Shruti

******

Having the radiance of the diamond, the ice crystals wafted in the tangerine-colored juice. But something was amiss. Gladly, I realized the hues of orange needed someone of yellow. I then took the yellow crayon and highlighted a few areas of the glass' liquid content.

I was absolutely unaware when the door to my room opened and when he entered to sit on my bed alongside me since I was so absorbed in my flamboyant rapture. He had to snap his fingers in front of me to get my attention because I was completely lost.

For a brief moment, I was startled. However, when I looked to my right, I noticed him adoringly admiring my drawing and having a bright gleam in his eyes. I felt happy to be around him.

'Did you draw it?' He posed the query in sign language.

"Yep."

'It's pretty.'

His eyes were still glued to my drawing. I knew he was grinning within even though he did not show it to me. I preferred being alone but he being an exception was busting that barrier.

"Just like me?" I asked. He turned to face me and shrugged.

Even though it shouldn't have mattered who he found attractive, my heart sank. He was merely one of many individuals that visited that unusual place with a woman to visit a doctor. I had a hunch he would not stay for a long, while that place seemed to have become my home.

Holding his thumb to his chin, he made the ASL number 5 sign with his dominant hand. Then, moving from his dominant side to his non-dominant side, he raked his fingers across his face until all four joined the thumb in front of his chin.

What he meant was, 'I am pretty.'

I don't remember ever studying sign language, yet even as a little child, I could comprehend it splendidly.

Strange!

'I have to go to my Rose now.'

He got out of bed after leaving a fish-shaped cookie box on my bed.

"Shy boy." He turned to face me as I called.

"Will you come to meet me again tomorrow?" He remained silent, and my sense of panic mounted.

"Will you?" He still did not respond to anything with the help of his fingers. Then, all the colours I could identify—golden, cyan, brown, beige—turned into tiny fish all around me.

The flashes vanished instantly, to be replaced by a grey, silvery ceiling that was peering down at me.

I looked around and discovered that I was in a somewhat not-so-foreign place. The grey bedding I was sleeping on and the thick, heavy curtains knew me from before. The furniture that reeked of grandeur and the smoky ceilings could only belong to one person.

I was dreaming about a little boy who could not speak, yet it did not feel like a dream at all. It felt surreal because no dream of mine was ever so vivid just like that one. Perhaps it was all pregnancy effects.

I struggled to move as I felt quite feeble, but in the end, on my third try, I was successful.

Being in a place that man owned was simply degrading and gut-wrenching. It was a nightmare, and I could not spend another second there.

The details of how, when, and why were not relevant at the moment. At that point, being at home safe with my child was all that mattered.

I swiftly jumped out of bed, grabbed my bag off the nightstand, and opened the semi-unlocked door to discover women watching over the vicinity.

"Do you need anything?" One of them asked. They followed me as I flee to the stairs while ignoring her question.

"Where are you going, Ma'am?"

"Ma'am, you cannot leave."

Despite their repeated attempts to stop me, I was in no mood to pay attention. Though it was useless to even try to listen. Being at a stranger's home was not where I wanted to be. I had already been the target of bogus rumours, and I didn't want new information to add fuel to the fire that may consume me completely.

My way was soon enough barred by the woman from before who seemed dismayed.

"Royal Highness would be very upset with you leaving. Please listen to us."

"Do I look like I care about your so-called Royal Highness?"

The women exchanged apprehensive, anxious glances before bowing in my presence.

"Please don't do this. Don't leave." The other one from the group requested. I would have been merciful, but my baby's safety came first, and I was clueless about what the Royal Highness had planned for my child.

As I turned around, I noticed men manning the main door.

"Move away."

"We cannot."

Isn't Alisha, Shiv, and reporters enough? Now I have to deal with the wicked Prince's hideous guards.

"You can't go out. Your safety is something we are accountable for."

"Go, inform your prince that I don't need any defense. Move now." They stayed at their ingrained.

"Okay, don't budge. I am a skilled fighter." If I had to fight for my baby, I was going to do it.

"We won't subject you to such a horrific situation. It is a sin for us to subject you to such horror."

God! They were really talking gibberish.

"I'm heading out. I will burn anyone who dares to touch me." 

"We aren't allowed to lay even a finger on you. You are Princess Consort."

Instead of appreciating what they were saying and engaging in idle conversation, I made the decision to leave. As I did so, an army was waiting for me outside.

A Goddamn army!

"You've got to be joking, right?" I muttered to myself and rubbed my pounding temple.

"Your Highness." Luca, the prime bodyguard of the jackass prince bowed before me and I let out a frustrated sigh.

"Not you, too."

"I will drop you off."

"Do I look like a kid to you guys? Look, I'm more capable of managing myself than anyone else."

"We're confident you can. But things are heated up, and the nation is on fire."

He momentarily gazed towards the exit before stating, "Besides, you cannot walk past the area without my assistance."

I seized the chance and chose to take one last aid because I would have been foolish to take on an entire army.

