Unlike the movies, Abhimanyu and Meera learned about his traumatic optic neuropathy over the course of an agonizing week. And even though that slow burn had prepared them for the worst, when the doctors formally relayed the diagnosis to them, Abhimanyu felt something die inside him. As they explained his subnormal visual acuity in cold, clinical terms, all he deduced was that he would never again be able to play the game he loved. His cricketing dreams were over – his North Star, his crutch after being stripped off his royal identity, was now gone. The prince of Ranakpour – he who glided above the ground and attacked batsmen with such fierce accuracy that he could see the terror in their eyes from twenty-two yards away – was being told that he was lucky to even have partial sight in his right eye. A single delivery on the field had dealt him the biggest blow of his life.

Meera, on her part, felt that the past few months of nursing Abhimanyu, of devotedly being by his side and praying for him, had come to naught. The man she loved had changed forever. It was not just his physical appearance that was different, or the fact that he was partially blind, but his very being had changed.

Much to her surprise, she found that this made her love him even more.

Chapter 13

‘The treaty Daata signed with Patel’s men was a mistake. A mistake that can be easily rectified,’ bellowed Vihaan Singh. It was January of 1949, and the first time someone other than Meera had set foot into Abhimanyu’s hospital room. Abhimanyu found Vihaan’s mere presence a violation of the room’s sanctity. Meera was supposed to be there with him, it was his day of discharge after a lengthy convalescence. She was missing when Vihaan had barged in. Through the course of his stay in New York, Abhimanyu had laid down clear rules of engagement for his family. No one was to visit him. Not even his father, who had made an attempt to get in touch with him through Ranjit Singh. Abhimanyu, rather vindictively, told Ranjit Singh to ‘tell the king of Ranakpour that his son is alive and well, and that his transient relationship with Meera will not come out in public as long as the king stays away till he recuperates.’ Uday Singh, for his part, was ready to bide his time to get his son back into family affairs. Ranjit Singh was also Meera’s conduit to her family. He performed his role admirably to keep her family abreast of the situation, abating any concerns they had about young Meera in a foreign land. The Apte family saw Meera turn from their ‘little one’ into a woman virtually overnight, and stood steadfastly in her support, telling whoever inquired that Meera had simply gone to Pune for musical studies.

‘He signed the papers months ago, Vihaan,’ the prince said grimly, vexed by the fact that Vihaan was still at it.