PEREGRINATE

CHAPTER 15

The next day I did not get a single moment of respite from Inder. He was there at the meal table, at the kitchen, courtyard, hall, and the stables. It felt as if he had acquired my chores list from Nani and made sure to reach my next destination even after I had shooed him away from the previous ones. I finally let him help me when I had to can the vegetables to make pickles. I was still unsure of how it was done and any mistake could be passed off as the prince's.

We were into our work for the better part of the hour, when his parents stopped by. Not having been directly addressed by them, I did not know the proper manner in which I should greet them. I made haste to stand up only to slip on some peels and almost land on the vat of canned vegetables we had just finished. But Inder saved me by putting a hand on my ass.

"Dude! Seriously?" I hissed at him. He quickly moved his hand to my waist and I prayed that his parents were far enough to not have seen the movement of his hand.

"What is a dude?" he whispered inquisitively to me.

Before I could answer him his parents reached us. I bowed. "Your majesty,"

"Good morning, Maitri. It has been so long since I have seen you two together. You two used to always keep me and his mother on edge. How are you keeping these days?" his father said charmingly. I did not think I could ever call him the king at least in my mind. He was as down-to-earth.

 as one could be and never portrayed himself as someone important. He kind of reminded me of the guy next to me.

"I am well, My Lord. Thank you for asking."

He laughed, "You don't have to lie, girl, I saw the annoyed looks you gave my son. Though no one would argue with about that quality of his."

Not wanting to cause trouble for Inder I quickly said, "No, no, I am not annoyed with him. He has been kind enough to provide me with his assistance. I apologize if I am keeping him from you."

Before the king could give a reply his wife, who had been quiet all this while, spoke up. "Inder! Why are you interfering in this maid's work? I am sure she has a long list of chores she has to attend to and you too must have much more important tasks. Don't waste the morning hours." Okay not exactly how I would have worded it.

By the time she was finished, I had wrung my fingers to an unnatural position and was worrying my upper lip, worst-case scenarios giving an exclusive show in my mind till Inder stepped in front of me and opened his mouth, "I am not wasting my time by helping Maitri. I will be eating these preserves too so it's only fair I lend a hand. And I can assure you I am not neglecting any of my priorities and have things managed."

"Now, now, son, no one is saying you don't have a handle on things. We will let you rejoin your work," he turned to me. "And Inder meet me at my room this noon." With the last order given the king and his wife resumed their walk, away from us.

"I apologize for my stepmother she is... different," he looked contrite.

"Than your mother? Yes, Isha had mentioned it to me. She sounded wonderful I wished I had met her. I mean remembered her. Better."

Flustered over my slip of the tongue and him defending me, I quickly gathered the jars we filled in a basket and headed towards the kitchen.

"Hey?" Inder called out to me.

"Yeah?"

"What's a dude?"

"Don't touch my ass again and I might tell you," I answered him without turning back. 

In hindsight, I was not that upset about the touch. It was an accident and he was helping me.

*****

I stopped trying to chase Inder away after that day. Any heavy-duty work I had, like lifting heavy buckets of water or baskets of vegetables, went to him. In that way, we were able to spend at least an hour together even on his busiest days. I enjoyed talking to him. He never questioned the modern words that slipped out of my mouth sometimes. He even seemed curious to know about the meaning of the words.