Chapter 4

Milady walked with the convoy toward the throne room where Krishna always was sitting there with his ministers and chancellors on his throne to discuss.

The big door of the throne room opened, and the convoy entered. When Krishna – who became also older with black and white hair and mustache – saw Milady, he got surprised; Cook used rarely to enter the throne room, and if she did, it would be a very important matter. She used to be always with Sundarta and Chandramukhi in their rooms.

All the men there turned their looks to the convoy. It was different for them: white fancy people, different clothes, expensive jewels…

And the silence spread everywhere in the room.

Milady asked George by a move of her hand to stop walking. The convoy did while she got closer to the throne and did the "Salaam", the traditional greeting of Indians, to the king.

The latter asked her in English after he greeted her:

"Milady! What are you doing here? Something wrong happened?"

"No, your majesty, but…"

"What's the story of this convoy?" He interrupted her.

"Sir… I think we should talk… alone…" She suggested with a meaningful look.

"Ok… and the convoy?"

"They can stay here: we won't be late." She informed.

"Good, come with me." He ordered while standing up.

Cook followed Bai to behind the beige curtain behind the throne. Once they became alone, the old woman announced:

"Your majesty, the biologic mother of Sundarta is there!"

"WHAT?!!" He got stunned.

"My ex-boss! Sundarta's mother! Who left Sundarta with me and her majesty the Queen!"

"Oh Lord Ganesh…" He murmured in Hindi.

"And her godson George is here too." She announced.

"And what are they doing here?"

"I don't know… But I'm sure that Ann came for her daughter…" She mumbled.

"My… daughter…" He reminded, worried.

"Ann must meet their majesties Chandramukhi and Sundarta…"

"Fine… I'll talk to them… stay with me" He ordered.

"Ok…"

Krishna and Milady appeared from behind the curtain. The brunet king sat while the maid just stood next to him.

"So… who are you?" The king asked the prince confidentially.

George stepped straight and announced:

"I'm Prince George from Kingdom of Great Britain. And I'm the official representative of my kingdom. I came here, in place of my father the king Edward III for a conference about having commercial contacts between our kingdoms."

"Commercial contracts between Michor and Kingdom of Great Britain?" He asked.

"Yes, your majesty."

Krishna looked at Cook who was so confused. Then, the king continued with the British prince:

"And… what's the story of the dame there behind you?"

"A… She's my godmother Lady Ann Worthington. And she came for…"

Ann put her hand on her godson's shoulder as an interruption. She walked a step straight and said, with her calm voice:

"Your majesty… I'm sure that your wife the Queen Chandramukhi Singh told you about the story of The Adopted Princess Sundarta, and about her mother who left her when she was a baby with the Queen and Milady…"

"Yes, and Milady just told me about you now…"

Ann looked at Krishna who smiled and stood up. He walked toward her and George and shook hands with them:

"Finally, after all these years, I could meet the biologic mother of my adoptive daughter and one of my wife's closest friends…"

He looked at George:

"Chandramukhi didn't tell me that Sundarta already has a god-brother."

"George was born three years after Samantha's birth…" Ann explained.

"Oh… I see…" Krishna commented.

A silence spread between the royal family members. And then Krishna cut it:

"I guess then that you want to meet Sundarta and Chandra?"

Ann's heart beat harder than before and she answered: "Yes…"

"Good, I'll have Milady take you to your daughter and friend. While I'll take George by myself for a walk around the palace, and then, George will be free to meet the princess and the Queen. Ok?"

"Ok…" George mumbled.

"Great… Let's go."

Milady walked to Ann and hugged her again. Then, they got out of the throne room, and climbed the stairs up toward Chandramukhi's room, while Krishna ordered his guards to take the British guards to bedrooms in the servants' courtyard, and got out of the throne room with the British prince toward the lunch royal room, also upstairs…

***

The two ladies stopped in front of the most luxury door in the royal square: the King and the Queen's bedroom.

Milady was about to knocking the door when Ann put her hand on her shoulder, asking her not to. Cook wondered:

"Ann? What? Something's wrong?"

"No… I…"

"You prefer to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally to meet your friend and daughter's adopter mother?" She asked her.

"Yes… I appreciate that." She muttered.

"Take your time…" She chimed.

"I don't remember you were this nice and soft before!" Ann joked.

"Yeah…" Milady pretended the indifference.

Worthington smiled, took a deep breath and then she nodded.

Milady knocked the door. And they heard a female voice saying in Hindi: "Come in!"

Cook, who learnt the most common Hindi sentences, opened the door slowly, and she walked with her ex-boss inside.

The bedroom was wide, with silk curtain, colored walls, a big bed and lots of furniture.

The responder was Chandramukhi herself: she was sitting on her bed, sewing.

The two women walked straight until Chandra raised her head to see the visitor. In fact, she knew that Milady was the visitor because she learnt her knock.

Chandra didn't really change: she just got some white hair and little wrinkles around her eyes.

Once the latter raised her head and saw Ann, her smile disappeared. She kept staring at her while Ann was smiling.

The Queen stood up and walked fast to Worthington and looked at her eyes. And all of a sudden, her eyes shed tears. She laughed then she hugged her.

The two women were hugging and crying: the hope that Chandramukhi had to meet Sundarta's mother after all these years never disappeared. Ann who had been worried about her daughter and thinking about her everyday finally met her adopter.

They intended to sit on Chandra's bed and to talk about the previous 20 years. But Cook interrupted them:

"Ann, don't you want to see your daughter?"

And the queen also added:

"Yes, Ann; it will be a great idea that you meet her now. Then, we'll talk four of us about our lives."

Ann looked at the two old women. Then she cried.

"What is it, Ann?" asked Chandramukhi. "Why are you crying?"

"It's just…I think I won't be able to meet my daughter… I'm too week for such moments…" explained Ann.

"Bah! You won't: Sundarta became literally the best woman in Michor ever!" Milady joked.

Worthington smiled to Milady. Then she mopped her tears and stood up: "Let's go…"

Singh stood up too. And three of them walked toward Sundarta's room.

The more they got closer to the bedroom, the more Ann's heart beat. The latter was breathing loudly and trying to be calm. She was thinking the whole trip about how would she meet her: would she hug her directly, or never cry? Despite the long duration she spent in the trip, Ann couldn't find the perfect shape to appear in.

When they finally arrived, the queen and the maid waited for the biologic mother to get psychologically prepared. They knew that meeting a daughter after decades of leaving her was super hard.

Finally, Ann nodded. Milady knocked the door and they heard a female voice saying in Hindi too "Come in"…

***