Page 53 of Claimed By the Maharaja
Rewa.
That was where Rani Suchitra Devi lived. Bharat's mother. The matriarch of five royal houses. The woman whose approval mattered more than anyone else's in this family.
He wasn't keeping her a secret.
He was taking her to his mother.
The same day.
Yamini turned back to the window, her pulse loud in her ears. She had expected a secret marriage. But Rewa Palace wasn't a secret. It was a declaration.
She looked at him again, searching for hesitation, for calculation, for any crack in that unreadable composure that might tell her what he was actually doing.
His face gave her nothing.
He simply leaned back, adjusted his cuff, and looked away. As though this was entirely unremarkable. As though taking his new wife to meet his mother on their wedding day was the most logical next step in the world.
Which, she realized with a sinking feeling, it probably was to him.
She turned back to the window and said nothing.
Four times today, he had done the opposite of what she expected. And each time, instead of clarity, she had been left holding more questions than before.
She was beginning to understand that predicting Bharat Singh Jogra was not a skill she possessed.
The helicopter landed.
And then the door opened.
Bharat stepped out first. She expected him to walk away and leave her to follow.
But he waited.
She stepped out slowly, steadying herself against the sudden rush of air. Her gaze lifted, taking in the palace grounds she hadn’t seen in years.
When she stepped fully onto the ground, he fell into stride beside her, not touching or guiding, but unmistakably present. The awareness of him at her side sent a strange flutter through her chest.
They walked together toward the palace.
Memories stirred as her eyes traced the familiar stone paths and manicured gardens. She had been here years ago when her mother had brought her along on several visits during the summer.
The palace guards snapped to attention as Bharat approached.
Their eyes flicked from him to her and widened.
They bowed deeply, greeting them both, but surprise lingered clearly on their faces. It wasn’t every day that the Jogra maharaja arrived unannounced in wedding attire with a bride.
Yamini felt every one of those looks.
Right at the palace steps, she noticed movement ahead.
Three tall men stood waiting.
Her breath hitched.
Bharat Jogra’s brothers.
She hadn’t seen them much when she had visited the Rewa Palace with her mother. She had only been briefly introduced during the engagement ceremony five years ago. She knew each brother was a maharaja from a powerful lineage from south, west, and eastern India.
