The wedding

Nayantara looked at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t recognize herself. She was so prettily done up, looking like a queen. First time in all these years she wore new clothes and jewelry. She was in an off-white lehenga and bright red dupatta with heavy embroidery on it. She wore her mother’s gold ornaments. Her hair was tied in an elegant bun, decorated with red roses. All dressed up to sacrifice her to a ruthless king.

She stood up and maids guided her to the wedding pavilion. 

Siddhant looked on as his bride came towards him. He clenched his fists as his eyes fell on Princess Nayantara. She was the same girl who was roaming outside in rags. What kind of princess could be so boorish? But he couldn’t back off now.

Veena and Vishaka came beside Nayantara and made her sit beside Siddhant.

Even if Siddhant was angry, he couldn’t help noticing how beautiful her bride was. She had big eyes, a small nose, and plumpy lips. Her skin was glowing and flawless. Her hair looked shiny, black behind a net dupatta. That day she looked like a rough diamond and now the polished one. But her face showed indifference, clearly not happy with this marriage.

The priest started mumbling vows and Nayantara tried hard not to cry in front of everyone. She absentmindedly took vows around holy fire and then Siddhant tied the nuptial chain around her neck and filled the vermilion in the partition of her hair.

That’s it. The priest declared them husband and wife. Nayantara couldn’t believe how her fate could be so bad. Her life was already a living hell, what else she would have to endure.

The priest advised them to seek blessings from their elders. But Nayantara just stood up and started walking towards her palanquin. She didn’t want blessings from evils. She had enough. She didn’t even wait for her husband. She wanted to be alone so she could cry freely. She wanted a young man. A virgin young man. She wanted to be his first and last. But all she got was a beast.

Siddhant couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never seen such a rude princess in his entire life. He could teach her a lesson right here, right now. But she was now his wife and the queen of Maharav. Her insult was his disgrace. If he knew that she was so ill-mannered then he would have never married her. Well, he had no idea that this kind of princess existed in the world. He used to think that all princesses were good and well mannered until she met Nayantara.

‘My apologies, my lord,’ Rajendra said. ‘She must be tired. You know the sudden wedding and all…’

‘It’s okay,’ Siddhant said dryly. ‘Now we would like to leave.’

‘I request you again, my lord. We will be blessed if you stay for my second daughter’s wedding. You are now our son-in-law and we couldn’t even serve you properly.’

Siddhant shook his head. ‘No, we will accept your hospitality some other time.’

‘As you wish, my lord,’ Rajendra folded his hands in namaste. ‘Please take care of my daughter. If she commits any mistake, please forgive her. After her father’s death, I spoiled her in every way so she wouldn’t feel lonely or unloved.’

‘Don’t worry about her. She is now my responsibility.’ Siddhant did namaste too before he turned and walked towards his horse.

Siddhant and his army could reach Maharav in just a few hours, but now Nayantara was with them, Siddhant decided to travel slow. They even stopped at night and pitched camp, so the princess could eat and rest. Siddhant decided to stay in a separate camp. He didn’t want to pick up a fight in the middle of the road.

It took them one and a half days to reach the palace.

Nayantara slowly stepped out of the palanquin. While traveling, she had not seen Siddhant, but now she had no option but to face him. She was relieved that her daai ma came with her. She looked around. Right now she was nowhere to be seen. She looked up at the palace. It was as grand as her palace. Except this palace was made up of red stones. She had reached a point in her life where materialistic possessions no longer impressed her. Despite having all the prosperity in her life, there was nothing she could have experienced. She came to understand that obtaining something and truly enjoying it were two entirely different things. Even if you have everything, you may still be unable to experience the joys of life. It's up to fate to determine how much enjoyment you are granted. It's like having a plate full of delicious food, but if you are unwell or stressed, you cannot savor the meal. Nayantara’s life was the same. She was a King’s daughter. A princess. But still, she had to live like a maid in her own palace.

She was lost in thought when Siddhant came to her and grabbed her by her elbow, alarming her. ‘I saw your behavior towards your family. You can do whatever you want with them. But this is your in-law’s house. And I will not tolerate any kind of misbehavior towards my mother and my family. Is that clear?’

When Nayantara didn’t say anything, he tightened his grip on her arm, making her yelp in pain.

‘Yes, yes,’ she hurriedly said. And with that, he left her arm and walked on. She followed him.

