Chapter 105

[MEMBERSONLY]

Chapter 178: Chaos at the Castle

Everyone was silent in the journey to the Castle, knowing that the weight of some unwanted happening was worrying them.

"I am telling you, it was the village girl's trick all alone," said Lady Manorama, rocking to and fro in the carriage that she shared with her husband, "Tempting him to wedding her!"

"Nonsense, Manu!" Lord Manohar refuted, "You know our Arnavbitwa. This is certainly his doing!"

"Are you supporting the girl in this matter?" Lady Manorama was amazed.

"I am supporting neither," stated Lord Manohar, "Both of them are in the wrong. Anravbitwa should not have been so rash in his decisions and Kushibitiya should have used her sense and stopped him from carrying out his plans."

"Kushibitiya?!" Lady Manorama fumed, "Don't you go bitiyaing that Rags!"

"She has always been a bitiya for us," Lord Manohar said.

"Well, my generous husband," Lady Manorama crooned, "Let me assure you one thing in the very beginning itself: I will not be bitiyaing any of those Gupta girls. They will always be Bruised Beauty and Rags who sneaked their way into our sons' lives!"

"Is there any way I can change your perspective in this regard?"

"Not even if I die."

"Your choice be what you will, Manu," sighed Lord Manohar and he looked out of the carriage window and realized they were all climbing the hill atop which the Castle was.

The carriages were led through the gates, over the wide garden of the Castle and then halted before the central gates.

Rahim Chacha opened the central doors while the servants opened the carriage doors and helped the family to step out of their rides.

It was ritualistic that the bride be carried into the house by their husbands and later be led by hand into their bed chamber.

Lord Akash readily lifted up his wife and stepped into the Castle but Lord Arnav fidgeted for a moment before the central doors, sensing Kushi's veil brush against his hand in the slight breeze.

Without a warning, he was bending down and his strong arms were suddenly lifting her up. Kushi's arms were instinctively around his shoulders, fearing she may fall, but her gaze slid to his face and she saw the resoluteness etched in his brows. He had no heart in carrying her.

He stepped into the Castle, his long strides heading for the living room where Lord Akash and Payal stood waiting for them. When they reached the living room, Lord Arnav released her and Kushi slid to the floor, her sandaled feet touching the carpeted floor first.

He looked at her, no affection or hatred visible on his features and then, turning about, stormed to his room upstairs.

The weight of the fault that had crept into the cheerful wedding night lingered in the Castle air and silence was the only option that saved them from not spilling out their anger and hurt.

No one spoke to anyone and silently issued to their respective rooms, Nani shutting her door as though she wanted to shut out the entire world from her life.

The only people remaining in the living room were Lord Akash, Kushi and Payal.

Payal turned to Kushi, "Do you want to talk?"

Kushi shook her head, her face unusually pale.

"Why do you look so wearied, Kushi?"

Instead of answering her, Kushi stepped forward and hugged her sister, pressing her face to her sister's shoulder.

Lord Akash watched in silence as the two veiled heads looked at each other before releasing their embrace.

"Miss Kushi, or should I say Lady Kushi," Lord Akash stepped forward, smiling, "Welcome to our family."

Kushi dipped her head in a reluctant nod and she tried to smile but it didn't reach her eyes.

Payal placed her hand enquiringly on Kushi's arm but Kushi beckoned her to leave with her husband.

Payal hesitated for a moment and then, knowing Kushi needed her space to think things through, finally nodded. She kissed Kushi on her forehead, and then Lord Akash held Payal's hand and led her up the stairs to his bedroom.

Kushi stood in the silence of the living room, engulfed in the dreary silence, feeling estranged, her husband nowhere to be found. He had left for his room, forgetting that he was a married man now and that he had to take his wife to the bedroom and she could not voluntarily walk into it the first time.

She breathed out painfully. It had been an appalling day for her and she felt her limbs weigh.

First the scare with the broken cart accident, the unusual tiff with Lord Arnav before he put the ring on her, the return to the Castle where she realized the astonishing truth about the General, the bitter wedding proposal by Lord Arnav, the impossible marriage and the inexplicable kiss, witnessing the horrid fight between the General and Lord Arnav, followed by the realization of the misunderstanding upon which Lord Arnav had acted stupidly, and then the reaction of her devastated family and the silence from everyone…….

She sank to the ground, tiredly, she could not bear the pain in her heart anymore……

Placing her bouquet on the side table near the window, Payal watched as the moonlight flickered over the petals. She realized that what glistened on the petals were not dewdrops but tears.

