-• a horrible start •-
The next morning, I'm summoned to the great hall by the new instructor. The maid leads me to the west of the ground floor and on our way tells me about the different rooms so the next I come here on my own, I don't get lost. I can't help but stare at the interiors and the paintings. One particular portrait of a woman stops me from moving forward. She looks kinda familiar but I can't figure out whose face she evokes in my mind.
"Who's this?" I ask as I chew the mint flavoured gum.
"Queen Ahilyabai Chauhan," the maid informs me with a smile. "This used to be her wing. Her bed chamber is just at the end of the hallway."
"She didn't share bedroom with her husband?" I ask in confusion.
The maid chuckles. "He might have been her husband, but he was also the King of Jaigarh. For a ruler to share his bedchamber with someone, even if that someone was his wife, was still dangerous."
I nod in understanding.
"Shall we?"
"Oh, yeah," I motion her with my hand to resume walking.
Finally we make it to the great hall. The huge double doors stare right in my face. The maid grips the iron bars and pushes the doors open. I walk in after her.
The great hall lives up to its name. It's as huge as a church but completely empty left for the set of round couches set in the middle of the room. My feet touch the beige and brown rug made of silk. I wonder if it's as soft as it looks. I steal a glance at the interiors, at the different paintings, sculptures, vases, and chests of drawers. Everything is so tastefully presented in the room, not really loud, but not very subtle either. While the antique rug is simple and beautiful, the royal glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling is big and shiny.
The maid leads me deeper inside where I find three women around the table at the front end of the hall, enjoying a cup of tea in front of the hearth by the large arched window.
"Mrs. Dodiya," the maid calls out and the woman turns her head over her shoulder. I shove my hands in the pocket of my jeans, doing my best to avoid her scrutinizing gaze. "Princess Taranya is here," she adds with a smile.
The woman, or as the maid referred to her, Mrs. Dodiya nods curtly. Her large brown eyes beneath the thick frames stare at me. I start to chew my gum louder just to distract myself and the corner of her lips twitches. I stop and swallow my saliva. She gets up from the chair, rising to her full height. Which is not so tall, probably around 4.5 something. From her attire, it looks like she is wearing a saree. A white saree with a gold border. Her hair is pushed back in a tight bun, not a strand defying her serious, judgmental look. A gold dot sits in the center of her forehead, wiggling everytime she narrows her brows at me.
Great, she looks like she eats children for breakfast.
Why am I so God damn unlucky!?
"Princess Taranya?" She pushes the maid aside roughly, almost causing the poor woman to stumble. I gasp and lurch forward to help her but Mrs. Dodiya tightly grabs my arm, forcing me to stand straight. "The world shall burn down to ashes but a rajput princess should never waver."
What the fuck.
She releases my arm and grabs my shoulders, squaring them so my chest puffs out. Then she clicks her tongue, shaking her head as she pokes my stomach. Automatically, I shrink. She hums in satisfaction, taking a step back and examining me like I'm some kind of artifact put on for exhibition.
"You'll stand exactly like this." She meets my eyes sternly. "Your hands should be elegantly close to your belly, so it holds the dupatta on your wrist and at the same time emphasizes your delicacy. If you want, you can curve your shoulders in a slight U. It'll highlight your collarbones."
I frown.
"Don't just stand. Show me."
I let out a loud breath and bring my hands to my front, interlacing them.
"Tsk," she steps closer and touches the tip of my elbows, spreading them farther from my waist, and at the same time, elevating them unnaturally. "This is the minimum distance you must hold from your waist to your elbow. The same as the length of your shoulders."
I nod.
"And your fingers," she unlatches my hands. "If you clutch them so tightly, it gives out a wrong message. You've to appear confident and graceful. Treat yourself like you're fragile, and so is every inch of you." She lays my right hand on top of my left, my thumbs interlocked. She even leans in to lift my pinky slightly into the air. "There you go," she smiles and steps back, eying her personally styled mannequin. "Perfect,"
I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
"Now walk around for me from this end to that end a few times. I'll finish my tea until then." She says and sits down on her chair.
I face the other end of the hall, struggling to hold my posture as I start to walk.
"Slowly," she comments suddenly. "You're not participating in some kind of race,"
I clench my jaw and slow down. Turning my head slightly, I nod at the maid to follow me. She scurries to walk along with me.
"Where are my brothers?" I ask her in a hiss.
"Your neck, keep it straight. Don't tilt it if not to bow in respect or to nod as a response."
