His Captive Indian Princess

by Tanu Jain

  Madhav’s innate charm, affability and generosity combined with Vikram’s sharp brain, calculating acumen and unflagging drive proved to be a winning combination.

  Their venture of turning heritage palaces into boutique hotels was hugely successful and in a short span of time they had expanded and grown enormously, having set up a chain of hotels in the country as well as abroad. They both had amassed huge fortunes which even surpassed their respective family wealth.

  Madhav always attributed their rapid growth to Vikram and often said laughingly, ‘You are unstoppable like a toofan! And I am like the leaf which is forcefully carried and hurled here and there.’

  But even their stupendous success and enormous wealth hadn’t managed to slay the demons which plagued Vikram and the emptiness inside him refused to go away.

  It was early evening when he finally called a halt and decided to go and see what Gauri was doing. He had instructed a lackey to offer her lunch since he remembered they hadn’t had breakfast.

  He reached Maharaj’s room and saw Gauri sitting motionless, clasping his hand and murmuring softly. Walking closer, he realised she seemed to be murmuring some kind of a prayer.

  He stood silent. Maybe this will work, he thought with a flicker of hope.

  Gauri seemed to sense his arrival and turned her head. Immediately, she tensed and looked away.

  The nurse appeared.

  ‘Any change?’ Vikram asked.

  The nurse shook her head. ‘His condition seems the same. Maharaj, Yuvrani ji has been sitting here since morning and hasn’t eaten anything. I have been telling her to go and eat something but she refuses to listen.’

  Vikram was shocked. ‘Why haven’t you eaten anything? I sent a lackey for lunch. Didn’t he come?’

  Gauri shrugged. ‘He did come but I was not feeling hungry.’

  ‘Damn it, do you want to fall ill? Why are you creating more problems?’ Vikram was furious at Gauri’s carelessness. She had not eaten anything the entire day!

  Gauri bit her lip. Whatever she did or didn’t do, she seemed to anger Vikram.

  ‘Let’s go,’ Vikram ordered and began walking out.

  ‘I want to stay here,’ Gauri said in a small voice.

  Vikram turned to her in exasperation and said, ‘What will you achieve by sitting here without eating or drinking anything? You will end up falling ill and I will be forced to look out for you as well. I have brought you here to help Kaka Maharaj recover, not for you to fall ill. Do you understand?’

  Vikram’s words cut Gauri deep. He couldn’t have made his contempt for her clearer.

  Schooling her face to impassivity, she turned to him and said, ‘Yes, I understand. Don’t worry, I will not fall ill.’

  ‘Let’s go then.’ Vikram walked out impatiently.

  They reached his suite of rooms, and Gauri dithered in the sitting room, unsure where to go.

  Vikram sensed her hesitation and said curtly, ‘We will be sharing this suite. There are two bedrooms and you can take the one on the right. I had your clothes brought down from your apartment. Go and see if they are all right.’

  Gauri was incensed at his high-handedness. ‘You sent somebody to rifle through my apartment? How dare you do this? And you didn’t even ask me?’

  ‘Why should I ask you? I am a busy man and I can’t keep asking your permission for little things. Anyway, what could you have done? You will be staying here till Kaka Maharaj is back on his feet, won’t you, so it made sense to have your stuff brought here,’ Vikram replied with cool logic.

  Infuriated by his arrogance and the superior expression on his face, Gauri replied pugnaciously, ‘Whom did you send? I hope it was someone reliable. All my almirahs were unlocked and even my purse was lying in the room. Since you practically kidnapped me I didn’t get the chance to lock anything.’

  ‘Don’t worry, your valuables are safe. You can check your purse down to the last rupee. All my people are extremely reliable,’ Vikram clipped out.

  ‘I will definitely check out everything. And if there are any valuables missing I will hold you responsible,’ Gauri said doggedly.

  ‘How dare you accuse me of theft? Your audacity amazes me! A pot calling the kettle black! It was you who absconded with the family valuables and cash,’ Vikram accused.

  ‘What cash and valuables? I have never touched the family valuables.’ Gauri was aghast at this new accusation.

