The Mughal Princess (Completed)

26.

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Maheen had decided to skip lunch to Mohini's disappointment and  sleep in a little to ween off the exhaustion of travelling.

Maheen had drifted off to sleep in minutes after resting her head on the pillow and was unaware of the footsteps that followed into the room as she slept.

Aditya looked at Maheen's sleeping figure and sighed, these were the only time he saw her not spitting fire.

He undid the curtains and drew it around the canopy of the bed, shielding any eyes from landing on Maheen which entered their room.

He placed his sword on the mantel and discarded the silken overcoat he wore over the kurta.
He sat down on the large wooden sofa in the room and rested his head against the wall closing his eyes.

Aditya was beyond exhausted, catching up with work after almost a months absence was tiring and his mother had informed him about the dinner which had been arranged to introduce Maheen to the court.

The knock on the door made Aditya open his eyes, he wanted to groan in protest as he wanted a few minutes of peace to himself but refrained. Opening his eyes he looked at the door to see a familiar face he had forgotten about.

"Gehna." He said giving her a small smile. "Please come in."

"I'm so sorry Aditya Ji, I hope I'm not-."

"We agreed on Aditya." He reminded her making her chuckle.

"Aditya." She repeated. "I wanted to see Maheen, I didn't meet her after we entered the palace and -."

"She's asleep." Aditya said pointing towards the bed which had the white silken curtains drawn around it.

"She must be exhausted." Gehna said looking towards the bed.

"Yes it was a tiring journey and the last few days haven't been kind on her." Aditya said forcing a smile on his face.

"They haven't been kind on you either Aditya." Gehna replied looking at him. "She isn't that bad,  in fact she isn't bad at all, her ways to look at things is very one dimensional Aditya and it's not her fault." Gehna sighed.
"She was always the Princess, sabne Maheen ko palko par rakha hai, and now Maheen only knows how to think about herself because she has always known to, she was always told to."
Gehna said looking at Aditya who was listening keenly.

"Khair. Waqt de usse aap, mujhe aapko Maheen ki daleel dene ki phir zaroorat nahi hogi. Maheen ka dil pathar nahi Aditya, haan shayad barf ho par yakeen kare.. barf pighlegi." (Give her time and you'll know. She isn't stone hearted Aditya, yes maybe her heart is made of ice but give her time and you'll see her thaw.)

"Now I must leave and not bore you further." Gehna let out a small chuckle. She got up from the couch and headed towards the door. Aditya followed her.

"Gehna, please do come for dinner at the court. Maheen will like it." He said giving her a soft smile.

"I will." She replied and left the room in silence.

Aditya walked towards the bed and pulled the curtain apart. He saw Maheen sprawled across the bed unbothered of the world and somehow her words made sense, Maheen was still a Princess.

•••

Maheen had been woken up by Jhumri and pulled in towards the dressing area in front of a huge mirror. They pushed her down and applied various powders and paste on her skin, lining her eyes with thick kohl and placed a small circular bindi on her forehead

Leaving her hair open they placed the mathapatti on her head and layered her with jewellery.
She slipped into a heavy golden lehengas with a red dupatta across her shoulder.

"You look gorgeous." Jhumri said.

"Why do I have to deck up like a bride ?" Maheen groaned.

"Because you are one ?" Jhumri asked her in confusion. "And the Queen mother has sent these for you, all of these so .."

"Fine, now we are done right ? Let go." Maheen said getting up from the chair but Jhumri pushed her back in."

"What ?" Maheen whisper yelled in frustration.

"Sindoor."she said pointing age thr wooden box she had received today.

Maheen took in a deep breath and closed her eyes composing herself.
She opened the lid and took a pinch of the red powder and placed it on her hairline. She got up from the chair and walked out wordless.

Jhumri and her other companion followed.

"Now can we ?" She asked, her voice lacking any emotion.

"Of course Rajkum- sorry Maharani Mah-."

"Don't. Call me what you've always called me Jhumri. Now let's go."

The guards stationed outside lead them the way towards the court, Maheen noticed that unlike her palace where they had to cross the courtyard to reach different parts the of the palace the palace of Ayodhya was interconnected from within.

They walked the broad corridor and took turns and descended and climbed stairs before Maheen found herself in front of golden doors which were five times her height.

Everything in the palace was golden and extravagant. The guards standing in front of the gate bowed down to her and Maheen nodded at them.
She could hear the drums roll inside and a voice inside announced her presence.

The gigantic doors opened and Maheen felt herself blinded by the lights which came from within.

She blinked her eyes a couple of times before she could see the giant court hall in her vision.

The crowd had parted for Maheen, giving her way to walk towards the marble steps at the end of the hall which lead to a raised platform where Aditya sat on his throne.

Maheen took in a deep breath and held her head high.
"Just imitate maa." She said to herself and stepped into the hall.

Maheen walked slowly , carefully allowing herself to pass smiles to those who smiled at her, she wanted to turn around and run from this circus but right now she was imitating her mother, and Meera wouldn't run away, so neither would Maheen.

She reached the stairs and looked up to see Aditya stand on the platform. Maheen met his eyes and looked away immediately, she had to keep her anger in check.

As she stepped on the last stair a hand came into her vision, she looked up to see Aditya had extended his arm for her to take. She looked at him in the eyes, she could have punched him in the moment but instead plastered a smile on her face and took Aditya's hand.

His hand were twice hers, warmer and rough.

She remembered her conversation with Abeer.

'Don't touch me bhai.' Maheen whined pushing Abeer's hand away.

'Why ? What have I done ?' Abeer gasped faking offence.

'Your hands are so rough and hard, I don't like them.' Maheen said rolling her eyes.

'My dear sister, if you find a hand this hard hold on to it, these hard hands will always know how to protect you.'

Maheen snapped back to the present as she felt a tug on her hand. Her hand was still in Aditya's, she quickly pulled it out of his hand and hid it behind her dupatta.

"You can sit down." Abeer said pointing towards his throne.

Maheen looked at him in confusion.

"This is your throne." She said baffled at Aditya's offer. Nobody was allowed to sit on her fathers thrown except him until it was passed to Abeer.

"And it's also yours." He said. "They haven't got the queens throne out yet from the treasury, they didn't expect to welcome their Queen, so till then you can sit on this one." He said.

"No its -."

"Sit, Maheen." Aditya said silencing Maheen at once.