You Promised Forever

2. Niyati

As she wheeled the car to the airport she parked the car to the required destination. She knew someone will surely recognize the car and it was too risky to go on with it. She had almost 3 hours to spare before she boarded her flight to London.

With nothing good to do, she wandered around the airport, trying to kill time. But everybody around her was staring very strangely at her. She didn't know what was wrong, but as she glanced at her clothes, she understood.

Now the first thing she had to do before anything else was to get changed into some simple clothes before anyone got suspicious of her. She quickly fished out her phone to search for a nearby mall so she can buy some clothes.

Thankfully, there was one just around the corner, which could cover through walking. Quickly making her way outside, she hastily walked towards the mall, making sure that she had her head down. She didn't want anyone to recognize her, even if that fact was nearly possible. But she was not going to risk anything.

She had to be cautious of every single detail.

As she entered the mall, she found herself walking in the direction of the women's section. She also reminded herself that she had to buy more such clothes. It was actually foolish of her to bring her old clothes, which were nothing but all the expensive royal attires which were too suspicious to wear in public. That too if she was going to be living in London, there was no chance she'd be wearing her old clothes again.

She quickly got hold of some shirts, tops, and tees and placed them in the shopping bag, and she moved to the bottom wear section. They consisted of jeans, jeggings, and shorts. Looking at the shorts somewhat left her uncomfortable, so she quickly grabbed some jeans and walked up to a changing booth. She was not sure of her sizes as all clothes that she wore earlier were purely stitched for her body.

Some clothes fitted her perfectly and some were loose. After some more shopping, she paid for the bill in cash and walked out of the clothing store. Next, she decided that she had to get a haircut too. Her waist-length hair were creating a nuisance for her, and she had gotten absolutely bored with them. So as soon as she spotted a hair salon on the other end of the hallway, her happiness knew no bound. As she quickly made her way in the direction, a hand grabbed hers, and hastily she was dragged over to another deserted hallway.

"Princess Niyati!! Why are you here? You'll miss your flight. Please hurry up!!" The girl exclaimed, whispered rather.

Niyati looked at the girl. She looked a bit elder than her, she wore formal shirt neatly tucked inside her trouser, she had a shrug completing her outfit with black pumps. She was completely enthralled by her attire and entire aura that screamed off as a powerful person. She was impressed to a great extent.

But the question here was, how did she know about her identity? She had never seen this girl in her entire life, but her face somewhat made her remember someone.

"Who are you?" She questioned, her voice authoritative. Her piercing glare was enough to scare her as the girl gasped. She quickly let go of her arm and jumped back a bit, creating some space between them. She quickly bent down and apologized for her rash behavior.

Niyati felt surprised by the response. She cursed herself. If she wanted to start a completely new life, she had to let go of the authority she was so accustomed to, but here she was doing the exact same thing which she was not supposed to do.

"Who are you? How do you know that I will be boarding a flight?" This time she asked in a calm voice, offering her a small smile.

The girl looked up and the scared look on her face was replaced with shock. She straightened up as she fished out her phone from her bag. She dialed a number and answered it as soon as the call was received.

"I am with her Mother. Please talk to her and explain everything." As the girl passed on her phone to Niyati, curiosity shoot up in Niyati's entire being. 

Hesitantly she took the phone and gently placed it on her left ear."Hello?"

"Hello?? Princess Niyati??"

"Kamakshi?"

Now everything made sense as she looked over at the girl who looked to the other side, avoiding eye contact.

"Kamakshi..I think I told you.."

"That you don't need anyone's help in your plan. I know that your highness. But please forgive me for worrying about you so much that I had to tail my daughter after you just to make sure you are fine. God forbids if anything happens to you.."

"Don't you think I learned sword fighting for a reason? Or did you really assume that every lesson I learned was for show?"

The silence was what she heard. She sighed. Kamakshi was like a mother she never had. But only thinking about the idea of having someone care for her like her mother was making her feel uncomfortable.

"Listen Kamakshi. Just so you know. I have trained myself specifically to become independent. Now that you have sent your daughter, I'll be nothing but a burden to her whenever I'll be making decisions for myself. The only reason I restricted anyone from coming with me was this. I don't want to be a burden to anyone."

