Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
SHIVINA
A n uneasy silence followed His Highness’s words. Even the nagada and tutari fell silent. And I didn’t blame them.
Their new Maharani was supposed to be a princess, not a servant. Many of the people here had seen me in my previous role as a staff of the Dodiya family. Obviously, they couldn’t even begin to reconcile to this new change.
Especially his mother, the Rani Ma.
She stared at her son in horror until the woman standing next to her gasped again. That one was a regular drama queen, I realised. And she revelled in making people squirm.
“Where have I seen this girl before?” she asked loudly. “Haye! She’s that girl who came with the Dodiyas for the engagement, Didi Sa. She’s a servant. Ranvijay beta, I understand you’re upset with the Dodiyas, but that doesn’t mean you bring home their servant and expect us to accept her as the Maharani of Mirpur.”
“I don’t want to hear that disgusting word again, Kaki Sa! Not about my wife or about anyone who works for me. We don’t live in medieval times anymore. In my house, anyone who works for a living deserves respect. As opposed to certain parasites who live off their family’s wealth and have an eye on what will never be theirs,” His Highness replied, with a meaningful glance at Sangram Singh, who turned an ugly shade of red at the insult.
His Highness’s mother closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before she turned to his aunt.
“Kumudini, my son has made his choice, and it’s not your place to question it. Can we get on with the aarti? You can’t keep the Maharani waiting outside her new home,” she said calmly.
I felt a wave of respect for this woman who had just had the nastiest shock of her life and yet was on her best behaviour. Behind her, I spotted Sannata Mausi smiling at me warmly. God! I felt like such a fraud. As for my new husband, who the fuck did he think he was to make such grandiose statements about me? I was not now and would never be the new Maharani of Mirpur. And he knew it as well as I did.
So why did we have to go through all these rituals? With every step, they bound me into a relationship that was as fake as Kavya Baisa’s nails. And just as disposable.
“Rani Ma, please end this farce now,” I begged. “I’m not your son’s wife, and I certainly shouldn’t be performing any of these rituals.”
Rani Ma stared at me thoughtfully for a few seconds.
“Did you go to the mandap willingly, or were you dragged there against your will, Shivina?” she asked.
I didn’t know what to say. I mean, it was a bit of both. I did it against my will, but I did it for the money. Although I couldn’t say that to her face.
“There was no gun to my head, if that’s what you mean,” I said carefully.
“That doesn’t sound very willing to me. Ranvijay, you cannot force this woman to be your bride against her wishes,” she said sternly. “Take her back to Sajjangarh with all the respect that’s due to her. I will not condone a kidnapping.”
Oh, thank God! Finally, here was someone who could knock some sense into his hard head. But His Highness shook said hard head stubbornly.
“I’m not letting her go. She’s my wife, and she stays here.”
For fuck’s sake!
“You can’t keep me here against my will,” I hissed.
“Fine! Then I’ll call the police and have you jailed for fraud,” he shot back.
Oy!
“It’s your choice,” he taunted. “Do you think the Dodiyas will come to bail you out?”
They wouldn’t. And he knew that as much as I did. They would find some way to blame me for this disaster, and they’d leave me to rot in prison. And God knows what they’d do to Zarna. Kavya Baisa and her mother were cold-hearted enough to throw her out. If they hadn’t already done that.
A cold wave of fear ran through my body. I had to get to a phone and call Zarna right away. But first, I had to go along with whatever this madman said because I didn’t think I’d be allowed to make any calls from jail. This wasn’t America. This was Mirpur. And the local police here had clear loyalties. They were loyal to whoever paid them the most. And in this case, His Highness had infinitely deep pockets.
If I wanted to see my sister again, I had to agree to become the new Maharani of Mirpur. At least temporarily. Until my new husband had satisfied his need to punish me. Or until he got tired of this game.
With a deep, unhappy sigh, I turned to face His Highness. He read the defeat on my face and smiled with satisfaction.
“Kaki Sa, if you please,” he said, gesturing to the thaali in her hands.
She stared at us dubiously but complied and did the ceremonial aarti. This time, there weren’t any cheers from the crowd or rose petals. Even the nagada and tutari players were shocked into silence. That same ominous silence followed me into the palace as I tipped the kalash over with my right foot and dipped my feet in kumkum water before I stepped into the house.
“What do we do with her now, Didi Sa?” asked His Highness’s aunt in a sibilant whisper.
“Take her to my room,” ordered His Highness.
I felt like a stray flea-ridden cat that had stumbled into their palace. I knew I had no grounds to make any demands because I had done him wrong, but none of that mattered as much as calling Zarna. When it came to my sister, I would go to any lengths and dare anything, even if it was completely wrong.
Ignoring the grumpy man currently enjoying my discomfort, I turned to his mother because she seemed like the only person here capable of compassion.
“Rani Ma, I need to make an important phone call, and I wasn’t allowed to bring my phone with me.”
She nodded immediately.
“Of course. Sannata, bring me my phone.”
“No,” thundered His Highness. “She isn’t allowed to call anyone. Ma, we don’t know the whole conspiracy yet. We don’t know why the Dodiyas switched the bride or what they planned to do after the wedding. I don’t want them to have any chance to get their stories straight.”
