Royals, Roses And Rules

00. where he was protecting her

"What the hell are you doing here?", Charu screamed at Naina.

"I'm sor-sorry. But bhaiya told me I, I could attend the par-party since it is his, his wed-wedding", Naina stuttered like a baby.

"Shut up! He must have asked you to serve the guests not enjoy the party. Go, get me and my friends some drinks", Charu ordered.

"But, di, there are waiters here for that", Naina mumbled quietly in fear of her sister.

"Don't call me di. Its princess Charu Lata for you and dare you defy my order", Charu said twisting Naina's arm behind her back.

"I- I'm sorry. I'll get the drinks", Naina ran away in fright.

"Kaka, please give me this tray. I have to take it to di's friends", Naina asked an elderly-looking waiter who was taking the refreshments towards the main hall where the party was held.

"but, Rajkumari, you should not do this. We are hired for this work", the elderly man said bowing his head as a greeting.

"Kaka, please. You are very elder to me. Never bow down in front of me like this again. And don't worry, I am just helping Charu di and her friends", saying so Naina took the tray in her hands and hurried towards the haughty princess and her equally snobbish friends.

The older man was stunned after seeing the humble nature of the young princess and he was almost sure that she was not a member of the Rathore clan. His family and he had worked for the royals for years and he had never seen such kindness in the walls of the palace.

After the humiliating task of serving Charu Lata and her friends and listening to their taunts, Naina had tears flowing down her rosy cheeks. The tears made her vision blurry which resulted in the falling of the tray of remaining juices on the young Ranawat Prince.

"What the hell! Do you know this suit cost more than your entire life's worth?", Veer roared at Naina drawing the attention of the crowd.

"My apologies, your highness", she quietly murmured in her melodic voice, head bowed down, eyes on his shoes, refraining her to have a look at the prince standing before her.

"Princess Naina?", the surprised tone didn't go unnoticed by Naina, neither did the familiarity of the voice.

"Prince Veer, I apologize for the discomfort caused. I'll ask someone to guide you to the restroom", Naina said in a low voice not wanting to attract the attention of the gossipmongers.

"Very well, then. You will be showing me to the restroom", his imperative voice forced Naina to lead the way.

Veer took Naina's small hand in his large ones, once they were out of public scrutiny. He pulled her into a room and locked the door.

"This is highly inappropriate Prince Veer! Open the doors and let me go", Naina said, not expecting Veer to pull her into a room, much less lock it.

"Are you okay, Naina?", Veer asked immediately noting the red color of Naina's nose, which was due to crying.

"Of course, not. I'm locked with you in a room. What will others think? Oh, God! No, I'm not okay with this", Naina said, though, in anger, her voice did not rise.

Naina Maan Singh Rathore was every bit a princess. Whether it was her flawless beauty, the deep understanding of politics of the courtroom, kind and humble nature, determination, bravery, and compassion, her manners and attitude, she had aced it all.

"Eh! What will happen if someone sees us?", he asks coolly sitting on the bed.

"Oh God! No! who will marry you knowing that you took advantage of a girl", she whispered, horrified.

"You are here, na. Don't you want to become Mrs. Ranawat?", he asks her.

"Brute" she muttered under her breath.

"Oh please! As if I'm going to marry you", she said. After what you did, the silence rang those words loud and clear.

"No one is going to see us together, I promise. You were crying, why?", he asked.

"Doesn't matter", she replied in a crisp tone.

"Whatever is related to you, matters to me", he said.

"Why?", she raised her haunted eyes to meet his caring ones.

"Because you are important", he replied, his tone softening.

"I'm not. I can never be important. Whoever thinks this, will always face ill-luck", she chuckled, though it wasn't humorous, no it was a sad one, as if finally accepting the reality.

"Who said that", his eyes turned dark, menacing anger shining in them, but not at her. Never at her.

"Doesn't matter", she repeated.

"Tell me", he demanded.

"Nobody said that. But neither did they say I was important, because I know I am not. Nobody proved that I am important because I wasn't important. Not important enough for baba, not important enough for Rani sa, that I can't even call her my mother, not important enough for Charu Lata to take a stand for me against her friends, not important enough for Ranbir bhai sa to protect me, not important enough for Mother Queen to love me, not important enough for you to keep your promises. Tell me, who finds me important?", she wanted to scream, yell do anything but state all of this calmly.

But could she do that? No, she wasn't even given that privilege. She was a princess, for crying out loud. She couldn't yell and scream whenever she wanted to.

"I was protecting you", he raised his voice.

"Yet you left me with the monsters", she said and walked away leaving a stunned prince in the room.

*****

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