Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
ISHA
I came downstairs at teatime prepared to do battle with my traitorous mother.
I mean, I could understand Dadi Sa being a devious cow even from beyond the grave. That was in character for her. But I couldn’t understand how my mother could even suggest that I go along with the asinine terms of her will. She was supposed to be on my side.
I was fully prepared to give her the silent treatment until she saw the error of her ways, but to my surprise, she greeted me distractedly as she fussed over Diya.
“Beta, you need to go and lie down for a bit,” she said, as she forced her to put her legs up on the pouffy ottoman in the family room. “All this stress isn’t good for you or the baby.”
“Ma’s right, Dee. You don’t need to worry about Dadi Sa’s will. Bhai Sa and I will figure it out between us,” I replied.
Ma shot me a scathing look.
“Not everything in this palace is about you, Isha,” she snapped.
“What did I do?” I demanded.
I was the victim here. My dreams had just been dashed yet again, and instead of sympathising with me, my mother was yelling at me!
“You didn’t do anything,” Diya explained hastily. “A scandal just broke out over Veer’s head, and we’re very stressed about that.”
“Ooh! What scandal?” I asked with delight.
On second thought, maybe I should have kept that delight hidden because my mother shot me a furious glare.
“Isha!”
“ Whaaat? He’s mean to me all the time! Why shouldn’t I enjoy it when he gets what he deserves?”
“But he doesn’t deserve this,” said Diya quietly. “He’s done nothing wrong.”
I pulled out my phone and googled him. I began scrolling through the results and gasped at the wild accusations being made about Veer. It looked like everyone was jumping onto the bandwagon and bashing him just because he was a royal. The trolls didn’t even have any specific accusations. Based on the two images that were being shared everywhere, there were so-called influencers talking about the excesses of desi billionaires. They were clubbing him with the likes of Ayush Goel and those twins from Surat who totalled their Lamborghinis in a wild midnight race on the Mumbai Pune Expressway only to be presented with spanking new cars the very next morning. Even worse, they were calling him tharki and charsi.
“I didn’t realise it was so bad,” I said apologetically.
“It’s a conspiracy to stop the poor boy from becoming CM,” replied Ma.
I looked up from my phone in surprise.
“He wants to be a neta? Since when?”
“It’s complicated,” sighed Diya. “It’s not so much the netagiri that appeals to him as the idea of playing hero to his people. He wants to save the state from the local mafia.”
I wondered why he hadn’t said anything last night when we were running from the same mafia. Then again, why should he? It was nothing to do with me. I had my own problems, which had to take a back seat now because I was sure Bhai Sa was going to be busy trying to fix Veer’s problem. And I knew the problem of my inheritance paled in comparison to this scandal, but we were on a tight schedule here.
If we didn’t find a solution within a month, the Goels would inherit my dream house.
“I need to talk to Bhai Sa,” I declared.
“Isha, now is not the time to disturb him,” said Ma firmly. “He needs to help Veer first.”
“Ma, my dreams are just as valid as Veer’s. And I happen to be sitting on a ticking time bomb. Do you want the Goels to inherit Gulab Mahal?”
“Let them,” she cried. “Maybe then you’ll forget this stupid idea of abandoning your family.”
“Ohmigod! I can’t do this again. I can’t have the same argument over and over again, Ma. I’m just moving to another house. That does not mean I’m abandoning you.”
“Don’t you care about us, Isha?” she asked tearfully.
“Of course, I do! But I also care about my dreams. I want to set up my vintage store in Gulab Mahal, Ma.”
“You don’t have to move out of the palace to set up your store,” she argued.
“I don’t have to, but I want to,” I insisted.
“Fine, then go ahead and do what you like,” she snapped, walking away angrily.
It hurt me to fight with my mother, and I even understood why she was so upset with me. She had suffered a lot of abuse from Baba and Dadi Sa, and she’d never allowed us to know. Bhai Sa had been away at school anyway, but Ma had hidden her pain even from me until I grew up and began to understand what was happening. She did it to protect me, and now when we were finally free, she was hurt that I was leaving her all alone. But she wouldn’t be alone. She had Bhai Sa and Diya.
I, on the other hand, had no one. Not in the way they had each other. I was always the outsider. The anomaly. And until I earned my independence, I’d always feel like a burden to my family.
“Talk to Dheer,” said Diya softly. “He’s in the study.”
“Isn’t he busy?”
“He’s never too busy for you, Ish. And Veer can wait because he has a team of people working on his problem. You only have your brother on your side. Go talk to him and find a way to save your dream,” she urged.