******

As I entered the rental home, I worried that I would have to endure the misery of being alone. I didn't, though. My friends were there. They were there for me. I could not help but feel the pain of all the hurt as I stared at the four: Dhriti, Saavi, Nitya, and Simran.

I was firmly rooted in my spot, but Dhriti took the initiative to approach me and give me a hug.

"I am sorry."

"I am so sorry."

I didn't understand what she was sorry for as she rubbed my back and kept apologizing, but the warm, loving embrace she gave me was exactly what I needed. Even after the terror I had to endure all day, I did not allow my emotions to overwhelm me in the slightest.

An hour later, I was curled up on the bed with Saavi's lap under my head. Dhriti was cooking her signature dish, pasta, which we all loved. Nitya was narrating the inane stuff she did on vacation and Simran was scrunching her nose at every statement Kiaan was involved in.

While it was a pleasant feeling, I persuaded myself not to grow accustomed to it. Because in the end, they all had their families to turn to, but I did not.

******

The following morning when I woke up, the house was empty, just like every other day. Once more, I was overcome with emptiness and a need for a loving family. Anyway, I couldn't complain or even worry about it since I planned to treasure the little gifts of affection and joy my friends were giving me. The health of my child would eventually be affected by my overthinking, complaining, and resentment. And I could not take that risk.

I went to the kitchen when I was ready for work to see whether there was any leftover pasta from the previous night or any other items Dhriti had stocked. Every time she visited, she always stocked my refrigerator, exactly like a mother would.

Surprisingly, I saw Simran holding a carton of milk. There were two bowls of cereal on the kitchen counter. Simran and Kitchen were nemeses because she did not like to cook.

"What made you get ready?" She must have assumed that I would spend a few days at home following the tumultuous incident from the previous day.

"I have to go to work," I said. When I opened the refrigerator, I was not astonished to see how much food was inside. Most of them were from Dhriti, with a few from Saavi and Nitya.

"But..."

I pulled out an apple and said, "I'm good. I don't need to sleep so much." Despite this, she was not at peace with my assertions. I figured she could be upset because of the entire paparazzi thing.

"I know how to handle those stupid paparazzi. All they could do is assassinate my character but trust me, it's only a matter of a day." I remembered the media was soon to focus exclusively on a certain wedding and took a bite of the apple that literally tasted bitter because of the realization of a wedding.

"They have a royal wedding to focus on." I offered her a little smile, but it was brief and it didn't last long.

When I said those three words, "The Royal Wedding," my heart and my lips were set on fire.

Simran, however, became more distressed as time went on. As I watched her keep the milk container on the kitchen counter, I had a strange feeling.

"You can't recall what happened yesterday, do you?"

"I do. How could I forget how I was held accountable for something heinous?"

Simran gave me an odd look before raking her hair, as she always did when she was upset.

"What's going on, Simmy?"

"I..." She paused, took a long breath, and then struggled to utter anything comprehensible. "I don't know how to explain this... God! This is so..."

It all seemed illogical to me. With a frightened look on her face, she sprinted over to me.

"Listen, Shruti. You take a few days off, just as Dhriti Di advised you to last night. You take a rest for a few days and don't leave the house, alright? Have breakfast I made, and after that, we'll discuss the current situation."

Breakfast preparation by Simran struck me as bizarre. It was me who used to cook most of the time or else we relied on takeouts. However, Dhriti used to occasionally replenish our refrigerator. 

She was about to leave the area because she was discomfited about something, but I stopped her.

"No, hold on..."

She turned to face me with a look that implied something was profoundly wrong and that I needed to know what it was.

"Did something else happen yesterday?"

My phone, which was placed on the wooden stool outside the kitchen area, started to fill up with a tonne of notifications. It blowing up like that was incredibly unforeseen. It wouldn't have perturbed me at all if I hadn't seen Simran tremblingly glancing at my phone. I walked over to the stool where my phone was perched and took it. The first notification I checked was a news story, and what I read caused me to sink six feet to the ground. That fully accounted for the reason I had woken up at that place the day before.

I got to read the ignominious news article that involved me and the one man I had recently begun to detest.

My breathing was uneven, and I was in a state of stupor. My head was suddenly hit with a lightning-fast throbbing from the previous day. I stumbled and everything around me rotated in my vision.

"Shruti, are you okay?" Simran gripped my arm while I grounded myself. I wasn't okay, and I wasn't going to be until I dealt with that issue head-on.

How dare he do that to me, to my child?

"I have to go."

Simran chased after me as I drifted in the main exit direction, attempting to stop me. But I was too incensed to allow my rational mind to take control.

"Shruti, you cannot make hasty decisions. Going out is not the right thing."

As I opened the door, ignoring everything, her words, and even the repercussions I might have to face, I found Luca already outside the door.

"Your Highness." For some reason, he made a little bow towards me, but I was unwilling to ask him why he was acting with such oddity. Because everyone who was related to The Royal Prince was mad as a hatter.

However, it was advantageous to have him there. Considering that he was the only person available at the time who could escort me safely to the required premises.

"Take me to Mr. Rajvansh, right now."