Page 31 of A Royal Deception

I felt like a stray flea-ridden cat that had stumbled into their palace. I knew I had no grounds to make any demands because I had done him wrong, but none of that mattered as much as calling Zarna. When it came to my sister, I would go to any lengths and dare anything, even if it was completely wrong.

Ignoring the grumpy man currently enjoying my discomfort, I turned to his mother because she seemed like the only person here capable of compassion.

“Rani Ma, I need to make an important phone call, and I wasn’t allowed to bring my phone with me.”

She nodded immediately.

“Of course. Sannata, bring me my phone.”

“No,” thundered His Highness. “She isn’t allowed to call anyone. Ma, we don’t know the whole conspiracy yet. We don’t know why the Dodiyas switched the bride or what they planned to do after the wedding. I don’t want them to have any chance to get their stories straight.”

I could have told him whatever I knew, but I didn’t know much beyond the fact that Kavya Baisa hadn’t turned up in time for the wedding. I didn’t know why, even though I’d heard rumours. Rumours weren’t facts, and I wasn’t going to accuseher of anything until I knew for sure. Besides, if I told him what I knew, I’d have nothing to use as leverage against the Dodiyas. I had to make sure they kept Zarna safe in the palace until I returned, and for that, I was prepared to resort to blackmail if it came to that.

No matter what, I knew the Dodiyas would be dying to fix this disaster. And I was willing to help them fix it if they agreed to keep my sister safe.

“Stop it, Ranvijay. Let the poor girl make her phone call,” argued Rani Ma, but His Highness shook his head.

“Take her to my room,” he ordered.

His mother clearly disagreed, but she didn’t say anything further as his aunt and Sannata Mausi led me upstairs to an ornately decorated room which was as big as my childhood home.

“Get her settled, Sannata,” said the aunt, walking away with a disparaging look at me.

Sannata Mausi waited until she left before she smiled at me again.

“Welcome to your new home, Rani Sa.”

“Mausi, don’t call me that,” I said, tears welling in my eyes. “I didn’t mean to come here as his bride.”

“I don’t know why you did it, child. But I can promise you that you’ll be happier here than you were in that blighted palace.”

“I can’t stay here, Mausi. I need to get back to my sister. His Highness carried me off before I could tell her what had happened. She’s all alone in that nest of vipers, and I’m sure she’s terrified. Do you have a phone?”

“I’ll bring you one, but let’s get you settled in your room first,” she said, showing me around. “This is the Maharaja Suite. In the past, this wing was part of the palace zenana, and this room was always given to the chief Maharani. Hukum had thepalace renovated a few years ago and turned this room into a suite. This is the sitting room. You’ll have it to yourself, Rani Sa, because Hukum holds all his meetings in his study downstairs. And this is Hukum’s bedroom.”

She threw open the door and gestured for me to enter. But my feet froze on the threshold.

“Mausi, I can’t stay here. This is all a big mistake, and you know as well as I do that it will blow over once His Highness cools down. I know he’s going to get back with Kavya Baisa, and I cannot share a bedroom with her husband. Not even for a few days,” I cried.

“But he’s not her husband,” she pointed out. “He’s your husband. And I don’t know what you mean by when this blows over, Rani Sa. Hukum is not the type of man to forgive such a deception. Your Baisa will never set foot in this palace as his wife, even if he lets you go.”

I clutched her arm in panic.

“Mausi, please get me a phone right away. I need to make sure my sister is okay.”

If what she said was true, then the Dodiyas were never going to forgive me for failing in the task they’d given me. And I was sure they’d take it out on Zarna. Until now, I was under the impression that this would all be settled once Kavya Baisa accepted her mistake and said sorry. That’s all she had to do. She just had to be honest and explain what happened. I mean, how bad could it be? At worst, she’d overdosed on coke and needed to be revived before she could be brought back to the palace. If he loved her, I was sure he’d forgive her for that.

But His Highness didn’t seem in the least curious about the incident. He didn’t even want to know why she did it. In fact, he was more curious about why I agreed to deceive him than about the woman he was supposed to marry. It was as if he’d written her out of his life the minute he learnt of the deception.

I didn’t know if Kavya Baisa understood that yet, but she would discover the truth soon enough, and she was sure to blame me for it, and I didn’t want Zarna to be caught in the crossfire. Which meant that I needed to find a way to leave this palace and rescue her from Sajjangarh Palace.

The easiest way would be to call a cab to take me there. But I had no credit card, money or phone. I had no way to access my bank account. Maybe I could beg Diggi Mausi to put Zarna in a cab and send her to the railway station. I was sure I could break out of here and meet her there. How hard could it be? It was a palace, not a prison. We could hop on a train and vanish before anyone noticed I was missing.

“Here’s my phone, Rani Sa. It’s not very fancy, though,” said Sannata Mausi.

“It’s perfect,” I replied gratefully as I keyed in Zarna’s number.

She answered on the first ring, sounding frightened.

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