Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
SHIVINA
W hen the chopper landed on the grounds of Sajjangarh Palace, the decorations for the wedding were still standing. In the light of everything that had happened today, they seemed a bit macabre, as if Rani Sa was still holding out hope that her daughter would be reunited with His Highness.
I shivered at the thought and wrapped the heavy veil around my shoulders like a shawl. His Highness was still in his wedding clothes, as well, because we hadn’t stopped to change. All my clothes were here anyway, and I only had one thought in mind. I had to get to Zarna before Rani Sa tortured her any more.
I half expected my sister to be waiting for me in the courtyard, but I knew the Dodiyas would never make it so easy. Thankfully, we had brought reinforcements in the form of Raksha and Rajiv, who was a shark of a lawyer on His Highness’s team.
On the short ride from Mirpur to Sajjangarh, I could think of nothing but His Highness’s crazy, impossible proposal.
Of course, I wasn’t considering it seriously. I mean, there was more to me than just a uterus, right? I wanted a real marriage someday. Not right away, but someday when Zarna was all grown up, and I had the time and energy to think about my future.
And yet, when I tried to think of the man I’d marry someday, I discovered that the image in my mind wasn’t that of an unknown, faceless stranger. It strongly resembled a face that had begun to haunt my dreams of late. A face that was currently looking out of the chopper’s window and scowling at something below us.
I’d have to get this marriage annulled, of course. We couldn’t just walk away from it unscathed. Ohmigod, I was going to have to stand in front of a judge and admit to what I’d done. That alone was enough to tempt me into saying yes to His Highness.
I sighed heavily. It was time to be completely honest with myself. I was already tempted to say yes to him. And not because of the money or the title of Maharani. It was because of him. Because he fascinated me like no man had ever done before. I was drawn to him like a moth to a flame, and just like a dumb moth, I was about to get my wings singed.
I had no business falling for someone who was so out of my reach. But as the helicopter began a descent into Sajjangarh, I wondered what it would be like to be really married to this man. What if I was allowed to reach out and trace his corded forearms? What if I had the right to wind a finger around his and tug him towards me?
And then, I sighed again because I remembered that all such rights would only be temporary, and they’d evaporate as soon as I’d produced his heir. I resolved to end this madness as soon as we returned to the palace with Zarna.
Which in turn reminded me that I had nowhere to take her. Rani Sa was not likely to give me a reference after this fiasco, and no hotel would hire me without one. It wasn’t going to be easy for me to get a job now, and I still had to pay Zarna’s school fees. And I had to rent a flat in a safe locality. The weight of my responsibilities settled heavily around my shoulders, and I stumbled as I climbed out of the chopper.
His Highness put an arm around me to steady me, and I wondered if I could lay all my worries on his broad, strong shoulders. Much good it would do me, though. He only saw me as a uterus, I reminded myself.
Rani Sa, Kavya Baisa and Diggi Mausi were running towards us.
“You’ve come back for me,” cried Baisa, but then, she noticed His Highness’s arm around my shoulder, and her face darkened in anger.
“Where’s Zarna?” I demanded before she could start ranting. “We’re here for my sister.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” said Rani Sa nastily. “We can have both you thieving sisters thrown in jail.”
His Highness held up one finger in warning.
“You’re skating on very thin ice, Your Highness. If I were you, I wouldn’t compound your sins by making wild, unsupported accusations against the Maharani of Mirpur,” he said icily.
“Maharani? She’s a fucking servant,” spat Kavya Baisa furiously.
“ She. Is. My. Wife ,” roared His Highness, and Baisa and her mother both jumped in fright. “I have been very patient with the two of you, but now my patience is waning. You dared to deceive me at my own wedding? How did you even think you could get away with it?”
“It was her fault,” whined Baisa.
“Yes,” chimed in her mother with a baleful look at me. “It was going so well until you discovered it wasn’t Kavya under the veil. I’m sure Shivina revealed it on purpose. Just to spite my daughter.”
“Are you two for real?” asked His Highness in astonishment.
I couldn’t believe they were still being so brazen about the whole incident. As if it were a small inconvenience instead of almost a crime. But I realised they were never going to take accountability for their actions because they didn’t know the meaning of the word.
“Where’s my sister?” I asked again.
I just wanted to find Zarna and get her out of here.
“You can take her away as soon as you set things right,” said Rani Sa. “Fix this, Shivina. Otherwise, the next time you see your sister, it will be in the visitor’s area of the nearest juvenile detention centre.”
His Highness took a menacing step towards her, but I put a hand on his arm to hold him back. This was not his battle. It was mine. And I refused to hide behind him or my temporary new title of Maharani.