"Kushi…..…" Payal looked up anxiously, her eyes filling with tears.

She looked over her shoulder to where her husband was changing into his night clothes.

"My lord, I must get it out of my sister what it is that bothers her mind."

Lord Akash looked at his wife as he buttoned his shirt, "You said it yourself that she was unwilling to speak. How do you presume she will confide in you if she is determined to keep her secrets?"

"She is hurting inside," Payal complained to herself, frowning at the floor, "Why doesn't that girl understand that!"

Lord Akash walked upto his wife and placed his hands on her shoulders, "I know Miss Kushi. She is a brave girl. She will have a reason to hide something and if she realizes she doesn't have to, the first person she will confide in will be you."

Payal smiled up at her husband, grateful for his words, but her mind was still worried about her little sister.

Standing in the middle of her room, Lady Anjali studied the place confusedly. Her husband's suitcase was missing. Had he gone somewhere? Where was he?

And then she heard it. The faint music that seeped through the walls, only for her to hear……….

She rushed out of her room and towards the ballroom, where, on walking through the huge doors, her gaze fell upon the man hunched before the huge piano, his fingers profoundly pressing on each key.

Her lips parted in worry and her hand slid to her inflated middle, as she took anxious steps towards her husband where he played a melancholy song.

Soft music filled the air and Lady Anjali felt tears rise in her by the mere perfection of his sad melody. But what broke her heart was the vision of him playing, for he only played when his heart weighed.

"My love……" she whispered.

He gave no sign of hearing her or being aware of her presence and continued playing.

She moved closer to where he was and stood beside him, watching him as he played. Her gaze was on his beautiful fingers, scarred in warfare, dancing on the keys and stirring music as they moved.

"I need to leave tonight," mumbled the one at the piano and Lady Anjali felt stranded, "What? Why?"

"I must," he said, and then he looked up at her, his gaze rigid, "I have been called for a new assignment and I had asked them to spare me for tonight so I could attend Akash's wedding. And now that it is over, I must leave."

Lady Anjali's eyes filled, "No. No, you can't leave me now. Not when everything around me is so overwhelming and I can't understand what is happening. Chotey is……" she breathed in, "I can't believe he really did something as inexcusable as this."

"Neither can I," grunted General Shyam. He stopped playing and stood up, "I came to attend Lord Akash's wedding and no other wedding. I didn't deserve to see the other."

"No one deserved to see the other tonight," said Lady Anjali, "At least not in the hasty unfulfilling way it was done."

"It was a most wretched marriage," said the General grudgingly.

"And yet it was the most awaited one," mused Lady Anjali sadly, "How I'd longed to see Chotey and Miss Kushi together………and Nani wanted it more than me!"

"It is over now," sighed the General, "Everything is lost."

Lady Anjali cupped his face worriedly, "Don't say that, my love. Nothing is lost. Nothing ever is. We just need to give it time and soon we will come to forgive and accept their thoughtless deed."

The General looked dejectedly at his wife, opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it and looked away. His gaze fell on the darkness at the window and sighed, "The night is over and so is hope."

"Hope?" Lady Anjali blinked at him, "Hope for what? Is something wrong?"

He looked at her and smiled painfully, "You are so naive, my Lady Queen. So naive……"

And he pulled her into an embrace and remained thus for a while.

"I wish you could stay a while longer," moaned Lady Anjali against his shoulder.

The General closed his eyes, the sooner I leave, the better………

"When will you be back?"

"I cannot say, my Lady Queen," mumbled her husband. How will I ever return to this place again?

"Tell your Commander your wife is expecting and she wants her husband by her side."

Cure…….she was my cure……

"Or should I write a letter to your Commander personally?"

"Letters won't do any good in the warfront, my dear," said the General. All those letters written in vain……

"My love be your company when you battle," whispered Lady Anjali into her husband's ears like how she always did when he was about to leave on an assignment.

"Worry not for me, Lady Queen, but for your child," said the General and then he kissed her on her lips, before withdrawing from her, picking up his packed trunk and parting from the place where he would only hate to remain.

Upstairs, Lord Arnav was storming about in his room. He unbuttoned his shirt and flung it to the floor.

What in the world did that General think he was doing, fooling about with him! No one messed with Lord Arnav!

She was my cure….the General had said.

OUTRAGEOUS! This is not the way a beast gets cured, by sneaking off with a maiden who is not your wife! Besides, a person cannot be one's cure!! There IS no cure! Once cursed is always cursed!

