Chapter 5

He looked upon the falsely glowing pink face, aware that her state of unconsciousness was a blessing for her.  If Manyata was awake, the stinging pain of her sunburn would have caused crystalline tears to overflow from the deep well of her eyes and their salty trails making the situation all the more worse.  He took the soft terry cloth infused with aloe lotion and dabbed at her hands which were not spared.  Hopefully, the flushed tone of her sun-induced fever and burn would ebb away, and all that would be left would be for her skin to peel away its old and dead layers.  Maybe, the growth of a new layer of skin would be like a caterpillar shedding its old vices and adopting new ones.  The cycle of shedding and regenerating could bring a new sense of hope to him.  That lone butterfly within his heart may have a companion in the coming days that would help him be content and complete.  There was no denying that it fluttered and soared in these last few days spent in her willing company. 

He placed the cool lotion on her forehead, brushing the errant strands of her hair away with his other hand.  She was hot at mere touch, and the fluid IV attached to her arm at the nook her elbow created helped keep her hydrated and nourished.  His mouth opened in slackness, induced by thought and memory.  This was not the first time Majnu had yielded his Princess in such a state.  Why was it that Manyata tried so hard?  Sacrificed so much?  She felt so much for someone who would cut his nose to spite his face, someone who neither encouraged Manyata nor helped her find a solution.  He released a frustrated gust of air at the notion that she loved such a parasite, someone who openly claimed that Manyata was like a life line for him.  Was it love, or was it the mere fact that Aakash was the first one to hold her hand?  What made Aakash better than him in her eyes?  Was the fact that Aakash only had two other people to worry about as compared to an entire kingdom and then some, what allowed him in character to be more desirable to the princess?

When Manyata opened her eyes, her lids fought a battle with the instant onslaught of light, and her mind was immersed in a haze of stinging pain and fatigue.  Her lips felt slightly moist, surprisingly, while her skin felt relief in some areas.  The slight pinch in her arm and the unintelligible pressure of coolness on her forehead made her fully take in the surroundings.  Hovering slightly above her was Udayveer, staring off into the distance with a look of immense sadness.  He looked almost vulnerable at that moment.

"Udayveer?"

"Princess!  You're awake, finally" he looked down at her, a relieved smile ghosting his face before he straightened his posture.

"I feel really weird..."

"Manyata, you are slightly ill due to excessive sun and dehydration.  It must be the IV in your arm and the fever."

"Udayveer, Maharaj forgave me, right?"

"Yes, although I told you he said it in anger."  At the slight fight flickering in her eyes he added, "But you proved to him that you know how to accept punishment and understand it no matter how harsh it was."

She faintly smiled, "did you stay all night?"

Her reaction was so altered from the first time he nursed her that he carefully formed his words, acting less as the dashing prince and more as her childhood friend, "Manyata, I couldn't see you so ill, and after Briraj-uncle told us why he punished you, and what had happened, everyone wanted to have a slight council amongst themselves.  I wanted to be here when you woke up since Komal-aunty is also with Dadisa and the rest."

"Thanks."  A slight beat in the quaint conversation, and she added, "What is it that you're putting on me?"

"It's a lotion to help with the sunburn, Princess, so that it doesn't sting too much.  It's also making your lips not chap and break.  Otherwise, you would have been miserable."

"Yeah."

With that, they fell into a comfortable silence with Manyata subconsciously letting him put lotion occasionally in the irritated areas.  Her sighs of relief did not pass his ears, causing his heart to swell but also burn in anger.  She did not deserve to take the punishment of something caused by another person.

"Manyata?"  Her mumbled sound of attention led him to continue, "I know you received a letter from Aakash."

Her eyes opened and looked at him squarely, her jaw ticking and mouth ready to open in rebuttal.

He took a deep breath and looked right back at her and tried to phrase his words appropriately as to not break the truce they had stumbled upon, "You know that now even I have accepted that you are becoming a princess for him, and he has decided to not take my help in fixing the unemployment problem I created.  So don't worry, I am not like J, who would repeatedly launch overt attacks and all."  She relaxed her shoulders a bit and her eyebrow rose in contemplative listening.  "Taking all this in mind Princess, you must agree that all of us have left no stone unturned in helping  him become settled, and you to become a princess within three months.  That's quite a feat because it took us much longer and we were children without opinions and our own thoughts when we underwent training."

Manyata nodded her head in agreement the best she could while still laying on the pillow. 

"Also, Dadisa invited him as a guest on the most special day for a couple, Valentine's day.  He came, saw how well our family is coming together, and yet he still feels like you are in danger?  Please, Manyata, hear me out!  He is afraid of your safety, when you have such a great support system in Dadisa and Komal-aunty?  They have bent over backwards for you, and even Menaka-aunty and Vijay-banna have put aside J and put their energy in helping you succeed.  How can he not help you for once, and follow the one condition Rajmata set?  For three months he would gamble eternity?"

Her silence could have been interpreted either way, but that slight confusion and uncertainty within its depths gave him hope.  Maybe, she would see things how he did. 

