PEREGRINATE

CHAPTER 16

Dinner too was encroached on by Inder. He was one hell of a charmer. All the others who were apprehensive of him initially melted right off. They were absolutely smitten by him and by the end of the night, he almost became one of us. He regaled us with tales of his trips and even took part in a few rounds of cards with the men. He and Kabir appeared to have set aside their differences for the night but I thought it was mostly because Kabir conceded due to Inder's status.

Throughout the evening there was one constant thing. Inder always was near me. No matter how much tried to slip away, he would call me back with some ridiculous request. It would have been downright harassment and put me in a bad mood if only I too had not been charmed by him. Every glance of his broke butterflies in my stomach and made me aware of each and every one of my heartbeats. I was annoyed too. I was inordinately pleased by his attention. As the end drew close I was eager to get away from him. The constant upheaval was not good for my stomach and I felt queasy.

But he quickly minced the idea by drawing us towards an alcove.

"What now?" I let out an annoyed groan.

"Am I disturbing you?" Inder said in a small voice and I felt as if I kicked a puppy.

"No, no. It is not like that," I quickly rushed out, hoping to not upset him. This had absolutely no relation to my position. I just didn't want him to be upset. I was not in the business of hurting other people's feelings. Most of the time.

At my denial, his grin turned into one of triumphant and I realized he had been faking the hurt look.

"You played me," I accused him, swatting him with a rag.

"Pfft, played you? I do not know any game. Anyway, do you think you can meet me here in one hour? After everyone settles down." He put out his request with a tentatively hopeful look. Why did he not just go conquer England with that look? It probably would not work, though, because they were not me, and I was a sucker for that look.

"Yes, I will meet you here. But how would I know how much time has passed?" At my questions, he produced a beautiful hourglass from his pocket. I loved them but someone should invent a clock already as I was getting tired of not knowing the exact time. I was a stickler for timetables. I wished I had learned how they worked if only I could try to make one.

I took it from him and agreed to meet him out here. I was worried that by the time I was supposed to meet him, others would not be asleep. It was a tiring day, though, so snores could soon be heard. I was supposed to be tired too but an unusual excitement filled me with extra fervor and I was hyper-aware of all my surroundings.

As I made my way down the stairs my ears were wide open for any creaking sounds, fearing I would be caught. A faint tapping sound could be heard. I thought it probably was a dripping tap. Only there were no taps at this time.

So naturally when a hand grabbed my wrist I let out a shriek which would have surely woken up the entire household if it had not been cut short by a plam against my mouth.

"Do you really want to invite everyone out here?" Inder's face appeared, lit up unnaturally in the faint moonlight.

"Some warning could have stopped that shriek." The fright had left me breathless.

"I did warn you. The tapping sounds were for you."

"Oh, really? Fine. From next time I will equate any tapping sound to you. Oh, a horsecart tapping away? Must be Inder."

"Grrz, snappy much?"

I grinned at his usage of my modern phrase. I surely have used it on him enough. Some of the fear dispelled out of me.

"Sorry, it is nerves I guess."

"Nerves?"

"Uhh, I meant fear. No, nervousness. I am nervous that we will be caught." He never questioned my odd phrases or called me out on them. Instead, he accepted it as a normal occurrence, in turn making me feel accepted. He gave me a short nod and took my hand again to lead me somewhere.

Butterflies of nerves replaced one of the feelings that I was not ready to acknowledge yet. As the days passed, Inder taking my hand invoked different kinds of emotions in me. He not only took my hand in the physical sense but he had been grounding me to this time, slowly making me feel at home. I appreciated that a lot. When I was with him, all the perpetually present tumultuous worries and anxiety about my situation faded away and I felt that maybe there was a purpose for my arrival here after all.

We exited out of yet another doorway and after walking a short distance we came out of the castle into a beautiful garden. Lamps and lanterns lit the place up. A dais was built on one side next to a flowing body of water. A gentle breeze shifted our hair. The air was saturated with the fragrance of flowers.

However, the pièce de résistance of the ambiance was the moon. The cloud had dispersed after a day of heavy rainfall to provide us with this section of heaven. A full moon so big and bright I felt that I could touch it if I just lifted my hand. I told Inder so and he replied, "Maybe you are the one who can touch it. The maiden who could touch the moon as she was a part of it. Fair and beautiful."

I grinned at his romantic words, a bit swooned but knowing what I did I had to reply with, "Or maybe the moon was a piece of her. It was separated from her 3,84,000 km away just because they were not meant to be together. And now they can just gaze at each other, their longing illuminated by the sun's rays."

"I did not understand half of what you just said. But when do I ever," he teased.

I rolled my eyes at him and moved towards the dais to take a seat. Fireflies flitted by occasionally and our ears were treated to the symphony of nature. I closed my eyes and let out all my anxiety and worry. Such impurities are not meant for this serene place. There existed bigger things than your worries.

I took a seat on the dais patting the space beside me and asked Inder to join me. It seemed only fair as it was he who chose to share it with me.

"So tell me about this place? It does have a different mood than the rest of the castle."

"Yes, it does. This is actually my stepmother's doing. The castle is all as per my father's choice. Strength, fortitude, valor. My stepmother etched out this corner for herself. Though I must say that it is more for her visitors. She rarely visits this part without company."

"Eh her loss is our gain. After a whole day of rain, the sky looks spectacular."

We spent some more time there. I was lost in my admiration of nature while he looked particularly lost in his thoughts. However, before I could enquire what those thoughts were, the sky was shrouded with clouds again and we were forced to seek shelter. And that night, along with the dark clouds of rain, another shadow darkened the doorway of our lives.

Author's Corner:

"So I sneak out to the garden to see you
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew
So close your eyes
Escape this town for a little while, oh, oh"

- Taylor Swift, Love Story

This part of the song was a huge inspiration for this story. A late-night date of a maid and a prince might just be better than that of a prince and princess. Do share your views on their date/non-date in the comments

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