The General's sword flashed in his mind, and Kushi's weight was suddenly thrown upon his chest……

KUSHI!

Lord Arnav clenched his fists, What did she have to do that for!

He sat at the foot of his bed, his mind wavering.

She had really thrown herself on him.

Running his fingers through his hair, he tried to reason her action.

She must have known that foul General would not kill me with her in the way or she wouldn't have done that. Yes, she must have known!

Did you read the letters? If you had….you would know I only saw his as a friend, as brother…

Lord Arnav shot up, LIES! ALL LIES!!!

They did all their rituals unaware of it……..the hermit had pointed out.

He stilled as new memories swept through his clouded mind.

Kushi falling into the lake with him……….white curtains were moved apart and behind them all, standing pressed to the wall, she stood, drenched, her back bare and unhooked………..Kushi lifted up in his arms, held above him, her gentle kisses on his cheeks and forehead, her beautiful hair falling around him……...her worried face when she thought he had been hurt in the Festival fireworks……….her fingers, dipped in chocolate, being sucked into his mouth……..Kushi in her white gown, tiny flowers on her beautiful hair tied in a bun……..her angelic face cupped in his hands as they stood in the middle of the forest beside the broken cart….….the ring glistening as she, blushingly, watched him put it on her finger……..his hands draping the veil on her head……………her tears glistening as she nodded to the vow that he be her husband……..her trembling lips that stilled when his lips touched them…..….

Kushi…….he stared brokenly into the space. Kushi……..

He closed his eyes and sunk to the ground. How can you weaken me so?

He bowed his head forward. If you cared for me, if you trusted me, you would have told me you knew that man instead of waiting for me to find it out myself…….. You didn't tell me you knew him, because you wanted to hide it for some reason………

He looked up and frowned at the door. So everything was a lie. You never cared for me. I was a fool to have fallen for your false innocence.

Rahim Chacha, after ensuring that the gates and doors were all bolted, began snuffing out the candles in the living room and dining room. Then he made for the kitchen to get to bed, knowing all the other servants had probably already got into theirs.

He was nearly at the door of the servants' room when he heard the sound of plates clattering in the third kitchen. Frowning suspiciously, wondering if a cat had managed to sneak into the kitchen somehow, he turned his direction and moved towards the third kitchen only to stand in shock at the sight before him.

There was Kushi, in her white gown and flowing veil, smashing the kernel of cocoa nuts on the floor with the end of a rod.

"Kushibitiya? What are you doing here?"

His question fell on deaf ears and he anxiously watched as she took the powered kernel of the nuts and dropped them into a huge basin.

Then she turned to one of the furnaces to start a fire.

He could not see this anymore and he rushed out of the kitchen. He didn't know whom to alert for everyone was in their rooms. Lady Anjali was with child……Lord Akash was now with Payal……..Lord Arnav, though her husband, was not a safe choice and Nani was probably in bed already.

He could consult Lord Manohar who had a late-night reading habit.

Rahim Chacha rushed up the stairs as speedily as his old legs permitted him and knocked at Lord Manohar's door.

His knock had been unusually loud for, instead of that door, the door adjacent to it opened and Lord Akash stepped out curiously, "Rahim Chacha? What are you doing here at this late hour?"

"Kushibitiya……."panted Rahim Chacha, his finger pointing to the kitchen downstairs.

Lord Manohar's door opened and the elder man saw his son rush towards the stairs and one look at Rahim Chacha's face was all Lord Manohar needed to know that something was not right.

He followed after his son and Rahim Chacha followed after them. The rush of the three men down the stairs brought Lady Anjali and Nani out from their rooms and Lady Manorama, having wondered where her husband had disappeared to, also joined the group to the kitchen, all dressed in their night robes.

The Lords and Ladies of the Castle rarely visited the kitchen and the servants were shocked and flustered when they saw the entire family gushing through the first and second kitchen. When they reached the third kitchen, the family was jolted by what they saw.

The furnace blazed wildly and Kushi stood before it, the sleeves of her gown rolled up to her elbows, her veil still on her head, concealing her face for a moment. But when she tuned to pick up a basin at the counter, they saw the expressionlessness on her face and were shocked by what had become of her.

Lord Manohar and Nani stepped forward and tried to push Kushi away from the furnace but Kushi slipped out of other hold and continued roasting the nuts relentlessly.

Payal, not knowing what her husband had gone down for, had walked down the stairs a little later but when she saw the crowd in the kitchen, her heart sank because she recognized the scent of broken cocoa nuts.

