PEREGRINATE

CHAPTER 21

Thoughts of Inder's return provided only moments of reprieve from the continuous worry of my plausible condition.

Maitri's body had curves in all the right places which was very flattering. But this posed a difficulty of its own. Without a proper mirror, I was not able to determine if my stomach was growing. One moment I was sure it had increased in size overnight and yet the next moment I doubted my convictions.

This was a body that I was not familiar with. There were times when I had to take a second look as I passed by the mirror. My thick black hair was replaced by auburn hair that was put into a tight updo for the majority of the day. My above-average height had been reduced to just above five feet. As for weight, I was glad that there was no weighing scale available. Not that I was saying it was negative. It was hard to be active throughout the day with the extra weight.

The fact that I had not been around expectant mothers in my life did not help the matter. I was very young when my mother had my brother and I could hardly remember the way her body changed. So here was I, able to tell what parts developed at each stage of the gestation, and yet could not make a correct diagnosis for myself.

Step one was to determine if I was indeed pregnant. Subsequent problems about who the father was and how was I supposed to care for a child in this age could be addressed later. There were no pre-natal vitamins, tests, or ultrasonography. Oh, and the horrors of childbirth almost knocked me off my feet.

The servant quarters did have a mirror but it was in a common area. It was mostly used by the girls to do their hair and fix their appearance. I could hardly strip myself there and scrutinize my body. I needed a private room for that.

The private rooms of the family had mirrors and I needed to secure some uninterrupted time in there. The king and his wife had gone to visit some of their relatives. However, there was no definitive date for their return. They could arrive at any moment and that would not be safe. 

The only other person who was to be gone for just a few more days was Inder. The timespan was short but I had to make do. He had a full-length mirror in his room. I could gain access by volunteering to clean it. The room had remained closed for a long time and was bound to require a thorough cleaning.

Now, I had to make sure that I was the only one in the room. This could prove to be a difficult task as, since our heart-to-heart talk a few days back, Isha or the others had made sure that I was not to be anywhere alone in the castle. 

No one had openly claimed so yet, but it was obvious as whenever I tried to leave the company of the others someone could surely ask where I was heading or they could accompany me. Even if I was going to fetch a glass of water or relieve myself.

When I had said earlier that the reason was unknown, it was not completely true. I had my suspicions that it was about the incident that took place after Nani departed from the room. I and Isha quickly gathered our produce and headed to our room to clean up for dinner.

However, I did not remember our trip back to the kitchen because I had apparently fainted on the stairs. Though Isha somehow stopped me from rolling down the stairs, I still banged my head pretty hard and had a raging headache when I woke up.

Laksh had found us with me half lying on the lap of a sobbing Isha on the top of the stairs. Though my head did not crack open, thank god for small mercies, I was on the lookout for a concussion for the next few days. But all I had known was to not fall asleep and to get checked out if there was any headache or dizziness. But who could have treated me for a concussion?

 It was like knowing how and when something bad was about to happen but having no idea about how to stop it. I just had enough knowledge from the future to freak me out at every inconsequential accident. The other shoe had not been dropped yet, with yet being the keyword.