"But your highness, Taking Anika with you will not be burdening you at all. If not, it will only lessen your search and you'll be meeting him sooner then expected." 

"What?? What are you saying Kamakshi??" Niyati gasped at the words that Kamakshi uttered. She turned to the girl, whose name she now knew was Anika. She was slightly looking at her, subconsciously playing with the locket hanging down her neck.

"Anika will explain to you everything. You just trust me, Your Highness."

Trust. One word that was capable of ruining many lives. She laughed bitterly. The one word which was enough to demolish her happy family.

" You do know I hate that word. The only person I trust right now is me and only me."

"But.."

"And How dare you send your daughter with me, when you know I know the truth."

Silence prevailed as Niyati now glared at her step-sister. She had her head down as she visibly gulped at the intense gaze.

"Please Princess, this is the least I can do for you. My love for you is beyond any truth. Even though I am not your mother, but I have silently nurtured thinking of you as if you are my own. This is the least.."

Niyati disconnected the call as she clutched the phone tightly in her hand.

Life surely isn't as easy as it looks!

Without any word, Niyati turned and continued her way into the salon. Nothing was going to stop her from her montage. Even if she just found out she had a sibling, whom she had always craved. She always wondered why she didn't have any, and how it will be like to actually have one.

But to meet your step-sister in such unexpected circumstances was not something she was excited about. And she didn't know she will be experiencing such a situation like this.

As she explained the stylist about what all she wanted to do, she felt Anika's presence behind her. She didn't say anything, but just stood outside the salon unconsciously rubbing her nails together.

'Like Mother, like daughter. Weird fascination for nails runs in their blood I guess.' She wondered as the beautician guided her to the chair for a haircut. She glanced again at Anika and felt a strong urge to talk to her. So she requested her to callout to Anika who was now reading the posters outside the salon.

The beautician looked hesitant but complied as it is. Seconds later she was standing beside her, feeling out of the place the moment she set her foot inside this mighty salon.

"What's your age?"

Startled that she was actually making the conversation, Anika looked at her, surprised.

"25"

Just like she had guessed. She looked older than her from her first impression.

"What do you do for a living?" came the next question.

Anika glanced at her, then at the beautician who had started cutting Niyati's hair, both looking at her curiously.

"I'm a Writer."

Niyati nodded as she glanced sideways at her. She didn't know what it was, but it sounded interesting. "You are okay with traveling with me? Will it disturb your profession?"

"No, it will not. I often go on certain trips. This helps me in my writing. And it's the first time that Mother asked me to do something after I ran.."

She stopped abruptly and looked away. It seemed like she had talked more than expected. 

Niyati saw her close her eyes and bit her tongue. This time she took notice of her facial features. Thankfully, like Kamakshi, Anika looked just like her exact replica. And not like her father.

As she opened her eyes, Niyati noticed that she had big innocent eyes a small nose, and perfect round lips. Her cheeks looked pale, with no traces of makeup. 

She motioned for another beautician to come closer. She bent down to her level and she whispered something in her ear. Next thing, the beautician was seen taking hold of Anika's arm and dragging her in a booth.

Niyati smirked. This was the least she could do for her step-sister.

And after good two hours, they were ready to board the flight. She looked across from her seat only to find Anika glaring at her manicured nails in anger. It was like a punishment, for messing with her nails. Now she will not even dare to tease her nails. The nail art was too beautiful to be ruined.

Instead of being angry, Anika should actually thank her. With the new makeover, she looked more beautiful. Her Mid-waist-length hair were intact, but now they had dark pink and red highlights all over her hair that pretty suited her. Simply put, this makeover had her closed-off personality come out even more. Right now they were tightly wrapped around her head in a bun.

As for her, she had her hair cut so that they reached down her bra line and she got some sea blue highlights.

She chuckled as Anika continued to glare at her nails. She momentarily glanced at Niyati and her irritation vanished as she quickly looked away.

Niyati sighed. If they were going to be together on this trip, they had to start getting along. But that could be done later.

Right now all her body screamed of was only one thing. Sleep.

All the complications shall be dealt with, one at a time.

-*-