CH 1-10

Summary

Nayantara was born to rule. She was a princess and deserved to be a queen one day. But being a princess was not in her fate. She was nothing more than a slave to her family. This was not enough that one day they decided to marry her off to a ruthless king. Only by her wits will she survive in a game of power, betrayal, and war? One princess’s courageous journey to the throne. A saga of vengeance, pride, & love

1 Prologue

Introduction

Nayantara Solankyas – Princess of Anhilwara

Age: 19

Family: Digvijay (father), Gayatri (mother), Rajendra (uncle), Veena (aunt), Vishakha (17, cousin), Savita (daai ma)

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SiddhantVeer Agnivanshi – King of Maharav

Age: 29

Family: Suryadev (father), Padmini (mother), Adhisha (27, sister), Aditya (25, half-brother)

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Prologue

Nayantara woke up early. Today was a special day for her. She sat up from her bed and yawned, looking out from the small and only window of her room. The sky was rose-pink, heralding the dawn of a new day. Today she was going to take her kingdom back. She’s been waiting for this day for years when she would take her father’s kingdom back from her uncle.

She was just eight when her entire life turned upside down. She was playing hide and seek with her friends. She came to her father’s chamber to hide. Her father was not there at that time but the guards let her enter as it was her father’s chamber. She hid behind the couch. A few moments later her father, King Digvijay entered his chamber with his younger brother, Rajendra.

Digvijay was shouting. ‘How could you do this, Raj? There is a huge mess in the account. I was fighting the war and making our kingdom big. And here you are enjoying your life and spending money for your debauchery.’

‘I did nothing wrong,’ Rajendra shouted back. ‘I’m the prince of Anhilwara. I don’t need to explain my expenditure to anyone.’

‘I’m not anyone. I’m your King,’ Digvijay shouted and coughed as he raised his voice too loud.

‘Brother,’ Rajendra was immediately by his side and rubbed his back. ‘Calm down, brother. I will give you my explanation if you want.’ He walked away and took a jug of water and filled a glass.

They weren’t aware that Nayantara was there and she remained hidden. She saw that her uncle took out a small bottle from his overcoat and added a few drops in water.

Rajendra handed the glass to his brother. And Nayantara’s life changed forever. Her father died in front of her eyes and she couldn’t do anything. Her uncle was smiling while his brother was taking his last breath. Slowly the crowd gathered there and Rajendra started crying. In all this chaos nobody noticed Nayantara. Her mother, Queen Gayatri couldn’t bear this loss and she also died within a few days.

Her last words to Nayantara were, Play wisely if you want to survive and win one day. Don’t repeat your father’s mistake.

Then after Nayantara’s daai ma, Savita, raised her and took care of her. She never uttered a word to anyone about her uncle’s secret, not even her daai ma.

Nayantara shook her head to clear her thoughts. She had to stay calm and collected today. She wiped the sweat on her neck. Many times she would sweat while sleeping as the room was congested with no ventilation. It was the smallest chamber in the palace, which was generally used for the queen’s special maids. But after her father’s death her aunt, Veena, threw her in this chamber. She stepped down from her bed and went into the bathroom to finish her morning business.

She took a bath and then wore simple yellow attire. As she got ready someone knocked on her door.

‘Come in,’

The door opened and daai ma entered the room.

‘I am all set to attend my dear sister’s wedding,’ Nayantara said with a smile.

Today was her cousin’s wedding. Her uncle’s daughter. Vishakha. She was seventeen years old and Nayantara was nineteen years old. But still, nobody thought about her marriage. Her cousin was going to marry the most handsome prince among all the kingdoms. The prince of Patyal. Prince Jayraj. The wedding was going to be organized in their old castle as it was in the middle of both the kingdom and convenient for both the groom’s and bride’s side.

‘Are you sure, Princess, you want to do this? I mean there is no other way,’ Savita said.

‘You think my uncle will give me my throne back just like that. I’m paying for my father’s mistake. Because of him, I’m in this state. He knew his brother was not a nice man, then why he should trust him? How could he be so stupid.’

‘Trusting your own brother is not stupidness, Princess.’

‘It is stupidness,’ Nayantara shouted. ‘He fulfilled his duty towards everyone. His kingdom. His family. But what about me? I was nothing for him. He had never spent his time with me. And then he left me in this mess. He made this big empire and for who? For his cunning brother. He didn’t think about my future, my safety. No Prince will marry me because my uncle will never fix my marriage to anyone. He didn’t want to give me anything. Not even a slight happiness. I have to live alone my entire life. All because my father had intelligence and power, but not wisdom.’ Nayantara’s heart twisted in pain. She didn’t like to say bitter things about her father. She loved her father a lot and her father also loved her. She knew that. Even if he didn’t have time for her. Her father was a kind man with a forgiving nature. He was so mighty that no enemy could beat him. But what you could do when the threat was inside your home. He wanted to keep his family together even if he was aware of their evil intentions.

‘I can understand your pain, Princess, but killing them…’ Savita trailed off.

‘There was no other way to take my throne back.’

‘Is throne that much important that you want to spill the blood of your own family?’

Nayantara gave a bitter laugh. Clearly Savita didn’t know how Rajendra took the life of his own brother. ‘I don’t know about the throne, but yes my self-respect is worth spilling the blood of my own family.’

‘But, Princess, what if you don’t succeed? You cannot fight, and your uncle is a trained warrior.’

‘You don’t need strength to betray someone.’ Her plan was simple. She was going to give his uncle the same poison he had used on her father. And then she would kill Prince Jayraj. Otherwise, he would marry her cousin and take the throne as a son-in-law. Nayantara wanted to do this a long time ago. But in the beginning, she was a small girl and had no courage to do anything. With time their tyranny increased. Sometimes she cried for hours and hours in her room but there was no one to wipe her tears. They never treated her as a family. But when they fixed Vishakha’s marriage without thinking about her, she decided to do something. She couldn’t live like a maid for the rest of her life. They made her do household chores. Her day used to start early. She had to prepare the Queen’s bath and then clean her chamber. Then she had to do the same for Vishakha. Then she ate her breakfast with other maids. Then after she cleaned the royal garden, library and some other places. They gave her Vishakha’s old clothes to wear even if Nayantara was taller than Vishaka and her clothes couldn’t fit her perfectly. Some maids in the palace used to laugh at Nayantara’s condition and some felt pity for her. And if this was not enough they used to humiliate her in front of the royal guest. Her princess dignity was completely shattered. Her condition was worse than a maid. She believed that no work was small. But the problem was nobody laughed at maids if they wore someone’s worn clothes or did home chores. But when you are a princess, people used to taunt, laugh, gossip, or show pity.

‘If you get caught then they will…’ Savita said as Nayantara interrupted her.

‘I have nothing to lose,’ she stated firmly.

Savita sighed. ‘Even if you sit on the throne, it is not easy for a woman to rule.’ She tried to make her understand the risk of her plan.

‘I will rule,’ Nayantara said in a firm voice. ‘I will be the supreme authority. I will be a queen one day.’

Savita opened her mouth to argue further, but Nayantara raised her hand. ‘Someone is coming.’ she said and the next moment, the door opened and Vishakha walked in with some maids. Her family never knocked on the door like her privacy didn’t matter. However, she could never enter her Uncle, Auntie, or Vishakha’s chamber without permission. Now Nayantara had got used to it and was always cautious while talking about any confidential matter.

‘Good morning, Nayantara,’ Vishakha said.

Nayantara forced a smile. ‘Good morning, Vishakha,’

Vishakha was wearing a heavy lehenga and jewelry. She was covered in gold from top to bottom. ‘Here are some of my clothes that I think would look good on you. You have to look beautiful today. Don’t come in your rags. After all, it is my wedding,’ she said.

Nayantara always wanted to snap back, to give them a straight answer, but then her mother’s words rang in her head. Play wisely. She sighed and glanced at the clothes the maids were holding. ‘They are beautiful. I like it.’

‘Pick whatever you like and the rest I will distribute to maids.’

Nayantara nodded with a smile. ‘Sure,’ she stepped forward and randomly picked up three lehengas. ‘I like these three. The rest you can distribute.’

‘Okay. I know these clothes look beautiful on you. Now get ready. We are leaving in some time,’ Vishakha said and then walked out of the room.

‘You don’t have to wear this. I have made a beautiful lehenga for you,’ Savita said.

‘No, daai ma, I will wear this,’ Nayantara said. She had a lost look on her face.

‘Just look at my work. You will like it.’

‘No, this is perfect for me.’

‘Why are you hurting yourself, princess?’

Nayantara fought back her tears. Here she was. Alone. Holding old clothes. Living without mother’s love and father’s protection. And on the other side, her cousin was going to start a new life. Her uncle created his dream world by stepping on her father. ‘I don’t want my wound to heal. I want to keep them open. This pain is the only fuel to reach my motive.’

Chapter Notes

Glossary

Maa shri – Mother

Pita shri – Father

Dadi ma – Grandmother

Bhabhi shri – sister in law

Devarji – Husband’s younger brother, brother-in-law

Daai ma – babysitter

Rajmata – queen mother

Didi – Elder sister

Saali – Wife’s sister (sister-in-law)

2 Invasion

They all reached the wedding destination. The maids were running here and there for arrangements. Nayantara chose this place to kill her uncle because here the security was not as tight as the palace. She could easily go to the kitchen and add poison to the king’s food.

Everything was ready. But she had to wait for one more day as the groom’s side had not arrived yet. She had studied all the entries and exits about the castle in advance when she had come here with some maids a few days before the wedding to look after arrangements.

The day passed and finally, the groom’s side also arrived. The bride’s side did their grand welcome and then everyone settled in their respective rooms. In a short time, both sides were going to meet at lunch. Nayantara was all ready. She stepped out of the castle and started walking towards the back side of the castle. There was one more gate, which could let her to the back door of the kitchen.

But before she could reach the gate, something hit the castle wall. Its impact was so strong that castle walls shook along with the ground. Nayantara fell and a huge cloud of dust covered her body. She coughed and rubbed her eyes to clear her vision. Another hit. She heard the screams and chaos. Someone was attacking the castle walls with cannons.

Nayantara stood up and looked around to figure out what was happening. She saw the flags of Maharav. They were hardcode enemies. They shared a border. And so they had maximum conflict. King Digvijay once won some of its princely states and in those fights, King Suryadev of Maharav died. But when King Rajendra sat on the throne, Maharav won their states back. And it happened because of Suryadev’s son King SiddhantVeer Agnivansh. He was a strong, ruthless King. Every other kingdom was directly or indirectly under his control. He had a huge army that could destroy any kingdom in moments. Nayantara had heard many stories about King Siddhant. He had married two times and both his wives died. Her first wife died after giving birth to a stillborn baby. Within a few days, he got married again. But his second wife also died of falling from the stairs after four months of their marriage. Then after he didn’t marry anyone else. People say he was the one who killed both of his wives.

Nayantara tensed up. Everything would be finished if Maharav wins Anhilwara. Then they all would be nothing but the winning trophies to Maharav. They would do whatever they wanted to do. And you couldn’t expect kindness from King Siddhant.

She had to think quickly. They needed their army. And here they had only a quarter of the men. Going back and coming with the army took a long time. There were some tribals in a nearby forest. They had to contact them for help. Her father had good relations with them. She could go herself, but she didn’t know horse riding. She ran to the front side of the castle. Everyone was shouting and running here and there. Soldiers were taking their positions.

‘Where is the head commander?’ she asked one of the soldiers.

‘What are you doing outside, princess? Go inside. We are under attack,’ the soldier said.

‘I know. Tell me where is the head commander?’ Nayantara shouted irritably.

‘He is at the east gate.’

Nayantara ran off without wasting a moment.

‘No, princess, stop. The east gate is down. Maharav’s army was there,’ the soldier shouted behind her. But Nayantara didn’t stop. She had to save her kingdom.

As she reached near the east gate, she heard shouts, cries, and swords clashing. Maharav’s army men were everywhere.

Nayantara scanned the area and immediately found the head commander at the other end, engaged in the fight. She took a deep breath, collecting the courage to go through the battle to reach the head commander.

She carefully made her way between soldiers. But suddenly one Maharav’s soldier dashed at her with a naked sword in his hand. Nayantara screamed in fear and tried to run away, but she tripped over a dead body.

‘Oww…’ Before she fell to the ground, a strong rough hand grabbed her arm.

Nayantara looked up at the warrior and a shiver ran down her spine. She was never this close to any man. He was huge and tall. Taller than every warrior present there. Her eyes lingered on his face. He had a straight nose, firm lips with a mustache, and a beard on his strong sharp jawline. He had a nasty cut across his right cheekbone and up over his thick eyebrow, making him look more wild. He had huge, bulged arms and calloused palms.

One look at his mountain-like structure and Nayantara realized that he could no one but King SiddhantVeer Agnivanshi. Everything about him exuded manliness and power.

‘Are you blind,’ Siddhant said irritably, his voice thick and rough, his hand still holding her thin arm. He looked at the girl from top to bottom. Her face was dusty. Her hair was dull and dry. She wore old clothes, her blouse torn from the shoulder and her skirt two inches smaller than her height. She can’t be from the royal family, despite he could see the beauty behind her messy form. But she didn’t look like a normal girl either. Her eyes were like a burning fire, filled with a motive. Only a powerful queen could have eyes like this. ‘Girl, play somewhere else. This is a battlefield.’

Nayantara relaxed a little as she realized Siddhant had no idea who she was.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ she said hurriedly and ran off. She reached the head commander, but he was busy in a fiery battle. She had to wait until he killed his opponent. But wasting time could be dangerous. Now she had to do the thing she didn’t want to do. She had to go to her uncle and convince him to send someone to the forest and ask tribals to help them.

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Nayantara was pacing up and down in her room. Her uncle didn’t want to listen to her plan. As she went to him, he just cut her off and ordered the guard to lock her in her room.

It was now night. And everything was quiet outside. Nayantara had no news about anything. Nobody opened the door. Not even for the food. She finally lay on the bed and she didn’t know when she fell asleep.

Her sleep broke early in the morning when she heard the door open.

‘Princess…’ Savita dashed into the room. She was full of panic.

Nayantara sat up straight, sleep immediately vanished from her eyes. ‘What happened? We lost the war?’

‘Worst,’ Savita said, trying to catch her breath. ‘I don’t know how to tell you.’

‘I’m strong enough to take any news. Just speak up.’

‘They fixed your marriage with King SiddhantVeer. Your marriage is going to be done right now.’

Nayantara stood up angrily. ‘Who are they to fix my marriage without my concert.’

‘It is a political agreement. To settle the war.’

‘How could they sacrifice me?’ Nayantara cried. ‘I will not marry him.’

‘You have to.’ Rajendra stepped into the room with Veena. ‘Or I will make your life a living hell.’