  ‘What a short memory you have! I’m talking about the booty that you took with you when you slunk away in the dead of night six years ago!’ Vikram roared.

  ‘Are you mad? What booty are you talking about?’ Gauri asked, perplexed.

  ‘I’m talking about the money and the jewellery that you took away with you.’

  ‘What? How dare you make these unfounded accusations? I didn’t take anything with me when I left, except for some clothes and…’ Gauri stuttered to a stop as she recalled the two things of value she had taken.

  Vikram looked at her triumphantly. ‘So you do remember? At least now stop lying!’

  Gauri had been thrown back into her memories and she looked at him with unseeing eyes. She remembered the two things she had taken but she couldn’t tell Vikram about them—if he had even a tiny inkling of what she had taken he would die laughing.

  So she merely retorted, ‘I did take something but not what you are accusing me of. Why would I take anything when I was leaving it all behind? I never wanted anything except my family’s love. But you believe what you want to. I don’t care!’

  ‘You are right on this score at least. You don’t care about anyone except yourself! And you are a fine one to talk about family love! You always had your family’s love but you didn’t want it. You turned your back on it,’ Vikram said contemptuously.

  ‘There was no family love, as you call it! You don’t know the truth about what I faced during my childhood,’ Gauri rebutted heatedly.

  ‘Oh! Please don’t behave like a poor little rich girl. You had everything—a family who accepted you and loved you, a father and brother who doted on you and would have fulfilled your every desire. But you threw it all away and besmirched your family’s name and honour!’ Vikram thundered.

  ‘I didn’t besmirch my family’s name! I ran away to…’ Gauri stopped, pained at his wounding accusation of being a ‘poor little rich girl’. She wanted to scream her anguish at being a shaming burden to her family but years of controlling her emotions dried up her words. In any case, it was no use explaining to Vikram. He was completely biased against her and her illegitimate status had doomed her forever in his eyes.

  ‘I have had enough of your sermonising. Call me conniving, cunning, thief or whatever, it doesn’t bother me. And next time don’t interfere in my matters without consulting me. I told you earlier that I am perfectly capable of managing on my own independently. I will not put up with any kind of superior dictatorial behaviour,’ Gauri said stubbornly, sticking up her chin defiantly, though inside she was weeping.

  Gauri’s scorn flayed Vikram’s temper anew, and he felt like wringing her neck. He was poised to deliver a cutting put-down when he noticed the slight tremble of her lips and the dark smudges under her eyes. The fragile set of her shoulders smote him. The day had been long for her and she hadn’t eaten a thing since morning. The mistakes she had committed were unforgivable but she was Madhav’s sister and the situation must be difficult for her, too. She was too thin as it was and he didn’t want her falling ill. It was his duty to ensure her well-being.

  He controlled his anger and turned away, murmuring, ‘Go and freshen up. I will see you in half an hour for dinner.’

  Chapter Four

  GAURI LOOKED AT Vikram retreating into his room. She wanted to argue further but suddenly she felt waves of tiredness sweeping through her body. She walked into the room she had been assigned and looked at the bed longingly. It had been a long day and she just wanted to collapse into sleep-induced oblivion, but the hungry growling of her stomach remi
nded her that she needed to eat.

  She looked around for her clothes and found that they had been arranged neatly in the cupboards. As she tried to select something to wear for dinner, she realised with dismay that none of her jeans and T-shirts, which were her customary wear, had been packed. Whoever had packed for her had brought a couple of pairs of track pants, sweatshirts and her office clothes, which were black trousers and white shirts. She would have to go herself to fetch her clothes. But what she should wear in the meantime was the question. She couldn’t wear track pants so that meant that she would have to wear a white shirt and black trousers.

  After a quick shower, she donned her clothes and ventured out uncertainly. She couldn’t see Vikram anywhere. She stepped out and saw a lackey coming in the corridor.

  ‘Good evening, Yuvrani ji! Please come this way,’ he said, bowing and pointing in the direction he had come.

