Chapter 15

RJOpal: It's lacking Naina's emotions for a reason, we're not supposed to find out yet exactly how she feels about Raj! Don't worry, Naina's feelings will be revealed eventually!

Ami: Thanks! Here's your next part!

Chapter 15:

By the time they arrived in Benaras, the only thing they had time to do was interview the sepoy about his sighting of Naina.

He was young and clearly new to the job, proud of himself for sighting such a wanted criminal.

"Yes Sir, Ma'am," he told them excitedly, "It was definitely her, I can never forget that face. She was much more beautiful than most of the widows who come here."

"Sepoy," Huda asked him a bit angrily, "Is your job to watch young widows?"

The sepoy at least had the good grace to look embarrassed, "No Sir, I mean, that wasn't what I was doing, Sir. I thought I recognised her, and then when I went back to the station I saw the poster on the wall and realised who she was. By the time we arrived back to where she had been, the girl was already gone."

Huda showed him the photo of Naina they had brought with them, which was much clearer than the poster on the wall. "Are you sure that it was this girl?"

"Yes, Sir, absolutely sure." The sepoy replied.

"And there was no man with her?" Priya asked him, looking for information about Captain Rajveer.

"No ma'am, generally none of the widows here would have men with them unless they're involved in that sort of business."

Priya chose not to ask him which sort of business he meant. The sepoy shut up anyway when he saw the look in Huda's eyes.

"So you don't know which ashram she was staying in?" Priya asked him, hoping he would be able to tell them a bit more.

"No, ma'am. I can tell you the area of the city I spotted her in, but she could have been from anywhere."

"Then tomorrow we begin our search in earnest," Priya sighed, "It's too late for today, let's head back to our hotel for now. Sepoy, I expect there to be a list ready for us tomorrow of all widows' ashrams within the city, no matter how late you have to stay up making it."

The sepoy saluted them, and Huda and Priya left. Huda was glad they hadn't been able to make much progress today, hopefully Naina would've found out they were in the city and left already.

The next day they check every widows ashram in the city, and against his will, Huda found himself becoming impressed by his partner. Priya was both professional and meticulous in her work, ensuring that every potential witness was questioned properly.

He realised she had been telling the truth, she did complete her work honestly. The only difference that lay between them was that she considered Captain Rajveer and Naina to be traitors and he didn't. He couldn't blame her for that, like any good officer she believed what she had been told by her superiors. Finally at 3pm Naina's photo was recognised. It was a larger, quite run down ashram and the woman in charge recognised the photo as soon as it was shown to her.

"Yes, she arrived about a month and a half ago, but she's gone now." The woman informed them.

"Gone?" Huda asked, trying not to sound happy at this information.

"Yes, she left yesterday. She told received a call from her family-in-law and they told her they had changed their minds and wanted her back."

"What else can you tell us about her? Was she friendly with anyone in particular? Did you ever see her with this man?" and Priya showed the woman a photo of Captain Rajveer.

"She kept to herself, never made friends with any of the other girls. We always assumed that she was still struggling to get over her grief. I've never seen the man in that photo, and I never saw her with any other men either." The woman informed them.

"Then can we see her old room?" Priya asked and the woman led them there.

As they went up the rickety stairs, Priya spoke to him in a low voice. "She received a call, that means that somebody warned her we were coming."

"Well don't look at me," Huda said defensively, "It wasn't me who called her. I didn't even know she was in Benaras until today."
"Calm down," Priya told him "I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just pointing out that there's somebody on the inside helping them."

Suddenly they stood in the bare room which was shared by five other women, all of whom looked at them curiously when they entered. Huda and Priya questioned them but everybody said the same thing. Naina had been quiet, she hadn't made friends with anybody, she hadn't told anyone anything about herself. It was exactly as Huda had expected.

When they exited the ashram Priya noticed that Huda looked troubled. "What's the matter?" she asked him.

"I can't believe that she stayed in a place like this for a month and a half," he replied without thinking, "Did you see what that room was like?"

Priya shook her head in disbelief. "Amazing, you still love her don't you? After everything she's done to you?"

Huda began to feel angry at that comment, "And what is it that you think she's done to me? What do you think you know about either Naina or this situation?"

Priya raised her hands defensively, "Hey, calm down. All I'm saying is, this girl vanished one day after your engagement, never bothering to tell you what she was doing or where she was going. She then goes and rescues a convicted traitor without caring about her own reputation or yours. And you're still defending her?"

Huda sighs, and all of the fight melts out of his body. "Look Priya, you don't know either Naina or Captain Rajveer, if you did, then you would understand how and why it all happened. Naina hasn't betrayed me, she's just doing her duty."

