Hearing his words, my heart sank deeper.
Suman looked at me, and I turned back to see Rudra Bhai-sa and Nandani Bhabhi-sa smiling at us.
I gulped. My heart ached at just the thought of it.
“Don’t worry,” she said, holding my hand.“No matter what, their son will be the one to rule.”
I nodded before we walked out and received our elders’blessings.
I didn’t tell anyone about it. But it created a void in my heart. I couldn’t take the rights of my Bhai-sa’s child.
?????
37. Suman
After the prayer ceremony, Ranaji and Prince Ranvijay left for Suryagarh, and all the ladies got busy shopping.
The royal jewellers and fabric artisans were called upon to present new designs. However, for my wedding dress, Princess Aishwarya had taken responsibility and had already begun working on it. She said she had been eagerly waiting to design the wedding attire for Kunwarsa’s bride, and knowing it was me made her even more thrilled.
We all had lunch and then gathered in Queen Trisha’s chamber. Everyone was excited, but I was slightly tense about what Pandit ji had said. And I could sense that it had affected Kunwar-sa, too, but I didn’t know how to reassure him. I hadn’t seen him since the ceremony.
“Suman, how is this for Haldi?” I looked at Princess Aishwarya holding up a yellow ghaghra, jewelled with cut-out pearls.
I smiled.“Beautiful.”
“And this one for the mehendi?” Daadi-sa asked, holding a pear-green ghaghra.
I nodded.“This one’s nice.”
I couldn’t concentrate. Even though I was sitting with all these ladies, surrounded by hundreds of beautiful dresses, my heart longed to meet Kunwar-sa. His worried face kept crossing my mind.
“And this one for the sangeet?” Nandani asked.
I smiled distractedly as she held out a magenta-pink dress.“It’s amazing,” I muttered.
As they got busy again, looking through more collections, I got up.
“Um, I need to freshen up. I’ll be back in a moment,” I excused myself and walked out of Queen Trisha’s royal chambers.
On my way, I came across an attendant.
“Have you seen Kunwar Agastya?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“Okay, but if you see him, let him know I want to meet him. I’ll be in my chamber,” I said before walking away, searching around, hoping to find him somewhere. But I couldn’t. Eventually, I went back to the ladies’gathering.
We talked, made fun of each other, and reminisced about old memories. Once we had bought clothes to our hearts’content, we finally had dinner together, gossiping about our husbands, sharing their silly habits.
My stomach hurt from all the laughing, listening to every wife’s complaint about her man.
“You tell us, Suman,” Daadi-sa chimed with a grin.“What is the one thing you hate about Kunwar Agastya?”
I bit my lower lip, looking down at the beautiful bangles adorning my wrists.
“Nothing, Daadi-sa,” I said softly.“There’s nothing in him that I hate. He’s always making an effort to keep me happy.”
“Oh, ho…” Queen Trisha drawled playfully.“And what have you thought of keeping him happy after marriage?”