I look straight ahead but my ears stay trained on the maid.
"I don't know, Princess. Should I go and check?"
"Yes." I tell her.
Just as she nods and takes a step in the direction of the doors, they open and outside stand my four half brothers. My brows shoot up in surprise and I halt my ramp-walk. They really came.
"Ah, the princes are here!" I hear Mrs. Dodiya announce in the most feminine voice of hers. I can't help but scoff in disbelief. While talking to me, she used a tone that would even make a ghost want to die twice.
She rushes to where we stand, the two young girls follow her ardently.
All the four men enter the room and greet the woman politely. By their mannerisms and the flexibility in their tone while speaking, I guess they already know each other. My mood deflates even more. It's like I'm the only least favourite student here.
"So, Mrs. Dodiya, how's our little sis? Is she doing any good?" Agastya is the first to acknowledge my presence in the room and not for a good reason if I may say. I roll my eyes and look away. "I think she has a lot to learn, especially manners." He says out of spite.
"Oh, that she does." Mrs. Dodiya sighs regretfully. "My darling, if you could throw that chewing gum out, I might start considering you as a real princess, hmm?" She smiles sarcastically.
I clench my hand in fists and open my mouth to give her a piece of a mind for all the insults she has thrown at me when all of a sudden the maid comes to my side and shoves the tissue paper in my face. She shakes her head subtly, as though requesting me to not start an argument. I sigh and take the tissue from her, spitting out the chewing gum before crumpling it in my fist. I raise my hand as if to throw it at Mrs. Dodiya. She flinches. Holding back a snicker of amusement, I lower my hand gently and hand the tissue paper to the maid who shoves it inside her pocket given there's no dustbin here.
"O-Okay," she clears her throat and fixes her round glasses. "Let's begin, shall we?"
All of us nod.
We begin with the entry scence.
And unsurprisingly, except for me, everyone is doing it perfect.
I mean, it's just walking! How else do you expect me to walk!?
"Take one step at a time. Don't rush it. And your elbows! You're forgetting your arms are locked with your brothers! You're dragging them down with you!"
"Because I'm short!" I defend. "Look at them!" I glance at Yuvaan and Agastya, who are on either side of me, looking just as exhausted as me if not more. And it's not even being an hour! "Obviously, they'll bend. Give me heels! I can walk in heels and it'll also elevate my height."
"No. Rajputana women wear Juttis or Mojaries. Not heels! That's western stuff!"
"What's Jutty?" I look to my right, tilting my head so I can meet Yuvaan's eyes.
He chuckles. "Not Jutty. It's Jutti. It's a kind of ethnic footwear we wear in Rajasthan. They are similar to bellies but flatter."
"Great! It's not helping my height then!" I look back at the instructor accusingly.
"Why are you so damn short!?" Agastya grunts on my left.
I look at him in disbelief. "Because I'm still growing!"
"They are too!" He refers to the twins. "But they are still a foot higher than you."
"Because they're boys!" I groan.
"Because they're boys!" He screeches in what is supposed to be my voice. Woah, that is a horrible representation. I do not sound like that at all. "Stop shouting, geez. You're so annoying."
I rip my arm from his. "You're annoying!"
"God damn, why are you girls so darn loud!?" He snaps, rubbing his ear with a wince.
"Have you ever heard yourself speak!?" I scoff. "Even a deaf will block their ears."
"Yeah, real smart." He mocks me.
"I know, hard pill to swallow for you, isn't it?" I retort.
"You little-" he steps closer threateningly but Yuvaan pushes him back on the chest.
"Can you guys stop!?" He demands. "We're here to learn how to behave, not the opposite."
"Tell her!" Agastya points at me.
"You started it!" I point back at him.
"Your fault you're so fucking short, you dwarf!"
"And your fault you're so fucking mean all the time!" I shout.
"I met you like two days ago!"
"And yet you're the meanest person I've ever crossed paths with!"
"Oh for the love of God, stop it both of you!" Yuvaan roars.
I flinch and cower away from him, removing my arm that was linked with his.
Agastya lets out a loud sigh but thankfully doesn't say another word.
My eyes fall on Mrs. Dodiya who looks at me as if I'm some kind of alien. "What?"
"You- You can't speak like that, Princess!" Her eyes go wide in disbelief.
"It's his fault. He was riling me up!" I stab my forefinger in Agastya's direction.
He reacts with an arrogant scoff.
