We reached New Asia within half a day, the whole time spent with hearing father make some calls and go through papers. When I asked what was the problem this time there, he just shrugged and said I'll see when the time comes.
It was morning our there when we landed, but not in the capital, Himachal. We landed on the north-west borders of New Asia, far away from the actual residence of the Royal family. Father called Mom and told her about out safe journey and soon we sat in cars that carried us through towns in the north-east of New Asia, but he didn't told her about where we landed or that we weren't approached by the royalties over here. I don't know why, but the whole thing smelled of suspicion. Also the fact that it was just yesterday when I announced my wish to come here and here we are not twenty four hours later.
We were weaving through the unchartered territory I had no idea about, away from the embassy, but it seemed father was very aware. When asked about it, he said, "In the North embassy, Ilyaas told me about a riot caused in the local town in here and that he couldn't solve it. That is our Illéan society residing in here. We take the whole responsibilities of them."
"What about the guards? Didn't they do anything?"
He shook his head, looking out of the tinted glass. "No. The people in their are Illéan, sent here to live on a temporary peace. We can't risk any riots."
"I thought I could met Hrithik." I mused.
"Consider yourself lucky." He grated, already working on his papers once again.
We reached Shabad by noon over there. Rooms were already allotted for us by Yayra who came to visit us in the hotel. We agreed on dinner and soon she left us, promising to talk with me later. Ilyaas stayed with us, discussing a few things I was unaware of. Once, when the topic of riots came up, I mused, "I thought there were riots but looking around, I don't think there is anything unsettled left for settling."
Ilyaas looked at father for a moment and he nodded. I had no idea what to make of that. Ilyaas nodded back and turned to look at me. "The riots were suspected to become dangerous so we called His Majesty, but as it turned out, we were overreacting for nothing. Just a few words and small action and everything settled itself."
"Odd." I muttered. Again, I felt suspicion that something wasn't right here but I couldn't put my finger on it.
Since there was no work left, and Father wanted to talk to Ilyaas about something that I shouldn't be a part of, so, giving myself to jetlag, I slept the day out.
Justin, staying with Charles in another room, accompanied me the whole time in mine. Looking around our surroundings, he shook his head. "Something isn't right."
He was always right about such things—his gut feeling, he says—but I didn't say anything, not wanting to create anything foul for nothing. Though I knew I couldn't neglect it, I could feel it, too. There was calm here, peace. No sign of riots or any struggles. No sign of military in case things worsened, or any royalty to take advantage of the situation.
"I trust Yayra." Was the only thing I said. He nodded at that, agreeing on this. He knew Yayra well to not judge her.
In the evening, we decided to go for a walk. Dev, the person Yayra had appointed for us, provided us with local clothes so that we don't stand out. I wore a blue tunic—a colour so unique it felt I was wearing an ocean, or the sky, a colour which reminded me the most precious eyes I've ever seen—with black trousers. The footwear I was given was called Mojdi, the most preferred footwear of Asia. Justin, who was to accompany me, wore a dress similar to mine—an indigo tunic with an ice-blue pyjama, brown Mojdi adorning his feet. The dark hues complimented his skin, making him look strikingly handsome.
"I may need to give a heads-up to Sharon." I teased him as we walked in the gardens. Almost every head turned in our direction, indistinguishable whispers being spoken between many girls.
He chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. If anything happen, you must protect your neck. I'm sure she'll snap yours first."
"I don't doubt it."
"Also, what about you? Found anyone you like?"
She isn't here, was my first thought. Although I didn't say it, his smirk told me he was aware of my musings.
He opened his mouth to say something, but I snapped, "Don't!"
He shrugged. "As you wish. Can I give you an advice?" he didn't wait for me to answer, "The whole nonsense between you and Lady America has gone too long. I guess it's time you work on it."
"It's not that easy, Justin."
" What isn't? But does that mean you don't work on it? No." I glared at him, ready to interrupt, but he continued. "You may think this is your only shot to find a queen for Illéa so find someone fit for it, and you're right. It's your only shot. But also your one and only to find yourself a wife." He put his hand around my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "I know you enough that you will select the best queen, but in that process you'll forget that you also need to think about yourself. Loving and caring for oneself doesn't hurt. If you need to care for the kingdom, you must care for yourself first. For that, the first step will be to select the partner you're crazy about."
"Are you trying to say I need to select—"
"No." He laughed, tousling my hair. "I'm just saying you need to select someone you're happy with, one you're crazy about. The whole country can go suck their ideas somewhere else, it's your life and you should to do whatever you feel like."