That’s it. Nayantara never raised her voice in front of her uncle, but now she had her limit. ‘You sold me out to protect yourself. What kind of uncle and what kind of a king you are.’

Rajendra slapped hard across her face. ‘Speck one more word and…’

‘No, Your Majesty, it is her wedding day. Don’t ruin her face. I will make sure she will be down within five minutes,’ Veena said.

‘It will be better,’ Rajendra said and walked out of the room.

‘You,’ Veena pointed at Savita. ‘Get her ready. If you don’t want to see her in trouble.’

‘I will, your highness. Don’t worry,’ Savita said politely and Veena left them alone.

‘Daai ma,’ Tears collected in Nayantara’s eyes. ‘He is an old man. He had two wives before. I don’t want to marry him. I deserve better. He can’t be my husband.’

‘Princess, why are you taking it negatively? Think about the bright side. You will be the queen of Maharav. What is here for you? Just insult and torture.’

Nayantara fought back her tears. ‘But, daai ma, this is my kingdom. I want Anhilwara. Nothing else.’

‘Princess, throne and power are not everything. Once you will get married you will have your own family. A new life will help you to heal your wounds.’

‘But I want powers. Powers to punish all traitors.’

‘You will have powers. The power of the queen. After this marriage, Anhilwara will come under Maharav. And as a queen of Maharav, it will be automatically yours.’

Nayantara shook her head. ‘No, I’m not ready for this marriage.’

‘Princess…’ Before Savita could say anything, some maids entered the room with clothes and jewelry.

‘We are here to dress up the princess,’ one of them said.

‘Yeah, get her ready,’ Savita said.

Nayantara sighed. Her daai ma couldn’t understand her concern. It was not all about marriage. Her instinct was telling her that Siddhant’s first two wives’ deaths were suspicious. People always called her negative. But she knew she was not negative. She could see what others couldn’t. She could anticipate the situation quickly and correctly. She knew her life was in danger there.

3 The wedding – I

Nayantara looked at herself in the mirror. She couldn’t recognize herself. She was so prettily done up, looking like a queen. First time in all these years she wore new clothes and jewelry. She was in an off-white lehenga and bright red dupatta with heavy embroidery on it. She wore her mother’s gold ornaments. Her hair was tied in an elegant bun, decorated with red roses. All dressed up to sacrifice her to a ruthless king.

She stood up and maids guided her to the wedding pavilion.

Siddhant looked on as his bride came towards him. He clenched his fists as his eyes fell on Princess Nayantara. She was the same girl who was roaming outside in rags. What kind of princess could be so boorish? But he couldn’t back off now.

Veena and Vishaka came beside Nayantara and made her sit beside Siddhant.

Even if Siddhant was angry, he couldn’t help noticing how beautiful her bride was. She had big eyes, a small nose, and plumpy lips. Her skin was glowing and flawless. Her hair looked shiny, black behind a net dupatta. That day she looked like a rough diamond and now the polished one. But her face showed indifference, clearly not happy with this marriage.

The priest started mumbling vows and Nayantara tried hard not to cry in front of everyone. She absentmindedly took vows around holy fire and then Siddhant tied the nuptial chain around her neck and filled the vermilion in the partition of her hair.

That’s it. The priest declared them husband and wife. Nayantara couldn’t believe how her fate could be so bad. Her life was already a living hell, what else she would have to endure.

The priest advised them to seek blessings from their elders. But Nayantara just stood up and started walking towards her palanquin. She didn’t want blessings from evils. She had enough. She didn’t even wait for her husband. She wanted to be alone so she could cry freely. She wanted a young man. A virgin young man. She wanted to be his first and last. But all she got was a beast.

Siddhant couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never seen such a rude princess in his entire life. He could teach her a lesson right here, right now. But she was now his wife and the queen of Maharav. Her insult was his disgrace. If he knew that she was so ill-mannered then he would have never married her. Well, he had no idea that this kind of princess existed in the world. He used to think that all princesses were good and well mannered until she met Nayantara.

‘My apologies, my lord,’ Rajendra said. ‘She must be tired. You know the sudden wedding and all…’

‘It’s okay,’ Siddhant said dryly. ‘Now we would like to leave.’

‘I request you again, my lord. We will be blessed if you stay for my second daughter’s wedding. You are now our son-in-law and we couldn’t even serve you properly.’

Siddhant shook his head. ‘No, we will accept your hospitality some other time.’

‘As you wish, my lord,’ Rajendra folded his hands in namaste. ‘If my daughter commits any mistake, please forgive her. After her father’s death, I spoiled her in every way so she wouldn’t feel lonely or unloved.’

‘Don’t worry about her. She is now my responsibility.’ Siddhant did namaste too before he turned and walked towards his horse.

Siddhant and his army could reach Maharav in just a few hours, but now Nayantara was with them, Siddhant decided to travel slow. They even stopped at night and pitched camp, so the princess could eat and rest. Siddhant decided to stay in a separate camp. He didn’t want to pick up a fight in the middle of the road.

It took them one and a half days to reach the palace.

Nayantara slowly stepped out of the palanquin. While traveling, she had not seen Siddhant, but now she had no option but to face him. She was relieved that her daai ma came with her. She looked around. Right now she was nowhere to be seen. She looked up at the palace. It was as grand as her palace. Except this palace was made up of red stones. She had reached a point in her life where materialistic possessions no longer impressed her. Despite having all the prosperity in her life, there was nothing she could have experienced. She came to understand that obtaining something and truly enjoying it were two entirely different things. Even if you have everything, you may still be unable to experience the joys of life. It’s up to fate to determine how much enjoyment you are granted. It’s like having a plate full of delicious food, but if you are unwell or stressed, you cannot savor the meal. Nayantara’s life was the same. She was a King’s daughter. A princess. But still, she had to live like a maid in her own palace.

She was lost in thought when Siddhant came to her and grabbed her by her elbow, alarming her. ‘I saw your behavior towards your family. You can do whatever you want with them. But this is your in-law’s house. And I will not tolerate any kind of misbehavior towards my mother and my family. Is that clear?’

When Nayantara didn’t say anything, he tightened his grip on her arm, making her yelp in pain.

‘Yes, yes,’ she hurriedly said. And with that, he left her arm and walked on. She followed him.

As they reached the entrance there was no one. Siddhant sighed. His mother always arranged his grand welcome whenever he came from the war. But this time nothing, not even a small worship. He knew why.

‘Sorry, nobody wants to welcome you,’ he said sadly.

‘Who said nobody wants to welcome,’ Suddenly a handsome man appeared in front of them with a pooja dish and a pot of rice. He gestured the maids to place everything. And they put the pot and a wide plate filled with red liquid in front of Nayantara.

‘I will welcome my bhabhi shri,’ he said.

Nayantara glanced at Siddhant.

‘My younger brother. Aditya,’ Siddhant said with a smile.

With a slight bow, Nayantara folded her hands together. ‘Nice to meet you, Aditya.’

‘Nice to meet you too, bhabhi,’ Aditya said with a bright smile. He was the exact opposite of his brother. He had a smiley face, lively eyes, and a lean, muscular body. He was clean shaven. In short, he was prince charming. Not an angry beast like his brother.

‘Please welcome, bhabhi.’

Nayantara kicked the pot with her toe, spreading the rice on the floor. And then she slightly lifted her skirt and stepped into the plate. With her red feet, she stepped forward and walked into the palace of Maharav.

‘Aditya, you take her inside and assign some maids to serve her,’ Siddhant said. ‘I will be back.’

‘Come, bhabhi. This way,’ Aditya said and Nayantara went with him.

Siddhant went to his mother’s chamber.

‘I came after a great victory and there was no welcome for me. Seems like my messenger didn’t reach you,’ he said as he entered the chamber. His mother was sitting at the edge of the bed. Her hands clasped in her lap.

‘I got your messenger,’ she said dryly.

Siddhant walked towards her and sat on his knees in front of her and touched her feet to take blessings before he looked up at her. ‘Then why didn’t you come to welcome your daughter-in-law?’

‘Why did you marry her?’ she asked sternly.

‘You are the one who wanted me to marry again.’ After Siddhant’s first wife passed away, he didn’t want to get married again. But her mother forced him as she wanted an heir. But she also died. Then after he got many proposals from many kingdoms, but he refused all of them. Even after his mother pressured him to marry again, he was adamant about his decision not to marry again. He had accepted that having a wife and children was not his fate. But this time he didn’t know what happened to him, he just accepted Rajendra’s request. But now he was regretting it. Nayantara was a sassy princess.

‘Yes, I wanted you to marry again. I want my grandson. But not from her. How could you marry our enemy’s daughter? Have you forgotten her father killed your father?’

‘I haven’t forgotten anything, maa. But her uncle literally begged me on his knees for his safety and requested me to accept Nayantara as a token of alliance. I’m the emperor. I cannot punish the person who has surrendered to me. I have taken my revenge. Anhilwa and Patyal both are now under my control. They will pay a protection tax to Maharav. And king Digvijay is already dead. I cannot kill someone who is already gone.’

‘But why Rajendra was going to marry her daughter first and not Nayantara, while she was elder. Maybe something is wrong with her.’

Siddhant sighed. He knew something was mysterious about Nayantara. But now she was his wife and he had to protect her dignity. ‘Rajendra told me that he wanted to marry Nayantara with Jayraj. But Jayraj and Vishakha loved each other and they had crossed all the lines. So he had to get them married.’

‘He said and you believed it?’

‘Maa, this is political marriage. This is how it works.’

‘You will regret your decision.’

Siddhant inhaled a deep breath and tried to change the subject. ‘Has Dadi ma returned from her pilgrimage?’

‘No, I got her letter yesterday. It will take her a week to arrive here.’

4 The wedding – II

Nayantara was sitting at the edge of the bed. She was looking at her lavish chamber. The wall and ceiling were decorated with fluted carvings. The floor was covered in rich carpets. The furniture was made of wood, marble, and gold. Everything there was reflecting power and wealth. She got this queen tag at the cost of her kingdom.

‘My lady… my lady…’

A voice broke the chain of her thoughts and she looked at the source of the voice. Some maids were standing in front of her.

‘We all are here to serve you and you can select any one of us as your personal maid. You can select right now or you can wait and see whose work is best and then pick one,’ one of them said.

Nayantara looked at everyone and then her eyes spotted a young girl, who was standing at the corner and arranging a flower pot. Seemed like she was not here to serve her. ‘Who is that girl?’ Nayantara asked.

The girl immediately stopped her work and looked up with a smile. ‘I’m Vida.’

‘What is your age?’ Nayantara asked.

‘Sixteen.’

‘Are you new in this palace?’

‘No, I have lived here since childhood. My mother is a gardener here. She maintains the royal garden.’

‘And your father?’

‘He died in the war. He fought from Vasna’s side. He was Second in command,’ she said proudly, but there was a bit of sadness in her tone.

‘Then how did you come here?’

‘When Maharav won and took control over Vasna, they assigned my mother here.’

‘Do you like it here?’

‘Yes. The king is nice towards soldiers’ families.’

‘I like this girl,’ Nayantara stated.

Vida’s eyes lit up. The Queen’s personal maid means a lot of facilities and a little bit of power over other maids.

‘But my lady, she’s just joined. She is under training. She has no experience of how to serve a queen. And she talks a lot and works less. She doesn’t know anything. She cannot even make your braid,’ one of the maids said.

‘She will learn with time,’ Nayantara said as she looked at Vida. ‘What do you say, Vida? Would you like to work for me?’

Vida ran to Nayantara and sat beside her feet. ‘Thank you, my lady. Thank you. I will not disappoint you,’ she said, holding Nayantara’s legs.

Nayantara chuckled at her innocent happiness. ‘Stand up, Vida. What are you doing?’

‘My lady, you are making a mistake…’ one of the maids spoke, but Nayantara cut her off.

‘You all are dismissed. I will allot your duties later.’

The maids went out of the chamber.

Vida stood up. ‘My lady, would you like to take a bath? Then after you can eat and rest.’

Nayantara smiled. ‘That is exactly what I want, Vida.’

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Nayantara was not used to having maids do everything for her. They started their work without asking her anything. First, they applied sugar paste on her arms and legs to remove all her hair, including her pubic hair. Nayantara tried hard not to scream as for the first time her skin felt this torture. Instead, she acted like it was nothing new to her. She knew how princesses live and act, however she was experiencing it for the first time.

‘Apologies, my lady, but it seems like your maids in Anhilwara were not taking care of you. And now you have to face this pain,’ one of the maids said.

Nayantara knew she was saying it after seeing the growth between her legs. ‘I was busy at my sister’s wedding. And then my wedding happened suddenly. So I didn’t get the chance. But you are right. I was busy but they should still take care of all this,’ She lied smoothly. She couldn’t reveal her secret to anyone. She didn’t want to give new gossip material to everyone. She knew nobody actually cared about her pain.

‘Exactly, my lady. They should remind you of all these,’ the other maid said. ‘But we will always take care of your beauty.’

Nayantara nodded. However, she was not interested in maintaining any kind of outer beauty. She wanted the throne. She wanted the crown. Power was the only thing that made someone glow. By the time they were done, her skin was sore all over though very soft and smooth. They prepared her bath and made her sit in the pool. The water was warm and soothing. They applied different kinds of ointment on her body and washed her hair.

Then they chose maroon attire for her and dressed her like a queen, like a newly wedded girl.

‘You are so beautiful, my lady,’ Vida said, looking at her through the mirror.

‘Vida, I’m hungry.’

‘Yeah, yeah, my lady, I will be back in a minute,’ she said and ran to get the food.

Nayantara dismissed all other maids. She sat there in silence. She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to see her married look. She didn’t want to be Siddhant’s wife.

‘Your lunch is here, my lady,’ Vida’s voice came from the bedroom before she walked to the dressing area.

‘Thank you, Vida. Now you go,’ Nayantara said, who was still sitting in front of the mirror.

‘Okay, my lady. Call me if you want anything.’ with that she left.

Nayantara looked at her heavy ornament and started removing it one by one. Her wedding bangles, headpiece, nose ring, wedding ring and toe rings, waist chain, neckless, anklet. At last, she was just in her nuptial chain. She looked up at the thick red vermilion in the partition of her hair and then back to her nuptial chain. She wanted to remove them as well. She lifted her hand to remove her vermilion. But suddenly she felt her heart heavy and she burst into tears. She couldn’t. She couldn’t remove her fortune with her own hands. He was her husband even if she didn’t want him. His only family.

She wiped her tears and stood up. She winced as she felt an afterburn from the sugar paste between her legs. She ignored the pain and walked to her bedroom. The food plate was placed on the side table. There were many dishes on her plate. She used to see all these dishes, but she rarely ate them. There were three sabzis, daal, rice, raita, pickles, roti, green chilies, sweets, and buttermilk.