"Whatever the reason, but you cannot speak like that!" She chastises sternly. "What's the difference between you and a street vendor then?"
My mouth falls open at her blatant sexism. Agastya started it. But she doesn't say a word to him. Instead, scolding me about how I should talk rather than telling him how he should behave with women.
"What do you expect from me? Stand back and take all the shit he throws at me!?"
She gasps. "Another cuss word. Young girl, you swear like a train!"
"He does too!" I accuse. "He was the first to use the f word between us!"
"Yes, but you should have held it in. Did I not say before? Even if the world burns down to ashes, a Princess should never waver."
"What bullshit!" I mutter under my breath. "So he gets to say anything but I'm expected to stand quiet!?"
"Yes," that's Agastya, opening his stinky ass mouth to give an unsolicited opinion.
"And why is that?" I glare up at him.
He smirks. "Because you're a girl."
Furious at his remark, I clench my jaw tightly. "Fuck you." I spit out like his thought is a bitter taste in my mouth and then look at the blatant flag bearer of sexism called Mrs. Dodiya. "And fuck this." I hiss, storming out of the great hall with a shove on the troublemaker's arm, ignoring the maid that rushes behind me.
"Princess!" She calls out for me.
I don't stop.
"Princess, let's go back please." She pants once she reaches me, struggling to match my pace.
"Why should I?" I look at her befuddled. "Did you not see the blatant sexism in that room? He's excused because he's a man and I'm held accountable for the argument that he started?" I shake my head and continue to climb the stairs two at a time. "I'm not going back there. No way in hell!"
"But Princess, if this reaches the Crown Prince-"
"Then it does!" I throw my hands in the air. "But I'm not going to stand there and get scolded just because I've a vagina!"
I hear her wince at the choice of my words.
What does she expect me to call it?
"Princess-"
"What's your name?" I stop abruptly.
She comes to an unexpected halt and almost slams into me but holds her balance in the last moment. "Uh, Juyi,"
"Right, Juyi, now listen to me. I'm not going there back. Thank you for worrying about me but-"
"The reward," she cuts in.
"What?"
"You promised Tarun you'll help him through the reward by asking the Crown Prince to pardon him of his punishment."
Realisation sinks in and I slap my own forehead. "Shit, I totally forgot about it when Agastya got me all riled up."
"Maybe you should go back and resume the classes. From my experience here, Mrs. Dodiya is very strict about her teachings. And there's no way she wouldn't take this to the Crown Prince's desk." Juyi relays softly.
I clutch the railing tightly, leaning against it with my waist taking all the weight.
"Do you think an apology would work?" I ask her.
She shrugs. "But maybe you can try?"
"Why should I apologise though?" I grumble under my breath. "I did nothing wrong."
She lowers her head to the ground and releases a sympathetic sigh.
"Oh, look who we have here," a voice reaches me, and following it, their owner. My eyes narrow on Agastya, tailing him are the twins. Ayush quickly leaves their side and comes closer.
"You okay?"
I nod softly, feeling warm and comforted at his question.
"Don't stop. Just walk away." I wave my hand in a dismissal at Agastya. I swear I've never been so rude to a person that I've only met twice before. But this man knows how to get on your nerves by just existing.
"Tone down that attitude if you want to survive here," he warns nonchalantly.
I can't help but laugh a bit. "Like c'mon, there's a limit to which you can brag. We both know who holds the power here. And it's certainly not you."
"In school, is the principal most feared or the bully?" He leans in, almost invading my private space.
I grit my teeth in anger. "Victim decides that."
His lips spread in a lopsided grin. "You're planning to use your reward to save that stupid boy, aren't you?" He shoves one hand in his pocket and rests his elbow on the railing, regarding me with a scheming look on his face.
I don't answer.
"You know you started horribly, right?" He chuckles in amusement. "Once Bhai finds out what happened in the great hall today, he'll be so disappointed in his new sister." He coos, holding my chin in a mock.
I click my tongue in detest and swat his hand away.
"I'm going to make sure you fail this," he states. "And today, Miss. Dwarf, marks the beginning of it."
I look back at him in surprise.
"The game's on," he winks and walks past me, shoving me on the arm like I did back in the great hall. I grip the railing tightly to catch my balance, glaring at the back of that idiot's head over my shoulder. His tail follows him quickly. I haven't spoken a word with that other twin but he already annoys the fuck out of me.
"Honestly, when you said that you want us to join you for the classes yesterday, I thought you wanted to get on his nerves but what happened today is complete opposite of what I hoped," Ayush sighs in disappointment.
