Chapter 13 #4
A smile appeared on my face, and I looked at Nandani, turning to Kunwar Agastya with a smile.
“Kya naam socha hai aapne, Devar-sa?” (What do you have in mind?)
His lips widened in a smile, and he suggested, “Daughter of Rudra, Rudraja—fearless, queen of queens, and pride of Suryagarh,” he said, and I could sense how much he loved her already. His voice wavered with emotion.
“Beautiful name,” she said.
I looked at Ranaji, who asked, “Don’t you want your name in her name? I mean, why just mine?”
“It’s a beautiful name, Bhai-sa,” Prince Ranvijay said.
Nandani smiled. “Exactly, it’s a beautiful name, and she already has my name,” she said, and Ranaji furrowed his brows.
Rani-maa added, “Raj from Rajnandani. Moreover, the lineage she carries in her blood is so powerful that she doesn’t need any introduction.”
Nandani nodded, listening to her, and Ranaji nodded, too.
“Alright then, Rudraja—Princess Rudraja—what about Rudrani?” he asked, as the priest shook his head.
“Rudrani can be a name for Rudra’s spouse. Since your name is Rudra, only Princess Nandani can be called Rudrani, not your daughter.”
He nodded, and Kunwar Agastya smiled. “I did my research,”
I couldn’t help but smile. Princess Rudraja was already a blessed and loved child of northern Indira. But no one dared to call her by her name because only Nandani could call Ranaji by his name, and since his name was in her name, no one called her by her name either.
The naming ceremony came to a beautiful end with the distribution of prasaad32 to everyone. Everyone was happy and showered the Princess with countless gifts.
Princess Ranvijay and Princess Aishwarya went to oversee the donations for the villagers while I returned to Nandani’s chamber; however, Daadi-sa stopped me midway.
“Suman,” Her smile filled me with dread, and I swallowed nervously.
“Daadi-sa,” I forced a smile.
“Come with me,” she said, pulling me along. I looked around for someone who could save me from her. But, to my doomed fate, there was no one, since everyone was too busy with their own work.
She led me to her chamber, using her wooden cane to move around. She smiled at me and said, “These attendants will help you take a bath and get dressed. You look tired.”
I looked at the group of attendants and shook my head.
“But Daadi-sa, I think I look fine. I mean, why change my clothes and take a bath?” I tried to maintain a broad smile on my face to appear happy.
“Why not? Your marriage is my responsibility, and I shall fulfil it with utmost care. I want you to look beautiful, like someone never seen,” she said, and I lowered my gaze.
If I did that, I was afraid Kunwar Agastya would get angry since he asked me not to go to Mahabaleshgarh, and if I didn’t, Daadi-sa would get hurt. She would’ve thought I didn’t trust her. I didn’t want to break her heart, but it was dangerous. I couldn’t hurt either of them, especially Daadi-sa.
“Okay,” I said, managing a smile.
I watched the attendants approach and couldn’t resist entering her chamber. My heart raced as soon as I entered the bathroom. The scent of bathing oils filled my nostrils, making me feel weak in my knees.
“You should change into this,” a fellow attendant handed me a bathing dress.
I gulped, taking it from her hands, and nodded, walking behind the wooden partition.
Thoughts of him clouded my mind against my will. The way he rolled his eyes before the ceremony made it clear how annoyed he already was. It would’ve angered him if he’d ever learned about it.
However, he was never my husband. He remained Princess Rashmika’s fiancé, and there was no reason to go against Daadi-sa.
I sighed in frustration, removing my dupatta, blouse, and skirt, and wrapped the bathing cloth around my bosom, reaching my thighs.
Honestly, I had never taken a bath like royalty. But Daadi-sa was a sweetheart; she liked to see women happy.
I stepped outside and noticed an attendant approaching me. She undid my braid, letting it fall loose down to my hips. The loose curls danced against the side of my face, making me feel unexpectedly shy.
I wanted it to be wrapped quickly so he wouldn’t discover it. His teasing made it clear he would get mad.
I walked with the attendants toward the pool and stepped inside. They asked me to sit comfortably, but I was highly uncomfortable.
Guests filled the palace. A lot of work was pending, a feast was underway, the villagers were lined up to receive donations, and I was being treated like a princess to marry again.
I exhaled deeply. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Should I tell Daadi-sa that I couldn’t get married? I thought.
However, she would ask me why.
