A Suitor for the Princess - Chapter 16

                She was amazed to see that the hut was very dry. Not a drop of rain-water had seeped in! She instinctively knew that her father, the wise King of Regina had been thoughtful enough to make this temporary shelter for her suitor, a safe and self-contained haven, for wouldn’t he eventually be the future King? Secretly, he had wished fervently that that handsome young lad won in his endeavor. He wasn’t oblivious to the longing in the lovely eyes of his beautiful daughter. Besides, Juan was strong, capable and confident; undoubtedly brave too!

                Happily, Sara settled down on a comfortable, low couch after undressing and wearing a coarse blanket that she found on the floor. She was feeling cold, damp and hungry. She soon had a small fire blazing merrily at the hearth and a plate filled with noodles in her hand. She had cooked them on that same fire! She had used rain-water to boil them! She was pleased with her resourcefulness and knew that her father and mother would have been proud to see her survival instincts.

                 Soon, she was sleepy and lay down on that couch. She started dreaming about a handsome face, sensuous eyes, lips, blonde hair and ….. Then she shrieked. A loud, high-pitched plaintive wail rent the air, mingling with the steady pitter-patter of the relentless rain. A hollow eye was facing her. She couldn’t see anything else.

                  Loud sobs wracked her body and she broke out in cold sweat. Her lips moaned, Juan, my Juan, what happened to you my dear? Oh, I’m so sorry! Her heart twisted with the agony of unrequited love. She woke up with a start and saw that she was lying in complete darkness. The rain had stopped and the wet earth smelled delicious. She walked out into the cold night air and shivered, then she realized that her shoulders were bare and that she was dressed only in a coarse blanket. She hastily looked around to see if anyone had spotted her there, then rushed into the hut. Her dress had dried in the warmth of the fire; that had now died in the embers. She dressed quickly as she realized that she had lost precious time.

                  She didn’t want her father to return back to the kingdom and raise an alarm on not finding her there! She had taken the precaution of telling her trusted aides that she was on a secret mission to an enemy kingdom that she and her father wanted to conquer! She had sworn them to secrecy! Only her father would be informed about the same on his arrival. But what if he guessed about her real plans and followed her here?

                   Just as her pen was writing about the tension that Sara felt, Martha’s stomach started growling. She realized that her fingers were paining terribly too, with that non-stop, marathon writing session. As she raised her head and looked out of her window, she was stunned to see that dawn had broken outside. She had written the whole night long! But she was pleased that the story was hurtling towards some conclusion! She hoped and prayed that the love-birds would be united. Then she remembered her love, Norman.

                  She suddenly felt guilty about neglecting him. She hadn’t even phoned him after her return. She hadn’t enquired about the well-being of his ex-wife or about his well-being. She felt selfish and wretched. Now it was her turn to look exasperatedly at the pages of her unfinished novel. “Sara, you rogue, see how you’ve changed me”, she said softly and chuckled, with mock disapproval.

                  With an exaggerated yawn, she stretched out her hands as far as she could, to ease her stiff neck and shoulders. Her lower back protested as she got up slowly and made her way to the washroom. She had an eerie feeling that she was being followed. But, by now she was used to that vague sensation of being pried upon. She shrugged and refused to look behind her back. Of course, it was either the charming Sara or the handsome, wounded, Juan! She hoped that it was Norman, though!

                  She smiled at that pleasant thought. She wondered where he was and what he was doing just then. Suddenly, an unbidden thought flashed before her mind’s eye. Norman in bed, cuddling his ex-wife Susan! Hot tears sprang into her eyes and she blindly made her way into the washroom. As she wiped the tears away, she realized that she was jealous! That could only mean that she had become insanely possessive about her lover.

                  Then she chided herself, “Now, now, Martha, be a good girl. He’s only comforting a sick soul!” But what if the old flame was rekindled and she was left out in the cold? A shiver ran through her entire being. Then, resolutely shaking away her miserable thoughts, she raced through her ablutions, shower and breakfast routine, before settling down with a pitcher of tea; on her settee. Somehow, she felt very desolate and wretched. She wished to talk to some one, any one, rather desperately.

                  As her eyes were instinctively drawn towards the half-written novel’s pages, she knew whom to talk to! Sara. It could only be her! Only a woman, a woman in love, could understand and empathize with the plight of another woman in the same boat. “Sara…“ she began. “Sara, are you listening to me, dear? I am feeling very low today. I know that you will understand my situation now. Norman is away on a mission. To help bring respite, comfort and succor to his ex-wife Susan, who’s battling cancer! But I am plagued by misgivings about whether their relationship will begin anew, with all that good-will and unstinting devotion.”

                 “You know, she corrected herself, we know how we ladies can latch on to any one who shows us the slightest of love and regard! And an ex-husband who rushes like a knight in shining armor to his sick ex-wife must be too irresistible! In fact, if I were Susan, right now, I’d seize this opportunity to keep that man by my side forever. Oh, how my heart is being twisted by even the thought of his imaginary betrayal, while all that he’s doing is tending to her wants and needs out of sheer compassion! I am just being envious, I know, unreasonable too, but, after all I’m a woman. “Jealousy, thy name is woman!” I quote from Shakespeare’s play. By the way, you too faced the same dilemma when you thought that your best friend fancied your handsome suitor, Juan, didn’t you?”

                 A soft and sweet voice answered almost immediately, “You bet, Madam! I felt like gouging out her eyes just then. I was so helpless with rage and blinded by jealousy! I was ready to throw our friendship of nearly two decades, to the winds, just because of the attraction that I felt for my suitor, a man whom I had set my eyes on, just a while ago! Talk about passion! Yes, I agree that love is blind! It even makes vengeance seem right, when it is so obviously wrong!”

                 Now Martha felt infinitely better after having that heart-to-heart talk with a like-minded woman. She thanked herself for having created such an empathetic and believable character in her piece of fiction. She decided that she would at least relieve Sara of her misery, as soon as she could. That was in her hands, unlike her own future.

                “Thanks, dear. You’ve been a real darling. I feel a lot better now! I’ll try to speed up things at your end too. Now where was I?”

                 She could hear a distinct sigh of relief. A slight giggle too! As she looked around, she knew that Sara had gone back to the gates of the shrine.

To be continued.... 

The copyright of this novel is with Mrs. Priya Ramesh Swaminathan.