She tore a piece of roti and dipped it into a curry. She moaned as she put it into her mouth. The roti was so soft and thin and the sabzi was a perfect mix of spices. She finished her plate quickly. After ages, she ate such a delicious meal. She washed her hands in a bowl. She clapped twice and a maid walked in and took the plate away.

Nayantara yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes. After a long time, she would sleep in a huge bed with a silk bed sheet and covers. She threw herself in the bed. She was exhausted both physically and mentally. And sleep quickly took her.

When she woke up it was a late evening. She called Vida and she showed her around. Her chamber had a study room, sitting area, dressing room, library, and gardens.

‘The garden is beautiful, Malini. You have maintained it very well,’ Nayantara said to Vida’s mother. There was a fountain, pond, fish, birds, rabbits.

‘I am glad you like it, my lady. If you have any specific demand then tell me. Any specific plant you want?’ Malini asked.

‘Yes, actually I want to do something?’

‘What is it, my lady?’

‘Can you grow some vegetables at the back side of the garden?’

‘Vegetables?’ Malini found her demand strange but agreed anyway. ‘Why not, my lady. Just tell me what you want and it will be done.’

‘Thank you, Malini.’

‘I have never seen a queen who shows gratitude to her staff. I’m glad my daughter is working for you. If she makes any mistake please forgive her.’

‘Don’t worry, Malini. I will take care of her.’

‘You are so nice, my queen.’

‘Can I meet Queen Nayantara?’ Suddenly a voice grabbed Nayantara’s attention.

‘Daai ma,’ Nayantara ran towards Savita and hugged her tightly. ‘Where have you been?’

‘They allotted me a room.’

‘Which room? Is it comfortable? Tell me if you have any problems?’

‘Of course, I will tell you if I have any problem. My daughter is now a queen after all.’

Nayantara gave a bitter laugh. ‘I would rather be a maid than his queen.’

Savita’s eyes widened in shock. ‘Can I talk to you alone, princess?’

Nayantara nodded as she said, ‘Privacy.’

Savita waited until Malini and Vida went from there.

‘What is this, princess? You are now a married girl. Where are your wedding bengals and other ornaments? What if Mother Queen will see you like this?’

‘I don’t care what Siddhant and his mother think,’ Nayantara said bluntly.

‘Princess,’ Savita cried in utter shock. ‘He is your husband. Speak of him with respect. Wife doesn’t take her husband’s name.’

‘He is not my husband. He forced me into this marriage,’ Nayantara snarled.

‘Marriage is marriage, princess. And who knows, maybe the king is a nice man.’

‘If he was a nice man then he would have asked for my consent.’

‘Don’t be prejudiced, princess. Accept your husband with an open mind.’

‘I cannot. He ruined my dream. My motive.’

‘Think about the other side, princess. If you have the support of your husband, you will be unstoppable. You will have the power to do whatever you want to do.’

‘A woman is nothing without her husband? Can’t I do anything on my own?’

‘This is how the world runs, princess.’

‘But I cannot live with that beast.’

‘Quiet, princess. You cannot use that kind of word for your husband. Try to accept him.’

‘I’m just a baby producing machine to him. Why don’t you understand? He just wants an heir. He will not let me do anything. My powers are only limited to materialistic things. I can ask for expensive clothes and jewelry. That is it.’

Savita sighed. ‘Even if you don’t like your husband, can you change anything?’

Nayantara hung her head. Her daai ma was right. There was nothing she could do now. She had to live this cursed life. There was no prince charming in her fate. ‘I want to stay alone for some time, daai ma.’

‘Yeah, sure, you rest. I will see you later,’ Savita said and walked away.

Nayantara came back to her chamber. She went to the library and read to kill some time until it was dinner time. She took her dinner and talked a little with Vida. As she finished her dinner, Vida stood up. ‘Let’s get you ready, my lady.’

‘Ready for what?’

‘Your wedding night,’ Vida said excitedly.

Nayantara’s eyes widened. She was not ready for it. She couldn’t let him touch her.

‘No, Vida, you go. I will do it myself.’

‘Why do you want to take that hassle? I will do it for you.’

‘Vida, when I give you an instruction, I expect you to obey,’ Nayantara said in a slightly strict tone.

‘Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry, my lady,’ she said as she picked up the empty plate and stormed off.

Nayantara closed her eyes. Oh, God, save me from that beast.

5 First night

Nayantara was pacing up and down the room. Her heart was hammering in her chest. The consummation of marriage was far away, she was not ready to face her husband. She waited and waited, but Siddhant didn’t come, and she started relaxing a little. Maybe now he wouldn’t come. She slept in the afternoon, but still felt exhausted mentally. That whole day, her head was clouded with so many emotions, fear, anger, pain, insecurity. She decided to change her heavy lehenga to something comfortable for the night. She went to the dressing room and opened the cupboard. The maids had already arranged her clothes she had come with. Her uncle didn’t want a bad impression in front of King Siddhant. So he had sent many things in dowry.

She wore a lean white petticoat, which ended up to her knees. Her room in Anhilwara was small, dark, and congested with less ventilation, so she used to wear this kind of cloth when she was alone in her room. When she walked out of the dressing room, she found Siddhant sitting on the edge of the bed. She froze in her place, fear slowly creeping up her spine.

Siddhant looked up at her, and his eyes widened in awe as he took in her appearance. She was in a sheer cloth and all her curves were visible behind the light material. The swell of her small, perfectly round breasts, her sloppy waist, prominent hips, and long, slender legs.

Nayantara came back to her senses as she felt Siddhant’s intense gaze on her. Her cloth was almost transparent, and Siddhant could see through it. She took a step back and tried to run back into the dressing room, but instead her leg hit the door frame.

‘Ouch,’ she rubbed her knee.

‘Hey, careful,’ Siddhant was immediately by her side.

Nayantara clenched her jaw. ‘What are you doing here?’ she seethed.

Siddhant raised his brows. ‘What am I doing in my chamber?’

‘Aditya said this is my chamber.’

‘Our,’ Siddhant corrected.

‘What?’ Nayantara gaped at him. ‘There is no separate chamber for me?’

‘No.’

‘But in our palace there is a separate chamber for the queen.’

Siddhant placed his hand on the wall beside her, caging her with his huge frame. He stood nearly a foot and a half above her. His eyes raked over her face. Her face looked innocent, but her eyes held maturity.

‘But we don’t provide a separate chamber for our queen,’ he said, looking deep into her nut brown eyes.

Nayantara’s blood turned cold, trembling at his proximity. He held an aura of strength and danger. His eyes were sharp and narrow, penetrating her soul. His tousled black locks fell over his forehead.

‘But if you want to take it for yourself, you can,’ he said.

‘Really?’ Nayantara asked with a suspicious look on her face.

His dark eyes twinkled. ‘Of course, how could I say no to you on our wedding night!’

A chill ran down Nayantara’s spine as she realized the hidden meaning behind his words.

‘You are mine. So everything that belongs to you is automatically mine. I don’t mind living in my wife’s room.’ He smirked and removed his overcoat and dropped it on the floor.

Nayantara felt goosebumps all over her body. ‘Did you marry me to take revenge?’

Siddhant’s jaw hardened, and Nayantara noticed how angular and cruel his jaw was. ‘I take revenge on the battlefield, not with a woman.’

Nayantara stared at him for a moment and then lowered her eyes. ‘Let me go,’ she heaved.

Siddhant’s cupped her nape. ‘Why would I? It’s our wedding night,’ he said as his fingers pulled out her hairpin and her dark, lusty hair fell to her waist. ‘Beautiful,’ he muttered, while his thumb rubbed the sensitive spot behind her ear.

Nayantara quivered. ‘Siddhant, please,’ she pushed against his chest.

Siddhant’s eyes widened in surprise. His name smoothly rolled out of her tongue. ‘Siddhant, huh? No respect for husband.’ he slightly chuckled at the end.

Nayantara bit her lower lip as she realized her mistake. ‘I’m so sorry, my lord. I’m so sorry,’ she hurriedly said. ‘I didn’t do it intentionally. It just slipped from my tongue. Actually, I used to call you by your name before our marriage. So it just… I’m sorry,’ she blabbed.

‘You knew me before our marriage?’

Nayantara gulped, wetting her dry throat. ‘Of course, you are our hard core enemy. We always talk about you.’

Siddhant nodded, and his eyes roamed her body again. ‘Your maids are very creative. What a dress they chose for you! No need to make any effort.’

‘No, actually,’ before she could finish, Siddhant scooped her up in his arms like she weighed nothing, catching her off guard.

‘Let’s go to the bed,’ he said, looking down at the fragile princess in his arms.

‘No, my lord, please, let me go,’ Nayantara cried in panic and tried to wriggle out of his arms. But his arms were so bulgy and strong around her.

Siddhant looked unaffected by all her effort and screams as he carried her to the bed and threw her on it. Before Nayantara could sit up and try to run, he climbed on her. He removed his kurta in one swift motion and threw it on the floor before he bent over her.

Nayantara’s body went into survival mode. She started throwing her hands at him with all her strength, but he seized both her wrists in one hand and pinned them above her head. Her breasts pert with effect.

‘No, no, please,’ Nayantara cried in frustration. He was so big, so beasty. His shoulders were broad, and his muscles were cut from steel. He could do anything he wanted to. There was no way Nayantara could hurt him or escape him.

‘Relax, princess,’ he said softly as he pushed back a strand of her hair and softly kissed the side of her head.

Nayantara’s breath hitched in her throat. His beard tickled her cheek. He moved down and sucked on the supple flesh just below her jawline. His teeth dug into her skin as he bit there, making Nayantara whimper in pain.

‘Please, my lord, don’t,’ she cried meekly. Her eyes forced shut. A layer of cold sweat covered her body. She cursed herself for wearing such filthy clothes. Just one tug on her cloth, and she would be naked.

He slightly pulled back and gave feathery kisses to soothe the pain. ‘I’m your husband, Nayantara. You are now Nayantara SiddhantVeer Agnivanshi,’ he whispered against her neck, his words a harsh whip of reality, like he was intentionally reminding her. His hand cupped her breast through the thin fabric, and his thumb brushed her nipple.

‘Noo…’ Nayantara wriggled under him, trying to free her arms. But his grip on her wrist was like iron. Her eyes shot open as she felt his hand move to the edge of her dress, slowly lifting it up.

‘N-no, don’t!’ Nayantara cried in panic as she felt his rough hand on her inner thigh.

Siddhant ignored her pla as he ran his rough hand on her sleek thigh, enjoying the softness of her skin.

‘Please, my lord, please. I’m not ready.’ She was on the verge of tears.

Now Siddhant decided to show mercy to her. He didn’t want to make his bride cry on their wedding night.

‘Okay, okay, calm down. I have no intention to take you forcibly,’ he said as he released her wrists.

Nayantara blinked at him nervously, her heart hammering in her chest. ‘Please, don’t force me.’

‘I will not. Relax yourself,’ Siddhant said as he rolled to his side and propped up on his elbow and rested his other hand on her stomach. Her legs weighed down by his heavily muscled calf, restraining her from even moving an inch.

Nayantara looked down, her thighs were bare, and she hurriedly pulled down the flare of her dress.

Siddhant’s eyes never left her. He knew why she was afraid of him. He was aware of his barbaric look.

‘Nayantara,’ he said, drawing back her attention to him. ‘Do you know I have never seen a princess like you in my entire life.’

‘What do you mean?’ she said in a barely audible voice, her mind still in shock.

‘What kind of princess wears torn clothes and roams under the hot sun without guards! What if my men had caught you or killed you. What kind of princess does that kind of stunt?’ he said in a scolding tone. And for some strange reason, Nayantara liked it. Before this, no one had ever bothered to think about her safety.

‘How could your uncle allow this? Doesn’t he care about your safety?’ he said, and his tone slightly rose with anger. ‘Why were you roaming outside?’ he demanded.

Nayantara looked away. ‘None of your business.’

‘Everything about my wife is my business. Do you have any sense that my men could rape you. Battlefield is not for women.’

‘I wanted to meet our head commander,’ Nayantara said in a small voice.

Siddhant thinned his brows. ‘Why?’

‘I wanted to save my kingdom. At that time, our army was not at the castle. But there were tribals in the nearby forest. My father had good relations with them. I wanted to contact them for help.’

Siddhant nodded, looking impressed with her idea. ‘That’s why you changed into those rags so nobody could recognize you?’

Nayantara slowly nodded her head. However, it was a complete lie. But it was too soon to trust her husband to reveal the secret of her life and family.

‘But you could tell this to your uncle,’ he said.

‘I did. But he didn’t listen to me, and…’ Nayantara said, her voice breaking. ‘I lost everything.’

‘Hey,’ Siddhant cupped her face, admiring a tiny mole on her left cheek. ‘You didn’t lose anything. What is mine is yours now.’

Nayantara gave a bitter laugh. ‘First you took my kingdom, and now you are offering me what was already mine.’

Siddhant shook his head, smiling. ‘You are impossible. I don’t think I will ever make you happy.’

‘You don’t have to. After all, it’s a political marriage.’

‘Nayantara, I know you are not happy with this marriage. I should have asked for your consent, but I don’t know what happened to me at that time that I just agreed to your uncle’s proposal.’

‘You are now regretting your decision?’

‘Nope. I think my decision is right. I got a clever wife. I must say your idea was good. If tribals had come there, then we might have lost the war. Your uncle should have listened to you.’

Nayantara’s heart gave a jolt. In her entire life, nobody ever appreciated her.

‘In addition, you are so beautiful. So, yes, my decision turned out to be right,’ he said with a teasing smile.

Nayantara rolled her eyes with a tint of blush on her cheeks. ‘Now you are saying this, when you saw me in a queen’s outfit. When my body is smooth and soft and smells of the best perfume in the world. Did you find me beautiful when you saw me in rags, when I was dirty and stinky?’

‘Yes,’ he said instantly. ‘I’m a fan of rough diamonds.’

Nayantara blinked at him in surprise.

‘Your eyes,’ He feathered her cheek with the back of his fingers. ‘It is so intense. So mysterious. Like a queen who has many things in her head. Even in rags, you didn’t lose your confidence and spark.’

Nayantara lowered her eyes, like she didn’t want him to read her anymore. ‘Now, will you please move away from me? So my heart could calm a little.’

A low, thunderous laugh erupted from his chest. ‘Okay, okay, I will not bother you anymore,’ he said, and shifted to his side.

Nayantara sighed with relief. She sat up and dropped her legs off the bed. But before she could stand, Siddhant held her arm. ‘Where are you going?’

‘I will sleep on the couch.’

‘Sleep here.’

