Nyaay
(Justice)
"Bhabhi, there is a small red lever somewhere under the carpet near you. Just give it a small push please!"
Sniffing her sobs in, Sayantani gave a slight nod and moved her eyes around in order to spot the lever. She spotted it to be some inches away from her. She extended her hand to give it a slight push but was unsuccessful in doing so due to her leg injury. She crawled like a snake in pain to reach her hand to the lever.
As she was almost about to reach the lever, she felt a huge weight on the back of her palm. She let out an ear piercing scream. Evil Shyam had placed his foot on her palm realizing that she was moving towards the lever.
"Traitor! You are such a blot on the name of a wife! Instead of supporting me, you are supporting him! I am so sure that it must be just for namesake you must be calling him your brother! He must be your lover and that's why you touch you!"
He pulled her up by her hair and slapped her.
"You know what, I have thousands of women who shall be ready to let me touch them here, here and here! Ha!Ha!Ha!" He laughed evilly while removing her dupatta and running his dirty hands on her breasts and waist.
Tarini angrily yet helplessly saw Shyam ill treating Sayantani and defaming the pure brother-sister love that Arnav and Sayantani held. Arnav's eyes had turned into a darker shade of anger, his blood pressure had rose to a great extent. He started trying to free himself more vigorously. The chains had started developing cracks. Arnav was ashamed to even think that Shyam was the son of his ver virtuous father. What Shyam was doing was such an unrighteous unethical act! If he could ill treat his own queen in such a way, what would he do with the common women of their kingdom! Making him the Emperor would mean complete destruction of Aaranya!
Tarini ran towards Sayantani to free her but Bhadraketu came and caught her by her hair.
"You! Who asked you to stop dancing?" he said, his mouth smelling of alcohol.
"How can you even expect me to dance while your friend is mistreating my family?" Tarini pushed Bhadraketu away angrily.
He leaned in maliciously to kiss her. Tarinii moved her head towards the other side in order to save herself from his dirty kiss. She scratched his skin with her nails and kicked him in an attemot to move away from him. Bhadraketu slapped her relentlessly, angry on the fact that she denied to be kissed by him.
This was the threshold limit for Arnav's anger! He screamed aloud, broke the chains and freed himself. The whole court gasped in shock, staring towards him.
Tarinii screamed as Bhadraketu pulled her hair even tightly on seeing Arnav's actions.
Arnav caught hold of a weapon from the wall décor and attacked Bhadraketu. Arnav pushed him to the floor, held his hair and continued beating him mercilessly. " How dare you? How dare you touch my Khushi with your filthy hands? I will kill you!"He gritted his teeth. Tarini came to his side and held him.
"Leave my people, Bhadraketu or else my punches won't leave you." Arnav shouted at him, pulling his hair tightly.
Bhadraketu screamed in pain and ordered his soldiers to unchain everyone but Arnav didn't stop beating him. Aman and Akash were finally freed. They went forward to restrain Arnav from exerting so much of torture on the petty villain. Akash noticed Sayantani yet trying to get up on her own fee. He helped her stand up and led her towards a chair.
"Thank you!" She smiled, her eyes twinkled seeing her hand held by his hand. Akash smiled charmingly and went ahead to help Arnav.
As soon as Shyam had noticed his ploy reversing, he made an attempt to escape the courtroom. Anjali, who had been freed by then caught his hand and stopped him.
"How could you do? How could you do this to our kingdom, to my dead father's kingdom?" She asked, tears flowing from her eyes. The betrayal of her brother against her father's legacy had broken the trust she had on him as a sister.
Arnav was staring his step brother with bubbling anger. He didn't even notice when Tarini came by his side and tore her shawl. She held his hand softly and ran her fingers through the strain marks and cuts on his hand.
He flinched in pain and looked towards her.
"Are you fine, Khushi?" Arnav cupped her cheek with his left hand, the blood from his injured wrist tricked drown her neck. She continued sobbing silently and wrapped pieces her shawl around his wrists.