As they reached the entrance there was no one. Siddhant sighed. His mother always arranged his grand welcome whenever he came from the war. But this time nothing, not even a small worship. He knew why.

‘Sorry, nobody wants to welcome you,’ he said sadly.

‘Who said nobody wants to welcome,’ Suddenly a handsome man appeared in front of them with a pooja dish and a pot of rice. He gestured the maids to place everything. And they put the pot and a wide plate filled with red liquid in front of Nayantara.

‘I will welcome my bhabhi shri,’ he said.

Nayantara glanced at Siddhant.

‘My younger brother. Aditya,’ Siddhant said with a smile.

With a slight bow, Nayantara folded her hands together. ‘Nice to meet you, Aditya.’

‘Nice to meet you too, bhabhi,’ Aditya said with a bright smile. He was the exact opposite of his brother. He had a smiley face, lively eyes, and a lean, muscular body. He was clean shaven. In short, he was prince charming. Not an angry beast like his brother.

‘Please welcome, bhabhi.’

Nayantara kicked the pot with her toe, spreading the rice on the floor. And then she slightly lifted her skirt and stepped into the plate. With her red feet, she stepped forward and walked into the palace of Maharav.

‘Aditya, you take her inside and assign some maids to serve her,’ Siddhant said. ‘I will be back.’

‘Come, bhabhi. This way,’ Aditya said and Nayantara went with him.

Siddhant went to his mother’s chamber.

‘I came after a great victory and there was no welcome for me. Seems like my messenger didn’t reach you,’ he said as he entered the chamber. His mother was sitting at the edge of the bed. Her hands clasped in her lap. 

‘I got your messenger,’ she said dryly.

Siddhant walked towards her and sat on his knees in front of her and touched her feet to take blessings before he looked up at her. ‘Then why didn’t you come to welcome your daughter-in-law?’

‘Why did you marry her?’ she asked sternly.

‘You are the one who wanted me to marry again.’ After Siddhant's first wife passed away, he didn't want to get married again. But her mother forced him as she wanted an heir. But she also died. Then after he got many proposals from many kingdoms, but he refused all of them. Even after his mother pressured him to marry again, he was adamant about his decision not to marry again. He had accepted that having a wife and children was not his fate. But this time he didn’t know what happened to him, he just accepted Rajendra’s request. But now he was regretting it. Nayantara was a sassy princess.

‘Yes, I wanted you to marry again. I want my grandson. But not from her. How could you marry our enemy’s daughter? Have you forgotten her father killed your father?’

‘I haven't forgotten anything, maa. But her uncle literally begged me on his knees for his safety and requested me to accept Nayantara as a token of alliance. I’m the emperor. I cannot punish the person who has surrendered to me. I have taken my revenge. Anhilwara and Patyal both are now under my control. They will pay a protection tax to Maharav. And king Digvijay is already dead. I cannot kill someone who is already gone.’

‘But why Rajendra was going to marry her daughter first and not Nayantara, while she was elder. Maybe something is wrong with her.’

Siddhant sighed. He knew something was mysterious about Nayantara. But now she was his wife and he had to protect her dignity. ‘Rajendra told me that he wanted to marry Nayantara with Jayraj. But Jayraj and Vishakha loved each other and they had crossed all the lines. So he had to get them married.’

‘He said and you believed it?’

‘Maa, this is political marriage. This is how it works.’

‘You will regret your decision.’

Siddhant inhaled a deep breath and tried to change the subject. ‘Has Dadi ma returned from her pilgrimage?’

‘No, I got her letter yesterday. It will take her a week to arrive here.’

*

Nayantara was sitting at the edge of the bed. She was looking at her lavish chamber. The wall and ceiling were decorated with fluted carvings. The floor was covered in rich carpets. The furniture was made of wood, marble, and gold. Everything there was reflecting power and wealth. She got this queen tag at the cost of her kingdom.

‘My lady… my lady…’

A voice broke the chain of her thoughts and she looked at the source of the voice. Some maids were standing in front of her.

‘We all are here to serve you and you can select any one of us as your personal maid. You can select right now or you can wait and see whose work is best and then pick one,’ one of them said.

Nayantara looked at everyone and then her eyes spotted a young girl, who was standing at the corner and arranging a flower pot. Seemed like she was not here to serve her. ‘Who is that girl?’ Nayantara asked.

The girl immediately stopped her work and looked up with a smile. ‘I’m Vida.’