I didn’t know why, from her point of view, she was doing the right thing, helping a woman settle down with a good man so they could spend time together, start a family, and be happy. But she didn’t know how eventful this woman’s life was.
I couldn’t believe I was technically married to Prince Agastya, and no one except Commander Eklavya knew about it. Now, he was going to marry Princess Rashmika, and I was seeing another man.
I sighed tiredly when an attendant asked, “Are you okay?”
I gulped and nodded silently, closing my eyes to feel whatever was happening to me.
As they began applying the cold paste, a shiver went down my body. They rubbed the half-dry paste on my skin and cleaned the hair off my hands.
I felt the pain intensify throughout the process and groaned lightly. I did all that to Nandani, but experiencing it was incredibly different and more painful. My skin had turned red.
“Is this necessary?” I asked.
One of them nodded and replied, “Yes, Daadi-sa asked us to take our time and help you get ready like a bride.”
I grunted internally.
After they were done with my hand, they asked me to sit on the edge of the pool so they could do the same to my legs.
It felt even more painful on my legs.
And then came the most embarrassing and surprising part.
“Open your legs wider,” one said, and my eyes widened in shock.
“What? Why?”
“To clean you. It looks like a forest,” one of them said, and a wave of laughter ran through us.
I couldn’t believe how Nandani was okay with letting them do that every two or three months. She didn’t like body hair; it made her uncomfortable.
I sucked my lower lip and asked, “Is it necessary?”
“You haven’t done it before?” They asked. I shook my head, and she continued, “You’re beginning a new phase of your life. Some experiences only happen a few times. You should make them special.”
Her words didn’t make me feel good, but I nodded in confusion.
I parted my legs more, and one of them used a wooden flat stick to apply some paste to my skin; it burned.
She waited until it dried, and after a few moments, she looked at me and said. “Look at that,”
I gulped in fear and turned my gaze away. I knew what was about to happen. She pulled the sticky paste with one quick move, and my body went on fire with unbearable pain. I immediately pressed my thighs together and groaned louder, squeezing my eyes shut.
They giggled, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Why on earth am I doing all this?
Once done, they began washing my hair. The warm water was turning cold, and suddenly, I sneezed.
“We should hurry, or she’ll catch a cold,” another said, and they began working faster.
They washed my hair with soapnut powder, applied oil to nourish it, and then rinsed it again.
They finally applied gram flour and sandalwood paste to my skin to soothe the burning redness. It felt better.
Honestly, I felt incredibly better after taking a bath. I had never experienced anything like that before. Now, I understood why Nandani was always eager to take one—it was relaxing.
I wrapped a clean, dry white cloth around my body and another around my hair.
“You should sit in the sunlight for a while,” one said, leading me to the dressing room where sunlight peeked through the ceiling-high windows.
I sat on the couch and felt the rays soothing my skin. It was terrific, but I felt sleepy.
After a while, my body and hair dried, and I saw an attendant step forward with an outfit in her hand. I took the velvet cloth off the plate and looked at the beautiful orange ghaghra33 adorned with small pink beads.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmured.
“Daadi-sa asked you to wear this,” she said, and I nodded, taking the dress in my hand.
“You should change; we are waiting outside,” they said.
They left, closing the door, and I placed the outfit on the table. It felt even more beautiful than both of my weddings.
It was simply elegant, not overly royal or heavy. I tied my hair in a loose bun and looked at myself in the mirror. The fresh glow on my skin that I had never seen before made me sigh in surprise.
I looked beautiful. I didn’t know what it was, but it looked lovely.
I sucked my lower lip and opened the skirt to step into it. I wrapped it around my waist and tightened the strings to tie it. It felt softer than my regular outfits.
I turned around to admire a beautiful flare, and a smile spread across my face.
Removing the cloth from my bosom, I was about to pick up my blouse when my gaze fell on the mirror.
My breasts were large, not excessively so, but larger than medium size, noticeable given my body shape and size.
I gulped, ignoring them, as they always made me feel self-conscious about my appearance, not positive.
They were not firm like those of a younger woman, but more like those of an adult with children, even though I had no children.
A shady thought suddenly crossed my mind, prompting me to look at myself in the mirror again.
There was an eagle tattoo inked on my chest, which I had got when I was a year old.
It looked tempting. My tribe had this tradition of inking skin to keep track of our population.
To keep it hidden, they would engrave it on the chests of both men and women.
It was small, only about an inch big, but beautiful.