  Gauri followed him. He led her outside, towards the hotel lobby into a private sitting room which contained a table set for two. But it was empty. There was no sign of Vikram. He was probably still furious with her, Gauri thought, sitting down glumly. But why was he accusing her of theft? When she had fled six years ago, she had not taken any money except what had been in her purse, which had been a couple of thousand rupees. So why was he confidently asserting that she had taken jewellery and cash? Somebody had been telling lies again, but who could it be?

  It had to be Maya! Gauri suddenly knew with certainty. She was the only one capable of fabricating lies and weaving them artfully so that they appeared to be the truth.

  Her situation here would never change, she thought despairingly. She would always be the unwanted one, detested and condemned. She had always been regarded as an interloper and that was what she would always remain. She thought of her brother and her eyes burned with tears. He couldn’t be dead. Her intuition told her that he was alive. She would trust her intuition, she thought with sudden resolve. And she would try her best to make her intuition come true.

  Just then Vikram entered, and her breath caught at the sight of him. He had showered and was wearing a blue-and-white kurta pyjama. He always managed to look regal and formidable whatever he wore. He exuded pure energy and latent power from every pore and, unbidden, a thought arose that if only she could draw on his strength she could somehow warm the cold, tight knot inside her. She swiftly bent her eyes, aghast at her wayward thoughts.

  Vikram sat down coldly without even a glance at her. Her already heavy heart sank further. He would always view her with suspicion and disapproval. She could not forget that she was here on sufferance.

  The waiter appeared and served soup and a side dish of potatoes and cheese. Gauri fidgeted, uncomfortably aware of sitting with Vikram. The feeling of being unwanted enveloped her and she was back to being a little girl, forced to sit with the family at meal times. Each bite used to be torture and she would eat slowly, horribly aware of the disapproving and contemptuous glances of her grandmother and Maya. She had grown to hate meal times and had developed an aversion to eating. That habit had persisted and, even as a grown-up, she was a picky eater, eating only when she had to.

  Vikram saw Gauri fidgeting uncomfortably. Something in him tightened as he watched.

  She hadn’t eaten anything the whole day. She must be hungry. Guilt flowed through him. He should have ensured that she ate. She had changed her clothes and seemed to be wearing some kind of office gear. Her face was etched with tiredness and there were shadows under her eyes. The news of her father and brother seemed to have knocked the stuffing out of her and she appeared lost and forlorn. He noted the slenderness of her shoulders and her narrow waist. She was thin to the point of being all bones except for her lush and tempting breasts, which were etched in his memory. He stopped his meandering thoughts and berated himself.

  Seeing her reluctantly eyeing the soup, he instructed her, ‘Drink your soup.’

  He reached out to fill Gauri’s plate and immediately Gauri stiffened. Her spoon clattered down in the bowl and she looked at him, a flush staining her cheeks.

  ‘I … I’m not very hungry,’ she forced out.

  ‘You have to eat!’ he said, his tone brooking no argument.

  Gauri picked up the spoon and slowly drank her soup. Vikram, too, began eating. The waiter set down numerous dishes but Gauri merely picked at her food.

  Vikram saw her eating next to nothing and said, ‘Eat properly, you have to keep up your strength.’

  Head bent, Gauri responded, ‘I am eating properly.’

  The waiter cleared away their dishes and by then Gauri’s eyelids were drooping. Seeing her extreme tiredness, Vikram said, ‘Go to your room and sleep now. And drink some hot milk before you go. It will help you sleep better.’

  Gauri was feeling exhausted but her hackles rose at Vikram’s authoritative command. He persisted in treating her like a foolish child.

  ‘I don’t want to sleep and I don’t want to drink milk,’ she retorted mutinously.

  ‘All right then, what do you want to do? Maybe we could play cards or dance to music,’ Vikram said sarcastically.

  Gauri realised the error of her words. In her irritation she had forgotten how Vikram would interpret them.

