bottom, and when her eyes met hers, she saw a pool of warm emotions fill them up. The Queen raised her hands, and Riddhima clutched her hands in self defence. The Queen took her face in her palms, and bringing her face a little lower in her direction, she kissed Riddhima's forehead as Riddhima closed her eyes. Riddhima immediately relaxed, and let go of the tight air that she'd trapped in her hands.
"You are truly beautiful Riddhima, just like your mother", she spoke in such a soothening voice, which melted in Riddhima's ears like honey. She looked up suddenly as the import of the words came to her.
"You knew my mother?", she asked in a loud voice, and realised her folly. "I'm so sorry Rani Ma", (she said, unsure if she'd addressed her rightly, to which the Queen nodded in assent with a smile). "So, Rani Ma, did you really know my mother, and if you knew her, you might also know my father? But my dad never told me about any kingdom or the Kings and Queens, and if he knew them", she couldn't hold back her excitement.
"I was wrong, you aren't beautiful like your mother", Riddhima's face fell at this, "But you are totally like her, a clone I would say". Riddhima smiled widely at this, and mumbling thanks, she hugged the Queen tightly. She came out of the embrace and saw the people around give her big smiles.
"Er guys, I don't know how he did it, but I am very thankful to you all, for letting him celebrate my birthday here", she blushed as she looked at Armaan, who in turn looked at her in horror. When she questioned him the reason for that through her eyes, he pointed towards the group, who were giving the deadly looks to Armaan.
"Riddhima, meet my family, my mother's family to be precise. My mamu, King Ariyaan, and my mami, Queen Ariana, behind them my extended family, your Mr Butler, and Chauffeur Bhaiyya, the ones who've raised me the times I was away from Mumbai. And guys, as you have already discovered, I got Riddhima here because its her birthday today, so lets all wish her happy birthday, yayyy!", Armaan finished the sentence in glumness, and showed fake excitement at the last words.
*******************
VERY VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:
Hey people...
Well! I know you guys hate me for my long absence from the forums, for not updating regularly. But i guess i just found a way to solve that. Actually i didn't, someone else did it for me. I'll stop beating around the bush, and come straight to the point. This part, was the last part that i can give to you all. Unfortunately, i am terminating all my ffs. The reason for this is very sweet, laiden with bitterness, and quite personal. Please do not be worried, i have no hidden tragedies, just a bunch of intermingled issues. In the present situation, i am leaving the forums as well. I have so much to say to you all, but words are too few. All i can say, is thank you for reading all the crap i came up with, and taking time to appreciate it as well. You all have been a very very very important part of my life, and honestly, i can't express it any further. I know, everyday people leave, and new people join, but do me a favour guys, please don't remember me. Forget me asap, and move on, because there won't be a chance that i'll see you people again. I really really hate myself, for ending the stories mid-way, that connected you all with me, but trust me, i don't have an alternative. Just a little request, please don't hate me for doing this. I hope you all shall understand.
ciao
love
pooja
36