Chapter 12
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Chapter 12:
"There's this letter for you, Huda." Yudi said, handing over the envelope. "Uh, guys, why don't we leave him alone for awhile so he can read it."
Taking the hint, Ali and Pooja followed Yudi out of the room.
Huda could clearly recognise the handwriting on the front of the envelope, the letter was from Naina. Impatiently he tore the envelope and opened up the letter, sitting down on the couch to read it.
Huda,
I can't imagine how you must be feeling right now. When I asked you to trust me and said I had some things to do, then this can't have been how you would've imagined it would turn out. It isn't how I thought it would turn out either. My mission should have lasted a couple of months at the most, I would've proven my brother's innocence, punished the people responsible and won Rajveer Sir his freedom. I had thought that I could get all of this accomplished by the time I needed to join my duty. My engagement to you was real, and I honestly thought that we would be getting married soon. But then things went wrong…
When I found out that Captain Rajveer was being transferred to Jammu, I realised that I would have to change the plan. Once he reached Jammu, it would've been only a matter of days before they executed him. So his rescue became my first priority. If this letter reaches you then hopefully it means we've been successful and that he's now free.
I'm sorry Huda, but now it might be months before I can come back. Things have become more complicated now. I don't know if you're willing to wait for me that long, if you're not then I'll understand. Even if you do wish to wait, it would probably be best for you to pretend you've forgotten me so that your career isn't compromised.
All I can say is that I'm sorry, I didn't think it would end up like this. I hope I'll be able to see you soon so that I can explain everything fully.
Naina
P.S. Please destroy this letter after reading it, it shouldn't fall into the wrong hands.
Huda stared at the letter in his hands, and then reluctantly began to rip it up. Everything had changed now, Naina had said that it might be months before she came back, if she managed to come back at all. It was only a matter of time before she would be declared a traitor, he realised that he would have to tell his parents the truth he had been concealing from them. That the girl they thought of as their future daughter in law had vanished, and was on the run from the authorities. Reluctantly he tore up the note, then threw the pieces onto the fire.
Alekh had once asked Huda what he would be willing to do for Naina, now Alekh would be returning soon, and Huda still didn't know the answer. As much as he tried not to think about it, ever since Yudi had told the story of the rescue, certain thoughts kept returning to his head.
Naina had put herself at enormous risk to rescue Captain Rajveer, she could have been killed. And now, she was going to be declared a traitor. Huda knew how deeply that must effect Naina, and how much it would hurt her family. But what was her real reason for doing all this, was it simply gratitude towards her former mentor or…. He didn't want to complete that thought.
But if Naina loved Captain Rajveer then why had she gotten engaged to Huda? She had said that the engagement had been real, and that she still planned to marry him.
Alekh had asked Huda whether he loved Naina enough to give her up. Huda still didn't have an answer. But could it be that despite loving Captain Rajveer, Naina had decided to give him up? But that was ridiculous, there was no reason for her to do so.
Huda left the room to find his friends. He had to tell Ali that he would be leaving, it was time that he told his parents the truth.
**
The silence between Naina and Raj stretched on, it had been an hour since they had spoken and Naina was leaning against the wall of the truck with her eyes half closed as if she was exhausted and was falling asleep.
He realised that he had behaved badly earlier, but his worry for her had turned into anger. He had never wanted her to get this deeply involved, to put her life on the line for him. And he had to admit, part of the anger had stemmed from her decision to get engaged. In a way it just made no sense to him that she had chosen to do so and yet would then be willing to sacrifice everything in order to rescue him. He was sure that she didn't love Huda, but then why…
Raj realised that he had to make up for how he had spoken to her earlier, he should have at least been more grateful that she'd managed to save his life.
"Naina?" he said her name softly, not wanting to wake her in case she was sleeping.
She opened her eyes slowly, it seemed as if she really had been dozing off.
"Naina, I'm sorry for how I spoke to you earlier." He tells her sincerely, "There are no words to thank you for what you've done for me. The risk that you put yourself in, the sacrifice that you've made… "
"Forget it, Sir." She tells him, "You would've done the same for me." She looks at him directly then, her eyes piercing through the darkness of the truck.
He feels uncomfortable, it almost seems as if she can read his thoughts and his feelings. He changes the topic quickly. "Truthfully I'm proud of you, Naina. That rescue was amazing, very well planned and executed. How did you do it?"
