Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

The next morning Raj awoke early due to habit, the azan could be heard through the thin walls of the hotel, reminding him that they were no longer in Banares. Waking up, he realised that he had thrown an arm over Naina during the night and hastily removed it, getting up and moving towards the bathroom, grabbing the spare set of clothes and a towel on his way. He glanced back towards Naina but she was still asleep.

Half an hour later, Raj emerged from the bathroom to find Naina awake and sitting cross legged on the bed. He had trimmed his beard so that it was much tidier, but still rubbed his hand across his cheek unhappily.

"I miss not having a beard." He told her, feeling slightly silly that he was worried about such things under the current circumstances.

"It's not that bad," she tells him reassuringly, "Especially now that you've trimmed it." He somehow feels better and smiles at her, throwing his towel over the back of a chair.

"I'll go and see Anwar this morning," he tells her, "We should get out of this hotel and get settled as soon as possible."

Naina nods, and picks up another salwar kameez and a towel then heads for the bathroom. Raj checks the bag, there are no more changes of clothes, today they'll have to go and do some shopping. Raj orders some parathas and chai for breakfast and they arrive just before Naina steps out of the bathroom, rubbing her wet hair with a towel.

They both sat cross legged on the bed facing each other with the tray of food between them. Raj informs her that after he's finished eating he'll go and see Anwar about the job and to arrange them some accommodation.

"I'll be back before it's time to check out," he tells Naina, "Make sure you don't open the door to anybody except me."

He leaves soon after that and Naina is left with nothing except her thoughts and the old television for company. She couldn't believe that it had been less than three months since she had left her house, since all of this had begun. But if she thought about this honestly, then all of this had begun the night that Captain Rajveer had entered the academy secretly to see her, or even before that when he had informed her that he was going after the box…

That day was burned into her memory, Naina didn't think that she'd ever be able to forget it, even if she lived to be a hundred.

It had been three months before they were due to graduate, and even longer than that since the red box had slipped out of Raj's hands. Since then Naina had tried to concentrate on her studies, believing that the box was truly out of her reach. She hadn't known that Captain Rajveer had never given up trying to get it back, he had been determined that no matter what, Navin's innocence would be proved.

It had been raining on the day he left, and Naina still remembered the humidity and the smell of rain in the air. He had sent her a note through an orderly, calling her to his office. He had been clearly agitated, standing by the window and drumming his fingers on the wall when she had knocked on the door and entered.

"Naina, I'm leaving today." He had told her, "The red box is being moved and I promise that no matter what, I won't let it slip out of my hands again. I will prove your brother innocent, no matter what it might cost me."

It was the first time in her life that she had ever felt so afraid, the first time that she had ever felt she might actually lose him.

"Sir…" she had wanted to tell him not to go, wanted to tell him that his life was more important than proving her brother's innocence but he had cut her off before she could speak.

"Don't stop me from doing this, Naina." He told her, "This is my decision, and my promise to keep. I'll only come back if I'm successful."

She had taken a few more steps towards him, wanting to tell him that he had nothing left to prove, that she couldn't bear to lose him too.

"One more thing, Naina." Raj told her, grabbing her shoulders with his hands, forcing her to look at him. "Don't trust Abhimanyu. Chaubey's just been posted to headquarters and he found out that Abhi has been on a taskforce to regain the red box ever since he arrived here." Naina's head reeled and Raj must have seen the anger in her eyes, because he had quickly added "Don't tell him that you know, wait until I've returned before saying anything."

The look in his eyes had burned her as he gazed down at her face. He wasn't just fighting for her brother's innocence, he was fighting for redemption, to prove himself worthy of Navin's friendship, to prove himself worthy of…

Raj must have seen the sudden dawn of understanding in her eyes because he hurriedly let go of her shoulders and turned away.

"I'll come back only when I've been successful, Naina." He promised her, "Once I have the contents of the box I'll take them to Lala Saheb, he'll know what to do with them."

"Raj…" It was the only time she had ever called him by his name, but the moment had demanded it.

He turned around to face her, shocked at hearing his name from her lips. He must have understood the warring emotions on her face, because he had reached out one hand to briefly touch her cheek.

"Don't worry Naina, we're close to the success of our mission now. I'll be back in no time at all."

And then as if afraid that staying for a moment longer would weaken his resolve, he had abruptly left.

Naina had waited but he hadn't returned. For a month she had hidden the pain inside her, as he was declared a traitor and soldiers were sent to hunt him. Every day that he was on the run she feared for his life, unable to tell anybody why he had actually left. Everyday she had to put up with Abhimanyu's fake sympathy while he pretended he was worried about Raj. And in that month she had thrown herself into her training wholeheartedly, trying to distract herself from her worry, trying to distract herself from her long hidden emotions that were now surfacing…

For one month it had continued, until the night he had come back….

Suddenly a knock at the door startled Naina out of her memories and she looked out the peep hole to see Raj standing there.

He smiled at her as he walked in, "The trip was successful, Anwar has given me a job and arranged an apartment for us to stay in. It's nothing fancy, but it suits our current situation." He tells her, "Let's check out of here and go settle in. We have to buy some clothes too."

Naina nods silently, still disturbed by her memories of the past. Hurriedly she puts her burqa on, packs the bag and they leave the hotel.

**

After the ashram, Huda and Priya had shown Naina's photo at all of the places where she could have left Banares: the bus station, the train station and even the airport with no luck. Finally at the main autorickshaw stand in town, they're successful. It's a one in a million chance but they've found the man who had picked her up on the road that night.

