Chapter 2, Page 4
After searching for a while, we found an ice cream joint; I must say Mysore does shut down rather early. We enjoyed a quiet and chatty dessert and finished our dessert without incident. We drove on, continuing to chat and I could feel a slow and steady fear growing inside of me; for I had now run out of excuses to roam around the streets of Mysore and it was time to head back to the hotel. I turned the car unwillingly onto the highway adjacent to our hotel, and drove for a few minutes, and as I saw the castle appear in our view; my stomach began to drop and I felt the temperature drop inside. As I reached the signal where I was to turn, I heard a sharp gasp of pain and turned to look, as Yb once again clutched her stomach, followed by a change in posture and a deafening silence; the same steady regal poise and look of disdain, a presence that haunted my entire stay, my worst fear was now realized. The princess was back.
I had run out of ideas to try and now was at a loss; my mind was racing with thoughts and I wasn’t able to find a way out, like trying to look at the bottom of a lake amidst the ripples. I clutched the steering wheel a bit tighter and fixed my gaze determinedly away from my left, for I could now feel the presence of the princess and I couldn’t fathom what was to follow. I turned the car into the parking space and we got down to walk into the castle. It was now around half past nine, and the castle struck a desolate picture; not a soul in sight, barring the security at the gate. The princess took the lead as she walked ahead, self assured in every step. She turned right at the entrance, and climbed the wooden staircase, her footsteps echoed through the high ceilings of the castle. I dared not look at the mirror on the first landing and I followed her as she approached the floor where our room was. She turned quickly into the corridor and placed her hand bag on the table with the vase, walking upright, she was no guest here, she owned the place. She turned not towards the room we were to stay but towards the living room adjacent to the dining quarters. Mustering as much courage as I could, “Yb”, I whimpered, “our room is this way.”. She turned towards me slowly, and etched in every line of her lovely face was fury; she didn’t like the interruption. I stumbled backwards as though pushed by a physical force, such was the power of that gaze. With my fear mounting and heart racing I fumbled for the keys and stopped by the door to our room. I asked her “Yb, where are we?”, in a falsely sweet voice, that must’ve sounded nauseating, but can you blame me? She looked at me blankly, at least the fury was no longer there, but she was displeased nevertheless. “Yeah, we’re home.” she said. “Um, this is the hotel dear. We’re staying here just for the night, remember?”. I said with building apprehension. Why was my chest so tight? “Oh. Yes.” she quickly corrected herself unconvincingly. My fear didn’t deter me from continuing to ask questions, once more in the hope that I would somehow reach my dear wife buried deep within that body, perhaps fighting to be heard. “Are you sure? Do you know who I am?” I continued in my last ditch effort to summon my fast dying bravery. She looked at me blankly, and presented a strained smile that didn’t quite go with that face. “Yes of course.” she said, not yet answering the question, “Can we go inside? I’m just tired” she continued. Her lack of recognition wasn’t lost on me, in fact my fear was now reaching the stages of panic, when primal instincts triggered by fight or flight kick in. I continued to fumble with the keys, but I wanted an answer from her, nay, I needed an answer, anything that would make me believe that she was still there. I was now desperate. I asked her repeatedly, till finally she said rather sharply “Is this a test?”. Her jaw was set and the look of cold fury was back, I swear I heard her grinding her teeth. With my hands trembling I said “N-no n–no, o-ofcourse not. I’m sorry.“ and proceeded to open the door of our room.
As we entered, I turned on the dim incandescent lamps and she took leave to use the restroom. I looked around frantically assessing what I would need to do to get us both away and out of this place. Could doctors cure this? Do we need supernatural means?; shamans and godmen? I was thinking too far ahead. My first objective was to get us out of here in one piece. She came out of the restroom, and proceeded to pace the room. She asked for hot water, fortunately we had ordered some hot water earlier and I quickly went and poured her a glass from the jug on the dressing table. As I handed her the glass, my hand shook and my heart sank. I swear that I saw the swivel mirror on the table tilt with an old creaking sound. After she started drinking, I excused myself to use the restroom. I rushed into the bathroom and started pacing myself. At this point, I felt fear and panic in equal measure. I couldn’t think straight. After calming myself down, I had devised what I thought was a rather solid plan. If by the time I leave this bathroom door, nothing had changed in my wife and the princess was still there, I would go down to the reception, look for some hotel staff and ask them about the history of the palace and find out if anything untoward had happened here. I would then call reinforcements, either Yb’s mother or my mother and take it from there. I looked at myself in the mirror, prepped myself and took a few deep breaths to drown out some of the fear before I stepped outside.