Chapter-1
Pankhuri's p.o.v-
"I now pronounce you as husband and wife. You may take blessings from elders by touching their feet." Just like that my small world ceased to exist. My happiness officially committed suicide.
Everything after that went like a blur. I cried, cried and cried more during my bidaai ceremony. My father was repeatedly asking for my apology in my ears which I continuously shook my head on. It wasn't his fault, not mine and neither was anybody else.
My younger sister Ragini was crying profusely and so was my eldest sister Suhasini who was already happily married.
My heart sulken more when I sat inside the royal palanquin and watched my family disappear from my view.
My eyes were highly sore and swollen from continuous crying. I still didn't take off my veil as it was expected that the only husband has the right to take it off of his bride.
When we reached the palace I saw my in laws already standing and waiting for our arrival at the gate.
The Prince was by my side and we, in unison, touched the feet of the King and Queen.
"Sada Saubhagyavati bhava, May you have a long, blissful marital life alongside your husband. May you always remain happy with your husband." The King and Queen blessed us in unison.
"Welcome to our family, sister in law." Princess Radhika hugged me and kissed my forehead over the veil.
We then went on to seek blessings from the other elders of the household. Soon, I found myself sitting on the huge, silky bed inside the lavish chamber of Prince, waiting for the Prince.
"I will take you around the world, Pankhuri. I will show you what lies behind these sand and desert. I will take you to see high mountains, endless clouds, beautiful islands, never ending oceans and deep green forests." Akash animatedly told me while lying beside me on the grass, on the meadow.
"Really? And who is going to pay for our traveling, food, clothes and other expenses?" I asked, getting highly amused by him.
"I will work hard for us, Pankhuri. I am already preparing for my entrance exam and I am surely going to clear my government exam for teaching." Akash spoke with proudness.
"Do they pay teachers in gold?" I asked, biting back a smile.
"Uhh.. Well no, but I will save a lot and I have already made many officers my friends, they are our regular customers at our chai stall." He grinned at me.
"What are they going to do?" I raised my brow at him, intertwining our fingers. His long, thin tanned fingers tightly wrapped around my more tanned ones.
"I am sure they will give us a discount on our tickets for the ship, provide correct maps and proper knowledge on how to travel together as a partner, since they all travel all the time overseas with their families." My stomach tightened with excitement on hearing him say that.
"But before that we need to get married, you stupid?" I nudged him with my shoulder.
"Soon, sweet heart, soon." He moved his head sideways and planted a soft, gentle kiss on the side of my forehead, making me giggle like a small kid.
My chain of thoughts broke when I heard someone clear their throat. My vision was extremely blurry and my nose was running perpetually. Luckily, my face was still covered with the veil till my chin.
I sniffed slightly and ran the back of my hand over my eyes and nose to wipe off the tears and snot.
"You can take off your veil." I heard an assertive tone with an edginess to it.
Without replying I took off the veil and rested it upon my head. My maangtika was feeling heavy on my head. Now that I finally got the chance to feel the air around my face and neck again, I could feel the heaviness of the jewelry I was wearing. The elaborated embroidered maroon lehenga I was wearing began to chew on my skin. I could feel the blotches of angry red forming all over my waist, hands and back even though I had brown skin.
I began to adjust my lehenga and jewelry and realized that I haven't acknowledged the Prince's presence yet. It was expected of me to touch his feet and seek his blessings as soon as he entered his chamber.
I stood on my feet and walked up to him and bent forward to touch his feet. He still didn't say a word to me after that last sentence.
"No need." He stopped me in the middle of touching his feet and I immediately retreated myself to stand.
With the way he spoke to me, I got the idea that he was about to lash on me and I behold myself to take whatever nonsense he was going to spew at me as at last I knew he was going to end up telling me that we weren't a compatible couple and were going to live our lives separately in the closed doors of his chamber while keeping the facade of happy couple in front of the whole world.
I, at last, unwantedly met his light brown eyes which appeared more golden in the dimly lit chamber. I could see that he was taller than me, had fairer skin than me, and a lot more muscular than Akash. No softness was held in his eyes and I immediately disliked the roughness and haughtiness he carried with himself.
He was staring at me with a clenched jaw without blinking whilst his face remained expressionless. The silence began to make me feel awkward and his gaze was making me uncomfortable. I pursed my lips and took two steps backwards just to divert his attention from me.
That little trick of mine worked as he quickly looked sideways and again cleared his throat. This time he looked at me with more relaxed expressions.
"Welcome to your new home, Pankhuri." He took me by surprise by saying those words. His tone didn't seem pressed either like before.
I nodded my head at acknowledgement.
"You can do whatever you want in this chamber. You don't have to be in a specific way that you're told to be with me behind closed doors. I don't go by the rules that don't make any sense to me." He said and I patiently waited for him to begin again and come to the point.
"However, if you still want to pursue any customs or rituals you want to follow then I won't stop you. Also, we shall appear as a good husband and wife to the world." He said to me while appearing slightly red this time.
"Okay, your highness." I nodded my head at him.
"Like I said I don't obey rules that don't seem worthy to me, by that way, you can call me by my name whenever we are alone." I widened my eyes on hearing him say that. There's no way he was serious about it. Sure, Prince was known for his rebelness and bratiness but he couldn't be that much straightforward and open. It was unheard of for a Royal to be this easy going.
"Don't worry, I know when to seek respect and make boundaries." He smirked lightly when he saw my shocked expression which I quickly neutralized when he mentioned that.
"Okay, Samrat." This time he widened his eyes in deep shock as if he couldn't believe that I would abide by his request this quickly. Well, I was raised like this by my father. Pretty much simple and straightforward and would only agree to the requests or demands if they seem worthy to me.
"Anything else?" I asked him.
"No." He shook his head and I turned around to go and change in my comfortable night clothes. It was a simple ankle length cotton skirt and kurta sewn by my sister.
I heard his footsteps retreat to what I assume was a connected bathroom. Now that I was alone I finally took off my heavy lehenga and blouse while thinking about Prince who to my utter confusion and disbelief turned out to be a completely different person than I really made him out to be.
I hissed a little when I took off my jewelry as well, only leaving the bangles and anklets behind. I waited for the Prince to come back so he would tell me about the sleeping arrangement.
He returned with wet hair that was touching the nape of his neck. He, too, was wearing a white kurta pajama.
"Is something wrong?" He asked when he saw me standing by my trunk. My jewelry and lehenga neatly placed on top of it.
"Where am I going to sleep?" I asked and he raised his eyebrow in question.
"On the bed." He spoke after a few moments.
"And you?" I asked hesitantly.
I couldn't help but notice that he wasn't acting like he was supposed to, as if he somehow switched his personality within an hour or so.
"On the same bed." This time he spoke slowly.
I watched him sat on a right side of the bed while eyeing me cautiously.
"Is there any problem?" He questioned when he saw me still standing on the same spot and nervously looked at my toe on the marbled floor.
"Uhh.. I… I always slept on the right side of the bed back home. I can't sleep on the left side." I spoke nervously and quickly wet my lips which were getting dry after wiping the dark red stain from my lips.
I thought he would ignore my request or worse, was going to shout at me and insult me badly that I was crossing my boundary with him but he caught me off guard when he shifted to the left side of the bed.
I walked to the right side of the bed with my eyes casted down as I was feeling like a brat for asking him to do that. I quickly lie down and shut my eyes close as I was feeling embarrassed to face him and also because I was too tired after going through every rituals that was necessary for the wedding.
The bed felt too soft against my skin and the bed sheet felt like a flower over me. Within no time I dozed off without thanking him.
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