The sound of a loud slap echoed in the courtroom before Tarini could reply to Arnav's concern. They looked towards Anjali who was heaving in anger, her husband, Vikram, trying to console her.
"Anjali! How dare you slap me! I am your elder brother!" Shyam looked at her with rage.
"Oh! Really? I am sorry, I didn't see you acting like one here! What in the world had you thought while collaborating with our enemy to help him usurp my father's throne?" She screamed at him.
"I was taking revenge, Anjali! Revenge for the discrimination we faced from father. The discrimination our mother faced from our father all because of this Arnav and his mother!" Shyam pointed at Arnav while Anjali looked at him in disbelief.
"You yourself killed your mother some time ago! Then how can you claim that you did all of this to fulfil her revenge?" Aman made a confused expression.
"She was coming in the way of the execution of my plan- the initial part of which she herself had planned!" Shyam spoke with vengeance. Arnav looked away; he couldn't witness his sister coming to know of the horrendous truth of their family.
"Plan? What plan? What did mother do?" Anjali coaxed Shyam to say the truth.
"Our father's death, Anjali! It was mother who poisoned father so that I could be coronated. The mere presence of Arnav destroyed our whole plan!" Shyam, being the fool that he is, blurted out the truth.
Anjali gasped in shock and fell on her knees. Arnav sat beside her and held her hand. Vikram stood confused, trying to grasp the convoluted level of politics that his wife's family had undergone. He held her tightly as she started sobbing slowly. This was the biggest shock to her.
"Arnav? You don't seem shocked. All I can see in your eyes is pity. You are feeling sorry for me? You knew about this dirty game, didn't you?" Anjali turned and confronted Arnav.
"I wish I had known of this plan before hand! I came to know of this after it's execution. I am so sorry, didi! I am sorry!" Arnav held her hand and gulped down his tears.
"You didn't feel the need to tell me when you came to know of these sick things? I never had a good relationship with mother, butI had never even in my worst dreams throught that she would so such a thing. I feel betrayed, Arnav. Both my brothers have betrayed me and the trust I had on my family." Anjali sobbed.
" Didi, no! I didn't tell anyone. I came to know all of this just a few days ago when I overheard mother talking about the execution of her plan to her companion. Tarini had dicovered proof enough to prove mother guilty of her crimes but I... I didn't let her present any case of this sort, I hid the proof to save Tarini from getting shamed and outcasted for accusing the queen mother..." Arnav tried to explain making Tarini look at him in shock.
He knew! He knew about his step mother's plot! He didn't reveal it to protect me, without thinking about his own family and here, I was doubting his intentions and sincerity towards me! Tears escaped her eyes. No one had ever tried to protect her.
"Arnav, I am understanding everything that has happened here. I understand..." She looked at Arnav rudely. " But I want justice for my father and I shall get it. I request all the ministers to gather. I am blaming Prince Shyam Singh Raizada and my mother, Mayuri devi for plotting against and murdering my father." Anjali boldly stood up and announced.
"As the next eligible heir to the throne, I, Anjali, the kulvadhu of Raigad's royal dynasty, propose the removal of the title of the crown prince from my elder brother, Shyam as a punishment for his unallegiance to the decisions for the benefit of the throne." She stood near the throne which once belonged to her father and announced. Vikram looked at her with pride; she had fulfilled her responsibilities as her kingdom's princess aptly.
Shyam, enraged by this announcement, escaped from the soldiers who had held him. He ran towards unsuspecting Arnav to harm him but Tarini noticed this. She caught hold of a vase and threw it on Shyam's head with great force but she was late. Shyam had already peirced Arnav's stomach with a Khanjar making Arnav covulse and fall to the ground. Shyam fell dead the very instant the heavy vase crached his head.
Tarini gasped and widened her eyes as she saw Arnav gasp in pain.
"Arnav!" She screamed as she ran to hold him before he fell on the ground. She managed to hold him but the pressure of his weight made her sit on the ground, his head on her lap.
"Khushi..." He managed to whisper before his vision blurred to embrace darkness.
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