Page 42 of A Royal Deception

“She’s upstairs, packing her stuff,” said Mausi as she gave me a searching glance. “Are you all right, beta?”

I nodded slowly because I couldn’t burden her with the truth.

“Where will the two of you go?” she asked worriedly.

“Rani Sa’s place is in my palace,” said His Highness, putting a hand on my shoulder, but Diggi Mausi wasn’t fooled. She stared at him through narrowed eyes but didn’t have the chance to say anything because Kavya Baisa suddenly appeared from behind her.

“She’s still wearing my clothes,” said Baisa with a demented laugh. “Are you going to be thinking of me when you take them off, darling almost-husband?”

“Baisa, stop that at once,” said Diggi Mausi sharply. “You need to lie down for a bit.”

“This isn’t over, Shivina. I will never forgive you for stealing my husband,” she shrieked.

“He was never your husband, Baisa. And she didn’t steal him. We forced her to marry him for your sake. So stop spouting this nonsense and move on,” said Diggi Mausi with the candour of a woman who had practically raised Baisa from the cradle.

Baisa was still laughing as Diggi Mausi gestured for me to go upstairs. Kavya Baisa’s parents were nowhere to be seen. While I was happy to avoid Rani Sa for the rest of my life, I would have liked to thank Raja Sa for his kindness until now, but I guessed it would be rubbing salt in his wound.

“I need to change out of these clothes,” I said, unable to bear them on my body for even one minute more.

“Take your time,” said His Highness as I ran up the stairs to our old room.

Zarna leapt into my arms with a cry as soon as she saw me.

“Where the hell did you go, Di? Rani Sa was saying the weirdest things. That you married her Jamai Sa from right under her nose!”

Her eyes widened in surprise as she took in the grand clothes I was wearing.

“Ohmigod! You did marry her Jamai Sa! How could you do that to her?”

I let out a loud, watery laugh.

“I didn’t do it out of choice! She made me do it,” I informed my sister hotly. “Because Baisa still hadn’t returned home. And he discovered the truth.”

“So he did carry you off like they were saying earlier?”

Her eyes went even wider, and I was worried her eyeballs would pop out any minute.

“Yes, but there’s no time to chat now, Zarna. Have you packed everything? Give me five minutes to get my stuff and change out of this awful lehenga, and we’ll be out of here,” I promised.

“But where are we going?” she demanded. “And what about my school?”

My knees buckled again, and I grabbed the edge of my bed to steady myself.

“Rani Sa took away the bag of money that you gave me,” she said mournfully. “We’re poor again.”

“That’s all right, babe. It wasn’t ours to take anyway because I couldn’t fool His Highness successfully. But we’ll find a place to stay soon. I promise.”

I took off the heavy lehenga, threw it on the bed in an untidy heap and threw on a simple indigo ajrakh cotton kurta and salwar. It was such a relief to get out of my borrowed finery. For the first time in hours, I felt like myself.

“It’s a pity you had to take it off,” said Zarna. “You did look very regal in the lehenga.”

“That’s your reminder that bad things happen to people who take what doesn’t belong to them,” I told her snippily. Whether it was clothes or people, I added to myself.

That lehenga did not magically turn me into a Maharani. And while that chopper outside wasn’t going to turn into a pumpkin anytime soon, I had to remind myself that this Cinderella had no happy ever after with her Prince Charming.

I had to find a job immediately. Even if I had to beg Sannata Mausi to let me sweep the kitchens and courtyards in Mirpur. But that wouldn’t pay Zarna’s fees, I realised with an unhappy sigh. Damn it! I kept coming back to the same place.

I didn’t just need a high-paying job and a house. I needed a fucking miracle.

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