A Royal Affair: The Sravanapura Royals

by Preethi Venugopala

  When they had declared themselves as a couple, Grandpa Bill had hunted down the best wine from his cellar and toasted them.

  “There is nothing better than to sip the best wine, sitting in front of a warm hearth, with your love by your side. To Jane and Vijay; may you discover the true magic of love.”

  Margaret, her mother, had made a celebratory dinner and her father Brian and uncle Bob had sung some beautiful love songs, strumming their guitars. Jane had joined in and that was how he had discovered she could sing. His little princess was full of surprises.

  His? Vijay sat on the chair by the window and pulled at the bridge of his nose. He could no longer think of her that way. All he could hope for was to renew their friendship. He didn’t even know whether she was still single or if she had forgiven him. Or would ever. Perhaps she too had moved on. Her finger had been bare. But, there could be someone in the offing.

  He would help her in this search and then they could part ways amicably. This short time with her would give him closure.

  Closure! Did he even wish to attain it?

  He wasn’t sure. Not even one percent. Tomorrow he would seek answers; he would insist on a complete explanation from her. Yes, he had lied, but he had his reasons.

  She hadn’t demanded an explanation.

  She hadn’t questioned him about the lies he had told her.

  She had merely walked away.

  He would ask her how she had become the person who could tear him apart, toss away the fragments of his being and walk away.

  Tomorrow. Yes. Tomorrow.

  Chapter 7

  Bangalore, April 11, 2009

  Jane stood in front of the mirror brushing her hair, lost in thoughts. She had hardly slept a wink. Time with Vijay yesterday had left her pining for him like never before.

  She absently buttoned the top button of her blue, sleek office shirt and tucked it into her black pants. Had he noticed that she looked nothing like the teenager he had once loved? She had put on weight, was a lot curvier and looked somehow fake even in her own eyes. She needed to lose a few pounds and stop loading her face with makeup. But relying on makeup had become necessary to hide the black circles around her eyes, the result of many sleepless hours and heartbroken tears over the years. Now, though she had regained her natural colour, the habit hadn’t left her. She bit her lips, applied a coat of mascara and dabbed blush onto her cheeks.

  They would be together all day. Vijay had called in the morning to confirm that he would accompany her around to all the archives. A full day in his company. Would she be able to act calm in front of him?

  A day fighting the urge to not kiss him or fall into his arms. It seemed too painful to even contemplate. Why did things have to turn so complicated?

  Jane had tried to move on. Tried going on blind dates but her heart hadn’t given in. Harry, the executive editor of her channel, had pursued her relentlessly, wooed her with flowers, chocolates, and candlelit dinners. But she had felt nothing. Vijay had killed her interest in men.

  Her phone vibrated shaking her out of her reverie with a message from him.

  “Are you ready? Can leave in fifteen minutes.”

  She messaged him a ‘Yes’ and hurriedly applied a coat of lip gloss. She patted down her blow-dried hair once more and picked up her laptop bag.

  Vijay was waiting for her, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel of his sleek black BMW. Was he going to drive? Interesting! On seeing her, he leaned and opened the door for her.

  Jane got in and turned to face him. He looked delectable, dressed in a turtleneck white T-shirt that stretched fetchingly over his broad shoulders and fitted black jeans. His sunglasses added a dash of glamour to his already charming looks but it somehow irritated her. She loved his eyes and it jarred to have them hidden under the glasses. She wanted to get rid of those glasses and drown in his eyes. Jane wanted to feel the smoothness of his freshly shaved cheeks. She yearned for much more but she didn’t have a right to do any of that anymore.

  “You don’t have to accompany me, you know. You could’ve just handed over the papers to me,” Jane said, fidgeting with the handle of her laptop bag. She didn’t fasten her seatbelt contemplating whether she should trouble him further. He had all the reasons in the world to be angry with her. Yet here he was, forgoing all his other duties to help her.