‘No, I…’

‘Fine, go, if you want gossip in the palace.’

Nayantara hesitated for a moment before she slowly nodded. She knew nothing remained secret about the royal family. ‘Okay, but let me go change my clothes.’ she said, as Siddhant’s hand was still on her arm.

‘I have seen you in this cloth. Now there is no need to change it.’

Nayantara’s face was on fire. This was embarrassing. ‘If I had known I would have to share a room with you, I would never have worn this type of cloth.’

‘Why not? You are looking sensual in this. I like it,’ he said, enjoying the blush creeping up all over her face.

‘My lord, please. Don’t tease me.’

‘You can call me Siddhant when we are alone. And you can wear whatever you like in our bedroom. But no rags outside the chamber.’

Those rags were my compulsion, my lord. You will not understand, she thought.

‘You are my queen. My pride. Your dignity is everything to me,’ Siddhant said, and Nayantara felt her heart swell with unfamiliar emotions. Nobody ever said so nice to her. Maybe daai ma was right. Maybe he was not that bad. She was expecting him to break on her like a beast. But all her assumptions went wrong. But she couldn’t lower her guard so soon.

‘Now sleep,’ Siddhant said, breaking her chain of thoughts.

Nayantara slowly slipped under the comforter, and Siddhant pulled it up to cover both of them. She turned her back toward Siddhant and tried to sleep. But sleep was nowhere in her eyes. She was afraid. No, not with Siddhant, as he didn’t touch her. Yes, she was uncomfortable sharing a bed with a stranger. But her main concern was with herself. Sometimes she had nightmares, and she cried in her sleep. In her entire life, she never cried in front of anyone. But now she had to live with her husband. She didn’t want to show her wounds to anyone. Not even her husband.

6 Royal family

Nayantara woke up sharp at her usual time. She blinked her eyes, taking in her surroundings. Her head spun as everything hit her suddenly. She turned around and found Siddhant was still asleep. She was relieved that Siddhant kept his distance from her. She tried to sit up but then dropped herself back. It was early morning, and the bed was too cozy. Longing to sleep a little more erupted in her. She was now a queen, and she had nothing to do, so she could sleep a little longer. She adjusted the comforter around her and went back to sleep.

Siddhant woke up after some time. He sat up and found Nayantara still in deep sleep. He shook his head in disbelief. Spoiled princess. He stepped down from the bed and walked towards the bathing area. He decided not to call maids for his bath, as their presence could disturb the princess.

After taking the bath, he wrapped a towel around him and walked to the bedroom. He was running late, and now he needed maids to get him ready. As he reached the bedroom, he found Nayantara sitting on the bed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, taking a long yawl. A smile crept up on Siddhant’s lips. She looked adorable, with slightly puffy eyes and messy hair.

‘So my princess is up,’ he said.

Nayantara shuddered, sleep completely went from her eyes as a rough voice washed over her. Oh, no, she must wake up before her husband. After a long time, she woke up so late. She looked at Siddhant, who was standing in front of her with a towel wrapped around his waist. She gulped as she took in his half naked, freshly bathed form. Her eyes roam over his sturdy, muscular physique. The water droplets were falling from his hair and rolling down to his chest. His chest was firm and wide. His muscles flexed as he lifted his arm and ran through his hair. He had a scar on his left shoulder and one on his lower abdomen. His abs were like a washboard, sculpted by countless hours of hard work. He was handsome in a beasty way.

Siddhant cleared his throat, making Nayantara come back to her senses. She immediately lowered her eyes.

‘Sleep well?’ he asked teasingly.

‘I’m sorry, my lord,’ she said as she stepped down from the bed. ‘Tomorrow I will wake up early.’

‘It’s okay. Now come and help me get ready,’ Siddhant said, and he went to the dressing room.

‘Me?’ Nayantara stood there with her mouth open.

‘Who else then?’

‘Why?’ she asked blandly. ‘You don’t have maids?’

‘Why should I call maids when my wife is here? Now, come fast. I’m getting late.’

Nayantara slowly walked towards the dressing area and stopped at the door.

‘Hurry up, Nayantara.’

‘Yeah,’ she groaned in frustration as she walked to the cupboard. She looked at all the clothes confusingly. ‘What would you like to wear?’

‘Whatever you will pick up for me.’

She stared at clothes for a few moments before she picked up an off white kurta and lower with a yellow overcoat. ‘This one will look good on you.’ She sat the clothes on the dressing table. ‘I’m waiting outside.’

‘No. stay here. Help me wear this,’ Siddhant said as he let his towel fall.

‘Auw,’ Nayantara immediately closed her eyes and turned around.

Siddhant chuckled and started wearing his clothes. ‘You can now open your eyes,’ he said as he finished.

Nayantara slowly turned around and relaxed a little as she found him fully covered. But his overcoat was still there. She got the message. She took the overcoat and went behind him. His back was so broad, with prominent muscles. She helped him wear the coat, her fingers brushed over his shoulders, arms, and back, feeling his thick muscles beneath her hands. She then slipped his signet ring in his finger. At last, she put the crown on his head.

‘Thank you, my little wife,’ Siddhant said as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

Nayantara blushed and watched as Siddhant walked away. She then called her maids to prepare her bath. The maids started blushing and giggling as they looked at Nayantara.

Nayantara narrowed her eyes. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘How it was, my lady?’ One of the maids asked.

‘What?’ Nayantara asked, confused.

‘What kind of stupid question you are asking! Of course, it must have been rough. Our king is not close to gentle,’ another maid said.

Nayantara’s eyes widened. There was nothing between them, and here these girls were gossiping and giggling about it.

‘Are you in pain, my lady?’

‘Shut up everyone and move your hands fast,’ Nayantara said in an authoritative tone to put an end to gossip. Everyone rushed to finish her bath. They wrapped a towel around Nayantara, and she came to the dressing area. She sat in front of the mirror, and the maids started her adornment. Vida picked out green attire for her, but Nayantara shook her head. She turned around to look at the cupboard. Her cupboard was filled with new clothes. There were racks and racks of clothes.

‘These were not here last night,’ she said.

‘The mother queen sent them when you were in the bath,’ one of the maids said.

Nayantara nodded, and Vida picked out another outfit. ‘How about this, my lady?’

‘Perfect,’ Nayantara said, and Vida helped her to wear it. Suddenly, her eyes fell on her reflection. She gasped as she found a dark red bruise below her jawline. It was clearly visible whenever she tilted her head. Now she realized why the maids were giggling. She closed her eyes to calm her anger. Why did Siddhant have to do this? The maids helped her wear a necklace, rings, waistband, anklet, and toe rings. At last, Nayantara filled vermillion in the partition of her hair to complete her look. She stood up and twirled a little. She was dressed in yellow attire with mirror work in it. It reflected when the sunlight fell on it, giving it a glamorous look. A smile appeared on her lips. She never looked this fresh and energetic. It matches Siddhant’s clothes. A thought came into her mind, and she was surprised by her own thought. Why should she match with him?

She walked out of the dressing room with a big smile on her lips. Everything was beautiful around her. She had bright clothes. She loved her new chamber as the sun’s rays first hit here, also allowed cool air from the Venturi effect to pass through, thus making the whole area more pleasant during the high temperatures in summer. She deserved all these luxuries from her childhood, but all she got was a dark cottage. She shook away her thoughts as she had to take care of her queen’s duties.

But before she could walk out of her chamber, the guards outside announced Mother Queen’s presence.

Padmini entered, and Nayantara adjusted her dupatta on her head before she stepped forward to touch her mother-in-law’s feet. But Padmini stepped back. ‘No need for this sham. If you had manners, you would have come to my chamber to take my blessings.’

‘I’m sorry, maa shri. I was just coming…’

‘I don’t want your explanation. I came here to give you your queen’s signet, and key and document of treasury,’ she said, and the maid stepped forward with a plate with a signet, key, and some scrolls on it.

Nayantara touched the plate, accepting it, and then Vida took the plate from the maid.

‘I hope your aunt taught you everything, and you will not disappoint me.’ With that, Padmini walked away.

Nayantara sighed. Why was she destined to have a bad family?

Nayantara’s day passed understanding the administration of the palace. By the end of the day, she was tired but happy. Finally, she could do something meaningful. As she was going back to her chamber, her eyes fell on an empty room with a few paintings on the wall.

‘What’s in this room?’ she asked Vida.

‘There is nothing except some of the king’s favorite paintings.’

Nayantara stepped in, followed by Vida. Nayantara looked up at the huge portrait of King Siddhant with a beautiful woman.

‘This is Queen Chitra. The king’s first wife,’ Vida said.

Nayantara stared at the painting. Siddhant didn’t have that ugly scar on his face, and he was looking happy. He had his mustache and beard, but they were neatly trimmed, not as bushy as they were now.

Nayantara shifted to the second painting, where Siddhant was with his second wife, which was even more beautiful than Chitra. But in this painting, Siddhant had his ugly scar on his face and, he didn’t look happy.

‘This is Queen Mrugnani,’ Vida said. ‘The most beautiful princess in all over the Hind.’

After seeing both of his wives, Nayantara couldn’t understand what Siddhant saw in her. She was not even close to these beauties. She was aware of her look. She was too skinny. She couldn’t gain a healthy weight after her parents’ deaths. ‘Do you know how they die?’

‘Queen Chitra died during childbirth. The baby was stillborn. And Queen Mrugnani died falling from the stairs,’ Vida said.

Nayantara shook her head. The same story she already knew. Her heart fluttered at the possibility that she might end up like them, but then she quickly shook her thoughts away. She couldn’t dwell in worries. She was not here to solve Maharav’s palace mystery. She wanted her kingdom. And now that her first plan was ruined, she had to come up with a new idea. But first, she had to settle down in this new place as soon as possible. She had to make friends and collect information. Find out who liked her and who was against her. And during this time, if she found out that her life was also in danger, she would try to solve Siddhant’s first two wives’ death mysteries.

She walked on, and in this painting, Siddhant was with a small, around three year old baby girl in his lap. He looked so happy, and he held the baby like it was the most precious thing he had ever seen.

Nayantara smiled. ‘Such a cute baby.’

‘She was the king’s daughter. Princess Aayushi,’ Vida informed.

Nayantara’s eyes widened. She didn’t know Siddhant had a daughter. And she didn’t hear about the princess even after coming to this palace. That means Siddhant lost her as well. ‘What happened to her?’ she asked in a small, broken voice.

‘She died the day after her mother died,’ Vida said sadly. ‘That day, the entire palace heard the King’s cry. Even Prince Aditya couldn’t stop his tears for months. She was everyone’s favorite. Maharav Palace lost its charm after that.’

Nayantara’s heart sank. She didn’t know whether she should feel bad about Siddhant or the princess. She immediately changed her mind seeing this little princess. She had to solve this mystery. She could see herself in this little girl’s place, whose life was sacrificed in the game of throne.

As your choti maa and the queen of Maharav, I will give you justice, princess, She promised, and she walked on.

‘There is no painting of Aditya?’ Nayantara asked casually.

‘You don’t know, my lady,’ Vida lowered her voice. ‘Prince Aditya is not Queen Padmini’s son. His mother was King Suryadev’s mistress. King Siddhant loves his brother, but Queen Padmini hates him.’

Nayantara was not surprised by this news. She knew royal families had big secrets. But she felt bad for Aditya. She could imagine how people would have treated him. She roamed her eyes into the entire room and found one more painting on the opposite wall.

Her mouth hung open as her eyes stared at the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life. She walked to the painting. ‘Who is this young man?’

Vida giggled.

Nayantara thinned her brows. ‘What?’

‘My lady, you couldn’t recognize your own husband.’ She giggled again.

Nayantara gaped at her. ‘What! Is this Siddh… I mean, the Lord?’

‘Yes, my lady. This is King Siddhant.’

Nayantara blinked at the painting, not believing her eyes. He didn’t look wild at all. His physique was not as muscular as it was now. He looked innocently handsome. He was clean shaved. His skin was two shades fairer than now, and there were no scars on it. He had playfulness in his eyes and a heart melting smile on his lips. Nayantara couldn’t help but run her fingers on the painting of his young, handsome husband. Who could understand better than her how life’s challenges could strip away your beauty and charm, making you look more mature and older than your age.

‘Why are these paintings not in the King’s chamber?’

‘King just started crying whenever his eyes fell on his daughter. So Queen Padmini shifted all the paintings here.’

‘But I want this painting in my chamber,’ Nayantara said, staring at her dream man.

Vida smiled. ‘You like it that much, my lady?’

‘Yes, shift it to my chamber.’ With that, Nayantara walked out of the room.

After coming to her chamber, Nayantara had dinner. By then, the painting was also there. She was standing in front of the painting, but her mind was somewhere else. She was thinking about her future plans.

Now as she was a queen, she had money power. She could easily send someone to kill her uncle and his son-in-law. But the moment her uncle sold her to save himself, she had decided she wouldn’t give him a simple death. First, she would burn his empire into ashes and make him swallow it. She would take all his happiness. His family.

‘What are you doing?’ A thick voice washed over her, making her jump and turn around.

‘My lord?’ she blinked. Siddhant was standing in front of her, all tall and barbaric.

A satisfying smile spread across his lips as he found her in bright yellow attire. ‘Where were you so lost?’ he asked.

‘Nothing.’

‘What is that?’ he asked, pointing towards the painting hidden behind her.

‘Painting!’

‘You make it?’

She shook her head.

‘Then? Whose painting is this?’

‘It is my dream man,’ Nayantara said with a sloppy smile.

Siddhant’s jaw hardened. ‘What do you mean by dream man? Are you in love with someone else?’

Nayantara nodded shyly.

Siddhant grabbed her upper arm in a dead grip and pulled her close. Her dupatta slipped from her head. ‘That’s why you didn’t want to marry me? Has your uncle known about him?’ he said, squeezing her arm tightly.

Nayantara bit back her scream. He was such a beast. ‘You are hurting me, my lord,’ she muttered.

Siddhant looked into her eyes intensely. ‘You are now my wife, Nayantara. Forget him, whoever he is.’

Nayantara gulped. He looked so possessive. So dominant. ‘I cannot. He is so handsome. I’m so in love with him,’ she tried to say in a serious tone. But from inside, she was a volcano of joy. She enjoyed teasing her beasty husband.

Siddhant gritted his teeth. ‘Who the hell is this bastard? I will kill him.’ He shoved Nayantara aside to look at the painting.

As soon as his eyes fell on the painting, he shook his head at her prank, and Nayantara started laughing.

‘What is this, Nayantara? Here I’m in front of you, and you are admiring my painting.’

‘What could I do! I always wanted someone like him. I mean, look at your painting. You were so charming. So fair. Your body was smooth and scarless. And your smile was so beautiful.’

