Samanth Putri

Part 10 : Disillusionment

Pratap got busy again from the next day with all the meetings held for the creation and management of the Rajput Confederation. Different councils were set up with different kingdoms taking interests based on their situation. Marwar Prince Vikrant was given the diplomatic council to lead. Pratap had specifically nominated Marwar to appease them as well as make them morally bound to not cause any mayhem which they were trying to do. Most of the representatives from the Kingdoms had not left Chittor after the wedding to attend these meetings.

Plan was to culminate the successful formation of the Confederation with a feast at the end of this week. Thankfully marriage talks of Pratap and Marwar princess  had taken a back seat . Pratap had taken help of Indore King Rao Kishore to convince Rao Maldev to focus on the confederation since Rao Kishore was a very respected person in the whole of Rajputana ans of the same age as Rao Maldev.

But just when Pratap thought the problem was averted his father called him to his chamber.
His father was not happy with Pratap's denial of the proposal. When he entered the chamber he saw his mother was also present. But with his mother his step mother Rani Roopvati was present as well. Out of all his step mothers, he felt she is not the one she appeared in front of others. His instinct told him there was something about her that screamed a lust for power. And these days the way his father seemed to be a puppet of her he knew she might have something in mind. It did not sit well with him that she was there as well. He took their blessings with a neutral face.

"Pratap, I wanted to discuss your marriage proposal from Marwar. Why are you hell bent on denying the proposal? I kept quiet till now since you pledged that you did not want to marry till now focusing on uniting Rajputs. But now this is the limit. You will not get such a good one again. You have even met the princess. Everyone is all praises about her" His father asked.
"Pitaji, I don't have any intention to marry for alliance. That's against my principle. So I have already put forward the suggestion of marrying Kishan Singh to the princess. He is ready for marriage. " Pratap responded.
"Kishan is not the crown prince. You are. Why would they agree for Kishan when you are there who is in every way a better prospect for them.?" His father questioned.
"But I am not an option. So either they have to choose him or choose someone better among other Kingdoms." replied Pratap as if it was obvious.
"Kunwarsa, are you saying this because you have someone in mind? If so, you can always marry her after marrying the princess. Who is stopping you ? " his step mother asked this time to which his father nodded in affirmation.
"Ranisa, I am not a fan of polygamy. I don't want my life messed up with house politics when my concentration will be on the state. So as i said this is out of the question" he responded looking at his step mother with a straight face.
"Pratap, cut it out. Is it Ajabde? I heard you are close to her these past months. " his father asked.
Pratap was not surprised. At some point everyone would know. In Fact he had thought of being straightforward about marrying Ajabde in front of Rao Maldev as well but then he thought to not bring in Ajabde into this mess unnecessarily. As such even without Ajabde in his life his stance would not change.
"Yes Pitaji. I intend to marry her. She will be my only wife" Pratap declared.

His father was furious now. His father looked at his mother "Ranisa, was this your plan all along ? To bring that girl over here and ruin my son's life? " his father thundered.His mother calmly said "Ranasa, my intention was to love that girl as my own child. As simple as that. But over the yearsI did hope my son would get a wife like her and I am happy he chose her. She is fit to be the future queen of Mewar. Ask anyone in Chittorgarh about her and you will know what i mean"
His father huffed. "This is ridiculous. Now a Samanth Putri will become the queen of such a big kingdom is it? I should not have allowed that girl to be in this palace ever " .
Pratap and his mother did not respond to this. They simply excused themselves with the King still fuming about his son's stubborn decision.
"Pratap, looks like Roopvati does not want you to marry Ajabde. I smell some foul play here" his mother said as they walked back from King's chamber.
"Hmm. i think she does not want Kishan to marry the Marwar princess. She knows about the possibility of Kishan getting Tomar region and if he ends up as son in law of Marwar it's almost a given that he will get Tomar region. And she seems to be eyeing that for her son for a long while now" Pratap replied.
"Pratap, then we should be careful. She has a talent to manipulate people" . Pratap nodded as they parted for their work.