  Vijay leaned towards her, pulled her seatbelt and slipped it into its buckle. The clean smell of soap and warm masculinity engulfed her, triggering memories. She suddenly felt hot and uncomfortable in the closed confines of the car. Blood rushed to her cheeks.

  “I have to. I need answers. I have questions too.” Vijay turned the key in the ignition and started the car. The car slowly moved out of the hotel courtyard and entered the busy street outside.

  Was he about to grill her about what she did years ago? In a moment of confusion and anger, she had thrown away years of friendship and love. It had not been an easy decision. She too wanted answers, didn’t she?

  Her heart was hammering at her ribs. It wanted all that they had back. She wished he was just an ordinary Indian guy with whom a poor girl from Surrey had fallen in love and dreamt of having a future with.

  Yet the reality was different. He was nowhere in her league. Vijay was a prince, who represented the legacy of a 500-year-old kingdom. According to the hotel website, they had branches all over India. That implied his family was a giant in the real estate and hotel business too.

  Maybe she should at least strive to revive their friendship. She had never met anyone who understood her every mood like he did. Clearing her throat, Jane addressed him when they stopped at a traffic light.

  “Will you be able to forgive me, Vijay? I know I acted like a coward years ago. I'm truly sorry.”

  Vijay turned to her and regarded her from under his glasses. He removed the glasses, kept them on the dashboard and faced her.

  “I'm sorry too, Jane. More than you can even guess. I never wished to keep my identity a secret from you. There were so many things that necessitated it. Privacy being one. Also, I cherished how you liked the real me. Not my money or the title. I had planned to reveal it on that fateful day to you, but God had different plans. After those horrible incidents, I had no clue how to convince you. You didn’t answer my emails and ignored my calls. I even visited your home. Grandpa Bill told me you had gone away but didn’t disclose where. You should have given me a chance to explain.”

  “The day your photo was splashed in the papers, I had come to your apartment, you know? The place had been filled with paparazzi. I tried to come in but I was stopped by an old man who seemed to be your staff member. Then I heard one of the TV journalists reporting how your fiancée was with you, providing moral support to you and your sister. I’d heard enough. I ran away. Within 24 hours, my world had turned upside down. I didn’t want to see your face again.”

  “Fiancée? There was no one else with us. You know how the press creates stories. Describe the old man who stopped you.”

  “He was tall, bald, bespectacled and thin. He was wearing some kind of a uniform, I think. A long blue tunic in silk decorated with medals and silver thread works.”

  “That must have been Ravinder Rao, our security chief. The good man had stood like a barrier and faced the press. He didn’t know you. If he did, he would not have stopped you. I guess I cannot blame you anymore.” The signal cleared then and Vijay concentrated on the road again.

  Jane gaped at him in silence. What if she had allowed him to explain all those years ago? What if she had at least read his emails? Those what ifs would never be answered. Despair wrenched her heart. Regret pulsed in every cell in her body and tears threatened to flow out. What good did it do to cry over it now? With a huge effort, she composed her racing heart.

  “I'm so sorry, Vijay. I should have given you a chance to explain.”

  “Let bygones be bygones, Jane. Can we begin anew?”

  “Yes, we should. I guess whatever happened, happened for
the best. Look at you, really, truly the prince-in-waiting.”

  “And you, a reporter as you had always wanted. At least one of us is happy.”

  Jane swallowed. She was not happy. She wanted to tell him that. Did that mean he was unhappy? She had an insane urge to fall into his arms and cry her heart out, begging him to take her back into his life. But she decided to keep things light.

  “Yes, both of us have managed to move on. But this reporting stuff is not as glorious as I imagined. The focus is always on sensationalizing news.”

  “I do understand the hunger the press has for sensational news. The paparazzi is a headache. But I'm sure you stick to your ethics while you report. Let us make Grandpa Bill’s case our best adventure together.”

  “Yes. Let us do this for Grandpa Bill. He deserves it.”

