Page 14 of A Royal Deception

Unlike the other members of the staff, I was dressed very simply in a yellow poshak and had never felt as dumpy and unattractive in my life as I did at that moment when I was faced with his splendour. And yet, his eyes didn’t leave mine.

I tried to take a deep breath, but my lungs had seized up. In a minute, I was going to pass out, I realised. I gripped the edge of the parapet tightly, and that’s when it happened.

His Highness raised a hand and waved slightly.

There was a loud cheer from the women around us as they thought he was waving at them. But I knew better. He had waved at me. I unfurled my fingers from the parapet and wiggled themslightly, out of sight of the other women. And a small smile cracked the granite hardness of his face.

Air rushed into my lungs with a whoosh as he turned his head and stared ahead steadily. I took a sharp step back and allowed another woman to take my place. Enough was enough! He wasn’t my friend. I couldn’t allow this to happen again. The next time I saw His Highness, I was going to treat him like a stranger, I decided firmly.

“Why was he waving at you, Di?” hissed Zarna as I walked back into the room.

“At me? Why would he wave at me?” I countered quizzically.

“I’m not blind,” she commented. “I know what I saw.”

I shrugged in reply.

“I have no idea what you saw, Zarna. Maybe you need more sleep. Now, you stay here out of sight while I go downstairs to help Rani Sa welcome the baaraat.”

I stood behind Rani Sa with a big silver tray of rose petals in my hands and kept my eyes on the ground as she began the elaborate ritual to welcome the dulha. I had no intention of making any more eye contact with His Highness. Not even accidentally.

I marvelled at Rani Sa’s composure as she performed the rituals calmly. How was she not falling at his feet in a panic, I wondered. These royals must really have balls of steel. Or Baisa must already have returned. That had to be the reason Rani Sa smiled widely at her Jamai Sa and his mother as she led them towards the mandap.

I was arranging the wedding garlands on a tray when Rani Sa’s personal attendant, Diggi Mausi, came up to me and grabbed my arm.

“Is she back, Mausi?”

“Rani Sa wants you, Shivina beta. Jaldi aao.”

She led me upstairs to Baisa’s room.

“What’s going on, Mausi?” I asked, expecting to see Baisa sitting in the makeup chair.

Instead, I found Rani Sa pacing up and down the room.

“Have you told her what she has to do?” she asked Diggi Mausi sharply.

“Not yet, Rani Sa. Maybe it will sound better coming from you,” Mausi replied timidly.

Rani Sa expelled a sharp breath.

“Idiots, the lot of you! Suno, Shivina, we need you to do something very important.”

She smiled at me warmly, and I felt a shudder snake up my spine because Rani Saneversmiled at me. This situation had danger written all over it. But I could hardly walk away while she was talking to me. I had to hear her out.

“How can I help, Rani Sa?”

Rani Sa led me to the sofa, and when I sat down next to her, she took my hand in a vice-like grasp.

“As you know, Baisa’s car has broken down in the desert. We’re trying our best, but it doesn’t look like she’ll be back in time for the pheras. We need you to stand in for her,” she whispered.

I stared at her dumbfounded. Surely, she didn’t mean what I thought she meant.

“You mean… you want me to marry His Highness instead of Baisa?” I stuttered.

“Don’t be stupid,” she snapped. “How can you marry Baisa’s fiancé, gelseppi? You just have to pretend to be her for a bit.”

“During the pheras?” I asked carefully.

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