The Cursed Princess of Suryagarh: Book 1

39. The lost bracelet

The early morning sunrays flitted through the gigantic windows, the latticed jharokhas casting patterned shadows on the marble floors and teak furniture. As soon as the sheer curtains were drawn apart, the entire room was inundated in the bright sunshine, welcoming the start of a new day. Shreya ambled to the balcony attached to her room. She had grown so accustomed to the chamber and to the city in the last few days that the mere thought of having to leave and head back to Mumbai was giving her immense discomfort in her chest. Hence, she had been up since the wee hours of the morning, watching the sun come up the horizon and popping painkillers to keep the agony at bay.

Dr. Roshni did tend to all her wounds once they returned to the rooms late last night, and she even prescribed a few medicines to Shreya and Aryan, for both had sustained injuries during the skirmish. Shreya had the bandages on her arm changed only a few minutes ago while Dr. Roshni apprised that except for the bandaid covering the slight bruise on her forehead, she was all good to go. Then the lady went to Aryan's room to conduct a check on him, leaving Shreya to feel a strange void in her heart.

Her eyes went to the wall clock. They only had three more hours in Suryagarh before she and Aryan would leave for Udaipur. Their flight to Mumbai was early in the evening, and Aryan refused to let her miss it at any cost. Huffing, she went back to gazing at the views of Agni Bhawan from the balcony. The front facade was more or less perceptible from where she stood. Her eyes went to the metal gates separating the government premises from the private ones. Due to the slight gradient on which the city was built, the new palace ostensibly seemed to be at a greater height than the old one because of which, despite the vast garden between the two, she could perceive Agni Bhawan's dark stone walls.

With the arrival of a new morning devoid of any immortal breathing down their necks, Agni Bhawan should have gotten rid of the aura of darkness surrounding it at all times. It should have appeared fresh, novel, lively. However, the same pallor still hung over the edifice, and she was not sure what to make of it.

Perhaps it was nothing but the emptiness inside her that made her overthink, for she was certain a small part of her heart was going to be left behind in Suryagarh. And in the celebrated vicinity of a certain someone she had come to adore a bit too much, albeit without her explicit permission.

***

Aryan was not at the breakfast table yet, but Adya and Shreya were plopped adjacent to each other with the prince across from them. The girls spoke in hushed whispers about the events from the previous night as the latter narrated everything the mystery man had done for her while the former could only nod and hum in intervals. They even tried asking Aarush about the identity of the mystery man, but his response was a shrug of his shoulders and a scowl on his face. Deciding against asking him anything and avoid piquing him more, Adya asked Shreya not to broach the topic. Hence, Aarush seamlessly went back to reading the newspaper, his gaze darting over the printed sheets as he paid no attention to the chattering underway between the two girls, acting as if nothing major had happened mere hours ago.

Shreya was highly irked by his attitude. Just like the first morning she had been inside Suryagarh Palace, the prince had not exchanged a single word with her. Nor did he look at her even once. Almost as if these past four days hadn't transpired. They didn't go out to explore Agni Bhawan together. She didn't defy his order and slipped to the museum by herself. She didn't witness his towering wrath as he nearly annihilated Balwant Singh. He didn't click pictures for her despite that not being the protocol. Twice. He didn't skim his fingers against the birthmark on her back in the isolated and sequestered library under faint illumination. She didn't blush like the craziest girl ever due to the searing but innocuous brushes. He didn't call her an outsider just to hurt her. He didn't gift her all those thoughtful things, the third of which she hadn't even opened yet. He didn't scream at her when she brought Aryan along for the ritual. She didn't seek a promise from him to be safe and sound during the battle with the immortal. And she didn't hurl the necklace in the fire to save his skin before breaking the curse.