Chapter Text
Veena liked to think that she was as easy to play as the stringed instrument she was named after.
Which was to be said, not easy at all.
It wasn’t that she considered herself completely infallible. It was just that growing up with someone like Aditi for a sister, she had quickly adjusted herself to dodge any tricks or pranks the latter might pull, developing a mind sharper and more skeptical than most in the process.
The woman was equal parts wary and weary.
So could you blame her for being disbelieving when her sister came barging into her chambers at the first ray of sunlight, declaring that she had turned into some sort of monster the previous night?
"You did? Strange, I didn’t hear any complaints from the cooks about late night kitchen raids from last night,” she answered, completely unruffled, and added with a twinge of annoyance, “Although, I wouldn’t know, seeing as they’re probably still asleep.”
“I’m not joking, Veena,” The older woman answered, slightly miffed.
“You expect me to believe that you turned into some sort of eldritch horror out of nowhere?”
“It would be nice if you did.”
“Go back to sleep, Aditi.”
“No. Hear me out first.”
“Stop being annoying.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I’ll tell mother. I'll get her to confine you to your quarters or something.”
"Oh no, I'm so scared," Aditi retorted sarcastically.
"I'll tell her about your little excursions.”
Aditi narrowed her eyes. “How do you even know about that?”
Veena smiled smugly.
“I know a lot.” In actuality, she had been told by Rekha, who, in addition to being Aditi's companion and handmaiden, was also Veena's good friend.
“You wouldn’t.”
“No?” Veena stuck a foot out of her bed threateningly. “Watch me.”
Aditi glared, and turned on her heel to leave.
“This isn’t over!” She called out over her shoulder. Veena simply grunted and waited for her sister’s retreating footsteps to recede.
Once she was sure Aditi wouldn’t come back, she smirked triumphantly and immediately flopped down into her bed.
Bhavin felt his skin prickle as he entered the dark, lair-like room. It was dimly lit, and he could see a man sharpening his sword. For a moment, the man ignored Bhavin's presence. And then, not lifting his head from his work, he spoke.
“And what brings you here, Minister Bhavin?”
“The Maharaj and Maharani of Nelaghati plan to hand over the throne to their elder daughter, the crown princess, soon,your highness.”
The other man tilted his head slightly, but he did not turn to look at the minister.
“So the Yuvrajnee will ascend the throne in her parents' lifetime? It is rare, but not unheard of. Is that all you wanted to say?”
The minister was now losing his patience.
“Princess Aditi… she is much more powerful than her ageing parents,” He said testily. “Once she ascends the Nelaghati throne, she will only get more powerful.”
"What, exactly, am I supposed to do about that?”
“Stop them.”
The man turned around.
“Now, Minister Bhavin, do not be so senseless. Am I to stroll in and tell them to please put a hold on crowning Princess Aditi as the queen, because one of our ministers is scared of the power she may wield?”
“YOUR HIGHNESS-”
“It would do you no good to raise your voice at me, minister,” The man cuts in. “The king may be extremely lenient with you, but I assure you, I subscribe to no such niceties.”
“My apologies, your highness. I meant stop them another way.”
“What other way?”
"Your highness, you know full well what I am talking about. ”
The man's eyes narrow.
“I'm afraid I do not. Enlighten me, Minister Bhavin. How exactly am I to stop Princess Aditi's coronation?”
“Kill Princess Aditi. Kill her before she can ascend the throne.”
“Minister Bhavin,” The man began coldly, “Do you wish Nelaghati to wage war upon us?”
“Maharaj Sagar and Maharani Arundhati can be easily stopped. They are old, and grow frailer by the day. If Princess Aditi becomes queen and decides to wage war upon us, she will defeat us with ease. We will stand no chance. This is for the good of Alinthi.”
"
You forget that war is not fought by one or two people. Even if they cannot fight themselves, they certainly have displayed enough tactical skill in our previous tussles to have a fighting chance.”
“Your highness-”
“Even if, somehow, you're correct, why should I? Do you suddenly hold a higher rank than I, that I was not informed of?”
“No, your highness. These are his majesty's orders. You are to leave at once. I-I would have told you earlier but…”
The man froze, much to the minister's satisfaction. But when he spoke, his voice betrayed no hint of emotion.
“Is that so? The King's orders?” He asked quietly. “Well, then, I had better get going. I'd do well to fulfill my elder brother's wishes as soon as possible, no?”
That evening, Aditi lay on her stomach on Veena's bed, idly sifting through the messages addressed to her.
“Two suitors today,” She said, wrinkling her nose. “I must be getting rather popular.”
Rekha, who was braiding Veena's hair, clucked her tongue disapprovingly.
"As if you needed any more boosts to your ego. Didn't you send out a public declaration that all suitors would be rejected?"
"Oh, yeah," Veena piped up. "You used lots of big words. I did not realise you knew that many."
Aditi stuck her tongue out at her younger sister.
"You are not worth my time. Anyway, that announcement was last week, so this must've been sent before then. It's from the kingdom of Nethilor, and they're very far away."
"Are you going to write a reply?"
Aditi sighed.
"
I probably should. It's so annoying, writing the same thing again and again. My deepest apologies, but the prospect of romantic and sexual relationships does not intrigue me one bit, et cetera, et cetera."
She pauses for a second, considering something.
"How come Veena never gets any suitors?" She asks,tilting her head. "She came of age months ago, and everyone keeps going on and on about her beautiful dark skin and her soulful black eyes and luscious curls and whatnot. Makes me wonder whether we're even looking at the same person."
Veena harrumphed. "What makes you think I don't have a stash of them hidden away in a drawer somewhere?"
Rekha did not look too excited about the prospect.
"Well," She began, "Aside from the fact that the servants would've discovered it in a few minutes' time? You would've come running to rub it in our faces."
"
HA! Thank you, Rekha." Aditi grinned smugly at Veena.
Veena ignored Aditi. "Are you jealous of my would-be suitors, Rekha dearest? Surely you do not want to whisk me away for yourself?"
Rekha laughed derisively, reddening slightly.
"Of course not. If you ever find someone for yourself, I shall be cheering for you the loudest. But what about me?"
"What about you?"
Rekha stops braiding her hair and loops her hands around Veena's neck, grinning.
"Your lover would whisk you away, and I would be left here alone without you. What am I to do then?"
A dark flush forms on Veena's cheeks. "I-"
"
Then I would have to deal with Aditi myself. You wouldn't subject me to that, would you…" Still grinning impishly, she adds, "Dearest?"
Aditi makes a face at the duo, who were doubled over laughing.
"Laugh at me all you want, neither of you will be the ruler of Nelaghati in a few months' time. I suppose you need your simple pleasures."
"Yeah, yeah. What're the rest of the messages?"
Aditi sifts through them once again.
"Nothing I haven't dealt with already. I suppose I'm free to take another look at the book, then."
Rekha paled. "You still have it?"
"Of course I still have it, Rekha. It's a magical book. I can't just give it to the very first person at our doorstep."
Veena looked unimpressed. "A magical book? Is this related to the monster you were talking about this morning?"
"In fact, it is."
"A monster?!" Rekha nearly screamed.
"
Don't worry, Rekha, it's probably not even real."
It did make sense that Veena would not believe her, Aditi supposed. Magic was something limited to only a few kingdoms, and as far as anyone knew, Nelaghati and any of its surrounding territories did not qualify.
This did lead to a lot more questions than she had bargained for the previous night. If she wanted to know more about this, she would have to do some digging around.
She sighed and held her hands up in surrender.
"I'll show you later, okay? Right now, I need to go."
"Where to?"
"To figure some things out."