Ruin In Royals (Royal #1: Book 2) | ✔

55

Happy Raksha Bandhan! ✨

-• the tales of a nymph •-

"Should I join classical Indian dance classes?" I ask randomly as I plate the dishes. Agastya looks at me in surprise, brows furrowing together. "I really love to dance, and I was thinking of joining Salsa classes for a while."

Watching Shourya dance made me jealous. The way his body moved, the agility, the flexibility, he was like river. As it follows the course of wind, his body followed the course of music. It was beautiful. He looked beautiful. And then in the car that night, he opened up about wanting to dance with me someday. And it made me as much uncomfortable as it made me blush. Because the problem isn't him wanting to dance with me, it's me not knowing beyond basics of duets, or the balters of club you do with your friends, half drunk, half conscious, and half crazed.

"And how did you go from Salsa to Classical?"

"Remember the reality shows I used to watch?"

He nods.

"One time, a contestant performed a contemporary fusion of several classical dances, it was beautiful." I smile. "She switched from one form to another so seamlessly it's still stuck in my head."

He looks contemplative, as if I didn't ask for his opinion, but his decision. Is there any issue with me dancing? "What's wrong?"

"Sara Bhabhi used to dance." His gaze appears distant. "She had the ability to mesmerise her audience whenever she danced." He sighs, leaning against the counter. I leave the dishes aside and focus on him. He sounds completely star struck as he reminisces about her. "Her outfits, her make up, those expressions she used to make, God, she was a Goddess on stage."

I feel deep fascination grow inside me towards the woman I haven't even met yet. "Go on," I encourage him.

"And she always wore white. Always." He signifies. "She had a round stage made up for her at the Rajawat palace, and when she spins," he blows a breath through his mouth, shaking his head in disbelief, "she would do countless, continuous spins, right at the edge of that circle. We as kids were scared that she might fall, but the moment music starts and her body picks up the rhythm, you lose her to a completely different world. She didn't care who was watching her, she didn't care if her hair came undone, she didn't care about the world."

The more I hear about her, the more curious I grow. "She used to dance often?"

"Often is an understatement." He smiles. "For the six months she was here, music had consumed these palace walls. She was always in the great hall, dancing, practising, and the music would reverberate all across the palace. Bhai and her made the best couple. He was into music and she was into dance-"

"Piano," I stop him. "He played piano, right?"

"Piano, flute, drums, guitar, violin. You name it and he has played it."

I gasp.

"He was a music prodigy, Tara." Agastya lowers his head.

"When did he stop?"

"Vivaan Bhai says he stopped when Mom died." He replies. "After Dadi's death, Mom used to handle the family business. And she was good at it. In fact, during the time she managed the business, she established three successful subsidiaries, took over multiple businesses, invested in different start ups, and with her help, all of them saw progress in less than estimated time. She had the brains, Tara." He nods impressively. "People say she grew the family business ten times more than it was before."

My brows shoot upward. Professionally blessed, but personally doomed. If she hadn't fallen in an unrequited love with a man who didn't care about her, perhaps she would have been alive today, and happy too.