Siddhant laughed. ‘At that time, I was just sixteen, Nayantara.’

‘So? Have you ever seen your face in the mirror? You’re looking like a wild beast now.’

Siddhant laughed again. ‘I looked happy and young because, at that time, my father was alive. So I had no worries in my life. But then your father killed my father, and I had to sit on the throne, take responsibilities and fight wars.’

Nayantara’s jaw dropped. ‘I was just eight when I lost my father. If it makes you feel any better,’ she said, and she walked away to the balcony.

‘Hey,’ Siddhant went after her and stood beside her on the balcony. The weather was pleasant, and cold air was blowing on their faces. ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you.’

Nayantara stared at him. ‘Neither my father nor your father took permission from me. It was their choice.’

‘Clam down, my fierce princess. I’m not blaming you. Why do you get angry so easily?’

Nayantara looked away, and Siddhant pulled her into his arms. Nayantara’s heart raced with proximity, and her anger calmed a little.

‘Okay, now we will not talk about our fathers.’ Siddhant said as he kissed her head.

Nayantara closed her eyes for a moment. After years, she felt this kind of affection. A hug. A caring kiss.

They stood there quietly, staring at the stars in the dark sky, before Siddhant broke silence. ‘If you have seen this painting, you would have seen others too.’

‘Yeah, I saw.’

‘Why didn’t you mention it?’

‘I didn’t want to open your wounds.’ It was her second day here. It was too soon to dig into his personal life. So she didn’t talk about other paintings.

‘Don’t worry. My wounds have never healed,’ he said, and Nayantara looked at him sadly.

‘I’m sorry for your loss.’

‘You saw my baby girl?’

‘Yeah,’ she said in a small voice. ‘She is such an angel.’

‘My baby died in my arms, and I couldn’t save her.’ Siddhant’s hands were shaking, and his eyes turned watery.

Nayantara slowly placed her hand on his. ‘My lord, have you ever thought this could be a murder?’ she asked carefully.

‘Why would anyone kill her? She was just a baby. A girl. If she was a boy, I could understand everyone wanted to kill her for the throne.’

‘But, still…’

‘Nayantara, I did the investigation. But nothing came out of it.’

Nayantara wanted to explain to him how wrong he was. Siddhant was just like her father, who could control the entire world but was unable to understand family politics. But it was too early to get involved in his family matters.

Whether Siddhant accepted it or not, Nayantara knew those were the murders. She didn’t know anything yet, but she would find out. She would find out everything to give justice to that little innocent soul.

7 She takes charge

Siddhant took a bath and came to the bedroom, all dressed to leave for the throne hall. He shook his head as he found Nayantara still sleeping. Her mouth was open, drooling. She was sleeping like she hadn’t slept for years. Siddhant cleared his throat, but she didn’t even stir. Siddhant walked to her and sat on the edge of the bed. He leaned forward and kissed her parted lips. Nayantara moaned and licked his lips in her sleepy state.

‘Good morning, princess!’ Siddhant whispered against her lips, and Nayantara startled. Her eyes shot open, and she found Siddhant right in front of her face. He had a smirk on his face and amusement in his eyes. Nayantara tried to sit up, but he pinned her down.

‘Siddhan…’ Nayantara tried to speak, but her voice died as he claimed her lips again. He sucked her lips as if trying to suck life out of those pink petals. When she tried to resist, he bit her, making her whimper, forcing her to open her mouth. He slid his tongue into her mouth, exploring every corner of her mouth. Nayantara moaned and couldn’t help but kiss him back, savoring his cinnamon test. He reluctantly left her lips, and Nayantara stared at him breathlessly.

‘Late again?’ He smirked.

Nayantara lowered her gaze. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘You look so beautiful in the morning,’ Siddhant said as he leaned in and kissed her neck. Slowly at first and then sucked harshly.

Nayantara whined. ‘My lord, don’t do that,’ she said in a shaky voice. ‘It leaves patches on my skin.’

Siddhant pulled back and stared at the fresh bruise he had just left. ‘Damn! Does it hurt?’

‘It is not that, my lord. Actually, the entire palace is gossiping and laughing and imagining the things you would have done with me after seeing these bruises,’ she said, and Siddhant started laughing.

‘It is not funny, my lord,’ Nayantara said annoyingly. ‘It is embarrassing.’

‘Why do you care what others think?’

Nayantara sat up. ‘It is easy for you to say as people behave in front of you. But my maids used to tease me and ask me how it was.’

Siddhant laughed again. ‘Ah, women talk. It is your problem, Nayantara. I will devour my wife the way I like.’ With that, Siddhant left the room.

Nayantara sat there, dumbfounded, her face flushed. If he was this demanding and rough with just kisses, what would happen when… She shook her head to clear her wild thoughts. She had a lot to do. Today, she had to check the account. She stood up and looked out the window. The sun was high and hot in the sky. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. Again, she couldn’t wake up early. Why did she get so lazy after coming to Maharav? Maybe the chamber and the bed were too cozy.

Nayantara took a quick bath and dressed in pink attire. The maids giggled whenever their eyes fell on Nayantara, as today her lower lip was swollen and there was a new bruise on her neck.

Nayantara went to study and spent her time studying the account book of palace expenditures.

‘My lady, do you know mathematics?’ Vida, who was getting bored, asked.

Nayantara hummed, lost in her work.

After an hour, Nayantara summoned the treasurer. He stood in front of her with his hands tied in front.

Nayantara pushed forward the accountbook. ‘What is all this, Manoj ji? You used 500 gold coins for curtains and 70000 coins just for the flooring of the courtyard.’

Manoj’s lips curled in a wicked smile. ‘Yes, because curtains, stones of the floor, and every other thing mentioned in this account book are the most expensive ones as they are for the royal family.’

Nayantara leaned back in her chair without breaking eye contact with him. ‘I see. And why did you change the flooring?’

‘The old flooring was made up of rough stones. But the new one is made up of polished black igneous rocks.’ he said silkily.

‘Who gave you permission to change everything?’

‘Rajmata herself approved all the bills,’ he said confidently. ‘I can show you all the bills with royal stamps on them.’

Nayantara gave a small smile. ‘No, Manoj ji. I trust you. You can go now.’

He slightly bowed his head and left the room.

‘What is the matter, my lady? Why did you ask him so many questions?’ Vida said.

‘Everything is overpriced, Vida. I can smell corruption in this.’ Nayantara said in a serious tone.

‘Corruption! How could he dare so when rajmata herself was taking care of palace stuff?’

‘Tell me one thing, Vida. Can rajmata read and write?’

‘No, my lady. Her trusted people read for her.’

‘So this is the matter. Maa shri didn’t know what she was signing.’

‘We should go to rajmata and tell her everything.’

Nayantara shook her head. ‘No, Vida. She hates me. She will think I’m questioning her ability. I will not involve maa shri in any matter.’

‘Then what will you do, my lady?’

Nayantara clapped twice, and a maid ran inside. ‘Send my bodyguards in.’

Within a minute, Nayantara’s bodyguards, which Siddhant had allotted for her, stood in front of her.

‘Abhay, Aazad, you have to do something for me,’ Nayantara said, and she explained everything to them.

‘Okay, my lady, give us a day. We will report to you everything,’ Abhay said, and then they walked out of the room.

That night, Siddhant came late into the chamber with worries on his face. Nayantara asked him the reason, but he forced a smile on his face and told her it was nothing. The next two days passed like this. Siddhant came late into the chamber and went early in the morning.

---

Nayantara was sitting in front of the mirror, and Vida was making her braid.

‘Vida, is there any problem in the kingdom?’ Nayantara asked, looking at her through the mirror.

‘No, nothing. Yeah, but I heard people talking about the civil war.’

‘What? A civil war? What is the issue?’ Nayantara immediately became serious.

Vida shrugged. ‘I don’t know,’ she said neglectfully.

But this information made Nayantara tense.

‘Don’t worry, my lady. The king and other men will take care of it. This is not a women’s area to worry about.’

‘Leave my hair. You, go and collect all the information about the civil war.’

‘But, my lady, I don’t even know what a civil war is.’

‘You will know, Vida, when you collect the information. And don’t tell anyone that I want this information. Do it smartly. Like you are just curious and gossiping.’

‘Yes, my lady.’ Vida’s eyes sparked with excitement, like she was going on an important mission. ‘I will be back in sometime with all the information.’

She came after an hour. Nayantara was sitting on the swing with a bowl of grapes on her lap. Her long skirt swept the ground. She slowed down the swing as Vida walked in.

‘Now I know what a civil war is.’ Vida said confidently.

‘So what do you find out?’ Nayantara asked, putting the bowl aside.

‘There is a civil war in Tansil village between two communities.’

‘What is the reason?’

‘They say it happened because of cultural values, so the king is also feeling helpless.’

Nayantara hummed.

‘But the main problem is something else,’ Vida continued to say, ‘Tansil village is near the south border of our kingdom. So our neighboring kingdom, Jakat, is indirectly sending the weapons to both communities to keep the war on.’

Nayantara nodded before she said, ‘Excellent job, Vida. I am proud of you.’ She took out a gold coin from her pouch and gave it to Vida.

Vida’s face broke into a big smile as she took the coin. ‘Thank you, my lady.’

---

It was late evening. Nayantara was in the study, reading a book, when Siddhant entered with Aditya and a few other officials.

‘Pranam, bhabhi shri,’ Aditya said as his eyes fell on Nayantara. The other officials did the same.

Nayantara accepted their greetings with a warm smile. They all settled around a table a little far away from Nayantara.

They started discussing the civil war, and Nayantara was shocked to hear their ghastly plan. She was more surprised when Siddhant agreed to their plan. The plan was best to win the war but was not suitable for the civil war. Their discussion went on for two hours before they wrapped everything and left, leaving Nayantara and Siddhant alone.

Nayantara slowly sat up from her place and went to Siddhant. She took the chair in front of him. ‘Your plan will not work,’ she stated directly.

Siddhant narrowed his eyes. ‘Excuse me?’

‘You will lose so many army men and common people in this, and nothing will come out of it. But if your man ego doesn’t want to listen to me, then fine.’ She tried to stand up, but Siddhant held her hand.

‘Why do you get angry in an instant? I never said I would not listen to you. But that doesn’t mean you call me stupid on my face. I expand this kingdom on my own. I know how to rule it.’

‘Yes, you know how to rule with the power of a sword. But the war comes with dreadful consequences. There are some other ways you should consider before you choose a war,’ Nayantara said in a firm, clear voice.

‘Come, sit. Tell me what you want to say,’ Siddhant said softly.

‘This civil war will not end just with army power. The Army should not be used against our own people.’

‘Even if they are rebels?’

‘Yes, even if they are rebels, they are still our people. We have to do this with as little bloodshed as possible. Using the army will turn them against their king and will create some new problems in the future. You cannot take one side either, as it is about cultural issues. You cannot even fight against Jakat, as you have no proof of its involvement.’

Siddhant leaned forward in his chair. ‘Then what is your advice?’

’First, we have to set up intrusive checkpoints and patrols to cut off the weapon supply. Then we have to focus on common ground. Most people want safety, opportunity, and a good life. Look for common values and goals to build upon. We have to use a give-and-take technique. We also have to compromise on something, but not all.’ Nayantara went on and on.

Siddhant was shocked by her knowledge. Nobody knew that Nayantata was highly educated. Her uncle stopped her education after her father’s death. Her sister didn’t want to study, so he stopped Nayantara’s education as well. But Nayantara never stopped self learning. She generally chose the library to clean and let the maids do other places. So she could stay in the library and read. As she was officially a princess, no maid opposed her decision. Nobody paid attention to what she was doing in the library. She knew everything. Business. Politics. War strategies. History. Mythology. Literature and a little bit of biology.

‘But Nayantara, this will take a lot of time,’ Siddhant said. It wasn’t that he wasn’t aware of all these techniques. But he had never studied as deeply as Nayantara.

‘Yes, the process is slow. You have to be patient. But in the end, you can build a more productive society.’

‘You are so clever, Nayantara. I will consider all your suggestions,’ Siddhant said sincerely.

‘One more thing, my lord. Can I come to the courtroom?’

Siddhant thinned his brows. ‘What will you do there?’

‘I will not come every day. I will come only when I want to present the things that come under my control.’

‘Tell me, Nayantara, you are not plotting to dethrone me, are you?’ Siddhant said with a serious face, making Nayantara burst into laughter. ‘No, seriously. It hasn’t even been a week since you came here, and all you’re interested in is governance.’

‘So what if I dethrone you and sit on your throne! Didn’t you tell me what mine is yours!’

‘Now I’m sure you are definitely planning something against me.’ Siddhant said.

‘Okay, okay, we will play this throne game later. For now, I’m hungry. Have you had dinner?’ Nayantara asked as she stood up.

‘No, let’s eat together.’ Siddhant said as he joined her.

Nayantara smiled. ‘For the first time after our marriage, we will eat together. Who do you eat with every day?’

‘Aditya and some other officials.’

‘I eat alone,’ Nayantara said in a slightly sad tone as they entered their bedroom. Nayantara called the maid and asked for dinner.

‘Do you want me to eat with you?’ Siddhant asked, and they settled on the couch.

Nayantara shook her head. ‘No, I can understand lunch and dinner meetings.’

Siddhant shook his head. ‘You are strange as a wife too.’

Nayantara narrowed her eyes. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You don’t want to assert any right over your husband? You don’t want your husband’s time?’

Nayantara shrugged. ‘I never think about all this.’

Siddhant was about to say something, but he stopped as the maid entered with their food. She placed it on the small table in front of them and bent on her knees to serve the plate. There were three sabzi, roti and paratha, dal and boiled rice, raita, chutney, pickle, salad, papadum, and kheer.

Nayantara’s eyes narrowed as she found there was just one plate. But she waited until the maid walked away.

‘Is there any problem?’ Siddhant asked, seeing her confusion.

‘Why is there only one plate? Where is my plate?’ She knew why there was one plate. But she wanted to eat alone.

‘This is your plate,’ Siddhant said as he pushed the plate towards her.

‘Then where is your plate?’

‘I will eat from your plate.’

Nayantara made a face.

‘Don’t worry, you will eat first. Then I will eat your leftovers.’ Siddhant said with a soft smile on his face.

Nayantara immediately regretted her behavior. ‘No, no, my lord. Please don’t mind my insolence. You eat first, please.’

‘It’s okay, Nayantara. You have it.’

‘No, no, my lord, you start first.’ she said as she tore a piece of roti and dipped it into the bowl of sabzi, filling it with the vegetables. She forwarded her hand towards Siddhant. ‘Please forgive me, my lord.’ Her eyes were begging silently as she brought her hand towards his lips.

Siddhant took the bite, licking her fingers intentionally in the process. A shiver ran down Nayantara’s body as his lips came into contact with her fingers.

