Chapter 1

'Good Morningggg Jaypore, welcome to the big breakfast show on 98.5FM and I am your host ....'

"Could you reduce the volume? This constant drone is giving me a headache," Nandini almost growled, a tiny speck of irritation blooming within her.

"Of course madam." The cab driver spoke too quickly baring his pearly whites which made Nandini glower at him while adjusting her shades to avoid getting blinded.

The eighteen and a half hour flight from the New York to Mumbai was disastrous and the three hour flight from Mumbai to Jaypore was hardly comfortable. She had flown in with a very famous international airline which professed in each of its advertisement that 'comfort is their only goal' which was far from reality. Travelling by economy is not the epitome of comfort but Nandini had no choice. Her father's secretary had tried high and low to get her a first class seat but to no avail.

'We are very sorry, but the flights are full,' was the monotonous reply.

Nandini wondered how the common mass travelled in so less space. There was hardly any leg room and on top of that she had to endure wailing children on either side of her seat, who took turns in annoying her successfully. The request to shift to the business class or even the first class, was met with a look of disdain from the air hostess.

Oh! The nightmare, recalling the experience made Nandini shudder.

She had just one person to blame for this fiasco - her father, who had summoned her back to Jaypore. In the short conversation with him the earlier day, she could make out that he was cautious not to reveal anything significant but had just said that 'it was a matter most urgent.'

Nandini shifted in the car seat trying to quell the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was amiss, she pondered as her father who considered education as foremost in the development of a human mind - his words, not hers - wouldn't just ask her to leave in the middle of the year and come back in a jiffy. In her haste she hadn't even informed her friends with whom she had made plans for the weekend.

'I need to call Bethany as soon as I reach,' her thoughts went to her best friend and roommate who would be annoyed at her sudden absence.

"Madam, we have reached," the driver's voice shook her from her reverie. Nandini looked out the window to see the huge wrought iron gate with initials JP embossed in gold.

'Home,' she sighed and frowned as a chill ran up her spine.'That was a first,' she mused as she rubbed her palm up and down the length of her arm. She glanced at the driver who had a look of astonishment as he turned back and forth to see if his passenger had made any mistake. Nandini smirked as she fished out a small piece of equipment from her satchel, and punched in few numbers. The gates swung open and the cab driver sat gob smacked.

"Are you going to sit there like a statue?" she questioned irritably after few seconds. The driver immediately started the engine of the car.

"So...Sorry madam," he stuttered and drove on the straight path lined with Ashoka trees on either side. A magnificent stone building came into view and he gasped. Nandini rolled her eyes at his reaction at the impressive two hundred year old Anglo-eastern structure - the Jaypore Palace.

"Madam, do you live here? Who are you?," he asked timidly as Nandini stepped down from the car.

Before she could answer, the palace guards who stood at the entrance belted out the royal anthem in her welcome. The maids and the chief butler arrived out of nowhere and bowed in reverence. She looked at them without any emotion and turned toward the driver.

"Yes, I live here. This is my home and I am Princess Nandini Singh of Jaypore," she said and climbed the stairs to the palace leaving behind a man with a gaping mouth.

As soon as she entered Nandini felt a shiver throughout her petite frame.

'I hope I am not coming down with a flu,' she muttered as she started to walk toward the East wing of the palace which had her rooms. Before she took take the stairs the sound of clearing of a throat clearing made her halt. Knowing the source of the sound she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and turned toward it. Nandini pressed her lips into a thin line as the formidable figure of Veer Singh Chauhan came into view. The man who is the closest advisor to her father and also a distant relative stood before her dressed in the traditional garb. She had never seen him in anything other than the dhoti and angarkha along with the pagdi. His kohl laden eyes, bushy mustache and beard and pierced ears made anyone who looked at him shiver with fear.

"Princess Nandini," he greeted with a small bow at which Nandini rolled her eyes.

"Veer Singh ji I hope you are well," she asked in a formal tone.

Veer Singh, who himself hailed from nobility was a staunch believer in the royalty and its tradition, thus he revered the royal family. He held the king and the yuvraj in high esteem, as for the princess, well, that was another issue altogether. Veer Singh did not like Nandini's sheer disregard for royal protocol, nor could he accept the fact that instead of pursuing higher education in the UK like her ancestors, she chose to study in the USA. According to Veer Singh, USA was not meant for royalty. Now as he regarded the young Princess with open messy hair - her sun glasses perched on top, torn jeans and a faded t-shirt, he clenched his teeth but refrained from speaking any further. It was not his place to talk casually to a member of the royal family no matter how ridiculous they might look.

