“Nothing happened,” he stated after a brief silence.
My heart raced. His cologne wrapped around me, and his words spun my world.
What was I doing?
No!
No, this was wrong.
What is he doing here? He shouldn’t be here.
I immediately pushed him away. Overwhelming tears streamed down my face as I noticed the red colour on his fingers. He couldn’t do this to me.
I couldn’t do this to him.
He stood, shocked, as the wave of reality visibly washed over his face. I shook my head before running away to my room.
When I reached the quarters, I immediately raced to the bathing area. It was empty, as all the attendants were busy celebrating. Stepping down the stairs to the shared pool, I knelt on the last step and leaned forward to wash my hands.
But as soon as I looked at my reflection in the water, my heart stopped.
The red imprints of his fingers weren’t just a mistake, but a gesture of my belonging to him.
I looked at my palms, which were coloured red. I immediately turned around to notice the imprints of my red feet on the wet stairs.
Tears welled in my eyes.
No.
He couldn’t do this to me.
Why was he introducing me to a colour that was forbidden to me? Why wasn’t he scared of my misfortune destroying his life? And, most importantly, why was he interested in me this way?
“Suman,” an attendant’s voice caught my attention, and I turned around to look at her.
“Yes,” I asked, wiping away my tears.
“Rani-sa is asking for you,” she said, and I smiled, nodding.
He promised me that nothing would happen. Although I didn’t believe in superstitions, I couldn’t risk the lives of people I wholeheartedly loved.
But the red colour imprinted on my cheeks, forearms, palms, and feet was not only his ideology but also his confidence in my fate and in me.
So, I trusted both my fate and his trust.
I went to the celebration and enjoyed it to the fullest. Nandani was happiest watching Daadi-sa and Princess Aishwarya dance for her.
?????
It’s been two weeks since that incident—encounter—whatever.
I’d tried hard to avoid him.
I wouldn’t go near Nandani if he were around, nor would I go to his chamber even if Nandani asked me to; I would send another attendant as he suggested. I wouldn’t even look at him if he crossed my path.
No, I wasn’t angry. But he was right. Even if nothing happened, I might stand between him and his wife. And I could never become the person I deeply hated—a mistress.
What was I even thinking?
