The Royal Wedding

Princess Ariah did not realise the weightage behind her words nor the fuss everyone was making regarding the jewel. However, crown princess Novah realised that something was wrong but she decided not to interfere.

The day before the marriage arrived too soon and the entire Heart kingdom was in roar. It was decided that the marriage would take place in the Diamond kingdom and hence the Princesses had returned to their own kingdom a week prior to the wedding. Naturally Mir also returned with them and Vinasaka had never felt more bored in his life. The days they had spent after so long all flashed before his eyes and he couldn’t wait to meet him again. In fact he would be meeting him the very next day and his excitement was written all over his face.

It was princess Zaharia who first noticed such a thing. “You only grew in terms of height, didn’t you?” she ruffled his hair when she saw him grinning looking at the sky. She was originally planning to go straight to her chambers when she came home but when she spotted Vinasaka sitting at the garden alone grinning to herself she couldn’t hold herself back. Vinasaka, who was suddenly taken aback by his sister, first gave a surprised look only to be replaced by a just-go-away-already look.

“You brat,” she lightly smacked him on his head, “Respect your elders,” to which he stuck his tongue out again but also moved aside to make space for his sister. She made a gesture to hit him while holding back the curse word but then again that little shift in his movement made her smile affectionately while she sat beside him.

“Are you that happy to see him again?” she asked him while both stared at the blank dark blue sky which was somewhat dotted with white gradually sparkling brighter as the dark blue began to turn darker.

He simply nodded, unable to hide that little smile at the corner of his lips. “Just marry him idiot,” she smacked him again playfully to which he argued, “Why don’t you just think about your own marriage?”

“I am not going to marry,” she said very calmly and Vinasaka was forced to look at her this time. “What do ya mean?”

“As a princess I’ll definitely not be allowed to marry an orphan and to think about marrying a random stranger for some political peace creeps me out! Honestly that makes me feel like a creep too,” she made the gesture as if a shiver had run down her spine which made Vinasaka laugh out hard, “So you are practically saying that haha,” he stopped to laugh and then continue, “Big brother Amir is a creep?” At first she was going to refute but then thinking back on her own words she almost choked, “Well….”

She couldn’t finish when a voice intruded their happy conversation, “Who’s a creep?” Both Amir and Mihas were walking towards them and Zaharia gulped at the sight immediately.

“Ah..brother...eavesdropping is a bad habit you know!” Princess hastily tried to change the topic but Amir only sulked, “I guess, after all these years of babysitting, I am a creep afterall.”

“Are you also trying to behave like a kid when tomorrow’s your wedding?” Mihas said with his usual no-expression tone and the other two pursed their lips tight lest a laugh should escape. The scenario was nothing new for the royal siblings and yet they were still not used to it.

“But tell me one thing all of you, do you really think Princess Novah thinks of me as a creep?” Amir asked in a comparatively lower voice as if he felt a bit of embarrassment in the question. “Honestly, only a fool would have not noticed the colour of the crown princess’ cheeks whenever you are around. Right now I feel pity for her.” Zaharia shook her head as if her brother was a lost case and the rest seemed to only agree. Mihas said, “I may not not be able to see but even I can realise….” Vinasaka suddenly interrupted when Mihas seemed to be at a loss for words, “Mihas...I never knew our big brother was so dense.” He said to Amir, “I heard you met her for the first time even before I was born.” They all burst out in laughter except Mir who didn’t get the joke. Mihas who understood the pain of the biggest brother trying to understand it clarified, “Her crush on you seems to be even older than your youngest brother.”

“C-crush…?”

Seriously, how can you be so dense?

“What were you both up to by the way?” Vinasaka asked with shimmering eyes since they were dressed up. “Bachelor’s party! We came to pick you guys up,” Amir stated and then proudly added, “I am paying.”

Zaharia and Vinasaka were instantly on their feet hearing the word ‘party’ but the moment he added the later half of his sentence they both said in unison, “Tsk, you stingy crown prince.” It’s because the crown prince always maintains a limit when he spends his money; however when the expenses are taken from the royal accounts, the kids can spend to their heart's content.

The siblings lavishly walked through the town and drank and ate while gossiping like any normal kid in the town. The citizens occasionally peeped at them but also gave them privacy, afterall they loved their king. It was always interesting to watch the royal members interacting like normal people which made the citizens feel more at ease and the king never said anything to oppose since he thought that it is better for the king to be thought of as approachable.

It was a night worth remembering, the fireworks were all released in both the heart kingdom and the diamond kingdom as a symbol of welcoming happiness.

Tomorrow is a big day and everyone was especially excited as well as nervous about it. The carriages were perfectly ready before dawn. A total of five carriages carrying the women which of course did not include their mother since she was bedridden.

The eldest son arrived in his mother’s chamber to receive her blessing. She gestured to her maids to help her up and looked at the boy with a very unexpected expression.

“Mother, why are you sad?” Amir was confused.

“Well, which mother wouldn’t want to go to their son’s wedding?” Tears dripped down her cheeks. Seeing her son drooping before her almost reminded her of a cute little puppy and she ended up chuckling with tears in her eyes.

Now he was even more confused but he joined her soon enough, “Mother, I will come to you first as soon as I come back.”

“Sure Sure,” she smiled and saw her son off.

“Isn’t he looking the most handsome groom ever?,” she asked her maid of honour once Amir was well out of sight. Well no one would deny that. Crown Prince Amir lived upto his name on that day. He looked ever so handsome with the wine coloured sherwani topped with the golden scarf and the beautifully gold woven head ornament. To top it off, he had his spear, his ‘streak of wisdom’ in his right hand as he magnificently climbed on top of his white stallion to lead the parade to the Diamond kingdom.

The entire group started from the border and thus reached the Diamond kingdom in no time. As they set foot in the capital, they could finally understand the meaning of the word ‘grandeur’.

“Talk about the richest kingdom huh?” Zaharia looked amazed at all the decorations in the streets of the capital. She was the only woman riding a horse. Of course how could she be left behind by her brothers. Instead she insisted the king, their dear father, ride a carriage instead since he was getting too old to ride a horse anyway. And like always, he couldn’t refuse his kids.

“You are telling me that this fine man is old?” he pointed at himself whereas the royal siblings except Mihas gave him the very yes-yes-we-understand kind of look. Mihas, on the other hand, ended up blurted, “Where is the fine man's father?”

This was probably the trigger, they couldn’t hold back their laugh anymore and the poor king who looked like he was a whimpering little kitty, quietly snuggled inside the carriage without a word.

Mihas who had absolutely no idea was patted at the back by Amir and the other two thanked him with a thumbs up though the gesture was probably just ignored.

As for the diamond kingdom, it sure lived up to its name. The entire kingdom dolled up with the jewels and magic decorations occasionally showering flower petals on the parade. Zaharia was still awestruck, looking up towards the sky which was literally adored with red and golden ribbons all over.

“Do you want your neck to snap?” Vinasaka said with a savage expression and was almost about to get another smack on his head. However, due to the sudden shift, Zaharia’s horse almost lost balance and threw her down but she immediately felt a pair of strong grasp on her arms steadying her up.

She knew before looking. It was none other than the flute master Mohnish.

“But how?” He walked beside her horse and replied, “Did you forget? I am an invaluable trader to both the kingdom thanks to Mir!”