I gave her a swift hug and made sure she was comfortable in her wing chair with a grilled cheese sandwich and a dried fruit milkshake before I left.
A car pulled up in the courtyard just as I walked out of the family room, and a familiar figure alighted. I wondered what the Rani Ma of Mirpur was doing here. I hoped she wasn’t here on matchmaking business.
Nandini Aunty had recently turned her hand to matchmaking, and the success of her first match - Bhai Sa and Diya - had brought her a lot of clout in royal circles. In the eyes of royal mamas all over the country, if she could get the extremely reluctant Maharaja of Trikhera to settle down, she was nothing less than a miracle maker. While she was a very nice person, I tried to stay out of her way because I had no intention of becoming her next project.
Ma hurried to receive her and before I could slip out into the garden through a side door, she beckoned me to join her. I followed her to the door with a groan. I hoped the two busybodies weren’t plotting to ruin my life.
“Thank you for coming over at such short notice, Didi Sa,” cried Ma, leading her into the formal living room.
“I set off as soon as you texted me, Padmini,” said Nandini Aunty. “What’s the emergency?”
Ma shot a meaningful look in my direction.
“Don’t even think about it, Ma,” I warned.
“Well, do you want a solution to your problem or not?” she snapped before she explained the terms of the will to Nandini Aunty.
“I’m not getting married,” I declared.
“Then you’re not getting that damn house,” Ma shot back. “The terms of the will are ironclad, Isha. If the house matters to you as much as you claim, shouldn’t you do whatever it takes to secure it? After all, you were willing to go ahead with your grandmother’s plans when she was alive.”
“Yes, but that was different, Ma!”
“How?”
“I hadn’t tasted freedom then. Getting out of this house was my only route to freedom when Dadi Sa was alive. But for the past thirteen days, I’ve experienced the kind of freedom that I had never even dreamed of. Before we discovered the terms of her will, I assumed the house to be mine unconditionally. That is a very different, very precious level of freedom, and I’d do anything to get that back. If I agree to marry someone just for the sake of the house, I would be imprisoned forever in a loveless relationship.”
“Or you could discover that you can fall in love with your husband after you marry him. Like most of us did,” said Nandini Aunty quietly.
“That might be true for you, Aunty. But an arranged marriage is no guarantee of happiness,” I replied, with a pointed glance at Ma because she was a living example of that fact. Her marriage had brought her nothing but misery.
“You’re not in the same position that I was in when your Dadi Sa picked me as a bride for your father, Isha,” explained Ma. “My parents had no choice but to agree, and I didn’t even get a say in the matter. You’re far more privileged, beta. Didi Sa and I will find you a husband who will keep you like the princess that you are.”
“I don’t need a husband, Ma. I need a champion right now. Someone to fight the blasted will. And that someone is Bhai Sa,” I argued.
“What’s all this yelling?” grumbled my champion as he walked into the room. “And where’s my wife?”
“She’s resting in the family room. You should join her,” urged Ma, after he had greeted Nandini Aunty.
“Are you bullying Isha into getting married?” demanded Bhai Sa, proving that I had chosen the right champion.
“I’ve never bullied either of you,” said my mother, and I marvelled at her bald-faced lie. “Achha, did you notice that Diya’s ankles are looking a bit swollen? I think she needs to cut down on her salt intake.”
I shook my head in disgust as that was all it took to distract my brother. He set off to look for his wife and examine her ankles while Ma and Nandini Aunty put me on the rack. So much for being my champion. I guessed I’d have to solve my problem all on my own.
“I have some biodatas here,” said Nandini Aunty, pulling out a folder from her capacious handbag.
“I don’t need biodatas. I need a good lawyer,” I retorted.
“I have three right here,” she said, patting her folder with a smile.
“Aunty, please stop! I refuse to marry a stranger,” I wailed.
“Uff! Be practical, Isha,” snapped Ma, just as the door opened and Veer and his mother walked in.
I gasped loudly and clasped my hands to my chest.
“There’s the solution to my problems,” I cried.
Veer took one step back warily.
“Who? Me?”
I shot him a scathing glance and rolled my eyes in response.
“Don’t flatter yourself, Laajwanti. I meant him,” I replied, referring to the man who had walked into the room behind Veer.
His Highness Ranvijay Rathore, Maharaja of Mirpur.
Nandini Aunty’s son.
I ran past Veer and threw myself at Ranvijay who laughed loudly as he twirled me around before giving me a tight hug.