Gayatri sat on the floor next to her large bed. Her cheeks had turned red due to constant crying. She sulked, thinking about the change in tone of the king towards her. He had never been harsh on her. He would spend all his time with her. His attitude has changed since the arrival of that damned girl. "The king no longer likes me.", she thought as her heart swelled up due to despair.
A guard arrived at the entrance of her room. He announced the arrival of the king. Her heart missed a bit and she rose up immediately. "Your highness, I..", she spoke but stopped. She couldn't find any words and started crying. The king got closer to her and gently rubbed her shoulders to console her. "I am sorry. I haven't been giving you time. Few days have been very horrible for me. I have huge responsibility towards our kingdom and people. I have been trying my best to serve everyone justly and in midst of this , I have been rude to you. I am sorry.", he consoled her.
She wiped out her tears and sighed deeply. "Does this mean, your love for me hasn't reduced?", she asked innocently. "Yes, my love. My affection towards you is still the same. It hasn't diminished.", he replied softly. She hugged him. Her emotions poured out and she cried, "This is what I wanted to hear, your highness."
The king relaxed finally. Everything was back to normalcy. He could now concentrate his mind towards his kingdom development and status of his enemies. A lot of time had gone in managing people's attitude towards Roopali and making her comfortable. Now he was back in action.
A week passed by. Amar Singh got everything running back to normal. He assigned portfolios to each minister. He formulated many development plans and revised taxation plans.One day, he strolled in the central market , disguised as a civilian as a part of his supervision task. He hadn't noticed that Roopali was there too. She wanted to check the market due to constant praises from the nurses who were taking care of her.
She had passed many stalls and found one that attracted her. They had vibrant colours of cloth materials. She loved stitching and hadn’t stitched for long time. She walked inside the stall and checked the material. The materials were soft and perfect for shawl. She asked the shopkeeper for a price. “It’s 60 gold coins”, he said, “But that’s too much. As per the city law , the price of a cloth should be 30 gold coins.” , she said. “Check the quality of the cloth , Madam. It’s rich.”, he protested. “But the king had passed a rule that the price of this specific quality and meters of cloth must be 30 gold coins. You are charging too much.”, she protested. The shopkeeper had lost his cool and shouted, “ If you want, pay this price. Or else you can leave.” “But you are doing a wrong thing.”, she argued back. A crowd had surrounded them to see the chaos. Amar Singh was one among them.
(To be continued)
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