Rakes and Roses

• four •

PRAKRITI'S POV

"I'm a married lady now. I don't know how I'm going to manage all these relations, this anxiety that of doing something wrong and my new in-laws would behave the same like maa sa or daadi sa…I'm so anxious that —''

"I think Rajkumar and the Rajkumari, both should rest now. It's been a long day for all of us, especially for them",Queen minakshi's sudden voice interrupts my thoughts.

She continues,"I know what you've felt during the entire wedding can't be understood by anyone but you. I'm not here to judge you, just to let you know. You can share everything with me as an elder. I'll guide you and you'll have to learn to be strong to survive in the royal family. I hope you understand why I'm saying this but don't worry I'll always be there with you as a mother figure".  She says to me in a soft tone caressing my cheeks.

"Ji rani—" before I could speak,
she interrupts me saying "Call me maa sa from now. okay?" I softly nod my head in a yes and then aradhna and sukanya take me to my chamber.

━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

After a while, I return back to my chamber and I quickly take out the horse and hug it tightly. I whisper, "I don't know if I'll be fine there. Maa Sa seems more motherly but I've regrets rooted in my heart. Fear is rooted in my mind. And soul shivering from what the turmoil running inside me."

"Rajkumari!", I hear a familiar voice enter my chamber. I turn around and see Pita Shri and Maa Sa standing. Maa Sa claps her hands in a fancy way and orders all the maids to leave.

"Sit down. Let's have a chat",Maa Sa says. I can feel her voice becoming the old rough from a softer one. I see them taking their places on the couch laid in front  of me. Pita Shri let's go of a sigh and says, "Rajkumari, dekhiye (see), we have not talked like this, as a family, in so many years''

"16 years to be precise", I say, scripting  his words. Maa Sa glares at me but I turn my eyes away and start staring out my window. My heart is burning and I don't need to worry about their punishments, now that I'm married. I'm like a guest to them and they've to treat the Rajkumari of Pratapgarh with decency.

Maa Sa says, "Rajkumari, don't forget your limits. Let the King speak bacha!"

Bacha? Is that the word I've been dreading to hear all these years from my own mother? Shit.

"I know you are upset with us but you know the reason for our distances very well", Pita Shri continues. I remove my eyes from the gardens and stare at him rigidly. I reply, "Reason! Of our distances! Wow! Pita Shri it's a pity that you still consider me as the reason for the mishap. Do you even know how many sleepless nights I've spent overthinking about it? No. All you cared about was your feelings. You didn't even consider talking to me like this even once, in all these sixteen years."

Maa Sa closes her eyes and Pita Shri continues without any change in his tone, "You are now married to the Rajkumar of Pratapgarh. I've talked to the King and he has promised me to announce Jamai Sa as Yuvraj very soon. This means you're going to be the Queen anyway. I want you to have patience and be a headstrong queen. That will make me proud"

Saying it, he stands up and leaves the room along with Maa Sa.

Proud? Pride…nothing else matters more than pride. Not even their daughter's happiness.

━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

Sukanya shakes my hand and informs me that we've almost reached Pratapgarh's royal palace. I straightened my outfit and aradhna drew my veil as per the ritual.

"It's good that you've dozed off, you'll be able to stay active for a while now." Sukanya says.And I just simply nod my head.

Now we're able to hear the sounds of trumpets and drums and then only our palanquin stopped somewhere. Sukanya and Aradhna get down first.

Before I could get down a hand was offered to me and I immediately recognised it to be Rajkumar's. Hesitatingly i kept my hand on his and stepped down. He tightens his grip on my hand and instead of feeling pressure or pain all i could feel is comfort and a sense of familiarity.

Reaching the entrance of the palace Maa sa did our aarti and asked me to gently push the pot filled with rice forward with my right leg followed by dipping my feet in the red dye and imprinting the floor with my footprints.
After this, daadi sa orders everyone to move to the mandir and asks me and to do the veneration.

"I think we should let them rest today as they are already tired and the shubh muhurat is over so we can do the post wedding rituals tomorrow" Maa sa says. Seeing no objection she asks Meher to take me to the chamber.

"Chalein bhabhi sa?" She immediately comes towards me and asks.

I softly nod my head and let her take me.

━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

Meher leaves after making me sit on the bed and asking me to call the servants if I need anything. Sighing, I made my way towards the window.

"I'm totally clueless that the sudden turn my life took made me speechless. Since the day I was born I've been receiving the treatment of the slave. I thought that perhaps after marriage my life could change a little. I might be free from the abuse but no, how can my fate be this kind to me?  I was going to marry the crown prince of pratapgarh but ended up marrying the younger prince. My fate is so horrible that now even the crown prince doesn't want me and is left at the altar. Well, I don't expect any less from the younger prince whom I married because I'm his forced bride." I spoke to the moon standing near the window of my newly wedded husband 's now my room adorned with the heavy bridal look, my face void of any expression and eyes hollow like dead.

DEVANSH'S POV

"Now I'm standing outside my room, not mine anymore because this room now has a co-owner. The altar was for my elder brother and his bride but fate took a leap and I married the princess of Vijaygarh. I don't know what to expect from this marriage because for me she's my forced bride and for her I'm her forced husband. To work on this marriage I'll have to forget the one whom I have started loving, the one for whose one glimpse I would wait for eternity, her chocolaty brown eyes are the ones which I want to see in the morning when I wake-up but it's all over now." thinking this in my mind i took a deep breath and opened the chamber doors.

The sound of heavy footsteps broke her little staring session with the moon. Turning around she saw a man and immediately recognised me as her husband. Keeping her eyes down she waited for me to speak.

Without staring at her, I start speaking"I know the circumstances in which this marriage happened are totally different. I will totally respect your wishes if you want to workout on this marriage or just want to stay as lifemates. No pressure, think about it and let me know, take as much time as you want." and with that I leave the chamber while I could sense the princess staring at my retreating back, wide eyed.

I know she has questions but foremost I need to find the answers.

━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━

Here is the update. We're are sorry for the delay it just slipped out of our minds that yesterday was update day. Anyways this was a kind of a filler chapter, the actual story is going to start after 2-3 chapters please bear with it and in the meanwhile please vote and comment on all the previous chapters if you haven't, at least 30+ votes and comments on each as it keeps us motivated.

Let's us know did you guys like the chapter. Do show your support through votes and comments, it'll mean a lot to us.

Thankyou.
Have a nice day.