The Cursed Princess of Suryagarh: Book 1

19. The lineage lives

Shreya was taken aback by what she just overheard. The name slipping past the mouth of the quivering and highly pregnant woman was so familiar, and she could swear she had heard it only a day ago. She was busy racking her brain for that piece of information and for the singular discourse she had had with someone the previous day, but the more she attempted to isolate the bits and portions of the relevant details, the more jumbled everything became in her head. After all, it had been a long and winding day for not only Aarush Chauhan but also Shreya Awasthy. Especially, the intimate conversation with the prince that had sapped her of all her energy and overwhelmed her with the diverse range of emotions battling for dominance in her heart and surging every time she so much as let herself ponder over the royal.

Hence, her mind was rendered futile and useless, thereby prompting her to peek inside the cabin all over again, hoping she would catch a few more of the words from their conversation. Not that she comprehended all of it. Her Hindi was rusty, and the pregnant woman was using some local terms from a dialect that she was not familiar with.

"Madam?"

She broke out of her reverie when she heard the hesitant voice of Balwant Singh behind her, and she swerved around. "Mr. Singh! You got yourself treated well?"

The bright blush was back on the sheepish man's cheeks, and he giggled. "Madam, you are too kind. I am fine and well. The doctor prescribed these medicines," he unfurled a white sheet of paper with drug names scribbled haphazardly, "for me. I have already bought these, and I will get back complete mobility in a couple of weeks."

She smiled feebly, her gaze going back to the glass window. The woman was still crying and banging her palms on the table. Pointing at the door, Shreya said, "Have you seen her before, Mr. Singh? Like around Suryagarh?"

He furrowed his brows and carefully peered inside. Blinking a few times with his lips rolled outward, he shook his head. "I don't think so, madam. Why is she crying, though?"

She bit her lips. "She is worried about her unborn child."

"Hmmm." He put up a wide smile as he looked at the young girl. "Shall we go, madam? Our work here is done."

***

Throughout the car ride along the bustling and teeming city as shops rattled open, school buses honked all the way, and pedestrians ambled carelessly by the side of the road, Shreya found herself pondering over the same name she had heard only minutes ago. Something wasn't clicking right. There was a missing piece somewhere. The name. The woman uttering the same.

The woman!

Her eyes widened when she realized where she had seen the pregnant lady, and her gaze immediately went to how Balwant Singh was drumming his fingers on his thighs along with the tunes blaring from the radio. "Mr. Singh, how far is Suryagarh from Sumedhnagar again?"

He cleared his throat and peered back with an amiable smile on his face. "Roughly fifty kilometres."

"Fifty..." She bit her lips. "And where was that place you went to yesterday? Where did you," she pursed her lips and cast a wary glance at the unconcerned driver, "go to find something for Aarush?"

Balwant Singh's countenance hardened, and his eyes turned glossy. Even he peeked at the driver for a fleeting moment before saying, "Rampur."

"Rampur... And how far is Rampur from Sumedhnagar?"

His brows furrowed due to the string of disjointed questions she was coming up with, but he managed to articulate nonetheless. "Fifty kilometres as well. Suryagarh lies between Rampur and Sumedhnagar."