The Alpha Killed My Husband

24| Vampuza

I am flying to Vampuza, the country of Vampires on the western continent in a private jet.

The wedding Rudransh was talking about happens to be the First Son of Vampuza, Thomas Alexander Quincy.

If I'd be honest, private aviation does get into my head a lot. It gives me the thrilling sensation of being above the world and flying in the sky without any strains pulling me down and the deluxe is only the cherry on the top.

I have always seen the flights from Vachaspati's castles. For hours, I'd watch it take off with dreamy eyes and wish to earn and be able to afford all the freedom and money in the world. So, I can go travelling and explore the lands and customs of the people who were openly disregarded in my land but admired by the world.

Born to a mother who has eloped with a lover from a different race, I was ignored, lamented, and thrashed till I lived with my father. Through my tortures, he licked his wounds.

My father despised me to the extent of faking my death just to get rid of me—fortunately, Vachaspati stumbled in the path and his greed could not look past the vast wealth my proposed husband promised.

'She is all yours to use and twirl. Take her a voodoo doll. Use her at your pleasure, I won't shriek so long you keep your words.' Those cannot be the exact words a bride's father exchanges with his future son-in-law in ordinary cases.

Papa was far from 'ordinary'.

'I will take good care of her, Mr Shastri. She will be provided for.' Vachaspati promised bemused.

There was only one thing common between Vachaspati and me, it was our mutual dislike for my father.

I was standing right there like a neglected insect. Neither Vachaspati nor Papa bothered to take my consent and the date was finalised.

During courtship, I tried to tell myself that it will be fine. I will be happy. Life will be better than my then propelling state. Somehow, I still could not see myself standing beside a cobra twice my age.

Papa was nonchalant about it. He brushed my cry of despair off and threw me in Vachaspati's arms with such a jerk, I almost twisted my ankle on the aisle.

Instead, he graciously gave a piece of advice to Vachaspati. 'Don't bother going overboard. She is her mother's shadow. They are selfish, w****s, and eager. If you don't want to taint your reputation, keep a close eye on her. She might elope with whoever bastard promises her anything. Get her pregnant already!'

I was standing right beside them, weeping. My tears were ignored and so was my nonconsent to the marriage. It was before the priest that I understood my mother in true terms. Her decision to elope was crystal clear to me.

It's the hollowness that can never be fulfilled.

My tear-stained face was flashed across the kingdom in the next morning's newspaper.

D-Day attention!

King is smitten and smouldered in the wedlock with the damsel in distress!

The headlines were bold.

Dear Ladies,

Trust me I am in as much despair as any of you young budding flowers are as I scribble this article. The most eligible bachelor, our Prince Charming of the country has finally been seduced into wedlock.

It not only breaks my heart but makes me bleed to inform you that His Highness, King Vachaspati tied the knot with Lady Sarvayoni Shastri this Friday in the King's Palace.

It was an intimate ceremony of friends and family where barely a hundred guests were invited.

It has been alleged that the King and Queen have often been caught during their night adventures and the crown has been rendered helpless when Ms Shastri has already conceived.

The engagement was rushed a day before the wedding.

We'd like our readers to know that the proposal was sent on Tuesday of the same week.

Events seem to have unfolded in haste which makes us recall a similar situation in the past when the present Queen's mother was involved in a scandal.

The details need not be recited.

I had stepped up from Sarvayoni Shastri to Queen Sarvayoni in a matter of days. There were visitors, flashes of cameras, and running anchors.

In a tiny box, the ages-old rendezvous of my mother was scribbled. It was a luminous question mark on my character. It was to stay by my identity forever.

My mother, Trupti Reddy, was a school teacher. She came from an average family of little income but a highly educated background. My grandfather was a farmer in the hilly countryside and my grandmother served as a nanny to the Shastri family.

My father, Dev Narayan Shastri was the only heir of Shastri's estate. He was a spoiled brat from the day he breathed on earth. Always getting everything at his disposal without even raising a finger.

Hard work, poverty, and compassion toward others were foreign to him. His intelligence was hijacked by his hormones three hundred and sixty-four days in a year.

My parents first met at the Ratri Ball. Mom was nineteen and Papa was twenty-one back then. Papa was awestruck at her beauty and knowledge. She was the star of the night, a diamond of the season.

Papa could not come to part with her. He hired her to learn languages and statistics.

It was love at first sight for Papa but Mom was indifferent to it. She had seen Papa going wild in barns with a couple of maids and did not wish to stand in line with them.

She was a strong woman with an open mind, independence, and a dying spirit to bring change. She wanted to study, work, and explore. Marriage and affairs were not in line with her field.

But destiny had other plans for her.

She ended up marrying Papa out of a will or not, nobody cared. For four years, she was his companion. She accompanied him wherever he went, quenched his thirst at night, and watched him fooling around with females while she laid eggs.

In the meantime, she found her solace in a spy wolf. He was putting up in Samrajya disguised as a blog writer.

They were often spotted goofing around Hanuman Hill, La Cocina cafe, and the public library.

I guess Mom found the missing pieces in her that she could never find in Papa.

The abode of the ghost and destruction of love cannot be hidden. The affair was discovered. It is a tainted and dark chapter of our history. Mom jumped off the cliff and the wolf's disappeared.

His credentials were still kept secret and later on erased. However, the rumours are deafening. Some said he was Vinayaka's adopted son who was later disregarded by the wolf over accusations of treason.

