Vaidehi | ✎

[24]

Vaidehi

Unedited

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"Rajkumari ji, there is a letter for you." One of my maid informs, delivering the letter resting on a red cloth in a silver platter.

I rise up from my bed with a start, almost giddy, already aware of who it was sent by.
I take the letter and sit back down, the maid dismisses herself and I barely hear the doors shut.

I tear open the seal and two sheets of paper fall out, written in black ink, Raghavendra's messy handwriting. This is the first letter he has sent me in the past 3 days that he has been away. I see the date is of two days ago. So he must have written to me right after he reached Talya.

Vaidehi,

I reached only an hour ago and sat down to write to you right after I was done freshening up. I have been to Talya a few times before but this time the air about the Kingdom and the palace is very off. The war truly has changed the flavour of the air and the concerns of people are running high. I am to meet Yuvraj Samay and the King for lunch in the King's study in 30 mins, but its been more than a day since I last saw you, or heard your beautiful laughter. I really do miss you. This situation couldn't have come at a worse time.

Funnily enough though, There is a rumour going around here about you being pregnant. Samay congratulated me  about it right as we met and I had to clear up the confusion about it being false. But that does make me think, what would you look like with a pregnant belly? Will you get chubby? Actually nevermind I am just rambling now.
Its too soon to be thinking about this. We are too young, don't you think? Ofcourse our elders will disagree saying this is the perfect age, but I want to experience many more things with you before we start parenting together.

Anyhow, I don't have much time on me. So I will wrap this up here. Maybe if I get any time after meeting with Samay and the King I will add more to the letter. Hopefully I do get time. On the war front though, Talya does seem to be in a difficult situation. The King wants to diffuse the war but I have no guarantee that I wouldn't have to get down on the battlefield. Don't worry though, my Rajkumari, I have a lot to lose and a lot to fight for. I will come home. In one piece.  I promise.
Looking forward to hearing back from you. And, let me know if you want anything specific from here, as you would know, the embroidery work in Talya is very famous.

Yours, in this life and every other,
Raghavendra.

When my eyes reach the end of the letter I am already teary. This is the longest we have been apart since we got married. And he is right, the situation couldn't have come at a worse time.

My hands itch to write him a reply but I read through the letter two more times, I miss him way too much. And this letter is the only think I have of him right now.

Before I can even pull at the rope to call in my maid servants, Aditi comes running through the door.
"Vaidehi! I have news!" She says, heaving breathlessly, her eyes are wide.

"The wife of the Yuvraj of Talya has been kidnapped!"

I gasp. "What!"

Aditi takes a seat beside me.
"Apparently the kidnappers who are being speculated as henchmen of the Mughal Prince were sent to Kidnap the princess of Talya, Devika but the Yuvraj's wife ended up getting in a tussle with them trying to save her sister in law and they ended up taking her."

This is all so unbelievable. Why would the Mughal Prince send henchmen to Kidnap the princess?

"But why would they end up kidnapping the princess they didn't even want?" I ask.

Aditi shakes her head. "No one is able to wrap their head around what happened yesterday night. It was all a blur apparently. And you haven't even heard the worst part yet. The Mughal Prince has apparently refused his connection with the entire thing."

"But considering his arrogant and braggy nature it seems odd that he would lie about any such act had he successfully completed it. " I add thoughtfully.

"Exactly." She nods,

"But Wait so does this mean Talya will really go all in with the war? Its about their future queen afterall."

She nods, "I guess so, I am not sure. I heard about all of this from the senior handmaiden of the Queen, who heard it from the King's guard. Pretty sure the queen will come talk to you about it soon, let me know all other details."

"Hmm...I will. This should not translate to a huge war, Aditi. I am getting scared now."

Aditi takes my hands in hers.
"Please stop worrying. You are the future Queen. You have to be the poster girl of braveness and patience."

I know she is right. But how can I not worry, Raghavendra is a great warrior, but the Mughal army has many good warriors too. There is always a 50-50 chance. Nothing is definite.

There is a knock on the door, pulling me out of my thoughts. I hear a guard make the announcement of the presence of the queen and soon enough the doors are opened. Aditi is standing at the side of the bed in an instant. I follow suit. Raghavendra's mother enters my quarters with her signature kind smile, but this time her smile doesn't quite reach her eyes. 

"Vaidehi..." She wraps me in a hug, I follow her gesture. 

"Why did you take the trouble to come here maa, you should have just called me." I tell her. She shakes her head,
"It was no trouble. I have something important to discuss with you."

She directs her eyes at Aditi, who understands the indirect dismissal and bows her head once before leaving the quarters.

"The wife of the Yuvraj of Talya has been kidnapped and the King was slightly injured last night," Maa starts as her smile fades away and her eyes sadden.

I gasp. Pretending I hadn't heard about the news before.

"Speculations were that the henchmen were sent by the Mughal Prince for Devika who is the princess of Talya, but they ended up kidnapping the daughter in law after a tussle." She continues, "The Mughal Prince has refused his involvement in the case though, which has just worsened the situation in Talya. Its their future queen afterall, the Yuvraj is planning for a proper all in war."

Her last words deepen my dread.
"All in war..." I repeat. We both sit in silence after that, silently acknowledging what that means for us. For her son and for my husband.

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A/n: ik I have been gone too long. I am sorry. I really do mean it. I want to finish this book but I hardly get the motivation. Pls bare with me guys 😭