Walter Meyer and his two associates, one being a young Chinaman named Wang Yao, arrived in Delhi on July 1st. The young men stood outside of the palace with Princess Amisha, the Maharaja, and Sadar as he walked toward them with his two associates. Alfred kept a cheesy smile on his face as both the natural Indian heat and his anxious excitement made him sweat like crazy. Walter came forward and greeted Prime Minister Chowdry with a shake of hands.
"Hello, you are Prime Minister Chowdry, I presume," he said. Alfred knew his voice was exactly as he had imagined; low and stern with a playful touch.
"Yes, I am also the advisor to His Majesty the Mahajara," Sadar said, gesturing him to the royals. He smiled at both of them and bowed courteously.
"Allow me to introduce His Majesty Maharaja Ravi Adhiraj, and his daughter, Her Royal Highness Rajkumari Amisha Mani of Delhi," the prime minister said cheerfully.
He stared at the princess, taken aback in surprise of how absolutely gorgeous she was. Today, she was well-dressed in a red, midriff-bearing top with a long, flowing red satin skirt that matched, and over her head was a gold sari, framing the princess' finely chiseled facial features and the gold and moonstone bindi that rested at the top of her forehead. Her necklace was composed of teardrop-shaped amber stones set in a gold framework, and it was very intricate both in design and style.
"My Lord," Walter said, bowing before the princess one more time; he was appreciating her majestic beauty this time, looking back up at her. "You are truly a beautiful woman." Alfred looked at him in shock. He does know that's my girl, right, he asked himself. He was relieved to see that the princess did not say anything about his compliment, but instead stared at him, studying his middle-aged features.
Walter Meyer, though he had a heart as youthful as Alfred's personality, was a man approaching fifty with graying brown hair and warm brown eyes to match. He had a curly beard with subtle, but noticeable strands of gray. He was average, and to complete his nerdy look, he wore glasses, a button-up dress shirt with a suit jacket and matching slacks. Princess Amisha glanced over at Alfred, whose excitement rose up again due to her subtle rejection of Walter's advances.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable in my palace. A few of our servant girls will escort you to your rooms shortly," the Maharaja stated as two of his guards opened the door to let them in. Princess Amisha and Alfred let everyone else walk in front of them as they stopped to talk with each other, going along with them.
"Is he the one you told me about yesterday?" she asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, he is Walter Meyer. He's a really famous archaeologist. I'm surprised you've never heard of him," Alfred answered, looking at her.
"I know of a few archaeologists, but never before have I heard of him," Princess Amisha said.
"I saw he was trying to flirt with you," Alfred said, envy prevalent in his voice.
"He is a rather strange man," Princess Amisha admitted with a face to match. "You say you admire him?"
"Yeah, he's like my hero," he answered. "He found ancient burial grounds underneath Stonehenge! That was his huge breakthrough and he helped rewrite the course of history."
"Fascinating," the princess said. "Why is he here? My father refused to tell me why."
"He is here to…get us to China. Me and Arthur…and Francis, Matthew and Ivan the Russian guy," he admitted with a sad sigh.
"Are you leaving?" the princess asked, stopping in her tracks to stare up at him. Alfred held her close in an embrace—this alone didn't calm her down entirely, so he knew she needed words to soothe her nerves.
"Amisha." He corrected himself abruptly. "Princess Amisha, I'm actually supposed to be in China right now studying artifacts from an archaeological dig. However, I feel like fate took control over circumstances—maybe that pilot had one parachute for a reason, either to let us die in a crash or escape the plane alive and drop thousands of feet in a lifeboat with random strangers to unfamiliar terrain and be led here. Princess, I don't regret anything at all. You are so special to me I can't even describe it. I love you, and I would ask you to marry me but I know I am not ready to get married. I need to complete my education at GeorgeWashingtonUniversity and get my degree so I can become a historian or an archaeologist…then, I'll come back to India to marry you."
"I will wait. I will do whatever it takes, even if it means giving up my royal status," the princess sighed. Alfred's eyes burst open, looking down at her as she exchanged glances with him.
"Alfred, I was told by my father if I choose to marry you, I will need to give up my status in order to let my cousin take the throne of India. You are not eligible to be Maharaja because he must be born in India, yet he can marry anybody he chooses. I cannot, and therefore, since I will not be marrying a raja or a sultan or a sheik, I will need to live the life of a commoner in order to marry you if we so choose," she explained. Alfred looked down at her and nodded.