Anyways, his existence vanished.

I was three years and a half years old. I don't remember his face or name. My mother has a vague memory. Sometimes, I just want to go on a mission and find him.

I want to know who and how it was that Mom abandoned her child for him.

Life with Vachaspati wasn't as horrible as it was with Papa. Till his last breath, he kept his promise and provided me with everything I could ever ask for.

My only task was to warm him up in the habitation season and lay eggs. He wouldn't disturb me much. It was not frequent. There was no passion, warmth or love in that relationship.

I was kept far from official matters or matters related to states, business, and money.

He would not let me ride in the same car as him as the patriarchal asshole he was. Private aviation had to be a dream in such circumstances.

I was not a fool to entertain the thought of begging him. My ego was bigger than his d**k. I'd rather die.

But, we had choppers. I hardly got to travel through any of them except for the Maharatri Festival. A ride in a year that too mostly, exclusively to Hanuman Hill. Even then, the rides weren't comfortable but chaotic.

I hated the rattling sound of the rotor blades. The grim face of Vachaspati who'd rather talk with the pilot but converse with me.

The chopper wasn't as spacious as the private jet, nor was it loaded with amenities. All in all, I have risen out of misery and dirt poverty to luxury—well—it is sumptuous.

I blink out of the memories. A pleasant smile is tucked on my face. It is like living my dream.

The clouds outside are beautiful even though they are fuzzy. Contrary, I am frolic. More, when it's my first time. When I am finally having it all, it's hard not to let it get into my head.

It's surreal that I am cruising somewhere over the Arctic, snacking on tacos in a high-backed leather chair with my feet up.

Beside me, Rudransh is bent over his laptop screen, brown curls falling on his forehead and a frown on his face as he furiously slaps the keyboard.

Across us, Ronit is sulking. His apparent hatred for heights and flights is flashed across his handsome face. He converses with his mother in inaudible murmurs.

Laxmi has her nose buried in a cosmo magazine which leaves Scarlet, next to me. She is calm. I am bored.

'What are you going to wear?' I ask in an attempt to pick a light conversation. Scarlet is intriguing. Silence often is.

She tilts her head slightly and looks at me with an incomprehensible look. Her nose scrunches up. Her turquoise-green eyes are vibrant in fury.

'Whatever Ronit throws at my face!' She mumbles. Her voice is laced with agony and desperation.

I gape at her helplessness dumbfounded. Even though I have been in her shoe I still rebelled in whichever way I could. I have been creating m******e for AnantNath's sake.

'Why do you let him boss you around?' I cannot help being noisy. I slap myself mentally when Scarlet shifts in her seat uncomfortably.

Besides me, Rudransh has stopped typing. From my peripheral vision, I feel his glaring daggers at me. What the hell?

'Sometimes people don't have the leisure to dig up their destiny, your royal highness. It's served to us and it does not change. We have to learn to live with it.' Her face is blank and her eyes hold unshed tears.

Scarlet averts her gaze to the clouds.

I do not miss the pinch of sarcasm in her voice. The she-wolf is sharp and cunning. I was suspicious till now. My speculations are confirmed. Her vibes aren't pleasant. It's chilly. I have a feeling that she has more to her than she puts up in front.

'Why would you scratch her wound like that, Aary? You know how Ronit is—' Rudransh reprimands in hushed whispers.

'Sometimes reality is far from what is shown to us, Rudra. May be there isn't the injury!' I retorted, following Scarlet with my eyes.

Rudransh doesn't comment thereafter. He just gives me a puzzled look.

__________________

The downpour has reduced to drizzle when the car passes through a central square and stops in front of a tall tower. It is dull and rather shabby today.

Vampuza is weeping.

'It's your first time here. Are you excited?' I hear Rudransh asking. He passes a folder to Shantanu in the passenger seat and turns completely to me. I almost flinch.

Excited for what? Sucked out? Gee-whiz thank you very much but no thanks.

'A little. I have heard alot about them...it's ain't the best thing to listen to.' I click my tongue as I watch a swarm of security come flooding us.

They are dressed in black identical uniforms with matching shades and an earpiece tucked in the right ear. All of them are ghastly pale and threatening. Involuntarily, I shift closer to Rudransh.

Ironies of irony! I am crouching back from one carnivorous in the arms of another.

I was zoning in and out throughout the ride trying to decipher Scarlet's conceited words. My intuition alerts me of an ulterior game plan. Nagini can smell a conspiracy.

My drowsiness has made me clueless about my surroundings, but the location seems vaguely familiar.

'Not all we read and hear is true. You are from the elites. You must know that. The paparazzi are keener on spice than the truth. Half of the bullshit they publish is made up. Thomas is a nice guy.'

'Only you can see good in blood-sucking vampires, Rary. What if he launches on me?' I yawn and stretch my hands above my head as I take a three-sixty degree once over.

In reply, I receive a hearty chuckle from both Rudransh and Shantanu.

'You won't be eaten.'

'But I will be dead.'

'Stop being so dramatic. You are going to be fine.'

'Are we there yet?' I pout, crossing my arms over the chest. I huff and roll my eyes when the wolves guffaw with a hi-fi.

'You are such a child.' Rudransh beams at me. He ruffles my hair and straightens the nonexistent creases of his shirt. The car comes to a halt smoothly.

'We are here.' Shantanu announces.