The Royal Match Making

Chawand

The morning saw a real hustle in the guest cottages as well as the Palace itself. Hansa was running around behind her daughter with a homemade remedy to make her skin "glow" before she went out with the apparent groom while Heer just shook her head and decided to get ready for the palace tour. She was planning on ending it early with Ranaji's permission and going to the library for some reading. She smiled at Ajabdeh making a face like she would puke as Hansa applied her home remedy and showered her with advice.

"Remember beta, no loud laughter, walk gracefully. Let him talk. Listen ''''Haa Haa Mata Rani Ha!!!"

"Ab yeh Mata Rani kya hai?" Heer frowned as Hansa looked fed up.

"Aree woh dekh nahi yeh log Mata rani pukarte apne maa ko!" Ajabdeh smiled all teeth out.

"Hey Bhagwan Jija, that was Ranima!" Heer laughed as Hansa gave a cold stare. Ajabdeh was taken by surprise at the revelations as she choked laughing with her younger sibling.

"Kya karu main iss ladki ka!" Hansa controlled her laughter as she shook her head.

Somewhere a thought struck Heer that without her Jija, home would never seem like home again with two normal people. She was the paint on the canvas no matter how much trouble Heer faced to shield her mistakes. With a sigh, Heer went and hugged a much-surprised Ajabdeh rather tightly.

"Hee.... What happened?" Ajabdeh frowned, worried as Heer let out a sigh. "I was just thinking Jija..."

"Abhi sochne bolne ka waqt nahi hai Heer, jao jaake jija ke liye woh wale kapre nikal do, and you get ready for the tour, Baba wait kar rahe hai." Hansa hurried off as Heer nodded and walked over to the trolleys.

"Wohh wale kapre." Ajabdeh frowned. "Some sack?" Heer smiled faintly.

"Batao, what happened?" Ajabdeh asked again as Heer took out a blue C-cut sleeveless Kurti with pink lotus motifs to match with Ajabdeh's jeans.

"Wohh I was thinking aap chali jaogi toh ghar toh..."

"Woah! Heeriye! Stop right there!" Ajabdeh got up and waved her hands frantically in the air. "Main. Kahi Nahi Ja Rahi Hoon!!!"

"Dekhiye Jija, I don't know yeh Pratap Singh sahi hai ya nahi." Heer stopped as Ajabdeh smiled at her sister "Par I do hope aap aisa kuch nahi karengi jisse...."

"Heer." Ajabdeh held her hands, making her stop. "Itna mat socho, please. For god sake you are just 22, enjoy a little, chill!"

Heer frowned as Ajabdeh went to wash her face, the fact that Ajabdeh ignored the topic worried her some more but then she remembered Shakti's words. They are perfect for each other. They are of course not perfect. For once somewhere deep inside Heer wished that Kunwar Pratap was a little like his younger brother. Responsible and calm.

"Ranima" Pratap sulked in his vest and towel after a morning shower, making his brother chuckle as Jaivanta held out a perfect shirt for him. "Will you hurry up? Am freezing!"

"Here, wear this one!" She smiled.

"I will look like Papa in that colour!" He flared his nose at the light lime shade. "Stop Sulking Dadabhai and jao get ready!" Shakti stopped at his cold stare.

"You!" Pratap pointed his finger at his younger sibling. "You are responsible for this one!"

Surajgarh was a very serene place or so Ajabdeh thought as Pratap drove the car through the village, the huts all decked up neatly in homemade paintings on the walls, and women in colourful bandhani lehengas, with matkas walking with small children on the sides of the road. The meadows and ponds everything seemed divine. Pratap drove past a board that said "Highway" and into the wider road off Surajgarh. She frowned a little.