  They continued to talk about things that could help in their quest as Vijay battled with the insane traffic of Bangalore.

  Jane soon realized that having a royal as an accomplice had its perks. They were received courteously and ushered inside the Karnataka State Archives while many others stood waiting outside in the hot sun. The staff was eager to help.

  Vijay had instructed the curators about the exact details they were looking for the day before itself. Hence, papers pertaining to the period of their interest were kept ready for perusal. They found many records that held details of the various Indian and British soldiers in the British Indian Army. After going through the many records, they discovered that Daniel Worthington, aged 18, had arrived in India in 1944 as a cavalry soldier and had risen to the rank of a captain by 1946. After that, there were no records about him. They couldn’t find any data about him after that anywhere. No marriage certificates or death certificates. And there were no records of him leaving India in 1947 with the rest of his regiment.

  The British Indian army that kept elaborate records about each of its members had failed to help Jane in her quest.

  After reading through the many sheets of old handwritten documents in loopy handwriting, Jane’s eyes had begun to hurt. A glance at her watch made her aware that it was 2 o’ clock already. No wonder her stomach was beginning to emit exasperating sounds. She looked up to ask Vijay if they could take a break for lunch and saw him looking at her, ready to say something.

  “Lunch?” they said together and smiled. And though she didn’t want to admit it, Jane was exceedingly happy that they were doing this together.

  Chapter 8

  When Vijay asked her to choose between an Italian restaurant and an Indian restaurant, Jane immediately chose the Indian one. The delectable posters in the restaurant lobby, proclaiming the presence of her most-liked Indian dish on the menu, made her stomach growl more fiercely. As soon as they were shown into a private cosy corner, she ordered a spicy, Veg Biryani before even going through the menu.

  “You still love Indian food, huh? I thought your hatred towards me might have spilled over to your food choices as well.”

  She choked on the water she was sipping. He obviously had no clue. Whenever his memories troubled her longer than usual, she headed to an Indian restaurant and ordered the spiciest food available there. She always associated spice with him. Without him, her life had become bland. And she had hated every minute of it.

  “Even if I hate you, I can’t hate Indian food. My stomach complains every once in a while. I'm addicted to it. I can even cook a proper dal-rice-roti dinner now. I can also differentiate between Basmati and an ordinary long grain rice. Can you believe that?”

  “I'm impressed. Does that imply you found a new Indian boyfriend?”

  “Boyfriend? Men are a real pain in the you-know-where. I might quit the dating scene once and for all.”

  “Why, what happened?”

  “I have become a weirdo-attracting magnet. My friend, Susan, sets me up on these blind dates every now and then. The latest one was a banker. He pierced my eardrums droning about stock markets and takeovers. Multi-million deals, shares, blah, blah, blah. He didn’t even allow me to open my mouth. Then he ordered food for me. Can you believe that?”

  “Totally.”

  Their food arrived then and they tucked into their lunch with gusto. The very first morsel of the biryani sent her into raptures, the unique flavours making love to her taste buds. Everything seemed perfect. The food, the ambience and the circumstance. More so, perhaps, because she was with Vijay, the person she wanted to be with.

  She paused to compliment the side dish that came with the biryani, looked up and her eyes met his. His intense eyes were focused on her face and inadvertently, she blushed. He pointed towards his own chin and then towards hers. Sheepishly, she ran her fingers on her chin and wiped away a grain of rice that had somehow pasted itself on her chin. Her heart squeezed remembering how he used to reach over and wipe away tiny splatters of food she was in the habit of accidentally spilling.

  Food had always played a major role in cementing their relationship. Vijay used to love the barbecues and casserole dinners when he visited her family. And he used to take her to various Indian food outlets and make her try out Indian dishes. Perhaps he was also remembering the same things because an awkward silence prevailed throughout the rest of their lunch, reminding both of them of all that they had lost.

  By the time they returned to the car, Jane was tired of the silence. To regain the easy camaraderie, she tapped him on his shoulders.