“There is nothing I need to fix, Rani Sa, because I have done nothing wrong. I did my best to help you out of gratitude. I owe you nothing more. You can’t hold my sister hostage like this. And if you don’t bring Zarna to me right now, I will be the one to call the police, not you.”
“You and whose army?” asked Kavya Baisa with a snide smile.
“Mine,” replied His Highness grimly. “Shivina isn’t alone in this fight, and it’s time the two of you realise that. As the Maharani of Mirpur, she has the Mirpur royal family backing her, of course, but we also have our closest friends on our side. And not to be rude, but you Dodiyas are nothing compared to the combined royal might of the Mirpurs, the Trikheras, and the Jadhwals. We will chew you up and spit you out like the trash that you are.”
“We’re not afraid of you, Jamai Sa ,” spat Rani Sa. “Your combined royal might won’t help you when we tell the whole world how you came into our palace under false pretences and married a servant girl instead of Kavya. You’ll find it very hard to convince anyone that you were tricked into marrying her because why would you rush to her defence so willingly if that were true?”
Her words gave me pause because what if she was right? Any other man would have dumped me by the side of the road or left me to my fate in Sajjangarh. But His Highness had treated me with respect. Damn him! Why did he have to complicate matters?
“We’ll see you in court for a breach of promise lawsuit to begin with,” Rani Sa went on.
“You will,” agreed His Highness, and she was taken aback by his immediate agreement. “But you won’t be the one to file suit, madam. That pleasure rests with us. I will sue your family for breach of promise, but that’s the least of your worries because, you see, I am about to go nuclear on the Dodiyas.”
He put a hand out, and Rajiv placed a folder in his hand.
His Highness pulled out the incriminating pictures and flung them at Rani Sa’s feet.
“By this time tomorrow, even the man on the moon will have heard about what or whom your depraved daughter was doing at her bachelorette party. Good news, Kavya. You’re about to go viral,” he said wickedly.
With a shriek, Kavya dived for the photographs, but her mother beat her to it, each successive picture making her turn even paler. At one point, she dropped the pictures and lunged towards one of the palm trees that lined their driveway, making it there just in time to empty her innards at the base of the tree.
She retched loudly for a few minutes while Kavya Baisa seemed to be struck dumb.
“Where did you find these pictures?” she asked eventually.
“We have our sources. I can even get you the videos if you like,” replied His Highness with sweet venom. “Rajiv, remember to CC every member of the Dodiya family on the e-mail that goes out to the global news agency. I want them to witness their downfall one e-mail at a time.”
“Stop it,” said Rani Sa hoarsely as she wiped her mouth with the end of her odhani.
I’d feel sorry for her if I hadn’t learnt the hard way that, given a chance, she would do the same thing to me. Or even worse. And while I had a solid reason for destroying her illusions about her daughter, she was trying to destroy my world just for the joy of hurting me.
“I beg you, Your Highness,” she said bleakly. “Burn these pictures and delete any copies you’ve made.”
“Not until you release Zarna and promise you’ll my wife and her sister alone for good,” growled His Highness.
“Done,” said Rani Sa, without looking at me. “I’ll tell Diggi to bring the child out in a few minutes. The girls are dead to me from now on. And tell your wife that the doors of my palace are shut to her forever. She can’t come here begging for help when you get tired of her and cast her out, as you surely will.”
His Highness’s jaw tightened with displeasure at this slur, but he let it pass.
With a tight nod, Rani Sa turned on her heel and walked away stiffly, ignoring her daughter, who ran behind her, babbling incoherently.
“It’s not my fault, Ma…Those pics are fake! Let’s sue them all…”
I tuned her out and paced up and down the garden until it was time to collect my sister. Diggi Mausi was waiting for me at the front door.
“I’m here for Zarna,” I said softly.
“She’s upstairs, packing her stuff,” said Mausi as she gave me a searching glance. “Are you all right, beta?”
I nodded slowly because I couldn’t burden her with the truth.
“Where will the two of you go?” she asked worriedly.
“Rani Sa’s place is in my palace,” said His Highness, putting a hand on my shoulder, but Diggi Mausi wasn’t fooled. She stared at him through narrowed eyes but didn’t have the chance to say anything because Kavya Baisa suddenly appeared from behind her.
“She’s still wearing my clothes,” said Baisa with a demented laugh. “Are you going to be thinking of me when you take them off, darling almost-husband?”
“Baisa, stop that at once,” said Diggi Mausi sharply. “You need to lie down for a bit.”
“This isn’t over, Shivina. I will never forgive you for stealing my husband,” she shrieked.
“He was never your husband, Baisa. And she didn’t steal him. We forced her to marry him for your sake. So stop spouting this nonsense and move on,” said Diggi Mausi with the candour of a woman who had practically raised Baisa from the cradle.