I know! Annoying him was my plan, I have no idea when it backfired on me!
We go back to our rooms and I slam the door close. Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I flip it open and dial my bestfriend's number. She picks up on the third ring.
"Bitch, we're out for camping!" She tells me excitedly.
"Yeah, I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking. What about you?" I ask sarcastically.
She laughs. "What happened? Why do you sound so down?"
"I'm losing my damn patience here!"
"Which one caused it?"
"Agastya!"
"Agastya," she hums. "Wait, let me remember who he is," she pauses. "Ah, right! The third hottest!"
"What?" I frown.
"I've made a list of your brothers from hottest to least hot. He's third on that list." She replies.
"And who's first and second?"
"First is your eldest brother, second is that twenty year old one. What's his name?"
"Yuvaan," I answer.
"Hmm, and third is the one that's making you lose your patience right now." She mumbles. "I mean, I don't blame him. He can make me lose my underwear and I'd say thank you."
"Of course you would!" I grimace. "And can you for once stop lusting after older men? It's gross."
"No! Sixteen year olds are gross!"
"We're sixteen!"
"Oh, right," she realises. "I meant, sixteen year old boys are gross!"
"Not true! Ayush is sweet and Tarun-" I stop abruptly.
"I'm turning sixteen tomorrow."
"Shit, it's his birthday today."
"Who? That boy who got punished because of you yesterday?"
"Wow, I feel so much better about myself right now. Thank you."
"Just being honest," she mutters.
"I'll call you later," I say and hang up without waiting for her response. Wearing my fluffy slippers, I grab the card key from the desk and slip out of my room. It takes me a few minutes to find Juyi. She is busy watering the plants when I approach her. "Hey, Juyi!"
"Ha?" She turns her head, then suddenly drops the water can and bows to me in respect. I eye the water spilling from the can into the grass. "Oh, shoot," she lurches forward to pick it up.
"That's okay, leave it there." I wave my hand at her. She puts the can beside the bushes and stands straight nervously. "I came searching for you because I thought you must know Tarun personally considering how you spoke for him."
Her eyes turns wide in panic. "I'm sorry if I crossed a line, Princess. I was just looking out for him. He's like my little brother."
"Hey, no, it's okay." I say in reassurance. "I just want you to give him something from me, can you?"
She lifts her head to meet my eyes. "And what would that be?"
"Come," I grab her hand and lead her inside the palace. She follows me timidly.
I take her to the kitchen.
Grabbing a cake box from the cabinet, I pick a few cupcakes from the fridge and pack it in the box, adding a post it note on the side that says happy 16th birthday. "Here you go," I hand her the bag attached to the strings. "Your shift ends in an hour, right?"
She nods.
"I take it he did not come to the palace today?"
She nods.
"Just give it to him. I promised him we'd celebrate his birthday with a cupcake. It's not much but I hope he likes it." I smile up at her.
Her gaze softens and she lowers her head. "Thank you, Princess. I'm sure he'd love it."
I hum softly. "Go now, you're free to get back to your work. I won't disturb you anymore."
She nods and walks out of the kitchen.
For the rest of the day, I stay cooped in my room. Bored with the same old shows and movies, I grab a book to read for a change. And oh what a change it brings, I fall asleep just a few pages into it.
A knock on the door wakes me up.
I open the door and the maid waits for me while I wash my face and do my hair.
"Let's go," I step out of the room with my phone and card key.
As usual she takes the lead.
"May I ask you something?"
"Yes, Princess," she agrees almost immediately.
"Why am I always the last one to be informed about the dinner?"
"A lady shall not be left waiting," she replies. "Hence, you're informed at the last."
I nod impressively.
The guard opens the doors for me using his ID and I'm met with the sight of my brothers and father seated at the dining table.
I walk in and occupy my usual chair beside Dad.
Yuvraaj leans forward to serve himself and we copy him.
The dinner proceeds in silence, which is surprising, because I'm still waiting to be called upon what happened in the great hall this morning.
"So," Yuvraaj starts.
Yeah, here it is.
"Mrs. Dodiya wrote me a mail today."
My eyes quickly flicker to where Agastya sit and I find him already staring at me with a cunning smile on his face. My annoyance flares but I hold it in.
Lord Jesus, give me enough patience so I don't end up killing this guy.
Yeah, well things did not start in her favour but let's see what the future holds.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to vote and comment. Makes my day.