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Fascination with the royals was real.
The families they met were second and third-generation immigrants who had moved to Europe, and yet, she could see the spark in their eyes, the joy of meetingtheirprince. That is probably how she would have been if she weren’t married to one and in a fake marriage with him.
Shortly after, she walked next to him, her hand gently placed in his as they were about to meet his family. And like it finally hit her that she was part oftheroyal family, her anxiety shot up again, and she squeezed his hand, inadvertently moving closer to him like it comforted her.
“Welcome back, you guys!” His sister was the first to approach them, and Sanjana threw an arm around the excited woman but did not let go of his hand. “So good to have you back.”
“Good to be back,” Jai said as the three of them came together for a group hug while he held her hand in his. To Sanjana, it felt surprisingly natural.
“Glad you could join us this morning,” his mother said with a soft smile, and it was at that point Sanjana let her hand free to greet the older couple the traditional way by joining her hands. “Sanjana, don’t be so formal. Come, sit.” The older woman patted the empty seat next to her.
Sanjana was still nervous in the presence of the entire family, and it was only her fake husband who seemed to make her feel at ease. She cast a look in his direction as he spoke to his sister, hoping he would come sit next to her so she was not by herself with the king and queen.
When did she become so clingy?
To her relief, the prince came to sit next to her. She continued her conversation with the older couple, sharing the details of their visits to meet people who migrated from their region and have become successful in their fields.
Soon after, her nervousness was under control as she ate the yummy food and participated in the conversations. They were mid-conversation when the queen let out a small laugh and said, “Look who’s decided to join us too.”
Sanjana looked in the direction of the queen’s gaze and saw it was the older brother walking toward them—the face of the family when it came to social media and the future king who was well-loved and respected by the people in the region. Whether it was performing the royal duties to the welfare programs or running the family businesses, it was all Bharath Devaraya.
Bharath was nowhere as tall as his younger brother, but he was built like a bodybuilder, and his stone-like muscles made him look broad and somewhat shorter, whereas his younger brother was all lean muscle and tall like a warrior who had the strength to defend his empire, like a king. How could someone with a small stature hold so much arrogance in just the way he walked?
In the few times they had met, Sanjana did not get positive vibes from the older brother, and she always got the feeling he didn’t approve of the alliance. The one time she caught him looking at her family during one of the wedding rituals, she swore she saw annoyance in his eyes like he couldn’t stand the very sight of them.
It had made her angry at the time, but she brushed away the unwarranted thoughts. Why did she care about what he thought of her and her family when it was all going to come to an end in one year?
“Bharath, come join us,” Aish said cheerfully, gesturing to the seat next to her.
Instead of sitting next to his sister, Bharath gestured Aish to give up her seat next to their father, and to Sanjana’s utter surprise, she complied. Sanjana didn’t catch any unhappiness in Aish’s eyes as she moved to the chair next to him, away from their father.
What Sanjana thought was not nice didn’t seem to bother anyone at the table. As if curious, she turned to look at the guy next to her to find him glaring at his older brother, but he did not say anything.
Shortly after, the older couple left the canopy to go back indoors, and she could see a sudden shift in the older brother’s body language. Like he had been waiting for the royal couple to leave.
“We need to talk,” Bharath’s words came out as an order as he glared at his younger brother. A strange silence fell over the table as if everyone expected the conversation. Sanjana picked up anger in the older brother’s eyes and wondered why.
“What do we need to talk about this early in the morning when I’m still jet-lagged?” Sanjana was surprised at the overly casual tone of the younger of the two brothers—your husband. She didn’t know how much longer she needed to register that.
The silence was awkward as the brothers looked at each other until the older one said, “What was the need to address the media?”
“What do you meanneed?” Jai fired back like he was expecting the question. “We, as a family, decided to open up to the public. We need to be approachable.”
“No. We don’t. There are boundaries.” Bharath grit his teeth, but there was surprise in his voice, like he didn’t expect his younger brother to speak up.
Jai seemed to be in no mood to back down. “Not anymore. Social media opens up the opportunity for us to be connected with the people of our region. We don’t want to be the family who only performs our roles as royals but does something for the people.”
Bharath let out a chuckle. “What the palace does… are you saying that’s not enough?”
“No.” It was a curt response. “I’m saying we can do more if we knew what people wanted.” He paused to look at Sanjana, and the way he held her gaze for a moment made her breath trap in her throat. “Like what Sanjana’s father is doing. We need to reach out to our people to find out what really matters.”
Sanjana’s heart went on a rampage as she stared at her husband in awe. For him to acknowledge what her father had started was huge, at least she thought it was awesome. Especially when the rest of the family at the table nodded in agreement to the NGO her father initiated with a few of his retired colleagues was in no way a huge effort. She lowered her eyes, processing the moment that had suddenly turned intense as the brothers continued to engage with their words.
“What was the need to show off how much you and your wife are enjoying each other to the entire world?” Bharath’s voice was gruff, and his comment made her eyes fly up to Jai.
Did she hear it right?
“Bharath, what are you talking about?” Aish intervened as if unable to bear the way her brothers were glaring at each other.
