The Royal Nightmare

'Un'Royale

Author's note

Hey, This is in response to your dms and some comments. I know Tejas is a character we all love, admire and we trust that he can't do anything wrong,(this might be proved otherwise later on) but Divjyot has a sad past of ups and downs. She has trust issues and she's settling into a brand new house and environment. Being a cop and having your husband suspected for murder on the first day doesn't help either. She's not delusional, just a little too skeptical.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Back to the tale

"I did not meet her at a bar. I met her at Tejpartap's birthday party." He speaks, as I nod. So the Prince hires whores for his birthday parties?

No big deal, I suppose. I just hope if I ever have kids with this man, I can raise them differently.

"Tejpartap is with her little sister. Actually, the whole truth is that... Tejpartap is married to her sister." He says as I just sit there trying to absorb this new revelation.

Hold on. What? No... That's... Did I hear correctly? My mouth fell open as I was mentally making sense of it.

This was not AT ALL what I was expecting.

"What? Did she... was she on our wedding?"

"She couldn't be there, after her sister was found dead. Tejpartap was here and he was trying to act all normal but yes they both respected her a lot and it was a big loss."

The only biological son of His highness Ekansh Sandhu is married to a whore's sister? Damn I need to stop using that word. Someday that word will fall out of my mouth and my husband will ACTUALLY kill me.

But she was a whore by profession. Right?

"Tejpartap is married?" I ask, as he nods.

"Ridhima, his wife is the middle daughter. Their parents passed away after the day Kaveri turned 18. She brought them up, the best she could. Their son, Rishab is the youngest."

"The one who has Sickle cell anemia?" I say as he nods.

"I met Kaveri at Tejpartap's birthday party. She was standing aside and avoiding chitchat. I was fresh out of... work. She was a project. Five minutes into conversation, I  just knew what she did for a living along with modeling and a job as a waitress at a bar downtown, even if she didn't tell me. In my previous work experience, I had investigated Flesh trade and human trafficking. I had talked to a lot of women in this profession. I knew some of them very closely." He says, his voice a little raspy.

I had a feeling that someone else he knew from the same profession had died too. On his mission with RAW, I feel. I take a big gulp of my whiskey as he continued.

"When she told me at the end of the night what she did for a living and I told her that I already got a gut feeling she was shocked that I didn't judge her or see her as a piece of meat. She was shocked that my brother dated her sister and I had no issues. For me, it was different that she didn't give a fuck that I was this wounded soldier who was supposed to take over a kingdom. My money didn't matter to her." He reminisced his time with her as I nod taking a sip from my drink.

"Did you go to her funeral? The body was released after post-mortem today morning." I ask, unable to hear him talk about another woman like that.

"It's happening tomorrow, but I can't go. This case has garnered so much media attention that me or Tejpartap can't be present. He has kept his married life a secret for so long and he can't be weak now." He says, as I think for a moment.

"Nobody will judge you, if you go with me. Tejpartap can join us too. Be a good prince. Claim to handover a cheque or compensation." I say, as he thinks for a moment and then nods.

"We'll see." He says, looking me in the eyes with a hint of gratefulness.

"Can I ask you something?" I say, as he nods walking to the couch and sitting down as I join him with some place between us.

"Anything. Just... remember you signed a Nondisclosure agreement along with the prenup." He says, half jokingly and half as a matter of fact.

"I'm not sure if the NDA is valid if the information is told to another royal family member, like your parents for example... Do they know about Tejpartap's secret wedding?"

"You're really good at what you do. And you're right with your assumption. They don't know." He says, drinking his water and keeping his glass on the table.

"Why hide? The world is changing. Your mom was a widow when she married Dr. Sandhu. A prince marrying a girl from a poor family, why is it such a big deal?"

If I never cracked UPSC, would I be considered as an adequate partner for him?

"Marrying someone who was once a bar dancer is... it's a profession that doesn't command respect in our society. I remember when I got to know, Tejpartap was trying to convince me that she was just a dancer, and a virgin until she met him. But I was like, why are you telling me? This is your life. He was scared that I'll rat him out or think of her as a... whore." He says, as a silence descended over us.

There were so many questions in my head, and I had no idea where to start from.

"Did you marry me instead of Kaveri, so one of you commanded enough respect to take over the throne?" I say, a little shocked at my own complex chain of thoughts. He looked at me, like I had grown horns.

"No. Why would you... No. Me and Kaveri were strictly just friends. The part where... I told you we were good friends only and there was nothing romantic or sexual involved, that was true. I never... I never saw her as a partner. We had so many issues on an individual level that combining them would have been a... nuclear explosion. Life-partners need to be understanding, but different."

"Like?" I ask, as he thinks of an example.

"Lily and Marshall's olive theory." He says, as I control my smile at the 'How I met your mother' reference.

"Something that happens in real life." I say, as he looks away thinking for a moment.

"My mom isn't a very patient person, But dad? Like Ekansh is a saint when it comes to Patience. While mom is more... clever. Like it is easy for us kids to con Dad with love and get our favorite car or food or just whatever. But mom? You say 'Hi' and see will look through you and know your intentions in that very moment. Dad is physically and mentally strong, while emotionally my mom is the champion. Dad is at the same time more practical while my mom is and always be a dreamer. Like, do you get me? Am I helping my case?" He asks, as I nod and a chuckle leaves my mouth.

"Yes, Yes I get what you are trying to stay." I say, as he smiles at the sound of my chuckle.

"Someone soo similar like me and Kaveri can be good friends, but not life partners." He says as I nod.

"The Yin-Yang theory." I say, as his eyes widen and he smiles.

"Yes. Exactly." He says, as I nod again. I don't answer. I let the comfortable silent descend over us. I finish my glass and keep it on the table, looking around for space and thinking if I should wash the glass or leave it for the maids to find tomorrow morning.

"Do you have work tomorrow?" he asks, as I was about to nod but then shake my head. I had to be truthful and stop running.

"I took a 20 day leave for the wedding, so... I can... give the charge to a colleague if you want to go to the... funeral."

"I'm not sure Sr. Mrs. Sandhu will let a newlywed royal go to a funeral?"

"You mean your grandmother?" I ask, as he looks down at his hands kept in his laps for a moment and then looks up.

"I do call her vadde mumma sometimes but grandmother is... I have never called her that. And there's no specific reason, she loves me as much as she loves Raavi and Tejpartap, but... I just... my actual grandmother was just not a good person." He says, and shrugs but then gets up taking both our glasses. "You should go rest, today must have been hectic."

"I wasn't the one released from prison." I say, as he visibly flinches. "Too soon?" I ask as he shakes his head.

"I think so." He says as I get up a little too hurriedly, forgetting there was a revolver in my robe as it slips and falls down on the carpet with a noise just enough loud to grab his attention.