Princess Mastani's POV
“The noble prince of Ardeni has arrived to claim the princess of Sirdhu as his bride!”
Upon hearing this, everyone went into a frenzy. My heart raced like a stallion galloping into the wilderness. My groom's procession had arrived. I am few rituals away from being my beloved's wife.
Shehnais had been played. All of my relatives gathered around to meet the new members of our family. They were holding their garlands anxiously waiting to greet the arriving party. My father and mother, the monarchs of the kingdom of Sirdhu, were leading them.
Secretly, I looked outside of my window to see the procession myself. Though still a little far, I could see that my groom is accompanied by a very large crowd. Graceful baraatis were leading the procession with their songs and dances. With the beat of the dhol and other instruments, they were pulling commoners into the celebration. Not a single soul had not been painted with a smile on their faces as the baraat passed unto them.
My groom was also assisted by finely decorated men and armored troops in his entourage. At the center of the baraat stood a mighty elephant decked out in flowers and embroidered saddle. Riding on top of it is the man I would spend my life with. My beloved Prince Krishna was wearing a gold achkan with his sword resting on his side. As much as I wanted to see his face, the sehra in his turban was preventing me from doing so. I held my anticipation as I am minutes away from finally seeing my betrothed. However, my handmaidens' constant giggling was not helping me contain it.
“Your prince is here, my lady. Please ready yourself in meeting your new family.” It was my wet nurse Kari. I extended my mehndi-patterned hand to reach hers to which she lovingly held. Tears was falling from her eyes yet she was wearing her prettiest smile. Then, she caressed my face uttering her love and blessings. In her gaze, I knew that she was starting to bid her farewells. Her love and devotion to me were unfathomable. I considered myself blessed by the gods as I have two mothers to care for me in this lifetime.
“I know, Kari. Thank you for everything.' I imprisoned her slender body inside my arms. She hugged me back. Now, everyone in my room was crying. Though the thought of being with my prince for the rest of my days was giving me a tremendous amount of joy, I knew for a fact that I would be leaving this household, with all my beloved in it, to be with him. Princess or not, that was the reality that every Hindu bride must face.
Our emotional moment was disrupted when a slave girl called our attention. “Forgive me your grace but it is time to go. The king and queen are now requesting your presence as the ek raajkumar is almost here.”
I released Kari from my arms and responded, “Tell them that I will be downstairs in a few.” The slave-girl bowed her head and slowly gestured herself outside.
Everybody shifted their mood as quickly as the slave-girl went down to deliver my message. The sounds of sobbing were now replaced by the echoes of laughter once again. The ladies-in-waiting helped me fix my dress and checked if the golden pieces of jewelry were in the right position. As they slowly put my veil, I closed my eyes. “This is it,” I said to myself. "Before this day is over, I will become a wife and Ardeni will be my home."
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Erin's POV
A ray of sunshine made me open my eyes. 'Morning already?' I asked myself. I lazily got up, fixed my bed, and went to the toilet for my morning ritual. This is how I started my day; flushing out my body wastes gathered from the last night's rest before doing anything else.
While sitting on the ceramic white throne inside of our bathroom, I thought about that dream again. It had been a while since I last dreamt of that Indian girl. Princess Mastani, the bride in my dreams, had been a constant companion of my sleep growing up.
It started when I reached 12. I am already 24. I couldn't remember my first encounter nor the exact last time I had dreamed about it yet it had always been in that setting; an ancient princess due to marry his beloved prince. The flowers and other decorations hanging from the walls, the women in colorful saris, the noblemen with their swords and spears, and the bride in her red wedding dress adorned with golden jewelry. Indeed, it was a festival of colors. Funny 'cause I am not accustomed to the culture of the Hindus being raised as a Catholic Christian myself so I don't know why a 12-year old girl who knows nothing about India would start to dream of a big, fat Hindu wedding.
It might be the blood, I once told myself. My father, whom I know nothing about except for his name, was an Indian migrant. As expected, Jai Khan
his name
became a small-time loan shark just like how other people of his kind ended up here in the Philippines. He met my mother in one of the bakeries he used to collect money from. My mom said it was love at first sight.
My mother was four months pregnant with me when my father received a call from his relatives in Mumbai asking him to come home. They said his father was about to depart from this world and was requesting for his presence. He was hesitant at first for he knew he couldn't bring us to India just yet as we were still fixing some needed paper works, yet my mom urged him to go. It was a decision she would regret for the rest of her life.
“Aishwarya Shridevi Sarmiento, it was already 15 minutes past 6 in the morning! Are you even planning on going to school?” It was my mom. I am still not seeing her this morning yet I am absolutely sure she was fuming right now. You would know this already once you heard her say my full name. Speaking of my name, it was pretty obvious that she got that from her Bollywood idols. I was named after 2 of the most iconic actresses in India. But kidding aside, there was more to it. She decided to give me an Indian name in memory of my missing father. No mother in the right mind would name their child something similar to that of a tongue-twister unless for something sentimental. It's a good thing my aunt Linda decided to give me a nickname, Erin, or else I would be walking as “Aishwarya” on our streets. How she was able to come up with that nickname, I am unsure.
'Coming, Ma!' I responded. In less than 20 minutes, I am all set. In our household, it was imperative you knew how to move fast. This was one of the many practical things my mom was teaching me about. Opportunities were temporary, so grab the one you would think is best as fast as you could before it was too late. It would only take a single unforeseen event to take that opportunity away from your grasp forever. I thought this stemmed out from the fact that she turned down my father's wedding proposal upon learning of my conception thinking that they should save all their money for my arrival only to be left heartbroken afterward as the wedding proposal was never brought up again up until my father's disappearance. True enough, this is had became my mantra. Carpe Diem, to seize every single moment in life, literally.
Also, I am not a diva when it came to preparing myself for school. Though I am perfectly capable of making myself pretty thanks to the readily available makeup tutorials I would always watch on the internet, school was not the right platform to showcase it. Besides, my mother was on full beast mode right now and would have no tolerance for any of these extra things. I just put a light lipstick on for color and brushed up my hair. Afterward, I got my headphones on top of my tableside drawer, set up my favorite playlist on my phone, and released a deep sigh. 'Aja!' I told myself. Then, I stormed off my room ready to seize another day.
