Chapter Four
It had surprised Angad when Kripa had mentioned love. He'd once held out hope that such an emotion existed, had desperately wanted to find it, if for no other reason than to prove his father wrong. But, after spending the past year searching for love, dating an endless string of women, each of whom had left his heart cold, he'd come to realize it didn't exist. Or at least not for someone like him.
Marriages were made, as his father and mother's had been, for a variety of pragmatic reasons, not because of some wild, crazy magic that might exist between two people.
As Angad sat in Pritvi and Aaliyah's living room waiting for Kripa to join him, he thought of what he knew about Kripa. She was 25 years old, an unemployed schoolteacher who had spent the past year caring for an ailing mother who had passed away a month before.
She had one charge card she rarely used, a seven-year-old car, and owned no property. Her reputation was sterling and he knew many of his countrymen would find her modest background charming.
He knew everything about her that could be learned through public records, but there was much he didn't know, and he was surprised to realize he was looking forward to spending time with her. He smiled as he recalled her laughter. He hoped he could make her laugh today.
"Kripa will be down in just a minute," Pritvi said as he reentered the room.
"Good. I'm looking forward to spending the day in her company." He offered Pritvi a friendly smile, but the tall, dark-haired man didn't return it.
"You know Kripa is my sister-in-law from my previous marriage," Pritvi said.
Angad nodded. He knew Pritvi's first wife had died tragically and after her death, Pritvi had come to Wynborough and gotten a position as a royal bodyguard. According to the rumors, Aaliyah and Pritvi had fallen madly in love. But, Angad now suspected Aaliyah's father, King Nishant, had made some sort of a business arrangement with the bodyguard. Angad wasn't sure what the king had promised Pritvi, but he knew King Nishant was pleased to have his willful, adventurous daughter safely married. That was how royal marriages worked, he reminded himself.
"I'm very fond of Kripa," Pritvi continued.
"And I'm sure I'll grow fond of her as well," Angad replied, noting that his answer didn't ease the tension that emanated from Pritvi.
"I don't want her hurt." Pritvi glared at him.
"I have no intention of hurting her. I'm marrying her, not burying her," Angad protested with an uncomfortable laugh. He didn't understand why Pritvi wasn't thrilled that Angad was offering Kripa a dream life as a princess.
"I'm just warning you," Pritvi returned, his gaze intent on Angad. "If you hurt her, you won't have to worry about succession rights or anything else."
Angad stared at Pritvi in surprise and wondered for the first time if perhaps he hadn't gotten in over his head with the lovely Kripa Kapoor.
.+ Probably continue tomorrow or something+.
.+shabina+.
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