Princess: Nuance Of Love Book 1 (25 page)

"Ananda Puteri, you have woken up..."
She heard a familiar voice, she turned to the direction where it
came from and surprise to see Raden Nabilla there with a strange
man.

"Where...where am I? What happened? My
whole body is hurting, what happened to me?" She asked her speech
was slurring.

"Doctor, why is she talking like that?"
Raden Nabilla didn't immediately answer her.

"It's the effect of the drug, it hasn't
been completely metabolized by her body." He explained.

"Ananda, do you recognize me?" Raden
Nabilla asked her patiently.

Paramita nodded. "Ibunda
Nabilla."

Raden Nabilla smiled and held her hand.
"That's good, you're at my house. This is Ali's room, he brought
you here yesterday because you were seriously injured."

Paramita looked at her with confusion,
"What happened?"

"We can talk about it later, the first
thing is to make sure you recover." She replied.

"Your Highness Puteri, your body must
be in great pain right now. I will give you an injection to relieve
the pain a little bit." The doctor said.

Paramita nodded, Raden Nabilla helped
her turn to her side, and slightly opened the back of her pajama
pants. Paramita winced as the needle pierced her flesh.

"I'm thirsty." She said.

Raden Nabilla filled a glass on the
nightstand with water from a jar and helped her drink it. After
Paramita was satisfied, Raden Nabilla helped her to lie back on the
bed.

"Is she awake?" They heard Ali's voice
coming from the door.

"Yes she is." Doctor Johan
replied.

Ali came in and sat on the bed by
Paramita's side. "Hey, how are you feeling?" He gently asked her
while taking her hand in his.

"She's still a little bit slurry when
she speaks, and she is in pain, but the doctor had given her
painkiller injection." His mother answered.

Ali smiled at her and caressed her
hair, "You have to rest. Give time for your body to eliminate the
substances."

"He's right." The doctor
agreed.

Paramita's face showed that she had
many questions, but she smiled and nodded obeying them.

"I'm going to call your father at the
office to give him the good news. He left early this morning to
update Paduka Sultan about the situation."

"Your Excellency, I'll be leaving now,"
Doctor Johan said.

"Thank you, Doctor," Ali replied, "Let
me see you to the door."

He was about to stand up, when Paramita
held his hand firmly. "Don't leave me, please." She said, "I don't
know why but I have this uncontrollable fear."

"It's the paranoia, one of the effects
of the drug," Doctor Johan said. "I will see myself
out."

"What happened to me?" She asked him
after the doctor had left.

"We'll talk about that later." Ali said
worrying that telling her what happened might add her fears. "Here
comes Maya with your breakfast."

"Your Highness, how are you this
morning?" Maya asked her.

"I'm fine thank you." She
responded.

"My Lady, Raden Nabilla especially made
this porridge for you." She replied. She reached out to accept the
bowl, but her hands were severely shaking. "Can you put it on the
table, I'll eat it later when I feel better."

"Give me the bowl, eating will help you
get better faster," Ali said. He received the bowl from Maya and
began to stir the content to cool it down. He fed the porridge to
Paramita.

"Abang." She said in between
scoops.

"Hmm?" He responded.

"What happened to you? Your neck has
finger marks and your face is swollen." She asked.

"I was attacked by a tiger demon
because I was mistaken for a gorilla." He answered
flatly.

"Hah?

Chapter Twenty
One

"Oh, it's good that you're eating, I
hope you like my cooking." Raden Nabilla's voice echoed through the
room.

"Thank you for the breakfast." Paramita
responded.

"Ali, your father wanted me to tell you
that regarding the issue he told you yesterday, Paduka Sultan has
decided to go ahead with it today. He will visit Ananda Puteri and
talk to her about it."

Ali sighed his face showed
concern.

"My Father is coming here to see me?"
Paramita asked in a cheerful voice.

Ali felt bad for her, he traced her
hair gently, "That's what my father said." He responded. "Mother,
please have Maya help Mita to get ready, if you can lend her a nice
dress to wear."

"I have some of your sister's clothes
in her room. Since Ananda Puteri is much taller than her, I think
we should get something loose and comfortable, and can be worn with
a sarong."

"Where are you going?" Ali said to
Paramita, seeing her try to get up from the bed. "To the bathroom,
didn't you say I need to get ready?"

"After you've finished your breakfast.
Sit down, you only ate half of it, you have to eat the rest.
Besides, you shouldn't try to walk by yourself, you're still
shaking."

Raden Nabilla got her a very pretty tan
Kebaya. Luckily it was designed in such a way that it wasn't too
obvious that the sleeves were actually too short for
her.

Although it she was already neatly
dressed, Ali had her wait on the bed, she was sitting there leaning
against a tall stack of pillows, entertaining herself with channel
surfing on the large screen TV in his room.

She felt a sharp pounding pain in her
head when flashes of memory filled her mind. She saw her mother
Soraya in her bedroom. Suddenly she remembered the fight that they
had. The taste of the bitter liquid in her mouth. She fuzzily
recalled the sensation of blood dripping down her face. Her arms
slowly started to hurt again, as well as her thighs and back. She
managed to hold back her tears. She tried to manage her breathing
to control her emotions and her physical pain, only to make it hurt
her chest even more. She clutched her chest cringing at the
pain.

"Mita, are you okay? What's wrong?" She
heard Ali saying from behind her.

"My body hurts all over. Why is this
happening to me?" She said.

"Hold on, let me get the medicine that
Doctor Johan prescribed for you, He said this was bound to happen."
He quickly served a glass of water and gave her the
painkillers.

