Wedded Misery

A/N: The title is a play on the term "Wedded Bliss".

It had been slightly over a year since Malik announced that he was married to Janna. From that point onwards, Queen Mzuri. assisted by Heather, had been teaching the duties and etiquette of a Queen to Janna (this will be dealt with in the next chapter); being married to Malik meant that she was next in line for the throne alongside him. She was somewhat nervous at the prospect, but her husband assured her that she would be an excellent Queen and that he would always be there for her. Unbeknownst to everyone, Hilah had been secretly watching Janna, and she was overcome with jealousy for the new princess. "I swear, Janna," she told herself every night. "I will get my revenge on you for stealing what is rightfully mine; one day, you will pay the price for crossing me,". Today, however, she needed to keep her hidden bitterness under raps more than ever because today, she was to be married, not to Prince Malik like she had hoped, but to his younger brother, Prince Adesh, who was six years younger than her.

The wedding was a grim affair indeed. It was a horrible, cloudy day, and the clouds soon began to weep big, fat teardrops. Although the bride was beautiful, there was a certain coldness to her beauty, and, whereas most brides wore a smile on their wedding day, she wore a disgruntled scowl that could have turned someone to stone. During the ceremony, Hilah barely looked at her husband to be, and when the time came for them to exchange vows, she sounded as though she was about to murder Adesh. By contrast, while part of the reason he asked to marry her was to ensure his elder brother's happiness, Adesh loved Hilah. He admired her for her beauty, her charm and her seemingly innocent nature. Little did he know, however, was that his wife to be was a very different person to who he thought she was. When the Tree of Life's royal Mjuzi pronounced them man and wife, Hilah reluctantly let Adesh kiss her and then wiped her mouth when no one was looking. The only part of her wedding day Hilah enjoyed was the wedding cake; the cake was chocolate cake, which was her favourite food in the world.

At the wedding reception, Janna came over to where Hilah was sitting."Er, hi, Hilah," she smiled. "Could I talk to you please?". Hilah scowled one of her usual scowls as she turned to face the princess. "Is it important?" she asked, trying not to slap her nemesis in front of everyone. "Yes, kind of," Janna nodded. "Alright," Hilah sighed, forcing a smile. "But I'd like to speak with you in private,". "No problem," the princess smiled as she led Hilah to a remote corridor. "So, I wanted to say I'm sorry how we began; I think we got off on the wrong foot. But... we're basically sisters now, or sisters-in-law rather, so I was wondering if we could start afresh,". She extended her hand in friendship for Hilah to take, but the bitter young woman immediately smacked it away. "You married my husband," Hilah snarled. "No I didn't," Janna replied, confused. "Adesh is yours and yours alone,". "NO!" Hilah shouted. "I meant my other husband; Malik,". "Hilah," Janna said calmly. "Don't take this personally, but Malik is my husband,". "When I saw you look at me with that melancholic expression as I danced with my betrothed, I thought "she's just a simple, little village girl; she doesn't mean any harm," but oh, no. You proved me wrong. We might be sisters-in-law now, but that doesn't change, nor will it ever change, the fact that you stole everything that should have been mine; my husband, my position as Queen, my destiny, and one day, it will all come back to bite you. Malik will belong to me, and you will be forgotten,".

"First of all, my husband is not an object; he doesn't belong to anyone, and he wasn't stolen by anyone," Janna stated. "Secondly, the fact that Malik was a prince is completely irrelevant to me. Hell, when I first met him, I didn't even know he was a royal. I see him as being a fellow human, who is neither above me nor below me. He might be my prince and I his princess, but, at the same time, when I look at him, I don't see a royal; I see someone who loves for who I am, someone who will always be there for me, and someone who understands me, and Malik knows that I will always do the same for him,". "I don't believe you," Hilah scowled as she stormed back into the reception room. Janna gave a patient sigh and went to use the toilet.

When Hilah returned to the reception, she noticed that Janna wasn't with Malik, having gone to use the bathroom. Seizing the moment, she walked over to where the prince was sitting and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hi, Malik," she smiled. "Hilah," Malik nodded. "Are you enjoying your wedding day?". "Er, so-so," Hilah shrugged. "It's difficult to enjoy anything with such bad weather. Now, I'd like a word with you... in private,". "Alright," Malik nodded as he and Hilah went to a private area. "Listen, Malik," Hilah stated. "I know that peasant complicated things severely and came between us in such a dishonest way, but, you and I, we're on the same page in the book, aren't we? I love you, Malik, and I want you to confess that you love me as well, because I know you do,".

Malik was at a loss for words. He took a minute to consider his words so that he could emphasise his love for Janna without offending Hilah too much. "I love you as a friend and as my sister-in-law," he replied. "But there will never be anything more between us. I will never be attracted to you romantically or sexually; I'm in love with and married to Janna," He showed Hilah the golden ring on his finger, signifying his status as a married man. "This is my connection to my wife, and this ring shall not leave my finger until I'm dead. Janna is the most important woman in my life, and nothing will ever change that. I understand that the fact that I was already married came as a shock for you, but you should know that I never agreed to become betrothed to you. Adesh is a wonderful man, and he will be an excellent husband to you. At any rate, I beseech you to accept the love Janna and I have for each other,". With that, Malik returned to the reception, leaving a crimson red Hilah raging. A minute after Malik sat back down, Janna returned. "How are you, my love?" he asked. "I'm okay, my angel," Janna replied. Malik smiled as he kissed her on the hand, causing her to giggle with delight.