Baisa was still laughing as Diggi Mausi gestured for me to go upstairs. Kavya Baisa’s parents were nowhere to be seen. While I was happy to avoid Rani Sa for the rest of my life, I would have liked to thank Raja Sa for his kindness until now, but I guessed it would be rubbing salt in his wound.
“I need to change out of these clothes,” I said, unable to bear them on my body for even one minute more.
“Take your time,” said His Highness as I ran up the stairs to our old room.
Zarna leapt into my arms with a cry as soon as she saw me.
“Where the hell did you go, Di? Rani Sa was saying the weirdest things. That you married her Jamai Sa from right under her nose!”
Her eyes widened in surprise as she took in the grand clothes I was wearing.
“Ohmigod! You did marry her Jamai Sa! How could you do that to her?”
I let out a loud, watery laugh.
“I didn’t do it out of choice! She made me do it,” I informed my sister hotly. “Because Baisa still hadn’t returned home. And he discovered the truth.”
“So he did carry you off like they were saying earlier?”
Her eyes went even wider, and I was worried her eyeballs would pop out any minute.
“Yes, but there’s no time to chat now, Zarna. Have you packed everything? Give me five minutes to get my stuff and change out of this awful lehenga, and we’ll be out of here,” I promised.
“But where are we going?” she demanded. “And what about my school?”
My knees buckled again, and I grabbed the edge of my bed to steady myself.
“Rani Sa took away the bag of money that you gave me,” she said mournfully. “We’re poor again.”
“That’s all right, babe. It wasn’t ours to take anyway because I couldn’t fool His Highness successfully. But we’ll find a place to stay soon. I promise.”
I took off the heavy lehenga, threw it on the bed in an untidy heap and threw on a simple indigo ajrakh cotton kurta and salwar. It was such a relief to get out of my borrowed finery. For the first time in hours, I felt like myself.
“It’s a pity you had to take it off,” said Zarna. “You did look very regal in the lehenga.”
“That’s your reminder that bad things happen to people who take what doesn’t belong to them,” I told her snippily. Whether it was clothes or people, I added to myself.
That lehenga did not magically turn me into a Maharani. And while that chopper outside wasn’t going to turn into a pumpkin anytime soon, I had to remind myself that this Cinderella had no happy ever after with her Prince Charming.
I had to find a job immediately. Even if I had to beg Sannata Mausi to let me sweep the kitchens and courtyards in Mirpur. But that wouldn’t pay Zarna’s fees, I realised with an unhappy sigh. Damn it! I kept coming back to the same place.
I didn’t just need a high-paying job and a house. I needed a fucking miracle.
I hastily threw my few belongings into an overnight bag and grabbed Zarna’s suitcase, which had all her clothes and books.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said briskly.
The miracle would come. I knew it. Somehow, my miracle would come.
And it did come. Bounding up the stairs to grab the bags out of my hand. Stopping to smile warmly at Zarna and put out a friendly hand.
“You must be Zarna. My name is Ranvijay, and I’m going to keep you safe, no matter what. Is that okay?”
Zarna let out a soft squeak before she put out a small hand shyly and shook his giant one.
“Thank you, Hukum,” she said, but he shook his head.
“Not Hukum. Call me RV,” he said sternly.
Zarna made big eyes at me before she turned and smiled widely at His Highness. And that’s when I knew that I would do anything, absolutely anything, to provide for my sister. Even if it meant giving His Highness the heir that he wanted so desperately.
If that meant I was like a cross between a prostitute and a surrogate, so be it. For Zarna’s sake, I was going to say yes to my new husband. I was going to give him an heir.
I knew I was setting myself up for heartbreak because I was already halfway in love with this man. Making love to him and having his baby was only going to bind me to him with silken threads that would cut into my very soul when he left me eventually. Because that was the plan. I had to walk away from him and from this marriage with a smile, even if it shattered my heart.
It’s okay. It will be worth it, I told myself sternly. For Zarna’s sake.
She skipped down the stairs, happy to get away from this miserable palace, while His Highness and I followed her slowly. Kavya Baisa was nowhere to be seen, thankfully.
“Yes,” I whispered.
For a minute, I wondered if he’d heard me at all. Then he swung his head around in surprise.
“What?”
I took a deep breath and took a giant leap of faith.
“I said yes. To… what you asked earlier,” I clarified in a hushed whisper.
The granite cast to his face softened, and his eyes crinkled in the corners.
“Thank you,” he said softly.
The butler came running to take the bags he was carrying. Now that his hands were free, he held one out to me.
“Let’s go home, Rani Sa. Your palace awaits.”