Their earlier quarrel forgotten, Naina's eyes light up as she describes how the rescue was planned and executed, from her meeting with Alekh in Ajmer, to gaining access to the right equipment, planning the place of the ambush and calling Yudi for help.
He was left speechless when she finished, not able to believe what they'd accomplished in the space of a week. "Naina, that is truly amazing."
"Of course, Sir." She tells him smiling, "After all, who was my strategy and communications teacher?"
He laughs, the first time he's truly laughed in months and they grin at each other from across the small space. For a moment it seems exactly like old times, before she had known he killed Navin, before any of this had happened.
But they can't afford to lose their focus by getting caught up in old memories, and Raj knows that well. Becoming too emotional could prove to be deadly.
"So what's next?" he asks her, surprised how comfortable he is for somebody else to be planning their strategy.
"We're heading to Banares." Naina tells him. "We need to hide out for awhile until everything dies down. This driver will drop us part of the way, and then we'll take different transport part of the way, so that he doesn't know where we ended up."
"Who knows where we'll be?"
"Only Alekh, he will never reveal it to anyone. We'll stay there for at least a month until it's safe for us to leave."
He nods, it's a good idea. The people after them probably wouldn't expect them to hide in plain sight.
"There's just one thing, Sir." She informs him, "For the next month we shouldn't be seen together or meet each other. They'll be expecting us to be together, not on our own. You'll be staying at an ashram there, pretending to be a devotee. I'll be in another ashram, posing as a widow sent there by her family-in-law. Even if we see each other on the street by accident, we shouldn't let anybody know that we recognise each other."
Raj wished it didn't have to be that way, but he realised that this plan was intelligent. If the authorities were looking for a man and a woman together, then they could escape attention more easily by staying apart.
"So then what?"
"I'll contact you when it's time to go or if we need to meet. Until then we'll both play our roles."
Raj sighed, "Then I guess I'd better start practicing some religious songs."
Unable to help herself, Naina smiled. The image of Captain Rajveer living in an ashram and singing religious songs certainly was a funny one.
"Be brave, Sir. It's only for a month or so."
"Alright, Naina." He replied "I trust you."
He couldn't guess how much those words meant to her.
"There's this letter for you, Huda." Yudi said, handing over the envelope. "Uh, guys, why don't we leave him alone for awhile so he can read it."
Taking the hint, Ali and Pooja followed Yudi out of the room.
Huda could clearly recognise the handwriting on the front of the envelope, the letter was from Naina. Impatiently he tore the envelope and opened up the letter, sitting down on the couch to read it.
Huda,
I can't imagine how you must be feeling right now. When I asked you to trust me and said I had some things to do, then this can't have been how you would've imagined it would turn out. It isn't how I thought it would turn out either. My mission should have lasted a couple of months at the most, I would've proven my brother's innocence, punished the people responsible and won Rajveer Sir his freedom. I had thought that I could get all of this accomplished by the time I needed to join my duty. My engagement to you was real, and I honestly thought that we would be getting married soon. But then things went wrong…
When I found out that Captain Rajveer was being transferred to Jammu, I realised that I would have to change the plan. Once he reached Jammu, it would've been only a matter of days before they executed him. So his rescue became my first priority. If this letter reaches you then hopefully it means we've been successful and that he's now free.
I'm sorry Huda, but now it might be months before I can come back. Things have become more complicated now. I don't know if you're willing to wait for me that long, if you're not then I'll understand. Even if you do wish to wait, it would probably be best for you to pretend you've forgotten me so that your career isn't compromised.
All I can say is that I'm sorry, I didn't think it would end up like this. I hope I'll be able to see you soon so that I can explain everything fully.
Naina
P.S. Please destroy this letter after reading it, it shouldn't fall into the wrong hands.
Huda stared at the letter in his hands, and then reluctantly began to rip it up. Everything had changed now, Naina had said that it might be months before she came back, if she managed to come back at all. It was only a matter of time before she would be declared a traitor, he realised that he would have to tell his parents the truth he had been concealing from them. That the girl they thought of as their future daughter in law had vanished, and was on the run from the authorities. Reluctantly he tore up the note, then threw the pieces onto the fire.
Alekh had once asked Huda what he would be willing to do for Naina, now Alekh would be returning soon, and Huda still didn't know the answer. As much as he tried not to think about it, ever since Yudi had told the story of the rescue, certain thoughts kept returning to his head.