‘Delicious!’ Siddhant said, his intense eyes staring deep into her.

Nayantara blushed and lowered her gaze. ‘Your flirting nature doesn’t match with your look, my lord.’

Siddhant raised his brows. ‘Don’t tell me you judge me by my look.’

‘I do. You don’t look like a flirting type husband.’

Siddhant laughed. ‘You haven’t seen anything yet, my princess. And I’m warning you, the way you’re keeping me waiting won’t be good for you.’

Nayantara thinned her brows. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You shouldn’t stop me on our first night. I had planned to be very gentle with you. But now I will take revenge for all the nights and days that you kept me away.’

Nayantara’s eyes widened, and she felt a tightness in her stomach. She looked away with an angry blush on her cheeks. ‘We shouldn’t talk while eating,’ she said timidly as she made a bite for herself. But before she could put it on her mouth, Siddhant held her hand and forwarded towards his mouth, taking in the bite.

‘I made your hand dirty,’ he said as he made a bite and brought it to her lips. ‘Use my hand. It is clean. My princess doesn’t eat anyone’s scrap.’

Nayantara shook her head, smiling. She slowly took the bite from his hand. She felt blessed. Siddhant was so different from what she had imagined. He was dominant and kind at the same time.

8 The queen in the courtroom

The next day, Nayantara woke up early as she had to go to the courtroom. She wore simple, cream-colored attire with minimal ornaments. When the guards made an announcement of her presence in the courtroom, everybody got shocked and looked at each other. But they quickly recovered from the shock as Nayantara entered the courtroom, and they stood up to greet the queen.

‘Bhabhi shri, are you going to join us?’ Aditya asked. His chair was right to the king.

‘I’m here for one of the matters that come under me,’ Nayantara said.

‘Welcome to the courtroom, bhabhi shri. You will sit left to the king,’ Aditya said with a smile, and Nayantara took her seat.

After a few moments, the guards made an announcement of the king’s presence. Everyone stood as Siddhant entered the courtroom. He beamed as his eyes fell on Nayantara. She looked effortlessly beautiful, as well as intelligent in her sober clothes. He gestured everyone to take their seats before he sat at the head of the table.

‘We will start with the queen,’ Siddhant said as he looked at Nayantara. ‘Why do you have to take the trouble to come to the courtroom, my lady?’

‘I want to show you some documents,’ Nayantara said as he spread the account book of royal expenditure in front of everyone. Viduar, the treasurer of the public exchequer, was also there. He was an old, sincere man. Nayantara started to explain every mistake, hole, and overbilling. Every man present there was surprised by Nayantara’s knowledge. She could understand the account very well. This was the first time they met a woman who was this good with numbers.

As she finished, Siddhant looked at Viduar.

‘The queen is right, my lord. This is a big scam. He drained a lot of money,’ Viduar said.

‘Call, Manoj,’ Siddhant said.

Within a minute, Manoj was standing in front of them. One of the officials read his crime in front of him before Siddhant asked, ‘You want to say anything in your defense?’

Manoj gulped. ‘I already explained everything to the queen. Rajmata passed all these…’

‘Stop dragging rajmata in all these. I asked her, and she told me that you told her the wrong figures.’ Nayantara lied. But she had to take this chance.

Manoj wiped the sweat from his forehead.

‘Here are your salary slips. If your salary is just 100 coins per month, then how do you have 150000 coins in your house?’ Nayantara asked.

‘What? No… I don’t have 150000 in my house,’ Manoj blabbered.

‘Not in your chamber here, but in your village house. We collected them from your house located in the village.’

‘Can you explain how you got this much money?’ Siddhant asked.

‘No, I don’t know anything about this money,’ Manoj grumbled, sweat rolling down his head.

‘I would like to call the investigating officer,’ Nayantara said.

The investigating officer entered and bowed his head in front of Siddhant and then Nayantara.

‘Svastik ji, please tell us about your investigation.’

Svastik told them about his search operation and what he found in Manoj’s house. He also showed them some papers as proof with Manoj handwriting on them. He also presented some of the contractors to testify.

‘Good job, Swastik ji,’ Nayantara said.

‘Thank you, my lady,’ Svastik said with a slight smile.

‘The evidence is conclusive,’ Siddhant said. ‘Take him into custody. I will decide on his punishment later.’

The guards dragged Manoj away as he begged for forgiveness.

Nayantara cleared her throat, grabbing everyone’s attention. ‘My work is done here. Now I would like permission to leave.’

‘Excellent job, my queen,’ Siddhant said with a proud smile on his face. ‘I would be glad if you would attend the courtroom.’

Nayantara thought for a moment. If she involved herself in the courtroom drama, she would not be able to concentrate on other things. She had her own aims. She wanted her revenge. She had to give justice to that little soul. She stood up. ‘Thank you for this opportunity, my lord. But right now I’m not ready to handle this much responsibility,’ she said politely and walked out of the room.

After that, she got busy with other things related to the palace. She took her lunch and dinner alone, as Siddhant always came late.

Vida helped Nayantara remove her ornaments and clothes before she slipped into a cotton skirt and blouse with a thin dupatta just to cover her chest. She had never dared to wear a petticoat after that embarrassing incident.

‘Vida, you can go,’ Nayantara said as she finished applying oil to her hair.

Vida walked out, and Nayantara looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was looking more beautiful, dark, and thick in just one week.

She smiled bitterly. Aah, luxuriance!

She stood up and tied her hair into a loose bun. She walked to the bedroom and turned off some lamps before she went to bed, but suddenly two strong, manly arms grabbed her from behind, lifting her into the air.

‘Ahhh… Siddhant…’ Nayantara squealed in delight. ‘What are you doing?’

He flipped her into his arms, making her face him. Nayantara wrapped her arms around his neck for support. He was holding her like a weightless doll.

‘My queen,’ he said as he kissed her jaw.

Nayantara blushed, blinking at him. ‘My lord… put me down…’

‘I’m so proud of you, Nayantara. First, you surprised me with your fiery nature, and now with your knowledge. I didn’t know my wife was a treasure trove of qualities,’ he said, and Nayantara’s heart swelled with emotions. ‘Now I should think of retirement. I have my queen to handle all my worries and responsibilities.’

Nayantara giggled in his arms, slapping his chest lightly. ‘Don’t extol me to the sky.’

‘By the way, why did you reject my offer?’ he asked as he put her down.

Nayantara stepped back and adjusted her dupatta on her chest. ‘I don’t like to work. I want to wake up late and enjoy my life.’

Siddhant laughed. ‘Yeah, I know how spoiled you are. Your uncle had told me during your farewell how much he had spoiled you.’

Nayantara looked away to hide her anger. But Siddhant pulled her into his arms. ‘Nayantara, princess, you should now forgive your uncle. I know it was a cowardly move of his. But he just wanted to avoid the war and marry you to a big kingdom at the same time.’

‘Yeah, he loves me a lot,’ Nayantara said bitterly.

Siddhant shook his head at her sourness and walked away to change his clothes. She was stubborn and not easy to compel. He took a quick bath and changed into a loincloth and sheer kurta. As he walked out, Nayantara was already in bed but still awake.

She took a sharp breath as her eyes fell on him. The buttons of his kurta were open, revealing his solid, hairy chest. Her eyes followed him all the way as he walked to his side of the bed and made himself comfortable.

‘What?’ he asked as he found Nayantara staring at him.

She shook her head and looked away timidly.

Siddhant grabbed her arm and pulled her to his chest.

‘My lord?’ She blinked at him nervously.

He softly pecked her lips.

Nayantara slightly pushed on his chest. ‘My lord…’

‘What, Nayantara?’ he said irritably. ‘Don’t act like I’m a stranger. I don’t like this attitude of yours.’

Nayantara looked down and placed her tiny hand on his chest, rubbing there slightly, trying to make him calm. ‘You are not bad, my lord. It is me who is not capable of accepting you. I wanted to trust you, but I… I…’ Her voice trailed off.

‘Shhh… I can understand,’ Siddhant said as he caressed her head. ‘Political marriage is not easy to accept. But what is done is done. Now we both have to make efforts to make our relationship better, right?’

Nayantara nodded against his chest and closed her eyes, inhaling his dominating aura. ‘I’m sorry. I will try to be a good wife.’

‘You are a good wife. Just a little sassy, and wake up late in the morning, and don’t let your husband touch you,’ he said, and Nayantara slapped on his chest. ‘And raise your hand on your husband…’

‘Stop it, Siddhant. If I’m sassy, then you are not a saint either. Don’t you scare me all the time with your big frame?’

‘Oh, please, you are not scared of me. It’s called temptation, darling.’

‘Shut up and let me sleep. I’m tired.’

Siddhant chuckled. ‘Yes, my princess did a lot of work today.’ He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tiny body affectionately. He closed his eyes, holding her close, wishing she could recover from the pain of forced marriage and feel Maharav as her home.

Not even five minutes had passed when Nayantara spoke again. ‘My lord…’

‘Hm,’ Siddhant said in a sleepy voice.

‘Can I ask you something?’ Her finger was tracing a scar on his chest.

‘What?’

‘Were your first two marriages political?’

‘No, Chitra was my childhood love. She was not a princess. Her father was the Minister of Maharav. I always wanted to marry her.’

‘How sweet!’

‘You know, we had crossed all the lines before marriage.’

‘What?’ Nayantara’s eyes widened. Her head shot up to look at him.

Siddhant grinned at her shocked expression. ‘Yes, nobody knew about this. Aayushi was born just eight months after our marriage. Everyone thought she was a premature baby. But only me, Chitra, and the physician knew that she was not a premature child.’

Nayantara shook her head at their stupidity. What would have happened if Siddhant had left her? What if Siddhant couldn’t marry her for some reason? What if something happened to Siddhant before marriage? What would Chitra do in that condition? How would she explain the world? But, of course, everyone was not an overthinker like her. People fell for stupid things like love and then paid the price of their stupidity.

Nayantara dropped her head back on his chest. ‘I would never have done that,’ she stated firmly.

Siddhant chuckled. ‘I know. For you, I have to wait for eternity. But when I take you, you will regret why you kept me away.’

‘Shut up!’ Nayantara slapped his chest.

‘Keep slapping. I will take revenge for that too.’

‘Siddhant…’ Nayantara cried irritably. ‘Please, stop.’

Siddhant laughed, and she felt a vibration in his chest. His laugh was so deep, thunderous. She pouted, as he always teased her like this. But her annoyance went away as he placed his lips on her forehead and kept them there for some time.

He felt her body relax against him as she asked further, ‘And what about Queen Mrignayani?’

‘It was a forced marriage for me. She was my mother’s choice. She was the princess of Malaya. Her mother and my mother were friends. Mrignayani always wanted to marry me, so it was a love marriage for her.’

‘Do you still miss them?’

‘Always,’ he said in an instant.

‘If they both are so special to you, then how will you move on with me?’

Siddhant sighed deeply. ‘Nayantara, just because we have a bad past and we are hurt, that doesn’t mean we should hurt everyone around us. You have nothing to do with my past. I will do my best to ensure that my past does not affect you.’

‘You are strong, my lord. But not every person is strong enough to overcome his past,’ she said, her voice sad, broken.

Siddhant thought she was talking about her forced marriage. He had no idea about Nayantara’s life in Anhilwara. All he knew was that his parents died of illness, and that would have hurt the little girl, but he didn’t know more than that. He caressed her head lovingly. ‘Some problems can be solved just by not overthinking, princess. So now close your eyes and sleep, or you won’t be able to wake up tomorrow.’

Nayantara nestled her head in the crook of his neck and closed her eyes. Siddhant kept stroking her head until she fell into a deep sleep.

9 Steamy bath

Nayantara slowly sat up and lazily stretched her arms. She never got this peaceful sleep in her life. She felt protected. Loved. She shook her head as she found Siddhant was not beside her. She was late again. But she was not too late. Siddhant must be in the bathroom. She tiptoed towards the bathroom. She used to wear anklets without bells. She didn’t like people noticing her every move. She carefully peeked in, but the bathroom was empty.

She called her maids, and they quickly prepared her bath.

‘Anyone know where the Lord is?’ she asked.

The maid who was rubbing Nayantara’s back said, ‘The king is in the training area. He was practicing swords with Prince Aditya.’

The maids quickly got her ready, and she decided to go to the training area. One of the maids guided her, as she had not seen the entire palace yet.

She liked to see sword fights, but her face fell as soon as her eyes fell on Siddhant and Aditya. She felt a strange suffocation seeing two brothers’s fighting with each other. She knew it was not real, but still, she didn’t like it.

They both were moving with lightning speed. Aditya swung his blade with brutal force, a storm of steel aimed at cleaving Siddhant in two. Siddhant spun, using the momentum to deliver a quick, stinging riposte that drew a surprised grunt from Aditya. The fight devolved into a brutal dance.

Nayantara’s eyes were fixed on her husband. He was just in his back loins. His upper body was bare, glimmering with sweat. He looked aggressive with his mountain-like structure. The muscles of his arms strained and puffed with each move. His legs were so long, thick, and muscular, making strong stomps on the ground. The scar that runs across his face seemed even more pronounced as he dodged a particularly brutal blow.

With a surge of adrenaline, Aditya lunged, not for a killing blow but for Siddhant’s sword arm.

‘Siddhant, careful!’ Before Nayantara could stop herself, words came out of her mouth.

And that one moment was enough to break Siddhant’s concentration, and Aditya disarmed him.

Nayantara immediately regretted her act.

‘I won, bhai.’ Aditya gave a teasing smile.

‘Your bhabhi shri won you over,’ Siddhant said.

‘Whatever, I won.’

Siddhant shook his head and turned to his wife. ‘What a timing, Nayantara.’

Nayantara lowered her gaze. ‘I’m sorry, my lord.’

He shook his head and walked towards her.

Nayantara’s heart skipped a beat as his dark, intense eyes stared deep into her as he pushed back his sweaty, disheveled hair.

‘What is this, bhabhi?’ Aditya said, as he also came there. ’I’m your devar. You should care for me. But all you care is for bhai shri.’

‘You were doing very well, Aditya. So obviously, I would care for the weaker one.’

Siddhant narrowed his eyes, and Adiya gave a winning smile.

‘Do you like to see sword fights?’ Aditya asked.

‘Yeah, I like to see wild games,’ Nayantara said.

‘Me too,’ Aditya said excitedly. ‘Do you know fencing?’

‘Hell, no, I hate it. The swords are too heavy. I picked it up once and it twisted my wrist and fell from my hand. Thank God it didn’t fall on my feet,’ she said, and Aditya laughed. Siddhant smiled, staring at her slender frame. She was so slim and fragile. She was not designed to be a fighter. No doubt she didn’t like swords.