"Yes, that's definitely her." He tells them, "She and her husband took my auto to the next town."

"Husband?" Priya asks him, "How do you know it was her husband?"

"Well she was obviously married, as she had a mangalsutra and sindoor. And who else could he have been?" Suddenly the rickshaw man claps his hands over his mouth in horror, "Arre bapre, I didn't help her run away from her husband did I?"

"No Sir, not at all." Priya told the man politely, "If you can tell us where you dropped them then it would be a great help."

He had told them the place and they had checked out of their hotel quickly and driven off. But from the moment they arrived in the next town, their luck failed them. Not a single person recognised the photos of Naina or Raj at the bus station or the train station and neither did any of the taxi or rickshaw drivers they had asked. Finally, they had reached a dead end with their search.

"So what do we do now?" Huda asked Priya, secretly relieved that they hadn't managed to find anything further out.

"Well, we've done our best." She informed him, "And I honestly don't see that us staying here any longer is going to be of benefit. We'll hand the case over to the local police and head back to Delhi."

They stayed the night in a hotel and then the next day rose early to drive back to Delhi. The trip was uneventful until they reached Lucknow, Huda was tired and they had stopped the car at a busy intersection to wait until the lights changed. A Muslim man stood at the side of the road with a woman in a burqa waiting to cross. Huda shouldn't have even noticed them, but for some reason he did. It took a few seconds for his brain to recognise the face, but within a moment he was sure beyond doubt that it was Captain Rajveer. He quickly glanced across at Priya, but was relieved to see that she was absorbed in reading through the case notes.

Huda looked back at the couple, now completely sure that the man was Captain Rajveer. He prayed for the woman to lift the veil of her burqa, just once, so that he could know that he was right. The moment came when it was time for them to cross the road and the woman's steps faltered. With one movement of her hand, she swept the veil up and Huda saw the face he had been yearning to see for months. There she was, less than five steps away from the car. From this short distance he could even make out his ring, still on her finger. Huda watched as Captain Rajveer said something to her and Naina smiled up at him, her whole face beaming. Then the Captain offered her his hand and she took it, lowering her veil again. Hand in hand, they crossed the road and walked off into the distance, not even glancing once in Huda's direction.

He was startled out of his daze by the beeping of horns and the annoyed tone in Priya's voice.

"Huda, what are you thinking about?" she asked him, "The lights have changed, get the damn car going."

Huda drove, a smile now on his face. They were safe, they were well and he now knew where they were. At least he could try to ensure that the search never went to Lucknow.

Priya was confused by her partner's behaviour, ever since they had passed through Lucknow he had been smiling. She hadn't seen him in this good a mood since they had first met.

"What's up, Huda?" she asked him, "You're in a good mood today, are you happy that we didn't find them?"

Huda laughed, "Very funny, Priya. Just don't put it into your report or they might be assigning you a new partner soon."

"Don't worry," she told him, "Your secret is safe with me."

Huda just kept smiling.

The whole drive he had been considering what he had seen that day, and by the time he got back to his quarters he had finally worked it out. Naina was still wearing his ring, which meant that she hadn't forgotten her promise. But the way she had smiled at Captain Rajveer, she had never smiled that way at Huda, not even once.

His realisation of the truth had been coming on slowly now, although for a long time he had tried to pretend that nothing had changed.

Huda didn't know why Naina had promised to marry him, but he did know that she didn't love him. Today, for the first time, the thought didn't disturb him. A few months ago, Huda hadn't cared whether Naina loved him or not, it was enough for him that she was his, and he had believed that eventually she would give in, she would develop feelings for him. Today he realised how stupid he had been to be ready to compromise both their lives like that. The fact that his ring was still on Naina's finger meant that she wasn't going to break her promise, that she still intended to come back and marry him, no matter what her feelings were.

Restless, and needing to do something, Huda left his quarters and walked down to the phone reserved for the use of officer's. He looked up the number of the officer's quarters in Ladakh and dialed, requesting that the person on the other end get Alekh Sharma for him. Then he waited.

"Ha, bol." Alekh's voice on the other end of the line was unmistakable, and Huda suddenly missed him a great deal.

"It's me." He told Alekh, knowing that his friend would recognise his voice.

"What is it, Huda?" Alekh asked.

"I'm finally ready to answer those questions you asked me." Huda told him. There was silence on the other end as Alekh waited for Huda to continue.

"Alekh, the fact is that I don't need to die for Naina, or go to jail for her, or sacrifice my reputation. Because there's already somebody who is willing to do those things for her. But if I've ever loved her even a little then there is something I can do for her. I can give her up."

Huda is relieved now that he's finally said it, his decision has become even more firm now.

"Bole to, I'm proud of you Huda." Alekh tells him.

"Thanks," Huda tells him, "Say hi to the others for me. Tell them that I'll call back on Saturday for a chat." Alekh promises, and they say goodbye and hang up.

Once back in his room, Huda feels lighter as if he's suddenly shed a heavy burden. He supposes that the lie he's been telling himself has been quite heavy.

He has made his decision now and he won't change it. The only problem is how long he'll have to wait until he tells Naina.

The next day when Priya meets Huda in the office she can't believe how much happier he seems than he has lately, she knows there's something different about him but she can't figure out what.

It takes her until lunch time to work it out.

He's no longer wearing his engagement ring.