"I'll support you every step of the way," he told her, gently rubbing her back in their embrace. "By the way, you never told me what your last name is." She looked up at him curiously, shaking her head slowly.
"I do not have one," the princess revealed.
"You don't?" he questioned with a strange look on his face.
"If it makes any sense, my father's ruling dynasty is the Singh dynasty," Princess Amisha said, letting him go. "I suppose Singh would be my surname, but if not, that will be the surname I take once I give up my royal status." Alfred's hands were still around the princess' waist, looking deeply into her intense blue eyes amorously.
"I can hardly wait for that day, my princess. I love you and I want to spend my life with you," Alfred told her with a kiss to her smooth, white cheek. "We'll start a family together and we'll grow old happily. You'll be…my queen." This thought made the princess smile and chuckle, her white face turning a pale shade of pink. Noticing there was nobody around to see them together (Walter Meyer, his two Chinese associates, the Maharaja, and the rest of the men had gone into the garden to socialize); he cupped her face in his hands and started kissing her.
Princess Amisha, as always, returned his passionate kiss wholeheartedly, holding him close to her as his tongue brushed her lower lip gently. The two moaned silently, wary of who was around to witness their affection. Alfred's hand travelled back down to her waist as he held her close; he could somehow feel her heart beating next to his as he stopped kissing her to touch noses. Her jeweled bindi gave Alfred a weird sensation on his forehead as they tilted toward each other, looking into each other's eyes.
"I love you," he reminded her.
"I love you, too, Alfred," she said. They walked to the garden to catch up with the other men, who were standing around. Some were curious about where Alfred had gone, and once he and the princess arrived, they all looked at him.
"Where have you been?" Matthew asked shyly. "We were getting a bit worried."
"Nah, I was just talking with Princess Amisha…I mean, Her Royal Highness. What's going on?" the American asked.
"Hmm, Mr. Jones," Walter Meyer said, approaching the young man as he placed his hands in the front pockets of his slacks. Alfred looked at him with excitement, smiling brightly. "I've heard so much about you from your professors in Washington, DC."
Alfred gulped, glancing over at Matthew nervously as he gently bite his lower lip. Walter Meyer smiled at him, noticing this weakness as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Dean Gregory told me you were a playful spirit, much like I was when I was young. How old are you?" Meyer asked.
"I'm nineteen," Alfred said, the smile returning to his face. "I'm so happy to finally meet you. You're the best archaeologist ever! You're my idol!" Meyer began to laugh heartily at his compliment, and he put his arm around the young man's shoulder as they sat at the stone bench.
"I appreciate your enthusiasm greatly, Mr. Jones," the man told him, grinning brightly. "I also heard that you want to become an archaeologist yourself."
"Yes, I do! Oh my God! Yes!" Alfred expressed cheerfully. Meyer kept laughing heartily, admiring the folly of the young man. "It's always been my dream to travel and discover things, and even go on an adventure or two."
"An adventurer seems like your cup of tea," Meyer said. "I think you and the dean of GeorgeWashingtonUniversity made a great decision joining the archaeology program. You seem to like it a lot, even though your destination wasn't supposed to be India."
The princess frowned to express her displeasure at this thought. If it weren't for that pilot having only one parachute for himself while leaving the others to either jump out thousands of feet below or perish in a crash, the princess and Alfred would probably have never met each other and experienced the beauty and setbacks of true love. Also, Alfred probably would not have embarked on the adventure of a lifetime, defeating an evil raja and saving the day like he had always dreamed of. She looked off into space, up into the clear blue sky as the men talked amongst each other. Suddenly, the Maharaja stopped the conversation to make an announcement.
"Gentlemen," he began. "Young gentlemen, I mean. Tomorrow evening will be a very important event honoring the return of my daughter, the princess, and you all play an important role in the festivities."
"Sweet! A party!" Alfred exclaimed with joy.
"What time does it begin?" Arthur questioned. "Is there any kind of special attire we should be wearing?"
"Your best clothing," Sadar added. "Of course, it is the standard."
Princess Amisha gazed at the men curiously, but when the festivities began the following night, the city of Delhi was full of merriment as they rejoiced the return of their beloved rajkumari.