"I know, Justin. Trust me—"
"You'll always find excuses to not go for the right thing—or in this case, person." He said, giving me a look which meant he knew I was hiding the truth from myself as well. "It's upto you. Either you keep justifying yourself for your every action, or say 'go to hell' to everyone else and do what you like. Remember, you're not just a prince but also a man trying to find someone to live and spend your life with. It won't do good if you always keep sacrificing for other. After all, you have to think about yourself as well."
"Since when have you, my stupid, stupid friend, became a scholar?"
He laughed and then sighed. "When the right woman enters in your life, she makes your whole world a paradise. There will be so much havoc, I warn you, but at the end it's all worth it."
"Did Sharon order you to tell me all these?"
"She worries for you." Was all he said.
These four words hit me hard.
I said nothing, neither did Justin, giving me time to sort through all this.
Till now I wanted to have America back with me, but at the same time I was ready to give her the distance she needed. But after what Justin said, Mom's words came into my mind out of nowhere. Why do you think you need to be away from her to give her space and time? You can give her all these things be also staying near her.
Her face came in front of my eyes, smiling. Now that I looked back, I realised I loved Kriss, but I wasn't in love with her. I fell in love with America—a long time ago, long before I even realized it. What I was trying to find in Kriss was steadiness, one thing that I never found in America. But...
Was this steadiness this necessary that I can't risk wrestling with the uncertainties?
And who was anyone to assume America won't be a good queen? Sure she was unpredictable, spontaneous...but maybe Illéa needed this uncertainty just like I did.
Wasn't this a reason enough to not stop pursuing her.
But do I really need a reason to pursue other than that she was the only one my heart craved after? My one with whom I could imagine myself happily settled.
Since the starting I had always taken decisions considering my country and my father or my Elites. There was just once, when despite Father now wanting it I'd made America my Elite, and taking in Father's hatred, I'd hated that I'd done—but never regretted it. But never after that. Even when America was running from the rebels, I'd worked with father even when I didn't feel like it.
I'd always thought about others' first—Mom, Father, Illéa...but what about me? Where I would fit in if I kept thinking about myself at the last?
Maybe it was time I stop playing the Selection because of the kingdom and do it for myself.
.
.
.
New Asia was a vast country, which harbours many religions on a land. Just in the local town we were staying were Temples as well as Mosques, Churches, Gurudwaras and many other such centres. Almost every person dressed differently. Some wearing black, some white and some.colourful. Some with a turban on their head while some wore an oval hat. There were ladies who displayed no skin, wearing a veil covering their whole body called Burkha, while some who held no such predicament on the amount of skin displaying. There were so many skin tones to look on, unlike Illéa where the only one you could see was white. Dark, dusky, brown, porcelain, ivory, peach...so many accents, too many variety of food. Especially the famous rajma-chawal which seemed to be liked by everyone else.
After eating that I'd wondered why hadn't I ever eaten in before.
What Elise said struck me as I looked around. Too many people, too many religions and languages, too many codes; but still everyone living with a unity so rarely seen.
Yayra accompanied us to dinner with Esha Sharma, her mentor. Father and Esha soon turned dinner into business so Yayra and I excused ourselves, walking around in the chilly November night under a cloudy sky with no too many visible stars.
"What were you telling me about the borders?" I queried. It was a conversation of ours she said she'd had face-to-face.
We walked around, her black jeans, so in contrast with the dress wore by the ladies in Illéa—a striking match with her white shirt and black denim jacket, her dusky skin glowing in the twilight.
She shook her head, her dark hair swaying with the tune of the air. "It's all messed up."
"What isn't?"
Ignoring my sense of humour, she looked ahead to the swaying grass. "I don't know about that, but sure politics is." Taking a claim on a bench, she told me in hushed whispers. "You won't like it, so be ready to have your mind-blown."
I gave her a puzzled look.
"Do you remember the reasons for the state of war between the two countries?"
"Yes." Everyone does. During world war IV, New Asia had tried to take advantage of the circumstances, but things went downhill for them. George Illéa, taking a lead, charged an attack on it. New Asia fell but the differences between our nations arose. Soon they both became fast enemies. Our mutual allies talked us out and stabled the condition enough that we came to minor agreements. The situations were always dire since then but not uncontrollable, which resulted in war threats and armed troops always at the borders.
Yayra nodded, looking around before fixing her dark eyes on me. "Apparently the people here are tired of these dramatics. They want to move on. Import, export, expand their businesses...but both the kings, Clarkson and Siddharth, refused their calls. King Schreave claims that if the deed is done, then Illéans would ask for more, which may lead in instability of the economy. Kind Siddharth had some similar issues. He says the poorer needs to be crushed so that they can use them as assets. Conclusion: the war is nothing but the pride of both nations. They both don't want to step back do they are ready to push their citizens upfront to fulfil their egos."
