𝑰𝒍𝒍 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 ✎

[30]

Maneka's pov

I am awaken by one of my maids, Urmila. She is an older lady with a kind face and stern attitude. Not one to bullshit. When she tells me I urgently need to get dressed, I oblige immediately knowing exactly what is to come.

"Does Maharaj know?" I ask her. She nods her head. "He is distraught. His condition is already sensitive and after this news....its bad." Her eyes are sad and grief filled.

"Maharani is on her way back from her father's kingdom. She will be here by noon. And Rajkumari Devika....she has not opened her quaters since she heard the news."

I sigh. Devika has already lost her mother merely two years ago and now she lost her brother as well. She is much too young for these losses.
Urmila walks into my bath quaters and starts running a bath for me while I clean my teeth.

"Urmila...." I start, "I have to....I am expected to...umm...Sati right?" My words are hesistant. She looks up at me with a start.

"As per the old norms yes. But...there is a chance. If the King chooses to not impose it on you." She explains sadly.
I nod as I step into the bath tub.
The water is lukewarm and laden with rose petals.

"And if you are with child..." she suggests adding to our earlier conversation.

"I am not." I answer bleakly.

She doesn't say anything after that but it is clear on her face. That my end is quite sure. The rest of the morning goes in a blur, as I am dressed in a plain white silk saree and bare off any sindoor in my parting or any jewellery except one single gold bangle in each hand and my mangsutra. Urmila told me to not put it on but I still did. Its a habit now.

I am left unattended in my quarters for the rest of the morning and afternoon. My breakfast was two slices of apple that I had to force myself to eat and a few glasses of water.
The whole palace was as if covered with a blanket of mourning. Even the sky was gloomy today.
For a long time I sat beside my window, watching the gardens and my mind involuntarily went to the events of last night.

I had ridden my first horse. Probably the last too. But anyways, that is besides the point.
It was a strange night to be honest, I still don't understand why or how my kidnapper is allowed so freely inside my kingdom. Obviously there is something super strange going on which I would have dveleved deep into on ordinary circumstances but currently I have no mood to.

After I had asked Kidnapper to ride with me, he had listned and helped me ride the horse, which by the end of the night I had named Chanda. You know, since I met him on a moonlit night and all. The name is fitting.
After a few laps of thrilling horse riding for me, kidnapper sir had told me we needed to return the horse to the stables before the keeper could wake up. So we did just that and then took a quient stroll along the lake. I wish the story would end there, but sadly it doesn't. I did something foolish.

I started rambling about Samay and how unfair it was that my life was cut short because he didn't stay alive and more such things, and then I had an epiphany that instead of dying in such a painful way I can instead choose my own death. So I tried to jump into the lake to drown myself but kidnapper caught a hold of me and forced me to stay alive the rest of the night. The next thing, we wake up in the morning. I am sleeping on his arm and he on the plain grass. It kind of reminded me of a memory I didn't even know I had, of me using his arm back on the night they kidnapped me.

Odd. The man to give me one of the most traumatic nights of my life, is the man I had to spend my most vulnerable night with.

Anyways I had snuck back into my quarters before he could wake up and anyone could find us there.