‘I can teach you fencing,’ Aditya said.

‘No, thanks. I don’t want to learn.’

‘Why not?’

‘Fight is fight, Aditya. It is always unpredictable. Anyone can win. So fighting should always be the last resort. And if you are a little careful with your decision, then you can avoid unnecessary wars.’

‘You should learn politics and monarchy with your bhabhi. She is very good at it,’ Siddhant said in an admiring tone.

‘Indeed.’ Aditya nodded in agreement. ‘Because of you, we will be able to suppress the civil war with the minimum loss of our men and people. But what will you do, bhabhi, if no strategy works and you have to fight? And at that time, you don’t know how to fight.’

‘Why should I fight? I know the war strategies. I can lead the army. And if nothing works, then I will try to run or hide. And wait for the right time to destroy my enemies.’

‘I will never do that,’ Siddhant and Aditya said in unison.

Nayantara chuckled. ‘Man ego.’

They stood there and talked for a while before Aditya said, ‘I have to go now. See you in the evening, bhabhi shri.’

He walked away, and Nayantara looked at Siddhant. ‘Evening? We are going to take dinner together?’

‘Oh, I forgot to tell you. Today is your welcome party.’

‘My welcome party?’ Nayantara asked surprisingly as they walked towards their chamber.

‘Yeah, your welcome here is very dry. So I thought now I should arrange a feast. My sister and her family will be here at any time. So you can meet everyone in the evening, except for dadi ma. She was supposed to arrive this morning. But because of her age, she used to take a lot of rest on the way. So I think she will arrive tomorrow.’

‘But Siddhant, your family will not like me. You know, we are enemies.’

‘You are not the enemy. You are my wife now. And everyone has to accept you.’

‘But…’

‘Nayantara, stop worrying all the time,’ Siddhant said as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to his side. ‘I will be there with you. Nothing goes wrong.’

‘Okay, as you say.’

As they walked into the chamber, the maids were doing their daily cleaning.

‘Is my bath ready?’ Siddhant asked.

‘Yes, my lord,’ one of the maids said.

‘Privacy,’ he said, and Nayantara stared at him suspiciously.

Nayantara saw as the maids walked away before she asked, ‘What are your intentions, my lord?’

‘If you already know my intentions, then why are you asking? Come to the bathroom,’ Siddhant stated as he walked inside.

‘No way, I already took a bath. I have a lot of work. And I have to appoint a new treasurer. And I…’

‘Whatever, Nayantara, nothing is more important than me. So stop your excuses and come here.’ Siddhant’s strong voice came from the bathroom.

Nayantara cried in frustration. He was so demanding. She walked into the bathroom. He was already in the pool, waiting for her. His eyes closed. His huge arms, defined by years of training, rested on the pool’s edge. The water was covered with rose petals, hiding his toned physique.

There was a dish with bowls of ointment, fragrant oils, herbs, gel, and many other things. Taking the dish, Nayantara sat at the edge of the pool.

She took the ointment on her finger tips and started with his back. Her bangles tinkled in the quiet bathroom as she rubbed the ointment on his back, followed by his arms. His skin was so thick and rough.

A peaceful sigh escaped his lips as Nayantara slowly massaged him from the sides of his neck to his shoulders. ‘Aah, your hands feel so good, Nayantara.’

‘How many scars do you have?’ she asked, tracing a small scar on his nape.

‘Why are you so interested in my scars?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Do you care for me?’

‘No,’ she said, and the next moment she found herself in the pool. He was so quick with his movement that she couldn’t realize it when he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the water. ‘What you did, my lord?’ she said angrily. Her dupatta had fallen from her head, and her hair and clothes were immediately soaked with water. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her close. She collided against his solid chest as he stared down at her. ‘If you didn’t care for me, then why did you get scared when Aditya attacked me?’

Nayantara blinked at him nervously before she said timidly, ‘Because you are my husband.’

His face broke into a smile, his arms slowly slid down and wrapped around her small waist. ‘Now, I’m relieved that even if you win my kingdom, you will not kill me.’

She looked away. I have no intention of winning your kingdom, my lord. I want what is mine.

‘What are you thinking?’ he asked, drawing her attention back to him.

She shook her head. ‘Nothing.’

‘You are such a mysterious person, you know that.’

‘Let me go, my lord.’ She pushed against his chest, but when he didn’t release her, she splashed water on his face, and it hit Siddhant’s right eye.

‘Oh, my eye.’ His grip loosened from her waist, and his one hand went to his eye.

She took advantage of it and slipped away from his hold.

‘Hey, where are you running!’ Siddhant said as his huge palm went into the water, scooping a ton of water.

With a playful squeal, she tried to dodge his attack, but the water blasted over her, covering her face with rose petals.

Soon the laughter filled the room as they started a playful battle, splashing and giggling, flying rose petals in all directions. Nayantara started losing the fight as Siddhant had big, clawed hands, capable of throwing a lot of water on her.

‘Stop, stop, my lord, please…’ Nayantara, breathless from laughter and water, tried to run away from him, but her heavy skirt made it difficult for her to float into the water.

Siddhant leaped at her and held her dupatta, pulling it away from her body. Nayantara grabbed the other end of the dupatta. ‘This is cheating, my lord.’

He tugged on her dupatta, dragging her towards him. Her leg slipped into the water, but before she fell, Siddhant held her into his arms and pulled her against his chest. The lavender and jasmine-scented water lapped against their skin. In the quiet intimacy of the moment, the playful energy shifted. Siddhant gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his gaze lingering on her face. Her wet lips looked more red. Kissable. He leaned in and pecked her lips. His hand went behind her back, slowly pulling the string of her blouse.

She could feel his erection poking her belly. Her blouse fell from her shoulder, and her hand flung to her chest to hold it in place.

‘You will not like me, my lord,’ she said breathlessly. She didn’t have breasts and hips. She was just plain.

Siddhant’s jaw hardened as he fisted her hair. ‘Nayantara, you can judge your husband the way you like. But don’t judge what is mine,’ he said angrily, and Nayantara’s heart skipped a beat. She had such an adoring husband.

He tore away her blouse in his anger, and Nayantara felt goosebumps all over her body. He again leaned into her neck and started kissing her in a punishing way.

A painful moan escaped from her lips. ‘Not so hard, my lord. We have a function tonight.’

Siddhant ignored her as he continued sucking and biting her tender flash. She felt weak on her knees and rested her hands on his thick biceps. His hand slid down to her waist and pulled the knot of her skirt. She shuddered as her heavy skirt sank into the water. Now just the rose petals were hiding her body. Siddhant pushed her against the wall and kissed her hungrily. He licked, sucked, and bit her soft lips. Suddenly, he lifted her and set her on the edge of the pool. Nayantara started kicking her legs to jump back into the water.

But Siddhant held her in place. ‘Calm down, Nayantara,’ he said softly as he rubbed her thigh.

‘Let me go, my lord,’ she said in a broken voice.

‘No,’ Siddhant said in a strong and clear voice, and Nayantara felt like crying.

‘Will you take me against my will?’ she asked in a quivering voice.

‘I’m just exploring your beauty.’

‘But that is a violation of my body,’ she muttered under her breath.

‘We are not in the courtroom, Nayantara. Stop playing with words. And the person you are accusing of violating you is your husband. Now will you relax for me, or do you want me to hold you down?’ he asked sternly.

Nayantara shook her head. Her heart was hammering against her chest. She lowered her head, feeling so helpless.

Siddhant’s face softened as he cupped her cheeks. ‘My princess, calm down. I’m not going to hurt you.’

She lifted her gaze to meet his. He was looking at her with soft, gracious eyes. Nayantara took a shaky breath before she slowly nodded her head.

‘That’s like a good princess,’ he said, giving her an appreciated kiss, and she blushed furiously.

His eyes roamed all over her body. Her small, round breasts. Her curvy waist. Her long, slender legs. She held her breath as his hands reached her breasts, cupping them in his clawed hands. They were so soft, moldable against his rough hands. Some rose petals were still stuck to her smooth, sandy white skin. And Siddhant brushed away one of them from her bud. ‘You are looking like a water nymph,’ he said as he pinched her buds.

Nayantara gasped and lowered her gaze in embarrassment as she felt wetness in her core.

He cupped her calf to lift her leg before he kissed her feet. Nayantara rolled her toe in a ticklish feeling. Suddenly, he pushed her knees up and set her legs on his shoulder. Placing his lips on her inner thigh, he kissed and sucked her soft skin. Nayantara felt like she would die of shame. His hand slowly ran up her thigh, and she tried to clench her legs together.

‘Open your legs, Nayantara,’ he said softly, but there was command in his tone.

Nayantara gulped and slowly parted her legs. His fingers brushed between her exposed folds, and she felt a jolt of electricity run through her body. She bit her bottom lip to suppress her moan.

‘Don’t do that, princess,’ he said as he rubbed her bottom lip, freeing it between her teeth. ‘Let me hear your sweet cry.’ He pulled her close and pushed her legs even wider. That made her lean back, placing her hands to her sides for support, her back touched the pillar.

‘My lord?’ She quivered as her inner parts were completely exposed to his sight, and she was dripping wet. ‘I’m feeling so shy.’

‘It’s okay, princess.’ Siddhant rubbed her back reassuringly. ‘You will soon forget about it,’ he said as he planted his lips on her core and sucked her deeply.

‘Ahhh… Siddhant…’ Nayantara felt a tight knot forming in her belly, and she started to breathe heavily.

‘Contrary to your nature, you taste so sweet, princess,’ he mumbled as he kept licking her juices.

Nayantara threw her head back in utter pleasure. Her walls started throbbing. But before she could enjoy her orgasm, Siddhant pulled away and thrust his finger inside her, making her groan in pain. Her eyes shot open, and her entire body tensed. His finger was so thick and rough against her tender, untouched tissues.

Before she could protest, he started stroking her clit. ‘Relax, princess, I got you.’ he cooed, his other hand on her breast, rubbing on her soft bud.

His finger curled inside her, and she reacted with a loud moan. Siddhant smirked and messaged that spot for a few moments before starting to thrust in and out his finger. The bathroom filled with Nayantara’s moans, which she was unable to suppress. Siddhant increased his speed, making her mind go crazy. She started clenching around his finger as a strong pleasure built up inside her. Her eyes rolled back. Her toes curled. Her breathing was rugged.

‘Ahhh… Sid-ha-nt… Ahhh… I… I…’ Her body started draining and shivering.

Siddhant chuckled. ‘I know, princess, you are close,’ he said, and he gave her a few more hard thrusts. She cried in pleasure, her blunt nails scratching on the floor as she came apart.

Siddhant watched her as her delicate body gasped for air. She looked cute with her flushed cheeks and parted lips. He slowly pulled out his finger. She gave a slight whimper and rested her head against the pillar.

Siddhant jumped out of the pool and wrapped a towel around his waist. He turned around and looked down at Nayantara. He grinned. She was still recovering from her orgasm and completely unbothered by her nakedness. He took another towel and wrapped it around her before he lifted her into his arms. Nayantara rested her head against his chest. He smiled and kissed her head as he carried her to the dressing room. He lowered her onto the chair and walked away. He quickly took out his clothes and got dressed before he walked back to Nayantara, who was still there in the towel.

‘Get dressed, Nayantara, or you will catch the cold. Or you want me to get you ready?’

Nayantara shook her head violently. ‘No, please.’

‘Don’t worry, this time my intentions are pure.’

‘I don’t want to take the risk. Your finger is so big. I can still feel it inside me,’ she complained like a child, and Siddhant laughed. She had not seen his manhood yet. First rose petals were covering him, and when he came out of the water, her eyes were closed.

‘Don’t worry, my member has a generous length. Next time, I’ll use it. You will find it more comfortable.’

Nayantara’s eyes widened, her cheek turned red as she playfully slapped his arm. ‘Don’t tease me all the time.’

Siddhant laughed at her cute expression and leaned in to kiss her cheek. ‘I’m getting late. See you in the evening.’

Nayantara nodded with a smile, and he walked out. She decided not to call maids to dress her again. She didn’t want a new round of gossip in the palace. After wearing the clothes, she sat in front of the mirror to dry her wet, tangled hair. Her eyes met her reflection, and a shy smile graced her lips.

She didn’t know what happened in just a few days, but now she found her husband so nice, caring. She couldn’t sense it before, but after coming here, she started breathing, smiling, and laughing. She always wanted a prince charming — someone like Aditya. But now she felt like her choice had suddenly changed. She found her husband handsome — more handsome than any other man in the world. Everything she hated about him now she loved. His mountain-like structure, his shaggy hair, his beasty look, that ugly scar on his face — now she liked all of that. For the first time in all these years, her heart took charge over her brain, drowning her in a dream world.

10 When the night rises

Nayantara was sitting in front of the mirror. She was splendidly dressed in orange attire crafted from rich fabrics. Her hair was tied in an elegant bun, a few strands of her hair let loose and curled. From head to toe, she was adorned with exquisite jewelry. Headpieces, jhumkas, layered necklaces, bangles, and anklets all together created a dazzling display. The maids took hours and a lot of effort to enhance her beauty.

‘You are looking beautiful, my lady,’ Vida said as she created a red bindi on her forehead to complete her look.

‘Ready, princess?’ Suddenly, Siddhant’s strong voice washed over her, and she turned her head to look at him.

The maids walked away as Siddhant entered the room. He stood behind her and looked at her through the mirror. He wanted to gift her a necklace of the rarest gemstones. Chitra and Mrugynani were always pleased with jewelry. But as much as he knew about his new wife, she was a power hungry queen. These materialistic things wouldn’t please her. So he dropped the idea. He leaned in and kissed her cheek from behind. ‘You look ravishing,’ he whispered in her ear.

Nayantara gave a nervous smile. She was not excited to meet Siddhant’s family. But she was excited for the celebration. Her uncle had never let her come to any function or celebration.

When they reached the throne hall, the celebration had already started. The guests had already arrived and taken their places.

The guards made an announcement of the king and queen’s presence. The dancers stopped and stepped aside; all the guests and officials stood up as Siddhant and Nayantara walked their way to the throne.

Nayantara’s heart was hammering in her chest. She was not used to this much attention and respect. But still, she held her head high and walked gracefully, like this was nothing new to her.

They sat on the throne, and the celebration began again. Nayantara looked around the grand throne hall, observing its magnificent interior. Towering pillars, carved with intricate scenes of battles and mythical creatures, lined the walls, screaming for a palpable sense of history and power that had soaked into the very stones over the centuries. She felt powerful from that place. She wondered how it would feel if she held complete power over the kingdom. How it would feel when she sat on the throne of Anhilwara.

Suddenly, Siddhant took her hand into his, drawing her attention towards him. ‘Are you enjoying, my queen?’