"Yes, Princess. I am quite well thank you. I am glad to see you in good health. I also hope your flight was comfortable," he spoke respectfully.

Nandini's lips twitched at the restrained reply, but she maintained the cool façade.

"It was well thank you. I would like to freshen up now," she turned to the stairs to escape the conversation.

Veer Singh cleared his throat yet again and Nandini let out an expletive under her breath. She breathed in and out trying to keep her anger in check.

"Yes?" she turned regarding him coldly.

Veer Singh disregarded Nandini's demeanor. "Maharaj is expecting you in the library...", he started to say.

"I understand. I will freshen up and come down to meet him," she explained.

"Please make sure that you come right away as Maharaj has been looking forward to meeting you. It does not look good to keep your father waiting," he spoke slowly as if he was explaining to a little child.

Nandini gritted her teeth but spoke calmly reigning in her anger.

"I will definitely keep that in mind and now if you excuse me," she said and climbed the stairs ignoring the 'harrumph' that followed.

Nandini entered the familiar setting of the East wing and let out a breath. The East wing consisted of a huge hall, and several rooms of which Nandini occupied the largest of them. All of it together made her quarters. She opened the door to her haven smiling genuinely for the first time. She was home, she thought as she took in the pale pink walls. Nandini sank into the plush chair nearby looking around. The door to her bed room was open and that meant her luggage was already sent up. Pushing herself up from the chair she walked toward the bedroom and closed the door behind her. She bit her lower lips hard enough that she felt the taste of blood in her mouth. Her luggage was already unpacked and she mentally thanked the efficient palace staff. Taking off the satchel from around her neck she dug in to find her cell phone but then decided against it. 'I need to meet father first,' she thought to herself and quickly went to freshen up.

A few minutes later dressed in a white kurti and jeans, she stood outside the door of her father's office cum study. Her palms were clammy and she rubbed it vigorously on her jeans. She felt a strange foreboding as she knocked on the heavy oak door. Veer Singh opened the door and gave a small nod. Then much to her chagrin he stood near the half opened door.

"Princess Nandini is waiting for an audience, Maharaj," he spoke reverentially. A muffled affirmative came from inside. Nandini crossed her arms around her body feeling the absurdity of the situation.

"You may please enter Princess," Veer Singh bowed slightly as he moved away from the door allowing her to enter. Nandini did not spare a second glance at him, walking straight toward the large mahogany desk behind which sat Maharaj Virendra Singh.

"Nandini come, come my child," he spoke over enthusiastically, "You may leave us Veer," he looked at Veer knowingly who bowed his head and left closing the door behind him. Virendra Singh looked at his daughter and smiled warmly. "Why are you still standing Nandini? Come sit," he motioned toward a chair. Nandini was not fooled by this gesture as she noticed that her father's smile did not reach his eyes.

"You were supposed to come in the evening," he said leaning forward with his hands clasped on the desk.

"I got an earlier flight. Is there any problem father?" Nandini questioned.

"Problem there is no problem none at all. Everything is fine . . . its fantastic in fact. If you would have called i could have sent a car to the airport." Virendra Singh spoke too quickly.

Nandini raised an eyebrow as she regarded her father's flustered face. "Okay, if you say so. I can take your leave then?" she stood up in a bid to leave.

"Wait....wait Nandini, please sit down," he rubbed a hand over his face. Nandini watched her father behaving as never before. Maharaj Virendra Singh did not need to beat around the bush, he usually said what he had on his mind and without a question expected the opposite person to concede.

"I wanted to...I.....I don't know how to start my dear but I have to tell you. A few days back I got a call from Maharaj Chandra Raj Singh of Vilaspore. You remember him don't you?" Nandini nodded her head feeling a certain sensation wriggling in her stomach.

"I am glad you remember him, it wouldn't do well if you fail to recognize your future father-in-law you see...."

Her head snapped up and she sat ramrod straight, "Excuse me father...I didn't understand what do you mean by my father-in-law." She felt her body starting to turn cold.

Her father looked at her and continued in all seriousness. "When you were born Chandra Raj and I took a decision to cement our relationship further. We decided to unify the two royal houses of Vilaspore and Jaypore by marriage. And now it is time to honour that promise."

For the first five seconds Nandini sat still not believing what she just heard. The next five seconds she recalled whatever she heard wondering if she heard it right. In the next two second she jumped up from the chair she was sitting on toppling it in the process.

"You must be joking father!"

***********************************

*Maharaj - King

Dhoti - a loose piece of clothing worn around the lower half of the body by men

Angarkha - overcoat

Padgi - turban