"Rajkumari, offer respects to the Maharajah.." King Shashi ordered the princess. She was hesitant to move even a finger ahead, towards the Maharaja, lest he touched her again with his dirty hands. She lowered her gaze and bowed in front of the King while he forwarded his foot for her to touch. Over my dead body, she thought to herself and ran back to her seat, pretending to be coy.
Suddenly the court echoed with a messenger's cry.
"Long live our emperor!
King, the Emperor of the prestigious throne of Aaranya has sent this message for you."
The messenger forwarded a scroll to the minister who read it with a tensed expression.
"Minister sir, you look worried. Please tell us what the Emperor wants to convey." The princess rose from her seat and asked, much to her family's dislike.
"Princess, we are in a crisis. The Emperor has declared a war against us due to our trial of becoming a non subsidiary state. The declaration of Padmadurg as an independent kingdom has been ruled out by them. The Emperor seems very enraged in this letter."
The whole court gasped aloud and the queens started mourning - war meant the highest probability of them becoming widows.
"Stop the mourns! You people have nothing to worry! We have the support of ten kingdoms and Maharaj Bhadraketu. Aaranya's army shall be outnumbered in front of us." King Shashi barked.
The princess looked at Shashi with utmost confidence, completely believing in what he said.
"Yes, Maharaj! We shall surely win with our goddess' blessings!" The princess gleamed from within her veil.
"We already know that, a woman needn't tell us that." One of her brother in laws snickered. The minister looked at him in disgust.
The whole court burst into a huge laud of laughter while the princess hid her face in embarassment.
********
"RajMata! I do not want to surrender to the enemy kingdom. I do not want to become the war compensation...I want to rule..."
The princess fell to the ground, her cheek burning with the abrupt clash of the queen's hand against it.
“YOU and only you are the cause of all the destruction and devastation Padmadurg has been put to suffer. I am a widow today, my children are orphaned due to your cursed existence. My will is final, you shall also have to surrender yourself as war compensation! Stop whining and get dressed proper and fast!”
**********
“Your fate now lies in the hands of my son, the Yuvraj (crown prince) and you dare not revolt, O princess of the fallen Padmadurg like your father revolted against us. You have already seen the consequences your family faced due to the mindless deeds of your father. Your non allegiance to us could cause worst consequences. Such consequences about which you can’t even think of in your nightmares," the Emperor said, anger brewing in his mind.
The Rajkumari sighed as a lonely tear went down her cheek. There was no other way to save her kingdom's existence and the welfare of her people except abandoning her self respect.
**********
“I don’t care what your aspirations were, dreamy girl! Your ungrateful father and your venomous mother for whom you fought so bravely have given you away as a war compensation. Yes, you are nothing but a commodity now. Stop glaring and be grateful to our prince that he chose to marry you and not make you a keep.” the royal nanny rudely said to the Rajkumari as she hesitated to dress up for her wedding.
************
“Don’t worry, I shall not let any harm reach you."
Said Prince Arnav Singh Raizada, crown prince of Aaranya, the only ray of hope in the darkened life of the youngest princess of Padmadurg.
Rajkumari Tarini, the youngest princess of Padmadurg was the rightful heir to the throne of Padmadurg. But fate played it's game and ruthlessly reduced her to the war compensation offered to Aaranya as a bride.
He calls her Khushi, a word which described happiness, something which she was miles away from.
Khushi looked up tearfully towards the only person who had called out to her with love.
Would she ever get what she deserves?
Would her story get a justified ending?
Hi, this is my first story. I hope you like it. Please tell me if you do so by commenting. Criticism is invited and very much welcome.
EDITED-5
YOU ARE READING
The Compensation
Historical FictionSEASON ONE! The princess of Padmadurg was prophesied to be blessed and bring prosperity. However, throughout Tarini's life of eighteen years, all she had been feeling was cursed, unwanted, underestimated to be precise. Tarini tries her best to pur...
