The Greatest Villain of All Time

Chapter 3: Onkar

"Sunno sunno! Sunno sunno!" The voice accompanying the continuous drumming is boisterous to my sleep. I sit up and open my windows to peek out at the royal messengers taking a round around the town. Many people start to gather like a flock of sheep to listen in closely.

"Next week, on Sunday evening, a coronation ceremony will be held in the royal palace to felicitate the Princess of Nivaan for unlocking her powers."

A yawn gets stuck in my throat as I hear the announcement. So she finally unlocked her second soul, huh?

"Farmers are requested to hand over one-third of their harvest of this year to the royalty in this month itself, instead of at the end month of the year. A grand feast is held for the coronation for which people from around the world are coming to the Kingdom of Nivaan as guests..."

The messenger goes on to read out the Maharaj's message. But people only cared till the time he mentioned farmers. It is not the first time the 'honorable' Maharaj has asked for the harvest before the end of the year. Even if I am not among the people down there, I can see the gloomy eyes on the verge of tears. Aghast faces who don't know how they would manage to complete the Maharaj's order. Exasperated looks who are already tired of Maharaj's out-of-the-blue commands, and if they had the power, they would protest against his order right there and then.

No one cares if the Princess has achieved her powers or not when they have such a big problem in front of them. If you want to celebrate your success, celebrate it without putting others into trouble. I guess this is something no one has ever taught to the royal family.

I sigh and get out of bed, slowly rubbing the remaining sleep from my eyes. I'm fortunate enough to be born into a physician's family, who has the highest rank in society after the ministers in the royal court.

"Wow, I'm so lucky to see you waking up early on a Sunday morning." My younger sister, Deepti, teases me with mockery dripping from her tone.

"Not everyone wakes up early in the morning to read a book." I roll my eyes at the brown-covered book– which probably would be a fairy tale– lying on her lap.

"Reading is better than wasting time doing things like sleeping." She sends across a smug smile from the courtyard. She is wearing a simple ochre yellow pattu pavadai that has small waves across the material. Her silky black hair is now oiled and tied into a bun.

I sit beside her when Amma arrives. She is trying to pin gajra to her long braided hair without a mirror. She's already dressed in her favorite Kasavu saree, the all-white cotton cloth falling to her foot as the golden borders add more elegance to it.

"Why's everyone dressed up so much? And that too this early morning?" I grumble scratching my hair. "And Amma, when are you going to apply oil on my hair? You always apply for Deepti."

"You should wake up early for that. I've other work to do." Her voice is so low that whenever she speaks, the words fly away before they reach the ears. "Deepti go have a bath."

"Yes, just one minute more. I'm almost over–" Deepti tries to convince Amma to let her read just a few more pages with her puppy eyes. But Amma remains firm in her stance as she crosses her arms across her chest. "Ok, fine!" She slams the book shut and strides off.

"And you–" She points at me with sharp eyes that look more defined now that she has kajal highlighting them. "You're going after she finishes. We've to go to Swami Bhautika's temple. You forgot didn't you?"

My mouth is shaped like an 'o' as I recall what Amma had said yesterday. "Of course, I remember. But why do I've to come? I told you I don't believe in Gods."