Page 19 of A Royal Deception

“Nah! I’ve promised Nandini Aunty that I won’t let you bolt. You’re a huge flight risk,” she said with a laugh.

Before she got too comfortable in her chair, I nodded towards the mandap.

“Let’s get this show on the road, Isha,” I growled. “Tell that guy to speed it up.”

She rose and whispered something in his ear, and the pandit nodded in reply. His chanting sped up and got louder, and my mother led me to the mandap. My uncle and aunt were sitting where my parents should have sat. As I stared at their sour faces, a wave of déjà vu swept over me because we had lived this exact moment when I married Devika. And look how that had ended. In utter disaster.

I took a deep breath and took a seat next to my aunt, who shot me an uneasy smile.

The pandit asked the Rani Sa of Sajjangarh to call the bride, which was her cue to run around like a headless chicken.

“Haye, she’s not ready yet, Pandit Ji. I think she’ll need a few more minutes,” she squawked.

I glared at the pandit meaningfully, and he shook his head in a panic.

“Now, please. The shubh muhurat is almost over,” he squeaked.

My future mother-in-law went pale, and I wondered what was wrong. Something was wrong, that was for sure. She beganwhispering in her husband’s ear, and he scurried from the mandap. Rani Sa smiled at us uneasily and cleared her throat.

“I’ll go check on Kavya. It’s not her fault she’s late, Jamai Sa. That darned makeup artist showed up late, and she works like a snail, you know,” she babbled.

“We understand,” said Kumudini Kaki Sa. “It’s just that our Ranvijay beta seems to be in a hurry to get married.”

There was a question in her statement, and I chose not to answer it.

“Hurry,” I growled. “I refuse to wait anymore.”

The colour fled from Rani Sa’s face, and she jumped out of her seat immediately, stammering incoherently as she ran upstairs with her maid at her heels.

I stared at her thoughtfully. What the hell was going on here? From the way they seemed unwilling to bring out the bride, you’d think I was a beast who had stormed their door to eat their daughter alive.

Dheer had lent me his security team to help secure the wedding venue because we had a feeling the Goels were going to try something today. I craned my neck to find Raksha, who was now part of Dheer’s security detail. When I caught her eye, I beckoned her over. She was dressed to blend in with the guests, thankfully.

“Something’s fishy around here,” I whispered in her ear. “Scout around upstairs and see if you can tell what’s going on.”

She nodded and melted into the crowd.

Ten minutes later, we were still waiting for the bride. The guests were clueless about the undercurrents, but the pandit looked like he was running out of stotras to fill the gap.

Raksha sidled up to the mandap and knelt behind me.

“You’re right, Hukum. Something’s fishy. But the women of the palace have closed ranks, and I’ll need some time to wheedle the truth out of the men,” she whispered. “I tried sneaking in tosee the bride, but there’s a horde of women barring the corridor upstairs. They sent me back downstairs very politely but firmly. If you like, I can break into her room through the balcony.”

“Is it that bad?”

Raksha’s instincts were as sharp as mine, and if she was suggesting something so drastic, maybe it was time to investigate the situation.

But before she could reply, the music changed, and people started cheering.

“Oh, well. It looks like your bride has arrived,” she said laconically.

CHAPTER 8

SHIVINA

“Walk slowly,” whispered Rani Sa. “My nephews will hold a floral chaadar over your head. Make sure you stay under it at all times.”

The ornately decorated wedding mandap was set up in the centre of the huge inner courtyard of the palace. The music switched to a soft bridal track as I walked into the courtyard, and when the priests began chanting stotras loudly as my entourage led me to the mandap, I wanted to weep because I felt like a fraud.

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