I could have told him whatever I knew, but I didn’t know much beyond the fact that Kavya Baisa hadn’t turned up in time for the wedding. I didn’t know why, even though I’d heard rumours. Rumours weren’t facts, and I wasn’t going to accuse her of anything until I knew for sure. Besides, if I told him what I knew, I’d have nothing to use as leverage against the Dodiyas. I had to make sure they kept Zarna safe in the palace until I returned, and for that, I was prepared to resort to blackmail if it came to that.
No matter what, I knew the Dodiyas would be dying to fix this disaster. And I was willing to help them fix it if they agreed to keep my sister safe.
“Stop it, Ranvijay. Let the poor girl make her phone call,” argued Rani Ma, but His Highness shook his head.
“Take her to my room,” he ordered.
His mother clearly disagreed, but she didn’t say anything further as his aunt and Sannata Mausi led me upstairs to an ornately decorated room which was as big as my childhood home.
“Get her settled, Sannata,” said the aunt, walking away with a disparaging look at me.
Sannata Mausi waited until she left before she smiled at me again.
“Welcome to your new home, Rani Sa.”
“Mausi, don’t call me that,” I said, tears welling in my eyes. “I didn’t mean to come here as his bride.”
“I don’t know why you did it, child. But I can promise you that you’ll be happier here than you were in that blighted palace.”
“I can’t stay here, Mausi. I need to get back to my sister. His Highness carried me off before I could tell her what had happened. She’s all alone in that nest of vipers, and I’m sure she’s terrified. Do you have a phone?”
“I’ll bring you one, but let’s get you settled in your room first,” she said, showing me around. “This is the Maharaja Suite. In the past, this wing was part of the palace zenana, and this room was always given to the chief Maharani. Hukum had the palace renovated a few years ago and turned this room into a suite. This is the sitting room. You’ll have it to yourself, Rani Sa, because Hukum holds all his meetings in his study downstairs. And this is Hukum’s bedroom.”
She threw open the door and gestured for me to enter. But my feet froze on the threshold.
“Mausi, I can’t stay here. This is all a big mistake, and you know as well as I do that it will blow over once His Highness cools down. I know he’s going to get back with Kavya Baisa, and I cannot share a bedroom with her husband. Not even for a few days,” I cried.
“But he’s not her husband,” she pointed out. “He’s your husband. And I don’t know what you mean by when this blows over, Rani Sa. Hukum is not the type of man to forgive such a deception. Your Baisa will never set foot in this palace as his wife, even if he lets you go.”
I clutched her arm in panic.
“Mausi, please get me a phone right away. I need to make sure my sister is okay.”
If what she said was true, then the Dodiyas were never going to forgive me for failing in the task they’d given me. And I was sure they’d take it out on Zarna. Until now, I was under the impression that this would all be settled once Kavya Baisa accepted her mistake and said sorry. That’s all she had to do. She just had to be honest and explain what happened. I mean, how bad could it be? At worst, she’d overdosed on coke and needed to be revived before she could be brought back to the palace. If he loved her, I was sure he’d forgive her for that.
But His Highness didn’t seem in the least curious about the incident. He didn’t even want to know why she did it. In fact, he was more curious about why I agreed to deceive him than about the woman he was supposed to marry. It was as if he’d written her out of his life the minute he learnt of the deception.
I didn’t know if Kavya Baisa understood that yet, but she would discover the truth soon enough, and she was sure to blame me for it, and I didn’t want Zarna to be caught in the crossfire. Which meant that I needed to find a way to leave this palace and rescue her from Sajjangarh Palace.
The easiest way would be to call a cab to take me there. But I had no credit card, money or phone. I had no way to access my bank account. Maybe I could beg Diggi Mausi to put Zarna in a cab and send her to the railway station. I was sure I could break out of here and meet her there. How hard could it be? It was a palace, not a prison. We could hop on a train and vanish before anyone noticed I was missing.
“Here’s my phone, Rani Sa. It’s not very fancy, though,” said Sannata Mausi.
“It’s perfect,” I replied gratefully as I keyed in Zarna’s number.
She answered on the first ring, sounding frightened.
“Zarna? It’s me, babe.”
“Di? Where are you? Rani Sa took the bag of money away, and she locked me in our room. She keeps saying she’s going to turn me over to the police. But I haven’t done anything wrong, I swear to God! I don’t understand what’s going on.”
A wave of fury shot through me at their audacity. How dare they lock Zarna up like an animal?
“I’m coming to get you, Zarna,” I said fiercely. “Don’t worry. I’m leaving right now.”
“I’m frightened, Di. Kavya Baisa was screaming at me, and I even thought she was going to hit me. But Diggi Mausi took me away and hid me in the kitchen until Rani Sa ordered her to lock me in our room. She even snuck me some food and juice.”
Thank God for Diggi Mausi, I thought fervently. She was the only kind soul in that palace. I had to find a way to escape because my sister needed me.
“I’m coming back, sweetie. They can’t keep me away from you. I’ll come to you tonight even if I have to fly there,” I promised.
“I hardly think so… sweetie ,” said His Highness in a low growl from behind me before he plucked the phone right out of my hand. “You’re not going anywhere. Not even if you try to fly out on a broomstick.”