Nayantara smiled and nodded as she watched the jubilant throng below. The grand hall echoed with cheers and laughter as performers twirled and musicians blared a celebratory tune. A warm sense of contentment filled her. After years of toil and sacrifice, she finally had what she deserved. But this was not her ultimate goal. Only the Anhilwara throne could heal the wounds of humiliation she had endured over the years. Only by gaining that throne could she avenge his father’s death. But she was now a married girl, and that added new challenges to her path. Siddhant was a supportive husband, but that didn’t mean he would allow her to sit on the throne and let her rule independently. Her head was wondering while her eyes were watching the dance.

The performances ended after some time, and then Siddhant introduced Nayantara to some special guests. Some of them were his friends and their families, and some were the kings and queens of neighboring states. She didn’t talk much to anyone. She just stood beside Siddhant and gave smiles, nods, and hums in all the right places. Everyone thought Nayantara was a quiet, simple princess. Only Siddhant and some officials who were present in the courtroom that day knew how sharp Nayantara was. She listened and observed everything and everyone present there. Nothing could skip from her eyes. She did even notice when Adhisha’s eyes narrowed at bruises on her neck. Yes, she met Siddhant’s family as well. Adhisha was his younger sister. His sister was all nice to her, but she still didn’t like her. She felt she was not what she pretended to be. She didn’t like overly nice people. As per her experience, they were the most dangerous ones. But she liked her seven year old son, Kathan. He was such an innocent boy, and he quickly mixed with her. Adhisha’s husband, Vikram, was the king of Jasel, which was one of the princely states that came under Maharav. Nayantara found it strange. Adhisha was the princess of Maharav; why would Siddhant marry her off to the king of some princely state and not to some big kingdom? After meeting everyone, Nayantara and Siddhant went to the courtyard, where she contributed some portion of the queen’s funds to the poor. After all the formalities were over, they all went to the dining room, and Nayantara had dinner with Siddhant’s family. The dinner was not pleasant for her, as Queen Padmini was there. She didn’t say anything to her, but her behavior was rude as usual. And then there was a special program just for the king and the queen. Their seating arrangement was in the royal garden, and the famous singer Pandit Ramshankar sang beautiful, melodious romantic songs for them. Nayantara enjoyed it the most. Its effect was so strong that Nayantara forgot everything — all her worries and problems. She was so lost that she didn’t realize it when she wrapped her arm around Siddhant’s bicep and rested her head on his shoulder as she enjoyed the music. On the other hand, Siddhant enjoyed her closeness more than the music.

The program ended at midnight. When they entered their chamber, Nayantara twirled in delight, singing one of the romantic songs she had just heard. She ran to the swing and sat on it, moving it with full speed. The strands of her hair fell smoothly over her face. Pushing them back with her finger, she closed her eyes and embraced the air.

Siddhant laughed. For the first time after coming to Maharav, she looked so relaxed and free. ‘You have a beautiful voice, princess. Next time, you will sing for me.’

Nayantara blushed as she shook her head. ‘I can’t sing. My voice is just mediocre.’

Siddhant smiled. He walked around the room and extinguished some lamps, but not all, illuminating it enough to see everything. He headed to the bathroom and removed his heavy clothes. Pouring a bucket of water over his head, he changed into a loin. As he came back, he found Nayantara still on the swing, singing in a slow voice. He swallowed hard hearing her melodious voice. He wanted her so badly. After that heated bath in the morning, his desire for her increased. He wanted her long legs wrapped around him and wanted to hear her sweet cry when he fucked her hard. She was a fire and he wanted to burn in it. ‘Are you drunk, Nayantara, or is this the magic of romantic songs Pandit Ramshankar sung?’

Suddenly, she stood up on the swing and spread her arms wide. ‘Come here,’ she said in an authoritative tone.

Siddhant laughed and walked to her, amused by her carefree side. The swing slowed down as it hit Siddhant’s legs.

She snaked her arms around his thick neck. Pulling him closer, she placed her lips on his and kissed him softly. Her bold move caught him off guard. But he quickly recovered from his shock and took charge of the kiss. He kissed her slowly and teasingly, trying to teach her lips how to move. Her lips quivered slightly, but then she slowly adapted to his movement until their lips moved in sync. Her hands tangled in his hair as his tongue slid into her mouth. He explored every inch of her mouth, eliciting a moan from deep within her throat.

Nayantara was badly breathless by the time he pulled away.

‘Seems like my princess is in a good mood,’ Siddhant whispered, his breath hot against her face. ‘Did you enjoy today?’ he asked as he held her by her hips and lifted her up.

‘A lot,’ she said with a big smile, and Siddhant pecked her cheek. Holding her in his arms, he walked to the bed and made her stand on it.

‘Thank you for this wonderful evening,’ she said.

Siddhant smiled. ‘Anything for my queen.’

She looked into his dark, generous eyes. Her hand unknowingly went to his face, tracing his scar with her fingertip. It added masculinity to his hardened features. Siddhant closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the soft, ticklish feeling of her delicate fingers.

‘You are so handsome, my lord,’ she whispered.

Siddhant chuckled. ‘When did you start finding me handsome? I thought I was ugly.’

Nayantara smiled sadly. ‘I wish I had met you in different circumstances. I wish my parents were alive, and they would give my hand to you, not because you won our kingdom, but because you are the best suitor for me.’

Siddhant cupped her cheek, caressing it with his thumb. ‘I know, life is not fair sometimes.’

Nayantara closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. ‘Everytime,’ she muttered as her heart burned with bitter memories.

Siddhant caressed her head as he said, ‘Nayantara, is there anything you want to tell me?’

Nayantara looked up at him for a moment and then lowered her gaze. It becomes difficult to trust anyone when your own family has betrayed you. ‘No, my lord. Nothing,’ she said as she sat on the bed and started removing her jewelry one by one and piled them on the side table.

Siddhant sighed. ‘You should live your life a little, princess.’

‘Live a little! How?’ she asked, without looking at him.

‘To stop overthinking,’ he said.

‘I cannot help with it,’ she said dryly.

Siddhant stood there, staring at her as she pulled away the dupatta, which was neatly pinned on her head, ruining her elegant bun in the process. She struggled with the pins in her bun and cried in frustration when her hair yanked and tangled around the pins.

‘Let me help you,’ Siddhant said as he sat on the edge of the bed and slowly pulled out her pin, which was tangled in her hair. He turned her around and removed all her pins, letting her dark, lusty hair fall to her waist.

He had made up his mind. He wanted her — now. He couldn’t wait any longer. He just hoped she didn’t resist much. She was a hard nut after all. But he was the king of Maharav, what he wanted, he wanted. He pushed her hair away and kissed her nap.

Nayantara shivered and turned back. ‘Thank you, my lord,’ she said softly, and she stood up to change her clothes. She walked away, but Siddhant held her arm, making her turn towards him. She blinked at him with questioning eyes.

‘Don’t you think I have given you enough time, Nayantara?’

She thinned her brows. ‘What do you mean?’

‘We will consummate tonight,’ he stated firmly.

Nayantara’s eyes widened at his unexpected demand, fear slowly creeping up her spine. ‘No,’ she muttered under her breath and tried to walk away. But Siddhant pulled her into his lap, and before she could protest, he sealed her lips with his. His hand went to the string of her blouse, and he pulled it open, letting her blouse fall from her shoulders.

Nayantara moaned again and again in his mouth as he devoured every inch of her mouth. She could feel his rough palm running on her bare back.

They both were breathing heavily by the time they pulled back.

‘I’m not ready for this, my lord,’ she said meekly.

‘You can never be completely ready for this, my love,’ he said as he threw her on the bed and tore away her skirt. Nayantara shrunk and tried to hide herself in the bedsheet.

‘I have seen everything in the morning, princess. Why are you hiding now?’ he asked softly with a look of amusement on his face. He pulled the blouse away from her arms. She shrank even more, her entire face turned red with shame, her hands fisted on the bed sheet, trying to pull it close.

Siddhant felt growing hard seeing her in a vulnerable position. ‘You’re so beautiful,’ he said as he ran his fingers on her small, curvy waist, enjoying the smoothness of her skin.

Nayantara watched him with wide eyes as he slowly bent on her like a predator approaching his prey. His lips caught hers. He kissed her softly, making her calm a little before he slowly moved down and sucked her delicate jawline. His kisses were so gentle and caring, and she started responding to his sweet pressure.

‘Ahu… my lord… I…’ she muttered in her hazy state.

Siddhant hummed as his lips slid to her neck, inhaling her sweet scent. He nibbled her soft spot, and she sighed in bliss. His hands grabbed her small breasts, and he squeezed them into his big palms.

Nayantara yelped in pain.

‘Sorry, sorry, princess.’ He loosened his grip as he realized how hard he had pressed them. He softly kissed both her breasts one after another to soothe the pain. He licked and sucked on each nipple, teasing and pinching them.

Nayantara panted. Her hands fisted his hair. She was exposed to such touches for the first time. She felt wetness leaking from her hole. ‘Oh… Siddhant… it… it feels…’

He grinned. ‘Yeah, it feels so good, I know.’

She giggled as his mouth left a wet trail of kisses across her belly.

He kissed down her inner thigh, nipping and sucking her soft flesh there. He could feel her quivering with every touch. He slowly parted her legs, but she tried to press them together. It only made him angry, and he pushed her legs apart to their limit. ‘Keep your legs wide, or I will tie you up,’ he said in a commanding tone, and he shoved his finger inside her clenched opening.

‘Oww…’ Nayantara cried at the sudden invasion.

His eyes softened, and he rubbed her clit reassuringly. ‘You are so small for me, Nayantara.’ He messaged her walls gently, letting her adjust before he started moving his finger in and out of her.

Nayantara felt so vulnerable. She was thoroughly sprawled under him, her legs forcefully separated with his finger inside her, and his gaze was scrutinizing her body.

She moaned as his finger curled inside her, stroking her hard and fast. She felt a tight knot forming in her stomach, but suddenly Siddhant pulled away, making her whimper at the loss. She blinked at him with heavy lashes.

Siddhant took a sharp breath as he looked down between her legs. She was all wet for him. ‘I want you so bad, Nayantara. I want to feel your insides. Please don’t stop me or yourself,’ he pleaded, trying to control his surge to thrust into her right then and there before even she could give her consent.

She hesitated but then slowly gave in, nodding in agreement. She was so dizzy with sensations that her head was not thinking straight, and all she cared about was satisfying her desire.

Siddhant pecked her cheek in excitement. Her submission felt like the most beautiful thing in the world. He sat on his knees and pulled away his loin.

Nayantara gasped as her eyes fell on his erection. ‘No way,’ she muttered under her breath. Her heart lurched in excitement and fear. He was so big and intimidating. All hard and ready to tear her apart.

She shook her head in disbelief. ‘How will I take it, my lord?’

‘Don’t look there. I feel shy,’ he teased her, and she slapped his wrist.

‘I’m serious.’

He bent on her and softly pecked her lips. ‘Don’t worry, I know my princess is delicate, I will be very gentle,’ he said as he again put his finger inside her and massaged her clit to draw some more fluids.

Soon his finger was replaced with his big, fat cock, pushing it into her drenching, tight hole, and there was instant resistance. Her walls stretched and burned. She shut her eyes tightly, ready to embrace pain. She didn’t want Siddhant to see her tears.

‘Open your eyes, Nayantara,’ he said in a strong, demanding voice.

Nayantara slowly opened her eyes and looked into his dark, lusty orbs.

‘Why do you always hide your emotions from me? Today, I want to see all of you. Your vulnerability, your pain, your pleasure — everything. Don’t you dare close your eyes, or I will not hesitate to punish you.’

She shook her head. She didn’t want it rough. He pushed again until he reached the limit of her barrier. His fingers gently massaged her clit as if rewarding it for good behavior. Tears collected in her eyes.

He leaned down to kiss her in reassurance. ‘It’ll hurt a little,’ he whispered, and with that, he thrust his entire length into her, tearing her barrier.

‘Aaaooohhh…’ she cried out with the sudden pain, tears leaked from her eyes.

‘You are so tight, princess,’ he groaned, his shaft covered in her blood. Her warmth was intoxicating. Her soft, velvety walls wrapped around him.

She writhed beneath him, trying to adjust around his girth. She held on to his broad shoulders, her nails scratched there.

‘Shhh… no more force, princess. Calm down. I’m almost inside you,’ Siddhant cooed.

‘Almost,’ she cried breathlessly. ‘I cannot take you much more.’

Siddhant chuckled. ‘Relax, princess, you will enjoy it. Just feel.’ He held her tightly and pushed into her again. He repeated the pattern slowly.

Soon, her body began to respond to the pleasure her husband was giving her. She snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her.

He lifted one of her slick thighs and wrapped it around his hips to thrust even deeper into her.

The gentleness dripped down moment by moment. And his thrust became rougher and harsher. She moaned loudly as he hit a certain spot inside her. His every muscle flexed, and his shaggy hair fell over his forehead as he pounded inside her.

‘Ahhh… Siddhant…’ Her nails dug into his back as he hit the spot every time.

‘Do you like it when I hit there?’ he asked, looking deep into her brown orbs. His hands were continuously teasing and pinching her nipples. ‘Do you like it when I move inside you?’

‘Hell yeah… I love it…’ she heaved.

A pure masculine satisfaction spread across his lips as he picked up the pace, fucking her harder and harder. Nayantara’s moans filled the room. It was raw, relentless, and intense. Sweat covered her forehead, and her breath became rugged as she tried to take every thrust that her man gave her.

Siddhant grunted as he felt the muscles of her walls contracting around his bulky girth. ‘Yes, princess, come for me,’ he commanded with a strong thrust. Her legs started shaking as she felt a deep pleasure build inside her. She was so overwhelmed with his size, his aggression, his overt masculinity. He slowed down his movement and rubbed her clit to intensify her orgasm.

She felt limp all of a sudden. Her body melted into the bed, and her eyes started drooping.

‘Oh, my princess is exhausted,’ Siddhant said as he pushed back a strand from her sweaty forehead. ‘But you have to take it a little more, my love.’

Nayantara’s eyes shot open as he again picked up his pace and continued his assault for a few more movements. Nayantara fisted the bedsheet as she burst into another orgasm before he finally found his own release. He growled loudly and filled her with his warmth. He dropped his forehead to rest against her as they both struggled to regain their breath. He softly kissed her lips and slowly pulled out of her. She slightly winced, his seed flowed down from her hole.

Siddhant rolled to his side and collected her in his arms. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. He smiled seeing her flushed cheeks and parted lips. ‘I haven’t forgotten about my revenge, princess, but this is your first time, so I’m easy on you,’ he whispered in her ear.

‘No, please, my lord, I’m sore,’ she muttered, and with that, she passed out.