Well she wasn't exactly lying to herself when she was determined to do the thing she was expert in..but it was the thing that comes second on the list of her expertise.
The next morning when she was getting ready to meet everyone in the breakfast table, she realised how hard it was to hide the dark circles under her eyes. She couldn't sleep all night, the girl who could sleep even on one feet was unable to take even a small nap on the posh of bed. She slapped her cheeks lightly to bring back the life on it, damn she never knew one night of sleepless night can cause so much destruction to her face.
She met the girls in hallway and greeted each one with smile. Well except Vidushi every girls yearning to marry Randhir was good according to Sanyukta. They were royal, sophisticated, humble and not bitchy like Vidushi. There was something about that girl Sanyukta always feel negative and it was not only her but even other girls would agree to that fact. Everyone set around the round table and unusually Randhir was late for the breakfast. Sanyukta tried not to look at him, when he greeted everyone.
She was on plan...she can do it...she was expert on it...yes she can ignore anyone in this damn world and so she can ignore Randhir too without fail. She remained quite and statue all the time he was there, she knew he was constantly looking at her time to time, but it seemed she found her food more interesting than anything else and refused to look up from her stupid plate.
"Aaj sham hum sangeet sabha karenge..hame pata hai aap sabhi rajkumariyan hamare shashtriyan sangeet sikh chuki hai, aur isiliye humne soch hai jo bhi rajkumari sabse achi sangeet hame sunayegi unhe Kunwar ke sath kuch ekant mein samay milega." The Rajaji announced.
Sanyukta shot her head up to look at him stunned and that's where she found Randhir rolling his eyes in irritation. She knew he don't like all these, he knew she doesn't even know the SA RE GA MA. She couldn't tear her eyes from him once they locked... Even his face had no glow today, she wondered if he forgot to apply fair & handsome on his face or even he had sleepless night like her.
"Rajkumari Sanyukta, aapko shayad hamari chunauti yaad hai. Hum asha karte hai din ka khana aap khane layak bana lengi." Rajaji said making fun of her and Sanyukta not only came back form her wonderland but also caught Vidushi smirking at her.
Sanyukta just nodded without saying a word and everyone rose from seat once Rajaji left the table with his wife and the other girls to started to follow them. Sanyukta was last one there and Randhir just waited for her to steal a moment with her. He held Sanyukta's hand when she walked passed by him..he needed to ask her why she was not even looking at him once like she always do, where he was wrong in all but before he could say anything again she freed her hand from his hold and ran away holding her anarkali suit up..and Randhir left there with the wincing mark of her nails dug into his skin.
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Sanyukta examined if she could detect one single expression from Rajaji's face while he was eating his lunch, cooked by her. She was sure that even if it was not as perfect as chef usually cook for them, she managed to get all food edible. Everyone ate in the silence and Sanyukta waited for the king to show a tiny bit of change in expression which never came till the end. There was one another thing apart from Rajaji that was killing Sanyukta's peace. And that was Randhir's absence from the dinning table. She knew the way she behaved with him lately, it was fair for him to be angry with her but still her heart was stupid enough to yearned Randhir's comment on her food. She hated to admit it, it was so not like her but it was the truth that she was missing him, terribly.
The king rose from his seat and came face to face with Sanyukta who was confidently standing in front of him. Sometimes Rajaji couldn't help but feel like spying on this girl, and reason was clear..she was nothing like the other princess on the quest. She always stand out on everything, surprise him and defeat him brutally hurting his ego. But something was off about her today, the king couldn't help but notice. She didn't had that wicked smile on her face and she wasn't even that happy when he admit that her cooked food was better than he expected.
She just bow down with a smile and said, "Ab to aap mante hai na hum ladkiyan kuch bhi kar sakti hai."
"Haan..lekin hame pata hai aap gana nehi ga sakti." The King remarked.
"Ab agar mujhe hi sab aaye to kaise hoga." She said as matter of fact.
"Lekin hum chahte hai ke aap sham ke sabha mein aaye... Aur haan Rajkumari, mujhe bilkul accha nehi lag raha yeh kehte huwe lekin sach mein aap bahot alag hai sabse." The Rajaji said and walked passed him without waiting for her witty reply.
Sanyukta hated dressing up, universe knew it but that evening she didn't know what gotten her and she picked up a pearl worked heavy white lehenga for the evening. She adorned her eyes with deep coates of kohl and she even used extra layer of gloss on her lips. She had missed Randhir so much, and she was certain that she would apologize to him after the stupid musical evening and to surprise him, yeah she can do this little effort. Do hell with her avoiding plan, she just wanted to talk to him once and say that she was being immature all the times.
She sat with other princesses' in the backyard where a deck was decorated beautifully with flowers and lights for the evening. She excitedly wait for Randhir to come and she again and again recited the speech that she prepared for him. Everyone rose from seat once Randhir entered with his parents and he smiled at other princesses as courtesy but the moment his eyes fell on the angelic beauty in front of him, Randhir couldn't breathe..he wanted to ran to her and kiss her lips which was looking too much inviting, but he remembered how she ran away from him again and again avoiding him and his smile dimmed to none. He knew she was hurt with his sudden change in expression but he was only giving her own medicine that she was using on him..
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She knew this feeling, when it feels like a knife twisted right inside heart when it feels like your stomach is nothing but a big hole and your heart is sinking in. She felt the same when Randhir looked away from her and never looked at her twice. One after one princess sat in the middle of the deck and sang various ragas Sanyukta had no clue. Randhir's face was still, he showed no interest nor he showed his annoyance to anyone much to Sanyukta's irritation.
Randhir stood up at the end of the function to declare the name of the princess he would spent some alone time. Sanyukta obviously knew it won't be her at any cost but she couldn't help but feel pang of jealousy...she had no reason to. Sanyukta tried to pacify her heart with thousand of logic that she shouldn't feel jealous about Randhir spending time with other girl. She had no right to feel authority over him, yet her heart was not listening to her. Sanyukta felt tears gathering on her eyes as Randhir held Vidushi's hand and walked out of the venue without even looking at her.
Sanyukta rushed out to her dorm before anyone left the deck and she knew even Randhir saw her excusing for bad health and ran out wiping her corner of eyes. She fell on her bed and cried like the same like she did when she had to leave her house. Her father had given her ultimatum to either marry his best friend's son or leave his house and Sanyukta choose to left behind her family than ruining her life with a brat like her groom was. Now she was feeling the same, the fear of lose her dear ones. She missed her mom, and somehow she knew that Randhir had become huge part of her life whom she gonna miss just like she missed her mom. She didn't realise when she feel asleep but when she heard a soft knock in her door, she checked the time and it was midnight..she felt disoriented finding herself in the same lehenga she wore in the evening. She wondered who it was on her door so late and she dragged herself to the threshold and the moment she opened the door, her feet froze on it's place. Randhir came inside her room hiding a tray and said..
"Aapka agar mujhe avoid karne ka kam khatam ho gaya ho to darwaja bandh karke aa jaiye..hum khana laye hai aapke liye."
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The Royal Mess -by Madhusmita Das (Completed)
FanfictionA love story between a prince and an ordinary girl...
