The Diamond

46. What happened?

"You are saying me not to worry when you yourself are worries for papa." I said.

She sighed and sat beside me.

"Let me tell you something."

Mom sat beside me and took me in a hug.

"I was never meant to marry Abhi. The King."

I looked at mom with giving a questionnaire look.

"Don't look at me like that okay. It was my sister for whom the Queen Pratishtha Shekhawat sent wedding proposal for. My sister was such a perfectionist. She would have been a perfect queen."

"On the other hand I was naive. I didn't know how to reply back to all the rudeness and harsh things. But a tragedy happened."

"A tragedy?"

"My sister.." a tear left mom's eyes.

"Mom it's okay if you feel uncomfor-"

"No its fine..Afterall I never shared my own feelings with anyone after that."

"So on the day of wedding the car in which my sister was about to arrive, its breaks failed and she-"

"We all were in deep sorrow because of our loss, but Queen Pratishtha? She couldn't accept her son sitting alone in the wedding place and said if he stands up unmarried from there, she will ruin us."

"Despite of what we all were feeling, my father was forced to marry me."

"Our feelings? No one cared. My parents didn't loose one daughter that day. But two. But all that mattered was, Raja ki shaan nahi kam honi chahiye. And fact is, none of the citizens cared. They said it was our duty."

Mom's voice cracked and she was crying.

"Mom I am so sorry I-"

"My father couldn't  accept all this mentally and he committed suicide. And my mother? After my father's death she had a heartattack and she-"

I hugged mom and she cried a lot.

I didn't have anything to say. She had been carrying all this for so many years.

"But you know what? God knew I was innocent and he gave me Abhiraaj."

"On the night of our wedding he consoled me and said that he will always love me and stand by me no matter what. He said even if I don't consider him as my husband with respect to the circumstances, he will always respect me and would never cross his boundaries."

Mom turned towards me.

"So Manu, yes I get worried for him. He stood by me when nobody was. He is my whole world and I swear if anything happens to him I will-"

"Mom right now you only said to speak positive and see what you are speaking. Come give me a hug."

And I hugged her.

Suddenly the whole palace was filled with a strange kind of smell.

"Manu you stay here, I'll check."

"I'll check in other direction."

Mom nodded.

"Alex?" I called but no reply came.

I went towards the garden and saw there was no guard.

"where are everyone."

The smell grew more and more untill a white gas was seen and everything became invisible.