‘What is your age?’ Nayantara asked.

‘Sixteen.’

‘Are you new in this palace?’

‘No, I have lived here since childhood. My mother is a gardener here. She maintains the royal garden.’

‘And your father?’

‘He died in the war. He fought from Vasna’s side. He was Second in command,’ she said proudly, but there was a bit of sadness in her tone.

‘Then how did you come here?’

‘When Maharav won and took control over Vasna, they assigned my mother here.’

‘Do you like it here?’

‘Yes. The king is nice towards soldiers’ families.’

‘I like this girl,’ Nayantara stated.

Vida’s eyes lit up. The Queen's personal maid means a lot of facilities and a little bit of power over other maids.

‘But my lady, she’s just joined. She is under training. She has no experience of how to serve a queen. And she talks a lot and works less. She doesn't know anything. She cannot even make your braid,’ one of the maids said.

‘She will learn with time,’ Nayantara said as she looked at Vida. ‘What do you say, Vida? Would you like to work for me?’

Vida ran to Nayantara and sat beside her feet. ‘Thank you, my lady. Thank you. I will not disappoint you,’ she said, holding Nayantara’s legs.

Nayantara chuckled at her innocent happiness. ‘Stand up, Vida. What are you doing?’

‘My lady, you are making a mistake…’ one of the maids spoke, but Nayantara cut her off.

‘You all are dismissed. I will allot your duties later.’

The maids went out of the chamber.

Vida stood up. ‘My lady, would you like to take a bath? Then after you can eat and rest.’

Nayantara smiled. ‘That is exactly what I want, Vida.’

*

Nayantara was not used to having maids do everything for her. They started their work without asking her anything. First, they applied sugar paste on her arms and legs to remove all her hair, including her pubic hair. Nayantara tried hard not to scream as for the first time her skin felt this torture. Instead, she acted like it was nothing new to her. She knew how princesses live and act, however she was experiencing it for the first time.

‘Apologies, my lady, but it seems like your maids in Anhilwara were not taking care of you. And now you have to face this pain,’ one of the maids said.

Nayantara knew she was saying it after seeing the growth between her legs. ‘I was busy at my sister’s wedding. And then my wedding happened suddenly. So I didn’t get the chance. But you are right. I was busy but they should still take care of all this,’ She lied smoothly. She couldn’t reveal her secret to anyone. She didn’t want to give new gossip material to everyone. She knew nobody actually cared about her pain.

‘Exactly, my lady. They should remind you of all these,’ the other maid said. ‘But we will always take care of your beauty.’

Nayantara nodded. However, she was not interested in maintaining any kind of outer beauty. She wanted the throne. She wanted the crown. Power was the only thing that made someone glow. By the time they were done, her skin was sore all over though very soft and smooth. They prepared her bath and made her sit in the pool. The water was warm and soothing. They applied different kinds of ointment on her body and washed her hair.

Then they chose maroon attire for her and dressed her like a queen, like a newly wedded girl.

‘You are so beautiful, my lady,’ Vida said, looking at her through the mirror.

‘Vida, I’m hungry.’

‘Yeah, yeah, my lady, I will be back in a minute,’ she said and ran to get the food.

Nayantara dismissed all other maids. She sat there in silence. She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see her married look. She didn’t want to be Siddhant’s wife.

‘Your lunch is here, my lady,’ Vida’s voice came from the bedroom before she walked to the dressing area.

‘Thank you, Vida. Now you go,’ Nayantara said, who was still sitting in front of the mirror.

‘Okay, my lady. Call me if you want anything.’ with that she left.

Nayantara looked at her heavy ornament and started removing it one by one. Her wedding bangles, headpiece, nose ring, wedding ring and toe rings, waist chain, neckless, anklet. At last, she was just in her nuptial chain. She looked up at the thick red vermilion in the partition of her hair and then back to her nuptial chain. She wanted to remove them as well. She lifted her hand to remove her vermilion. But suddenly she felt her heart heavy and she burst into tears. She couldn’t. She couldn’t remove her fortune with her own hands. He was her husband even if she didn’t want him. His only family.

She wiped her tears and stood up. She winced as she felt an afterburn from the sugar paste between her legs. She ignored the pain and walked to her bedroom. The food plate was placed on the side table. There were many dishes on her plate. She used to see all these dishes, but she rarely ate them. There were three sabzis, daal, rice, raita, pickles, roti, green chilies, sweets, and buttermilk.

