He stretched his hands
out to help her.
"Catch hold of it,
little girl, else you won't survive!" he said in a hushed voice.
She looked down, only to
face the emptiness that the valley had to offer. Her forehead glistened with
beads of sweat. Her eyes pale and terrified, her lips shivering. Her hands
bruised and tired, ready to give up anytime.
"Should I trust, or
should I not?" she thought.
She had to make a quick
decision, 'cause she obviously had little time to waste.
The rock began to get
loose. The ground began to break apart. She was holding onto the last piece of
rock, which too would let go of her now.
The rock broke off the
cliff edge and led her to fall into the deep, dark valley with unknown terrors,
just then, he held her hand.
"I have a promise
to keep Rincy Matilda. I can't let you lose, even if I wanted to, because a man
who doesn't keep his word, is a man of no honour. And I am a man of honour."
He dragged her up the
cliff edge, and enveloped his arms around her, as Rincy broke into sobs, her
hands and legs still shivering.
"Your Grace, Your
Grace!" the maid shook Rincy's shoulder, as she woke up startled.
"I am safe!"
she cried.
"Of course, Your
Grace. We have new guards on duty... You needn't worry."
"Rincy placed her
hand against her heart.
'Lub-dub, lub-dub…'
Her heart beat fast, and
she breathed heavily.
"What just
happened? Who was that man? Why couldn't I see his face properly?" she
thought.
She tried to calm down,
and looked up at the maid."How did you get inside? I had specially ordered
no one to enter..."
"Pardon me, Your
Grace, I was asked by Portria ma'am to get you to wake up, so that you could
get ready for the Grand Ball party. She sent along a couple of dresses, for you
to select.” she said pointing towards the wardrobe.
"Where's Portria?
Why didn't she come herself?" asked Rincy, getting off her bed.
"She is busy with
the arrangements Your Grace"
"Okay, you may
leave, and, thank you... um... Cynthia", said Rincy, reading her name from
the badge she wore.
The maid looked shocked,
to see Rincy's gesture, as though she had never been thanked before.
She blushed a little,
“Always at your service, Your Grace", saying so she left the room.
Rincy opened her
wardrobe, and there hung a huge row of dresses, arranged in order of length,
colour and textile. Rincy ran her hands through the dresses. They were all
designer, made out of the best pieces of cloth available in Westerhall, by the
best workers, just for her.
She looked through the
dresses, to pick out one, but couldn't find even one, that she'd like to wear.
Then her eyes fell upon
a long baby pink dress, with netted arms, hung in the corner.
She picked it out, and
recalled. This was her mother's dress. The same she had worn on Rincy's 18th
birthday at the grand party that had been organized.
She pulled out the
hanger, and changed into it.
A pair of beauticians
assisted Rincy to get dressed up.
Portria had still not
turned up.
Rincy looked at herself
in the mirror. How much she could see her mother in herself!
Rincy walked down the
hallway to the stairs.
Just as she crossed a
room, she stopped on hearing Portria's voice from behind the door.
"Portria's in here?”
she thought, and slowly pushed the door open.
"You did steal the
papers Theodon. Didn’t you?"
"Which papers
Portria, what are you talking about?” said Theodon, calmly.
Rincy, alarmed by
Theodon's voice and Portria's tone, gently peeped into the room, just to get a
glimpse of Theodon.
Theodon sat on the sofa,
with his legs crossed fiddling with his pen. Rincy couldn't see Portria's face,
but saw her standing with her arms folded, facing her back towards her.
"You very well know
which papers I'm talking about Theodon. Tell me the truth. Where have you hid
them?” she questioned, raising her voice.
"Hush, sweet
Portria, why are you getting so angry? I bet you don't want someone to know... do you?” he asked
standing up and staring into Portria's face. He smirked and turned away.
"Look Theodon, they
are very important papers. And I will find them at any cost. Any cost, do you get that?” she warned.
"I bet you can't
pay in any way to get those papers Portria.” he said and giggled.
Theodon walked up to his
drawer, opened it, and brought out a metal pot.
Turning towards Portria
and uncovering the lid of the pot, Theodon held it out to her.
Portria looked into the
pot and jerked away, terrified.
Rincy could now see her
face, the colour draining out.
"You can't get your
hands on the papers Portria, but you might as well do with its ashes." Saying
so, he forcefully thrust the pot into Portria's hands.
Speechless, Portria
looked from Theodon to the pot of ash and back to Theodon.
"You’re challenging
the throne Theodon." she glared.
"And with all my
might.” he said confidently without even blinking.
Portia looked away and
walked out of the room with the pot held tightly in her hands, just as Rincy
hid behind the pillar to escape her sight.
Rincy came out of hiding
and peered back into the room.
"Yes Sir. I am
ready to face all odds. Anything for you and the family. I shall personally
handle Portria." saying so, he hung up.
Rincy walked out of the
hallway.
Confusion, suspicion and
fear overtook her thoughts.
"Paper. Ash.
Throne. What is going on? Why didn't Portria come to me if she wanted help? And
which papers did Theodon burn? How is some paper ash so important, that Portria
actually took it away with her? And who did Theodon just call? Which family was
he talking about?"
Her mind flushed with
questions for which she had no answers.
The Grand Ball party was
just fifteen minutes away.
She had to find out what
was going on, before the party could begin.
And to begin with, why
not the pot of ash?
© Srinidhi Iyengar
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