"You know if anyone hear your theory you may be charged to death?" I suggested, half joking. I still couldn't grasp this whole thing. It felt too small for something as big they wanted us to believe.
She understood me. Completely. "Of course. But you do realise the gravity of the situation?"
"Which means that the soldiers we've seen standing on the borders—"
"All a ruse to hide the truth." She completed.
"But I heard about the situation being worse." My tone was almost accusatory.
"Of course. But it's not the borders but the people."
"This is so bizarre!"
"Trust me, I say the whole thing almost everyday."
"What does Hrithik has to say about all these?" Did he know all these, or was he kept in unknown like me?
She sighed, clearly thinking about the love of his life. It was not a secret to me that she and Hrithik, two childhood friends since they were in crib fell inive as they both grew up. Yayra was the daughter of Siddharth's old friend and advisor, and both Hrithik and Yayra had been together since the start of dawn. Frenemies at first, now they could barely stay apart, but due to the differences between their status, they both couldn't stay together. Not until he gets the throne.
Yayra and I came in contact some five years ago when she came to meet me on Hrithik's behalf, and since then she's been my friend as well as the secret channel of communication between both princes.
If was when she'd told me about them, after I'd gained her trust and told her how I wanted to dissolve the matters of war between both nations, that I started missing the things I'd never had. Love, friendship.
"He wants to end it," she informed me, ending my trance of a journey of past, "he doesn't have enough power. And as you can see, this land is filled with enough diversities to create next to uncountable riots if he tries to take matters in his hand, which is quite often. This is when the military comes in. The Illéan army tries to stable the situation if it crosses the territory, which leads to all the war scenes you're worried about."
"Father never told me about this." I mumbled to myself. But now I understood why he always wanted me to know less. He knew I wouldn't agree to any of this.
"Do you really think he will? Think, Maxon. If you get to know, you'll try your hand in solving the matters. Results? Less placements in the forces. More uncontrolled people—mostly the lower castes. More issues within the borders."
"To not notify people of issues in the territory, use the issues of outside to create a distraction." Father's idea of a gamble. He took a risk, a dangerous one, and when he saw the returns in his favour, he continued.
Yayra nodded at me, squeezing my hand. "Hrithik knows this, but he sometimes become too busy with the inner wars that he can't reach you. Then again, he doesn't have complete power yet to take such an action."
"He wants to make peace." I concluded.
Her head bobbled in a nod. "He won't be gaining his complete rights as an heir till he turns twenty-four. That means a little shy of five years. But if you take the initiative? I'm asking this on his request. He knows you both can't meet without making it public, so he asked me to send you his plea. You'll be able to take this step much sooner. For that—"
Again I understood her meaning. "I need to select one and take the throne to extend the hand of help."
Another nod.
"I was wrong. This isn't bizarre. That's a too lame word for this mind-boggling strategy."
She laughed. "How about monstrous?"
"Yeah. That may justify it."
We both laughed, followed by silence which was broken by my sigh. "What can we do till then?"
"Nothing." She said in a whisper, equally hopeless.
"It seems our parents aren't less of any tyrants."
"And we aren't short of any saints." She chipped in, looking at the swaying grass around us. "Do you think there is still hope? For us? For the people?"
I thought about how I felt about all this and what I wanted to do. How Hrithik felt the same. How Yayra wanted to help us. Just as Nicoletta and Adolph did. Issac as well. Of how Meryl wanted to stand for herself, how Daphne knew the difference between ego and self-respect and never relented when it come to the just things.
Somewhere in between our parents' strategies, we found compassion to become the future our country needs.
"I do."
.
.
.
During our stay here, the whole time I saw father not as the one I knew but as the one he'd become.
In trying to make the best of circumstances at one time, the hypocrisy of delusional war was the result that couldn't be hidden away. He may have gambled in his youth, and it did give him the results he wanted, only they weren't the one best for any country now.
No matter how I may try, but he won't include me in many matters that he discussed with Ilyaas. When asked, he always said "You have no experience in dealing with other countries. These decisions need to be taken right away—we can't take the risk of delaying them by taking you into consideration."
"How can I learn then?"
"By trying to act as you were supposed to do, not by going out for a walk the moment you find yourself free. I told you to not bring that butler of yours with us but you stood your ground. Now you pay the consequences."
"Justin has nothing to do with it and we both know that!"
"Do we? I don't trust him, boy. He is a liability I can't trust."
"You're being paranoid."
"Then how will you justify your desire to meet the crowned prince when he has made no efforts to meet you?"
