AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That, my spoilt little princess, is when the Maharawal’s children marry mine. Both his children for both of mine,” she said grimly.
I squeaked in horror as the meaning of her words sank in.
“You mean to say that he expects Veer to marry that bag of horrors?”
Ma nodded sternly, and I sank into the chair next to hers. This was awful. No, it was beyond awful. It was an honest-to-God living nightmare.
Veer hated Anika. Like really, really hated her. I didn’t blame him.
She was the nastiest piece of work that ever came to be called human. If Deep had stuck pins in butterflies when he was a child, Anika was the sort to roast them alive over the flame of a candle. Just for kicks.
Even poor Zombie went into hiding when she visited. And he was a pit bull. One of the most ferocious breeds known to man. The last time that she was here, he refused to come out from under Veer’s bed, as if he knew instinctively that Veer would never let her into his bedroom.
And now, Veer was expected to marry her. Wait a minute.
“Ma, we’re not in the middle ages. Veer can simply say no,” I suggested.
My mother stared at me as if I was stupid.
“Do you have any idea how much we owe the Maharawal, Jayshree? We cannot offend him by rejecting his daughter outright, especially if you have your heart set on marrying his son,” she snapped.
Veer was so going to kill me.
I buried my face in my hands and sighed. Why did I have to ruin everything?
All I wanted was a way out. A new beginning. A chance at moving on. And now I had dragged my family into a mess that would probably destroy my brother’s life.
Maybe we were destined to be unhappy. They didn’t call it the curse of the Devgarhs for nothing. When I was a little girl, the curse had taken half of my family. My uncle had killed his wife in a fit of jealousy and desperation and then shot himself. My father had died of shock after seeing their bodies. We thought that the curse had worn itself out with their deaths. Apparently not.
I felt a soft hand on my head and raised tear-filled eyes to see my mother smiling sympathetically at me.
“Tears don’t become a bride, Jayshree. Don’t worry. If Veer doesn’t want to marry Anika, we’ll find a way to fix it. Your wedding plans won’t be affected.”
“I’m not worried about my wedding, Ma. I’m worried that I’ve ruined Veer’s life,” I said tearfully.
“Oh, pish. He’s a big boy. He’ll find a way to get Anika off his back once and for all,” she replied firmly.
I heard the muted roar of his Harley Davidson charging up the driveway, and decided that even if Veer was a big boy, it was in my best interests to make myself scarce while Ma broke the news to him. I didn’t want to risk being loaded into the Devgarh cannon and blown all the way to Tejpur, or even to the moon if Veer managed to lay his hands on rocket fuel.
“I need to freshen up a bit, Ma. See you later,” I said, as I ran up the stairs.
“Coward,” she called out at my retreating back.
I pretended not to hear, and once I was in my room, I pulled out my phone. It was time to do what I had always done in times of need. I called my best friend.
“Nivy, I need you.”
* * *
ARYAN
He was sick of playing peacemaker between his sister and his parents. Aryan knew that his mother was being unreasonable, but Nivy wasn’t making it easy for anyone, either.
She couldn’t turn up out of the blue after five years of minimal contact and expect a warm welcome. He was proud of all that she had achieved in those five years, and he knew that deep down, his parents were, too. They were just hurt at the way she had disappeared out of their lives overnight, even if she’d had her reasons for doing so.
And now, his mother had dragged him into being part of the most asinine plan ever.
“No way, Ma! If Nivy finds out, she’ll run away again. Don’t do this to her. She needs emotional support right now, not matchmaking,” he said firmly.