She tore a piece of roti and dipped it into a curry. She moaned as she put it into her mouth. The roti was so soft and thin and the sabzi was a perfect mix of spices. She finished her plate quickly. After ages, she ate such a delicious meal. She washed her hands in a bowl. She clapped twice and a maid walked in and took the plate away.

Nayantara yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes. After a long time, she would sleep in a huge bed with a silk bed sheet and covers. She threw herself in the bed. She was exhausted both physically and mentally. And sleep quickly took her.

When she woke up it was a late evening. She called Vida and she showed her around. Her chamber had a study room, sitting area, dressing room, library, and gardens.

‘The garden is beautiful, Malini. You have maintained it very well,’ Nayantara said to Vida’s mother. There was a fountain, pond, fish, birds, rabbits.

‘I am glad you like it, my lady. If you have any specific demand then tell me. Any specific plant you want?’ Malini asked.

‘Yes, actually I want to do something?’

‘What is it, my lady?’

‘Can you grow some vegetables at the back side of the garden?’

‘Vegetables?’ Malini found her demand strange but agreed anyway. ‘Why not, my lady. Just tell me what you want and it will be done.’

‘Thank you, Malini.’

‘I have never seen a queen who shows gratitude to her staff. I’m glad my daughter is working for you. If she makes any mistake please forgive her.’

‘Don’t worry, Malini. I will take care of her.’

‘You are so nice, my queen.’

‘Can I meet Queen Nayantara?’ Suddenly a voice grabbed Nayantara’s attention.

‘Daai ma,’ Nayantara ran towards Savita and hugged her tightly. ‘Where have you been?’

‘They allotted me a room.’

‘Which room? Is it comfortable? Tell me if you have any problems?’

‘Of course, I will tell you if I have any problem. My daughter is now a queen after all.’

Nayantara gave a bitter laugh. ‘I would rather be a maid than his queen.’

Savita’s eyes widened in shock. ‘Can I talk to you alone, princess?’

Nayantara nodded as she said, ‘Privacy.’

Savita waited until Malini and Vida went from there.

‘What is this, princess? You are now a married girl. Where are your wedding bengals and other ornaments? What if Mother Queen will see you like this?’

‘I don’t care what Siddhant and his mother think,’ Nayantara said bluntly.

‘Princess,’ Savita cried in utter shock. ‘He is your husband. Speak of him with respect. Wife doesn’t take her husband’s name.’

‘He is not my husband. He forced me into this marriage,’ Nayantara snarled.

‘Marriage is marriage, princess. And who knows, maybe the king is a nice man.’

‘If he was a nice man then he would have asked for my consent.’

‘Don’t be prejudiced, princess. Accept your husband with an open mind.’

‘I cannot. He ruined my dream. My motive.’

‘Think about the other side, princess. If you have the support of your husband, you will be unstoppable. You will have the power to do whatever you want to do.’

‘A woman is nothing without her husband? Can’t I do anything on my own?’

‘This is how the world runs, princess.’

‘But I cannot live with that beast.’

‘Quiet, princess. You cannot use that kind of word for your husband. Try to accept him.’

‘I’m just a baby producing machine to him. Why don’t you understand? He just wants an heir. He will not let me do anything. My powers are only limited to materialistic things. I can ask for expensive clothes and jewelry. That is it.’

Savita sighed. ‘Even if you don’t like your husband, can you change anything?’

Nayantara hung her head. Her daai ma was right. There was nothing she could do now. She had to live this cursed life. There was no prince charming in her fate. ‘I want to stay alone for some time, daai ma.’

‘Yeah, sure, you rest. I will see you later,’ Savita said and walked away.

Nayantara came back to her chamber. She went to the library and read to kill some time until it was dinner time. She took her dinner and talked a little with Vida. As she finished her dinner, Vida stood up. ‘Let’s get you ready, my lady.’

‘Ready for what?’

‘Your wedding night,’ Vida said excitedly.

Nayantara’s eyes widened. She was not ready for it. She couldn’t let him touch her.

‘No, Vida, you go. I will do it myself.’

‘Why do you want to take that hassle? I will do it for you.’

‘Vida, when I give you an instruction, I expect you to obey,’ Nayantara said in a slightly strict tone.

‘Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry, my lady,’ she said as she picked up the empty plate and stormed off.

Nayantara closed her eyes. Oh, God, save me from that beast.