Naina had put herself at enormous risk to rescue Captain Rajveer, she could have been killed. And now, she was going to be declared a traitor. Huda knew how deeply that must effect Naina, and how much it would hurt her family. But what was her real reason for doing all this, was it simply gratitude towards her former mentor or…. He didn't want to complete that thought.
But if Naina loved Captain Rajveer then why had she gotten engaged to Huda? She had said that the engagement had been real, and that she still planned to marry him.
Alekh had asked Huda whether he loved Naina enough to give her up. Huda still didn't have an answer. But could it be that despite loving Captain Rajveer, Naina had decided to give him up? But that was ridiculous, there was no reason for her to do so.
Huda left the room to find his friends. He had to tell Ali that he would be leaving, it was time that he told his parents the truth.
**
The silence between Naina and Raj stretched on, it had been an hour since they had spoken and Naina was leaning against the wall of the truck with her eyes half closed as if she was exhausted and was falling asleep.
He realised that he had behaved badly earlier, but his worry for her had turned into anger. He had never wanted her to get this deeply involved, to put her life on the line for him. And he had to admit, part of the anger had stemmed from her decision to get engaged. In a way it just made no sense to him that she had chosen to do so and yet would then be willing to sacrifice everything in order to rescue him. He was sure that she didn't love Huda, but then why…
Raj realised that he had to make up for how he had spoken to her earlier, he should have at least been more grateful that she'd managed to save his life.
"Naina?" he said her name softly, not wanting to wake her in case she was sleeping.
She opened her eyes slowly, it seemed as if she really had been dozing off.
"Naina, I'm sorry for how I spoke to you earlier." He tells her sincerely, "There are no words to thank you for what you've done for me. The risk that you put yourself in, the sacrifice that you've made… "
"Forget it, Sir." She tells him, "You would've done the same for me." She looks at him directly then, her eyes piercing through the darkness of the truck.
He feels uncomfortable, it almost seems as if she can read his thoughts and his feelings. He changes the topic quickly. "Truthfully I'm proud of you, Naina. That rescue was amazing, very well planned and executed. How did you do it?"
Their earlier quarrel forgotten, Naina's eyes light up as she describes how the rescue was planned and executed, from her meeting with Alekh in Ajmer, to gaining access to the right equipment, planning the place of the ambush and calling Yudi for help.
He was left speechless when she finished, not able to believe what they'd accomplished in the space of a week. "Naina, that is truly amazing."
"Of course, Sir." She tells him smiling, "After all, who was my strategy and communications teacher?"
He laughs, the first time he's truly laughed in months and they grin at each other from across the small space. For a moment it seems exactly like old times, before she had known he killed Navin, before any of this had happened.
But they can't afford to lose their focus by getting caught up in old memories, and Raj knows that well. Becoming too emotional could prove to be deadly.
"So what's next?" he asks her, surprised how comfortable he is for somebody else to be planning their strategy.
"We're heading to Banares." Naina tells him. "We need to hide out for awhile until everything dies down. This driver will drop us part of the way, and then we'll take different transport part of the way, so that he doesn't know where we ended up."
"Who knows where we'll be?"
"Only Alekh, he will never reveal it to anyone. We'll stay there for at least a month until it's safe for us to leave."
He nods, it's a good idea. The people after them probably wouldn't expect them to hide in plain sight.
"There's just one thing, Sir." She informs him, "For the next month we shouldn't be seen together or meet each other. They'll be expecting us to be together, not on our own. You'll be staying at an ashram there, pretending to be a devotee. I'll be in another ashram, posing as a widow sent there by her family-in-law. Even if we see each other on the street by accident, we shouldn't let anybody know that we recognise each other."
Raj wished it didn't have to be that way, but he realised that this plan was intelligent. If the authorities were looking for a man and a woman together, then they could escape attention more easily by staying apart.
"So then what?"
"I'll contact you when it's time to go or if we need to meet. Until then we'll both play our roles."
Raj sighed, "Then I guess I'd better start practicing some religious songs."
Unable to help herself, Naina smiled. The image of Captain Rajveer living in an ashram and singing religious songs certainly was a funny one.
"Be brave, Sir. It's only for a month or so."
"Alright, Naina." He replied "I trust you."
He couldn't guess how much those words meant to her.
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