  She got up from the table. ‘No, I think I will go and sleep after all.’ She practically fled. She was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

  After a while Vikram came to check on her. He found her sleeping soundly, an arm thrown across a pillow, the glass of milk he had sent sitting untouched. He would have to make sure that she ate properly. He couldn’t afford to have her fall ill while she was here. And, all said and done, she was Madhav’s younger and much cherished sister. Everyone knew that Madhav had taken her to his heart and loved her deeply, turning a blind eye to her faults. If nothing else, he owed it to his friend’s memory to look after her. And then there was his promise to Madhav …

  She looked like a little girl with her hair tied up in a plait and her face calm in repose. He felt desire lick his veins as he looked at her. Her nightie had ridden up and he could see her slender legs and shapely calves and the outline of her pert little bottom. She had always been quite slender, and that hadn’t changed.

  He looked at her and brooded over why she delighted in rubbing him the wrong way. She always answered back rudely and antagonistically.

  In retrospect, he realised that she had been prickly and distant with almost everybody. Madhav and Maharaj, her father, had been the only exceptions.

  With them, she had always been smiling and cheerful. Her face would light up and she would come running out to greet Madhav as soon as he returned home. Vikram’s mouth hardened and he turned away. She had cleverly played upon their fondness for her but he would not be taken in by her seeming innocence.

  Gauri sat up suddenly, sweating profusely. She was being brutally kissed and everyone was watching her and doing nothing to save her. She looked around fearfully and realised that it was just a dream. Her old nightmare had returned. Returning to Mogragarh had unsettled her and the protective layer she had developed felt stripped away. The room suddenly felt claustrophobic. She crept out silently and opened the door leading to the lawn. She sat down on the stone bench and stared with unseeing eyes at the lush greenery in front of her. There were huge trees all around, a lot of them many years old.

  It was a beautiful palace but it had never been home for her. And it never would be. With her father ill and her brother gone, any charm the palace held for her was also lost.

  She bowed her head in despair. Would her father become well again? And her brother? How should she look for him? She needed to find out what had happened to him. Suddenly she heard a sound behind her and she swivelled around. It was Vikram. She sat up straight. She wasn’t feeling up to another round of sparring with him.

  ‘What happened? Why aren’t you sleeping?’ Vikram asked.

  ‘Nothing, I just woke up,’ Gauri said with a sigh.

  ‘You should sleep. Yest
erday was quite hectic for you,’ Vikram said and turned to go.

  ‘Wait, I have to ask you something,’ Gauri said, taking her courage with both hands. ‘What happened to Madhav Dada?’

  Vikram felt a painful stab at his friend’s name.

  ‘He met with an accident when he was going to Pune. A truck rammed into the car he was travelling in and the force of the collision threw the car off the road into the ravine below, where it exploded in flames,’ Vikram recited tonelessly.

  Gauri felt as if a knife had been stuck into her guts. ‘Was his body recovered?’

  ‘Everyone was burnt in the explosion. None survived.’

  Gauri felt a leap of her heart at this admission. ‘So, Dada’s body was not found?’

  ‘Have you lost your sense of hearing? I just said that no one survived. They were all burnt,’ Vikram said angrily.

  ‘I knew it! Dada is alive. I can feel it. I would have known if he were no more,’ Gauri rattled on excitedly. A sense of exhilaration filled her. She just knew that her brother was alive.

  Vikram stared at her, wondering if she had taken leave of her senses. ‘Have you gone mad?’ he asked her.

  ‘No, I am perfectly all right. We should look for Dada. I’m one hundred per cent sure we’ll find him,’ she replied, unfazed.

  ‘Oh, really? And how do you know this?’ he asked dangerously.

  But Gauri was undaunted. ‘My intuition tells me that he is alive and we should look for him.’

  ‘Does your intuition also tell you that he died because of you?’ Vikram said furiously.

  ‘Because of me?’ Gauri felt as if he had slapped her.

  ‘Yes, you! He received a tip-off that you were in Pune and so he hot-footed it there to try and locate you. He was in such a hurry that he drove down himself, not waiting for the driver. If you hadn’t run off he would still be alive!’ Vikram burst out in an agonised roar.

  Gauri sat still and unmoving. Dada had been trying to locate her. So that meant that Aaji Maa had been lying when she said that no one wanted to even hear her name.