The Apple of his eyes

Chapter 1

The whole palace of Vanji Nagar echoed the sounds of laughter, giggles and crackers. The whole garden was decorated beautifully. It was pleasing to the eyes. Kings and queens, princes and princesses of the nearby kingdoms were also invited.
It was the engagement ceremony of their prince Bharath with Nandhini, the daughter of the prime minister. The teasings and gossips were limitless.
The guests congratulated the newly engaged couple one by one. Happiness was evident in their eyes.

Among the crowd, a beautiful girl in her teenage was sitting in one of the cushions arranged for the royal family members of the Vanji Nagar kingdom.
She was wearing a purple silk half saree which was making her stand out. Her eyes iluminated words that can't be spoken. She was devouring the Globjamun which was brought by her helper, Maha for the 3rd time.

"Rajkumari, this is your last plate of sweet. You have to eat some food." Maha requested.

But Rajkumari Vedhavalli was in no mood to listen to her friend and helper.
"Oh ho. Don't be a spoiler Maha. Let me enjoy my brother's engagement."

Maha sighed, thinking that there is no way she can stop Vedhavalli.

"Do you want some?" Vedhavalli asked her friend.

"You know i can't eat in front of the royals." Maha said slowly.

Vedhavelli thought for a moment and said "I'm tired now. I'll go see appa and amma and retire to my room. You bring 2 plates of dinner and a plate of Globjamun to my room."

"Another plate of Globjamun?" Maha exclaimed.

"Do as I say. I have a guest." Vedhavalli ordered.

"Yes Rajkumari." Maha walked away to follow her orders.

Vedhavalli looked around to find her parents and saw them discussing something with her uncle and cousin brother.

"Maharaja" she called her father.

"Vedha, come to me." Her father called her affectionately.

"Have you finished eating all the Globjamun in the entire palace?" Her cousin brother Bharath adithyan teased her.

Vedhavalli looked at him annoying and asked him "Where is your bride? Do you want me to ask her to hate you?"

"You can't. Your then bestfriend is now my fiance." Bharath said.

Vedhavalli and nandhini, bharath's fiance were soul sisters and best friends since they were toddlers. When nandhini had a second thought on marrying the prince, it was Vedhavalli who convinced her and explained how much bharath loves her. Bharath knows whatever Vedhavalli says, nandhini will do. And whatever nandhini says, Vedhavalli will do.

"I can see fear in your eyes." Vedhavalli joked.

Bharath looked at her for a second and turned to the king and said, "Maharaja, Nandhini is of same age as Vedhavalli. Shouldn't we look for a prince for our princess?"

The king knows that the brother and sister duo are teasing each other. He looked at his daughter and pondered for a moment and thought 'when did she grow up, her birth feels like yesterday.'

"You are not wrong. I'll send a message to the royal astrologer." The Maharaja said.

Vedhavalli looked at her father in shock.
"Appa, you can't do this to me now. I'll get married only after his wedding. If I get married now you'll send me far away. And I can't be present at his wedding."

"Calm down, Vedha. We will just seek the astrologer and ask him when you'll get married and how your life will be." Her mother said.

"Fine amma." She paused and turned back to her brother and looked at him like she is ready to kill him anytime.
"I'm tired so I'm retiring to my chamber, mother."

Her mother and father both nodded at her.

Later in her room

"Rajkumari, where were you? Please have your dinner now" maha said.

"I was with my parents." Vedhavalli said went straight to the table where the plates were arranged. "Sit with me maha." She continued.

"Rajkumari! No. If someone sees they'll think low of you. You can't eat with a maid." Maha said worriedly.

"Do I look like I care? And what year are you living in maha? You work for me and you get paid. Now your working hours are over. So behave like my friend."
Vedhavalli said as she signalled maha to the chair next to her.

And for the nth time Vedhavalli made Maha surprised. How can she put it simply and make sense at the same time? Maha thought to herself.

"Do you know the royal astrologer is coming tomorrow? Father and mother wants to know about my future." Vedhavalli said in the middle of munching her food.

"Really? I think we might hear another wedding bell soon. Who do you think it will be? Maybe prince Rajnath from Kadambur or King Amar from kakatiya kingdom? I heard he is handsome as hell  and is known for his victory against the british. Many kingdom wants to marry their daughters to him just to safeguard their country from the british." Maha wanted to the best for her friend.

"Don't blabber Maha. I'll never marry someone for political reason. I'll marry someone for love. He doesn't need to be a prince. He needs to be someone who holds my hand in whatever situation we might be." Vedhavalli explained dreamingly.

They continued chatting for a while and retired for the night.

Same time at the British colonial Palace, Rakshakudam.

Rakshakudam is a kingdom ruled by a Zamindar named Martandan. He was a close acquaintance to the british colonel Henry fernsby. With his help, he captivated the king of Rakshakudam and started ruling the kingdom under the East India company.

The british palace was built in the outskirts of the Rakshakudam. It was a three storey building with four wings on every side.

In the east wing of the palace, someone was sitting in the balcony of his room. There was a old letter in his hand. He was reading it again and again. Eventhough, he could recall the words even in his sleep.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps outside his room. He heard a knock.

"The door is open. You can come in."
He shouted.

The door opened. There he saw his father whom he hated and loved at the same time.

"Father, do you need any help?" Noah Fernsby asked his father henry Fernsby.

Henry looked at the letter in his son's hand and knitted his eyebrow.

"No son. I just wanted to check on you and now I might need some help." He paused and looked at the letter once again and moved back his eyes to his son. "Throw that letter away. That might give me some peace."

Noah's jaw tightened. He gripped on that letter tightly and said "Seems like you are drunk which made you check on me all of a sudden. You should go to your room father. I need some sleep too."

Henry didn't speak a word. He turned back to leave the room but stopped suddenly. "You should be focusing on making our enemies surrender instead of holding onto that piece of useless paper." He said strenly without looking back and left to his room.

Noah looked back at the view in his balcony and sighed. He wanted to stop everything. Wars and enemies. He hated that. He wanted to return to his home and live a peaceful life. What is the use of destroying a country's livelihood? He thought to himself and opened a drawer beside his bed, took out a paper and started to write a mysterious letter to his bestfriend.

Dear friend,
                  Hope you are doing well. I know life is being crucial to all of us. All we need to do is hold on to that tiny hope. I'll be meeting you soon. You know what to do.

Regards,
N.

Noah ordered one of his trusted men to deliver the letter to his friend.
The night ended for him with thousands of questions in his mind.