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Dheer took it from her with a smile when I made no move to take it.
“Dadi sa, I would like to put this jewellery on my wife in private, if you don’t mind. I’ve waited for years to see this set on my wife, and I don’t want to put it on her in front of anyone.”
“Hain? What nonsense! This is a ritual that is performed in front of everyone,” complained his Dadi Sa.
“Well, you’ve performed the ritual. You gave her the set, and she’s accepted it,” he replied sternly, grabbing my hand and placing it on the tray. “But she will wear it for the first time in the privacy of our bedroom.”
His grandmother looked at Padmini Aunty in dismay.
“I don’t understand these new-fangled ideas!”
“That may be so, Ma Sa. But Dheer and Diya will create their own traditions now that they are the heads of the family. Beta, in addition to the jewellery, there is one more thing that’s yours from today,” said Padmini Aunty as she held out a smaller tray that contained a big bunch of keys, with a platinum and diamond challa in the same viper design.
“What is this, Aunty?”
“These are the keys to the palace. They belong to you now. You can run the household as you wish.”
I shook my head in surprise.
“I can’t take that from you, Aunty. This is your house, your palace…”
“Diya, you are the new Maharani,” she said gently. “This palace is your responsibility now. The old has to give way to the new, beta. That’s the way it always has been in our family.”
I took the keys unwillingly, feeling like a fraud. These keys belonged to the woman who would become the real Maharani of Trikhera, not to a temporary wife. I wanted nothing to do with the trappings of this marriage because they would only make my eventual departure harder.
“But what am I supposed to do with these, Aunty? I can’t wear the challa at my waist all day like they used to do in Dadi Sa’s times.”
She laughed and gestured for me to place them back on the tray.
“It’s a symbolic gesture, my dear. The staff runs the house very efficiently, and all you have to do is manage them. Keep the keys safe, though. You don’t have to carry them around with you, but make sure you lock up the tijori keys safely every day.”
I nodded and she waved the staff away.
“Ma Sa, I think it’s time for your morning prayers,” said Padmini Aunty, leading Dadi Sa out of the room.
Isha waited until the door closed behind them before she turned to me.
“What happened? Why did you get so upset when you saw the jewellery?” she asked.
“They’ve been worn before,” I said softly, not looking at Dheer even though I was aware of his intense gaze on me.
“Yes,” replied Isha impatiently. “By all the Maharanis who came before you.”
I turned to meet Dheer’s gaze accusingly.
“And also by the fiancée who came before me,” I said coldly. “I do not wear rejects, Isha. Not even if a hundred Maharanis have worn them before me.”
Dheer met my eyes calmly. He knew I wasn’t only talking about the jewellery. It all came rushing back to me. His betrayal. My heartbreak. I was such a fool to be carried away by his lovemaking. It didn’t change anything. He was still the person who had broken my heart so callously.
Isha’s sharp intake of breath told me that she finally got what I was saying.
“But Dadi Sa will expect you to wear the set, Diya,” she said worriedly.
“No,” said Dheer firmly. “Diya won’t wear it if she doesn’t want to.”
“But Bhai Sa…”
“No, Isha. There will be no buts. Diya’s right. She does not need to wear anyone’s rejects. The traditions of our family have evolved over the years, so nothing is written in stone. Diya will pick her own jewellery. Something that will reflect her personal style as well her identity as the Maharani of Trikhera. And that can be our new tradition.”