Paramita quickly swallowed the pills
and drank the whole glass of water.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this.
Be patient until the medicine takes effect." Ali said while sitting
down next to her.

Paramita couldn't hear him, she was in
so much pain. She lifted her knees to curl up her body. Ali quickly
pulled her to him. "Don't do that, please, don't sit that way, you
don't know how it scares me to see you like that. If you're in pain
let me hold you until it goes away."

She put her arms around his waist and
held on to him tightly, trying not to cry. "What have I done wrong?
Why me? Why me?"

"Shhh.....it's okay, calm down, it will
pass, be patient."

After several minutes, he could feel
her loosen her grip on him. "I feel better now, I think those pills
have worked their magic on me." She told him.

"Are you sure?" He asked, observing
her.

"Yes." She managed to force a smile.
"Ummm. Abang, I vaguely remember that I had a fight with my mother
in my bedroom at the Sultan's Palace, was she there?"

"That's what I heard." He
replied.

"Abang, why did she do this to
me?"

"Do what?" Ali asked confused not
understanding her question.

"She forced a small bottle of pills
down my mouth, if you said that I was drugged, then, why did my own
mother want to drug me?" She said with a shaken
expression.

"We think that Madam Soraya was also
drugged."

"I hope she was....I really hope she
was."

Ali didn't say anything, for Paramita's
sake he hoped that Soraya was drugged too.

"Ananda Puteri, your father has
arrived." Raden Nabilla said.

"Mother, Mita just had a pain attack a
few minutes ago. I don't know if it's a good idea for her to go
downstairs to receive Paduka Sultan." Ali said.

"Of course not she's sick she should
stay here, Paduka Sultan can come up and visit her
here."

"Mita, I'm going downstairs to receive
Ayahnda Sultan, wait here, okay?" He said to Paramita.

"Sure, no problem." She replied with
doubt.

Ali went downstairs, his mind still
occupied with what Paramita told him just now about Madam Soraya
her mother. Thinking back at the extent of the effect the drug had
on Paramita, it would be horrifying if it was true that her own
mother actually consciously forced her to take it. What was more
painful for him was the fact that Paramita had reason to consider
the possibility of it. "Her life must have not been an easy one."
He sighed just thinking about it.

The Sultan had with him a small
entourage, mostly consisting of the Royal Guards, headed by Colonel
Anton. Ali saw his father was with them, and they were in the
company of a man that he had never seen before.

"His Majesty Sultan, I give you my most
humble salute." Raden Nabilla greeted.

"Adik, please, there is no need for
formalities. We are all family, and today we are going to tighten
our family ties." He answered.

"Today, Paduka?" She asked.

"Yes, this is Ustaz Mahmoud, he will be
marrying Ananda Ali and Ananda Paramita today."

Raden Nabilla was dumbstruck, unable to
say anything.

"Ali greets Ayahnda Sultan." Ali
said.

"Ali, I gather that you're
ready."

"Yes Ayahnda."

"Since there was no time to prepare the
dowry, Adik Hamza has promised to pay it directly to Ananda Mita.
Where is she, I have to speak to her before the ceremony. Does she
know about it?" Said The Sultan.

"No, Ayahnda, we haven't told her
anything." Ali replied.

"Take me to her."

"I, this way." Ali showed him the
way.

Paramita was waiting in the room, she
turned off the TV. She was quite excited thinking that her father
had taken time out of his busy schedule to see how she was doing.
She straightened her sarong and fixed her hair with her
hand.

The bedroom door was ajar, she turned
and standing there was her father. she tried to stand up to greet
him. "Ananda greets Ayahnda Sultan."

"Please sit down my child, you're still
sick." He said.

"Thank you, Ayahnda."

"How are you doing?" He asked her
kindly.

"I'm better now. Bunda Nabilla and
Abang Ali have taken good care of me."

"I'm happy to hear that." He said to
her. Ali had pulled up a chair for him to sit in. "Ananda Ali,
please wait outside."

"I" He replied shortly.

"Puteri, as a woman raised in the
western world, I'm sure you are used to people talking straight to
the point. The reason why I came today first of all is to see how
your health is doing, and if you are okay. The second reason is
about your relationship with Ananda Ali."

Paramita couldn't guess where this was
going, she asked him, "My relationship?"

"My daughter Mita. I, your royal
father, know with all my heart, everything that has been happening
lately is not your fault. But many events had led you to be in very
close and private proximity with Ananda Ali. I hope that you
understand, in our culture, this is considered inappropriate. There
has been some talk about the two of you." He elaborated.

"What does that mean?" She asked
looking at him.

"There are gossips about you carrying
out adultery with Ananda Ali." He said cautiously.

"Ayahnda, that's not true. How can that
be possible? I...I..." Suddenly the words her mother said to her in
her bedroom, echoed in her ears. "That's a lie."

"It is!" Affirmed the Sultan, "And I'm
sure that it was spread by the same people who have tried to harm
you."

She didn't answer.

"Mita, the problem is, I as the Sultan
of this country, I am not only the head of the government, but I am
also the religious leader. All my actions and all my family's
actions must be a good example to the people, and we cannot do
things that are considered immoral."

"But I'm not doing anything immoral."
She insisted.

"My child, I know that, but it is a
matter of people's perception, this issue has greatly affected my
credibility in front of the people of Jothar. And you shouldn't
tarnish Ananda Ali's reputation."

"I'm tarnishing His Excellency Raden
Burhanuddin Ali's reputation? So what are you saying? Are you going
to have me stoned to death?"