Dusky Moonlight

24(1)

"After much thinking, I have chosen Aathiyan for my place. He's the right person, what do you say?" Raja asked his wife.

She took a moment to answer, "It's your choice, you know better than me," she answered.

"But still you are their mother, you might have an opinion,"

"What's there for me to tell. I can't choose one of our sons. I will never do that," she says, "Ever since I gave birth to my sons, I was afraid to meet this moment where I need to choose one. I cannot do that."

"I won't compel you. I had the same thoughts when I was asked to choose one of them and this decision was taken by the royal ministers and people in the court who have watched them grow up."

"I understand, Aathiyan is our first son, I am so proud to say that I am his mother because he's a gem. I will be the happiest person if he becomes the Raja, but..." she retorted.

"You love him so much but he thinks that you support Veera,"

"Veera is my son. He's not like Aathiyan, he does what his mind says even if it is wrong. He never cares about the rest; He never thinks about what will be the damage after that. I am just beside him to help whenever he does something wrong. I don't know what he will do if you give your place to Aathiyan," she worried.

"I understand. I hope everything goes fine with this decision. You don't have to worry, our only duty is to maintain the peace in the palace until we are alive," he says.

"Yes, I will talk to Veera, and I won't let him go against his brother."

The king nodded with a smile.

In the same early evening, the place looked marvelous in the pink hues of the sunset. Watching that from her bed, Mathinila closed her eyes and frowned when her sister came into her thoughts. The smile on Kayanangai's face greatly irritated her. Ever since she heard that Aathiyan going to be the next king, she started feeling so agitated because her will sister takes the place of the Rani, she couldn't digest it. She's the reason Kayannagi got this life; Mathinila hates that Kayanangai gets everything so easily.

"Mathi, look at me. What happened to you?" Veera asked his wife.

"I don't know. I am not feeling good," she said.

"What's bothering you, tell me. I will do anything to ease your heart," he smiled caressing her cheeks and holding her against him.

"You know about my life in my home. I was never happy. I never liked having a stepmother, step-siblings. They took most of my happiness away and my father loved my sister more than me," she said, "Until I met you I don't know the meaning of happiness but again my sister is here and she's happy just to irritate me."

"Do you think we will be fortunate more than your brother and my sister?" she asked.

He smiled, "Why do you even think about them? They have known each other for just a few weeks. But you know about us, how long we have waited to have this moment in our life. We are the reason they are together, if we want we could be the reason they separate but we don't have to go to that extent. Let them be happy for some days," he said.

"You have to understand that we are happy more than anyone here."

"You don't know my sister. She's like a plague, she ruined my life staying near me. She stole my happiness before and always gets so much love and attention than me," she blurted out all this for the first time.

"I am tired of her and I always wished to never have a sister like her. If you didn't give the idea about marrying her to your brother it would be so great with only us. I must have lived in this palace on my own without minding her. Now she gets more than what she deserves even though she doesn't ask for it," she heaved a sign after saying her frustrations.