"Princess, I won't say more, but I will end it at this.  You are trying so hard and honestly earning much respect.  Countless times you've given more towards your relationship than he has, and maybe this is my opinion as a Rajkumar but I feel like that isn't fair.  My people would not have accepted that from me, and all he has to please is one person.  One really special Rajkumari."  He gave her a soft smile, refraining from caressing her hand lest the spell broke.  "This is just how the rest of us see your situation; you know what is best for you."

Manyata blinked, her eyelashes fluttering erratically, feeling uncomfortable as if an elephant was sitting on her chest.  "Well, Rajkumar-ji, how about we talk about something else, nah?  I'm still not feeling well enough to argue," she laughed.

He smirked fully aware that she had no response.  "Okay then Rajkumari, let's talk about your lessons!"

"How can I do them?  I don't think I can walk around and I really don't want to listen to Vijay-banna criticizing me, either."  With a frown adding, "This means I'll have to work harder when I am better."

"I can help you, since I have a surprise that might help."  At the spark in her eyes Udayveer asked if she was feeling good enough to sit up straight.  At her insisting, he helped her sit up but released a slight grunt of pain.

"What happened?"  She searched his face and then followed Udayveer's gaze towards his hand.  Lightly taking his fist into her own palm, she softly brushed his fingers with hers, girlishly whispering, "Khul ja sim sim."  Both sharing goofy smiles, he opened his palm like a lotus, and what she saw made her release a sound of shock.  "Udayveer!  When did this happen?  Why didn't you bandage it?  It won't get better if you keep on reopening the wound!"

Taken by her concern, the words clumsy tumbled out, "I forgot to bandage it."

"Wow, you're really something.  Applying medicine to my pains but not your own.  Here, even exchange," she reached for the first aid kit on the table and found disinfectant, ointment, and wrapping Band-Aid.  She tugged on his arm to bring him closer, and in affect he sat close to her on the bed.  She leant over his arm, working methodically with not the deftest of fingers but the pain of her ministrations felt sweet, nonetheless.  At the end, he sat transfixed as she kissed her fingers and pressed them quickly to his palm.  "There, done!"

At Manyata's look of confusion, he embarrassedly shook his head and tried to find something to say.  "Uhm, right!  Now for your surprise."  Getting up he moved towards the television, and turned back to her curious gaze.  "It's not the most expensive or best of presents but I hope you like it."  Fumbling with a box, he took out a disc from within the flaps.

"A film?  Mujhe-filums-pasand-hai!!"  Cackling in laughter at her own joke.

He stayed silent, squeezing his eyes shut as he turned his back toward her and entered the disc into the television.  Whispering a quick word of reassurance to himself, he stood to the side and pressed play.

The screen was blurry, and took a moment to adjust.  Soon, the sound of the confident Rajkumar that she came to be comfortable with told a highly annoyed and stressed Vijay-banna, "It's on and running.  Stop pacing back and forth and begin talking!"

"Udayveer, do you really think that the jungle queen would actually watch this and pay attention?  It'll be like she drank her own jungle queen potion."

"Of course she will, now stop saying those things because it's filming and begin the history lesson!"

Udayveer went towards the doors to leave, so the princess could watch in the comfort of her own company, and to spare himself from watching the lengths he went to make her happy.

"Udayveer!  Where are you going?"

"I thought you might want to watch this without me?"  He lamely replied.

"Udayveer!  You're my classmate, someone that will help me understand things.  Stay.  That  is my command Rajkumar."

"Joh hukum aapka, Rajkumari Manyata."  He walked towards the chair, but at her scooting over to make room on her bed, he looked at her in confusion.   She patted the space next to her.  Feeling like a boy undergoing puberty, he carefully sat down.

She turned back to the screen, and he stole glances of her face.  Laughing as Vijay-banna conceded to his persuasion on screen to begin the lecture.

"Whatever," the dramatic Vijay-banna said with a flourishing of his hand.  Soon, his illustrious and comedic voice began narrating the history of their forefathers, and kept her in rapt attention.  Their bursts of laughter filled the room as she witnessed how Udayveer made the entire staff enact certain parts of the narration and lecture.  She would grab his arm, or shake him in excitement at every frustrated action or word Vijay-banna would emit, or when Udayveer made his directorial comments audible. 

At the end of three hours, long after the bloopers and the excitement of the experience died, and he quizzed her on the facts, Udayveer made a motion to get up and leave.  "Udayveer, where are you going?"

"It's time for you to rest, Princess."  Giving her a reassuring smile, he walked towards the door and said as he reached it, "Plus, I am sure Komal-aunty will be very happy to see you feeling much better.  I'll let her know that she can bring some food so that nasty IV can be removed."

He stopped as she called his name once more.  Her mouth moving, divulging her battle of what to say, and after an innumerable series of inaudible words she said, "Thank you Udayveer."  The rest of her words rushed out, tripping over the other, "that was one of the most amazing and best presents, more valuable than any piece of jewelry."  At her shy smile, he gave a tightlipped one back and nodded his head.

In his mind, as he walked the lonely hallway back to the foyer, he knew that Aakash might have been more emotionally open but the Majnu was not better than him.  Somehow, by acting more like himself and not the dashing prince, he had gotten far closer to Manyata than ever in the past few months.  It was reassuring but scary the amount of fluttering and height the butterfly of hope and affection was rising in his heart.

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