RajKahini

Chapter III

"And now that string right there!" he said. Calmly as usual, pointing to one of the main strings.

Sandhya did just as her teacher said. And voila! She got the tune right, in almost a perfect way.

'Almost' because she probably did something wrong, which made him guide her fingers from one string to another.

Their fingers touched...

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Music was how Sandhya broke free from the social and personal turmoil. The only thing that kept her sane during adolescence was jeopardized due to her father's constant coercion to marry the Prince.

Music also became the reason for her agreement to the marriage. She never wanted to be like her father, believed that they were polar opposites. Distancing herself as much as possible, she knew there could be no similar character trait between them. Her father detested her interest in music and slowly that feeling was seizing her as well. A similarity between two foes.

For Sandhya, Maharaja Mahendra Pratap had always been a figure of intimidation. Everytime she saw him, there was a glint of feeling within her that she could not describe- it was fear, it was repulsion but then again she wanted to retaliate but couldn't. Her father was powerful and she was nothing. If he wanted, he could play her like a pawn, though she doubted that she was one already.

The king used her fondness for music as a weapon to win a war. A war against his own blood. Other than the antique mirror, the Veena in Rajkumari's room had also witnessed the war. The war that continued till the very last moment before the marriage.

The Veena was everything for her. More than music, it soothed her, helped her heal from the deep wounds left by her own people. When she played it, everything around her fell silent, or at least for Sandhya. Mayhem around her vanished the moment she touched the instrument. She closed her eyes and played and played till she scarred her fingers. The scars were a symbol of satisfaction for her, she was a perfectionist. So, when her father threatened to burn down the instrument, Sandhya had no option but to agree to his proposal.

The credit of her perfection solely did not belong to Rajkumari. A major part could be dedicated to her mentor, Abhiraj.

Sandhya couldn't help but sprint around the lovely garden.
Maintained.
Beautiful.
Peaceful.
She jumped in joy, hid behind the huge trunks of mahogany. Playing hide and seek with some invisible but interesting soul.

She was unaware of whose plot it was. And no one would stop a princess from enjoying, right?

Right?

Well...he did.

He was a maestro! People of his age would not believe how much he had learnt about Veena. The young man already had a mastery of the instrument. He had the capability to win millions of hearts by playing that. Despite all these, the modest soul referred himself as nothing, without knowing that he was one of the reasons Sandhya found music as everything.

A musician with a heart of gold. An admirer of music is bound to fall in love with someone like him. "Eyes of earth, voice of sea and a smile of breeze" - how observant she grew as she spent days with him.

She studied...
The Veena
And Him.

Sandhya's eldest sister and Abhiraj recognised her as a prodigy. Rajkumari Nisha helped concealing the fact that Sandhya left the Palace everyday, during earliest hours of morning for her lessons on Veena. On the other hand, Abhiraj helped her learn the instrument secretly, behind everyone else of the kingdom. These two people had immense importance in her life.

Sandhya had always looked up to him as her inspiration, her master. Some times, involuntarily, she thought of him as someone who could give her the perfect life. Small fragments of memories that join together to form a feeling that could be called love! Sandhya had to keep him a secret because she never trusted her father. Abhiraj was nothing more than a mentor, he was incapable of being an alliance to the king. But the king was capable of ending anyone who could be a possible threat to his expansion of territories.

Maybe he presumed that he was nothing against the princess's standards and maybe it was reason he wanted to fade away from her life when she had to give up on music. He was tired of waiting and so was she.

She believed that they may unite one day leaving all those maybes behind...