Rivannah

Duties and Destiny

The brilliant red-yellow sunset was as soft as velvet, studded with wisps of white clouds. All the windows of Jai Mahal offered the magnificent view, but neither the occupants nor the servants, scurrying in haste bothered to stop and admire the quiet evening.

It managed to offer some condolences to Rivannah, who sat as patiently as she could, in front of her grandmother's chamber. She focussed her gaze on the tiny mirrors embedded in the walls in festive patterns , and other details of the sitting room.

 This wing of Jai Mahal was called Basant Bahar. It seemed dull, perhaps due to the withering daylight or her rising anticipation of a disaster meeting her grandmother, famously known as Badi Maharani sa.

Rivannah could count the previous visits of her 'beloved' grandmother with one hand. They hadn't corresponded before because she had always been so dignified and unapproachable.Rivannah was curious about the sudden visit but it was becoming annoyance quickly. She hated waiting. 

" Hukum," Amba, her grandmother's personal attendant came out adorned in a traditional garb. Badi Maharani sa was conservative and traditional, and  Rivannah briefly wondered if her blue skirt and white turtle neck would be a source of annoyance for her grandmother.She hoped it would be.

Amba pasted an insincere smile as she opened the doors.Her eyes raised questioningly at the length of the Princess' skirt but she was subtle and courteous in her actions. 

Rivannah didn't glance twice at her as she went into dimly lit room.

Badi Maharani sa was sitting on the chaise in a stoic pose, befitting to be captured by a painter.

" I've been waiting," Badi Maharani sa said, her voice was soft, unlike what Rivannah had envisioned. 

Rivannah sat on the armchair next to her grandmother, taking in her heart-shaped face, sparkling brown eyes, salt and pepper hair reaching her shoulders. She didn't look as old as they claimed her to be.

" Funny ," she retorted ," I was going to say the same thing." Her lips quirked into a sarcastic smile.

" Your sense of humour is passable, Rivannah." Badi Maharani sa said, dismissively, " And I 'm not in mood for putting up with teenage angst and arrogance."

" I've got my fair share of angst from my father." Rivannah replied, because it was in her nature to be unruly and flippant , " And we both know where he got that from."

" Your father can wear his arrogance as pride at least."

Rivannah pursed her lips - not able to think another smart or witty retort- she decided not to be provoked by the frivolous woman in front of her.

Badi Maharani sa started the little speech she had made in her mind. There was no room for improvisation for someone who was at the apex of society like her — every single world must be said carefully- lest even the slightest mistake could create great complexities.

" There's not much to see in the later generations of our family ," Badi Maharani sa said, gravely, " and I've been worried sick about the next Crown Prince. Your father is promising, but he has no son. A King without his male heir, is a King with a broken throne."

Rivannah fought the urge to snort, her grandmother was just here to talk about the heir of the family. It's the most bloody topic for their clan... a constant eyesore. Some part of her knew that Badi Maharani sa 's concern was legitimate, but some part of her was angry and hurt at the underlying meaning of her words.

It wasn't her fault that her father had only one offspring, it was her fault that she was a girl, it wasn't her fault that everybody thought she was the obstacle to her father's apparent coronation.