"Well then Huda, why don't you make me understand. Explain to me how it is that you're still supporting you when she's used you like this, abandoned you like this? Face it Huda, she's lied to you. She never really loved you, if she did then she couldn't have done this to you."

"No," Huda replied sadly, "She never lied about loving me." Because not once had she said the words, not when she accepted his proposal, not when they got engaged, not in her last letter to him. She had never pretended to love him and he had only ever pretended that he believed she did.

He's not angry at Priya anymore, he knows that in some strange way she's angry at Naina for his sake. He can't expect her to understand something as complicated as this. Naina has never loved him, and he… he's been lying to himself for a very long time that she ever would. But even now, Huda feels no anger towards Naina. He knows that even now alone with Rajveer, she wouldn't consider breaking the promise she made to him, because that's the type of girl she is.

"Come on," he tells Priya, "Now that we know she's not here anymore, we'd better go and try to find out where she's gone." And he walks off into the afternoon twilight.

Priya stares at his retreating form for a moment, confused by his behaviour before she gives up trying to understand and hurries to catch up with him.

**

Raj and Naina stepped off the train in Lucknow and were immediately swept up in the hustle and bustle of the busy station. Raj steered them towards the outside, a protective hand on Naina's back. He whispered in her ear as they went "What next?" he asked her, knowing that nobody else would hear them in this crowd.

"Now we find some accommodation for the night." She told him, "I'll tell you the rest of the plan once we're in ."

Raj nodded and found them a rickshaw, instructing the driver to find them some inexpensive, decent accommodation.

He drove them to a small hotel which lay quite close to the train station. It seemed decent enough from the outside as if it was a family hotel and they went inside with their meager belongings.

"My begum and I are seeking a place to stay for the night," Raj told the receptionist, "Could I please inspect one of your rooms?"

He signalled for Naina to stay in the reception area and she sat in one of the chairs, waiting for him to come back. In a minute he returned with the receptionist.

"We'll take it," he informed the man, then handed over the deposit and received the key in return. "Let's go, Begum Jan" he said to Naina formally, unable to know that she was smiling at his behaviour underneath her burqa.

As soon as they were inside the room Raj locked and bolted the door. Lifting the burqa's veil from her face, Naina inspected the room. It was plain but it was clean, and obviously well looked after. There was a small television set, a table and one chair and one double bed.

Raj was also eyeing the bed doubtfully. "I'll sleep on the floor." He informed her.

"Look Sir," Naina replied, "I think that you should take the bed, after all, you're probably still not recovered properly from your time in prison."

Raj sighed, this was the last conversation he wanted to be having with her.

"Why don't we order some food first," he told her, "And then we can make a decision about who gets the bed. Pick out some items from the room service menu."

Naina nodded, she was starving as they hadn't had a chance to eat properly on the train. She told Raj what she would like to eat and he picked up the phone to order. Naina made sure that she didn't remove her burqa until the food had arrived and the boy had left. Only then did she pull it off, sighing in relief.

They discussed the current plan as they ate, Raj was to introduce himself to a man named Anwar, claiming to be a friend of Alekh's who had recently been released from jail. He would then get a job in the man's mechanic shop. This would give them an excuse for staying in Lucknow and provide a good cover while they figured out their next plan for the success of the mission. It was then that Raj finally asked Naina what he had been thinking about for the last month, where the contents of the red box were.

"It was exactly where you had told me it would be, Sir." She informed him. "I made multiple copies of all of the documents and have left them in safe locations throughout India. That way if something happens to us, at least there's a chance that one of our friends will be able to continue the mission."

"Excellent strategy, Naina." Raj told her, "I can see that you must have always paid attention in class." He joked.

"Always, Sir." She replied, not joking this time. "But our strategy and communications classes were never as good after your departure."

He smiles at her fondly and they eat in silence. When the food is finished he places the tray with the dishes outside of the door, not wanting anybody to disturb them later. It's early in the evening but both of them are exhausted, and it's better that they go to sleep now rather than later.

"So, about the bed…" he begins.

"Sir, we're both mature adults," Naina tells him sensibly, "Nothing is going to happen if we share a bed for one night." She sounds a lot more confident than she feels, but to be honest she doesn't want him sleeping on the floor and she's not too keen to do so herself either after more than a month in an uncomfortable widows ashram.

"Well, if you say so." Raj says with only a trace of uncertainty, and they both settle off the bed, Naina curled up facing away from him, and he flat on his back before he turns off the light.

Both of them are asleep within minutes, they're so deeply asleep in fact, that neither of them notices when Naina rolls over so that she's facing towards him, or when Raj turns on his side and throws a protective arm over Naina in his sleep.

The morning would bring new problems. For now they could dream in peace.