I didn't want to give any information regarding his approach and need for help, so I kept my mouth shut. The friendship I shared with Hrithik was a secret known by just Yayra. Not even my Mom.
"Good. Why don't you go for a walk while I try to settle some important matters over here?"
"How about you don't take me with you the next time? As it is, I'm just hindering with your work." With that I stormed out of the room.
That happened two days ago, since then Dad hadn't tried to talk me into attending any of his meeting. Which proved Yayra's theory true. Even when I didn't want to believe that, the naked truth was standing in front of me, demanding to be seen this time. So, while father was busy in his meetings, I was trying to unravel the truth more and more each day—with the help of a clueless Justin.
I didn't tell Justin any of this. There was no need to fuel his already ignited anger towards the king. But he felt more than knew something was wrong. He tried to confront me but I didn't bulge. It was better he had no clue about the happenings at the border.
No matter what Father say, I trusted Justin. Completely. I knew it in my bones he wouldn't betray me anytime.
.
.
.
The next few days passed by in a blur. We travelled the nearby local towns as the riots were easily handled. Yayra, the representative of both Illéa and New Asia, travelled with us, showing us around. She even helped me in interacting with the others as I wasn't sure-tongued when it came to the various languages of here. It was kind of intimidating seeing her switching to the languages as if snapping her fingers.
Father looked at me in disappointment when he saw me fumbling around with a trader as I purchased a hand-sewn shawl for Mom—a fine red shawl with geometric designs made with a fine thread of gold which made it look like true lava—saying I should be fluent in speaking these languages and how much work I had to do before I take the throne.
While walking with Yayra, I was able to purchase a bracelet, made of blue and white beads put together with a delicate thread, for America, when I saw it hanging on a local stall—another thing New Asia was famous for: the handcrafted things as well as stalls instead of proper shops. I didn't purchase any other thing for anyone else, as I wasn't even thinking about any of them. It was just that she was forever in the back of my mind.
The smirk Yayra passed me as I put the cold-stones in my pocket was self-explanatory in itself, still no questions were asked. She just said, on the day we were departing, "I don't remember the last time I saw you this happy. I just hope whoever this mysterious girl is always fill your life with all the happiness universe has in it's pocket for you."
I gave her a nod of thanks and a tight embrace, whispering in her ear, "Tell Hrithik I'll see what I can do, but I can't promise anything."
"Thank you." She said, her hands tightening around me.
.
.
.
Our trip ended five days after we landed here, We departed in the night, where I told Yayra that I'll see what I can do about all those things I'd learnt. She nodded, saying she'll pass on the message to Hrithik as silently as a ghost. Trusting she'll do the right thing, we took off.
On our way back to Illéa, father broke the silence between us by asking me what I thought about our spontaneous trip and what I can conclude. Not giving away any information on how much I knew, I replied, "I think it's time we back our troops a little and instead extend a helping hand."
Leaning back in his chair, he swirled his wine. "What make you think that?"
"New Asia is going through much already, and so are we. The right thing would be to come in a settlement and relax our boundaries a little so we can focus on our internal problems."
"New Asia isn't ready to bend."
"Neither are we." I reminded him. "This war will come as a tsunami and take away everything. We should act before it's too late."
"The fact that you're ready to negotiate more than you should shows how unprepared you are to be a king."
"It is called compromising."
"It is called giving up," he snapped, "and I won't do that."
There was no luck swaying him. Not today, not ever.
Before we landed, father called me once again. "So, is there any new report regarding your Selection I should know about?"
I shrugged. "Nothing new. I had been out for almost a week, if you recall."
He gave me a glare which meant there was so space for jokes or sarcasm. "I meant with you having a distance between them."
"No." If anything, it made me realise I wanted to spend every minute of every day with America and no one else.
"Either you are so indifferent to your Elites that you don't care or you are only fixated on one—" a glare "—which won't help."
"You don't mean—"
"I mean what I'm saying, Maxon. America is a Five. She won't do any good to us, so there's no rooting up for her. I know these type of girls—everything is a show for them. We were supposed to have an elimination the next week but I'm extending it to the next. If you want to keep her here in the palace then t's upto you, but you can't have her as a queen. That I'm sure of."
"This is all extreme."
His voice softened a little, which made it more of a threat as well as warning. "Your whole Selection isn't a joke, Maxon. It's the next queen of Illéa you'll be choosing."
"And my wife." I added.
He shook his head. "Think whatever you want to, but my decision is final. She can stay here for as long as you want—I can give you that—but she can't be the queen."
"You're trying to control—"
"The future of Illéa." He finished for me. "Good luck with that."