That night, Adesh and Hilah went to their bedroom to consummate their marriage. Hilah was furious to be married to Adesh; she would've much rather been married to Malik. After he rejected her, however, she felt as angry at him as she did at Janna. Therefore, she saw their wedding night as an unpleasant duty rather than a joyful evening of creating love with her new husband. "Well, apart from the weather," Adesh said as he and Hilah entered his bedroom. "That was a pretty good wedding,". "If by "pretty good" you mean getting rejected by the man who was supposed to be your husband in favour of a peasant girl and having to put up with his useless younger brother, then yeah. It didn't go too badly at all,". Hilah growled. "Excuse me?" Adesh asked, confused. "I feel like I was used. I was promised the hand of one of the most eligible bachelors in all of Asia, only to discover he wasn't a bachelor. Then, as if I was some sort of business deal, I get betrothed to his detestable younger brother. Furthermore, do you even love me, Adesh, or did you have ulterior motives when you asked to marry me?".

"Of course I love you, my wife," Adesh assured her. "You're kind, you're beautiful, you're witty, and you're charming,". He begun to caress her cheek, but she immediately pulled away, growling "Then, you really don't know me. I'm not going to be kind to you at all. And do you want to know something, husband? I don't love you at all. In fact, I hate you. You're worthless, and I don't deserve to be married to such a piece of rubbish. I can't wait until you're dead and buried so that I don't have to look at you anymore,". With that, she smacked him across the face. It took the younger prince a minute to recover. "Hilah," he said, trying to retain his composure. "I know that you're bitter about Malik being married already, but that doesn't mean you have the right to threaten me. Malik is married to the woman he loves, and I thought I was married to the woman I love. Obviously, I was mistaken,".

Fear overcame Hilah. She had let her mask slip there; she couldn't let anyone know her true feelings until it was too late. So, she quickly came up with an excuse to justify her actions. "Adesh, I got a bit carried away there. I was just so stressed about the wedding and about the prospect of joining the royal family of the Tree of Life that I took my stress out on you; I used you as a whipping post for my stress," she explained, hoping that her husband would buy it. "I understand how stressful it is for brides coming up to their wedding day, and I know that you've had a bad time with your ambassador, a man you trusted, becoming a murderer. Also, maybe I'm not good enough for you; maybe I am, as you say, "worthless". So, I forgive you. But never slap me again please,".

"Okay," Hilah nodded. "And I suppose, if I can't have the heir, I'll just have to make do with the spare,". "I'll prove my worth, my wife; I'll prove to you that I can be a good husband,". With that, he kissed her on the lips. In response, she pushed him back, and then back again, before he eventually fell on a chair. "Is this how lovemaking is supposed to go?" Adesh inquired. "Oh, yes," Hilah nodded. "It's important to get as rough with your partner as possible. Now, let's get this over and done with so that I don't have to look at you for the rest of the evening,". In truth, she was lying. 'This way, she could bully and torment Adesh without him even realising what she was doing. She believed that he had destroyed her future, so she wasn't going to stop abusing him until she had completely destroyed his self-esteem. She advanced towards him, lifting up her skirts. She then sat on top of him, unbuttoning his trousers and pulling them down slightly. "Deeper, you unworthy piece of junk,". she bellowed. "Can you slow down please, you... em, princess?" "That's the problem with you, Adesh," Hilah groaned. "You're far too nice to talk dirty,".

After five minutes, they stopped. Hilah dismounted Adesh and pulled her skirt back down. "There; we're married," Hilah declared. Adesh got up and buttoned his trousers. "Now, I can't stand the thought of sharing a bed with you, so I'm going to sleep in the bedroom I slept in prior to marrying you, you third-rate man," she stated. However, to manipulate him into thinking that stress was the motive behind her words, she gave him a wedding gift; a jewelled cap with a lavender feather. "Thank you; good night, Hilah," Adesh smiled, but he didn't get a response as Hilah slammed the door and left. Adesh put the hat on, and he looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Very nice," he thought as he admired the cap.

That night, Hilah was fast asleep in bed. "Is that you, Shisht?" she uttered as she slept. "Is that your bloody ghost that's come back to take revenge on me?". After several mutters, she woke with a start. "For the love of Christ; leave me alone!" she yelled. At this point, she realised that it was just a nightmare. Hilah felt some guilt for killing Shisht, but she also convinced herself that he deserved what he got since he refused to do what she said. All of a sudden, a dark thought occurred to her. "I won't have a minute's piece until I have my revenge on Malik and Janna,".

To be continued...

A/N: Well, that love scene between Adesh and Hilah, if you can even call it a love scene, was very different from my previous two love scenes, wasn't it? I hope to post the next chapter before the end of the week. Bye, everyone! =D