  “I can’t believe I just had lunch with a real prince,” she said, when he turned to look at her with a quizzical look on his face.

  “And I can’t believe I know a star reporter. Will I get a chance to be featured on your channel?” he retorted as a teasing grin sneaked onto his face.

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “As if!” And he snorted. Then they laughed. Together like they used to all those years ago. The peals of laughter wiped away years of indifference and apathy.

  “To be fair, I can’t believe we kept away from each other for so long. Three years. Can you believe that?”

  “It was not easy for me, Jane.”

  “Neither for me,” she confessed.

  The silence that filled the car weighed heavily and he switched on the radio. Whitney Houston’s ‘I will always love you’ began to play. The song did nothing to mitigate the tension between them. As it played, it voiced every one of her thoughts. She gazed at Vijay who seemed focused on the road. Yet, a single muscle throbbed on his jaw, giving her hope that he too was going through a similar retrospection. But men! Who could understand them?!

  Vijay behaved normally once they resumed hunting through the many files laid out in front of them. Several times though, she felt rather than saw his eyes on her. But whenever she looked up, he appeared engrossed in perusing the documents. She concluded it was all her wishful thinking. He had clearly moved on. She should seriously concentrate on the task at hand. Wallowing in her past was not going to help her in any way.

  The rest of the day passed with them going around from one archive to another in the hope that some information about Daniel would present itself to them somewhere. But it was as if someone had carefully wiped out all his details. They found files containing data about many of his fellow soldiers but none about him.

  “It is unbelievable. It is as if he vanished from the face of the earth just like that!” Jane exclaimed as they exited one of the last archives on their list. It sounded ominous. Had Daniel been killed and then all the evidence destroyed? Was he involved in something illegal?

  Just when they’d given up all hope of finding anything about Daniel, they found a reference to Daniel, quite by chance, in one of the collections of a local researcher. It was a private journal of one of the officers of the British Indian Army in Daniel’s regiment. The researcher had bought it from another private collector. It mentioned that Daniel had been promoted to the post of Captain owing to a heroic deed he had performed. However, several pages from the book, which might have described what he had done, were missing. It was clear that som
eone had deliberately hunted down all his details and destroyed them. But who and why?

  Jane stopped going through the files and prayed fervently for some clue about Daniel.

  Just then, Vijay gave out a low whistle and called out to her.

  “Isn’t this Daniel?” he asked pointing at one of the photographs in the carefully preserved photo album he was going through.

  Jane rushed to him. Yes, it was Daniel. But he was not alone. A pretty Indian girl, probably in her late teens and clad in a sari, stood next to him. Daniel had her right arm tucked into the crook of his left arm. She was beautiful in a classic sort of a way. Kohl-lined eyes and flower garlands on her long curly hair. She was smiling at the camera. They seemed very much in love.

  “Was he in love? They look like a married couple.”

  “Yes, that is what I feel too. But then why didn’t we find any mention of his marriage in the records kept by the army? I remember reading about soldiers getting married to locals, mostly to Anglo Indians.”

  “You know what, this girl doesn’t look like an Anglo Indian. Anglo Indians adopted western attire and tried to remain true to their British roots. This girl seems completely Indian. Look at her bindie.” Vijay pointed to the decorative little circle in the middle of her forehead. He took out his phone and captured the photo using his phone camera.

  “But why didn’t he inform us about anything? He wrote to Grandpa Bill often.”

  “I can only guess. He might have got into trouble because of this girl. It would have been quite a scandal if she was an upper-class Hindu girl, which seems highly likely. She would have been ostracized from the society for marrying a foreigner. Her family would have fought tooth and nail to prevent such a marriage. People became quite heartless and often resorted to violence to preserve their honour during those days. Daniel might have had a hard time. Maybe he didn’t want to worry his family. They wouldn’t have been able to help him anyway. Being oceans apart drives a chasm in relationships.”