No, no, Kushi!!

Payal rushed forward, still wearing her wedding gown and veil and made way through the crowd and her breath caught when she saw Kushi before the blazing furnace, roasting something.

Lord Akash noticed Payal beside him, "Why is she-?"

Payal didn't wait to answer but leapt forward and pulled at Kushi's arm, "Come away, Kushi. Come away!"

Kushi yanked her hand free and continued with the roasting.

Payal pulled Kushi by her shoulders but Kushi yelled and cried until Payal let her go.

Payal watched with horror as Kushi stubbornly took the huge basin from the furnace, the rich aroma of roasted nuts filling the air as Kushi placed it on the counter before her.

"Kushi! No!" Payal reached out again but suddenly a loud voice boomed over them, "What is the meaning of all this?!"

Everyone turned to look at Lord Arnav, and they scowled at him as though he were the cause of Kushi's state.

He ignored their expressions for his gaze was on Kushi's face and then his gaze fell on the basin and furnace, picking details by which he understood what had happened.

Without a word, he stepped through the crowd and walked up to where Kushi was presently smashing the roasted nuts.

"Kushi!" he called to her but she kept smashing.

"KUSHI!"

She smashed with even greater force.

"Kushi, didn't you hear me call you!" he yelled and he raised his hand.

Payal gasped as his hand came thrashing down on the basin and knocked it down to the floor, scattering the roasted nuts at Kushi's feet.

For a bewildering moment, silence was all there was and then Kushi broke to tears, sinking to the ground. Still crying, she tried to pick up the hot nuts, not caring if they scorched her fingers.

But, suddenly, Payal and Lord Arnav were pulling Kushi by her shoulder s, dragging her away from the fallen nuts. Kushi struggled to be released but Payal crouched down and pulled her sister into a tight embrace, caressing her veiled head, "It's okay, it's okay, your Jiji is here…..it's okay."

Lady Anjali's eyes filled with tears and she turned her head away, unable to bear to watch anymore. (I assure you, the sight would have broken my heart too.) She took deep breaths for she felt dizzy and she placed a hand assuredly on her womb.

Lord Akash announced to the servants to clear the mess on the kitchen floor and Lord Manohar told Nani that he didn't think Kushi was quite ready for the night.

"I'll take her to my room," Nani said, but suddenly Lord Arnav barked, "No one takes her to any room. She is my wife and she will be in my room."

"Quite a husband you are!" Lady Anjali looked at him, angry tears glistening in her eyes, "Abandoning your wife in the living room when you should have taken her to your bedroom!"

"She knows this castle well; I presumed she would be able to find her way herself!" Lord Arnav answered stiffly.

"Really?" Nani was cynical, "Tell me, Chotey, for I still can't get my head around it: why did you do this? Why did you marry her?"

"I already told you, it was needed," he looked away, watching Payal help Kushi to her feet now that the latter had stopped crying though her cheeks were still wet.

"Nothing comes without a reason, Chotey," Lady Anjali said, "What sort of a marriage is this?"

"What do you mean?"

Lady Anjali was disconcerted, "She's distressed and you're detached!"

"I am taking her to my room." Nani repeated solidly.

"No!" Lord Arnav said, his eyes blazing suddenly and everyone was silent.

Payal and Kushi were too preoccupied to see what was happening with the family.

"Chotey!" Lady Anjali was shocked and her words came out almost in a whisper, "Did you…..…...? Oh no! You did!"

She felt weak in her legs and tried to lean back against the wall but Lord Akash held her to his arms to support her, "Di……..?"

Nani looked from Lady Anjali's face to Lord Arnav's, trying to understand what Lady Anjali had seen in Lord Arnav that had vexed her, and then she realized, "Chotey! Did you……...did you transform?"

Lady Manorama gasped and stared at Lord Arnav as though seeing him for the first time.

Lord Arnav ignored their looks and queries and turned to Kushi.

His hand reached out for her wrist and Kushi looked up at him through angry tears but he had already begun pulling her through the crowd.

"No, Chotey, no!" Nani said, "You can't take her with you after you-"

"She is my wife," he said bluntly as he dragged her through the kitchens, through the hallway and towards the dark stairway.

"Chotey! Stop!" Lady Anjali stepped after him, "I cannot let you take her with you."

"Why?" he stopped and turn to look at them in disdain, his hand still holding his struggling wife by her wrist, "Didn't you want me to marry her? In fact, if I sense it right, you and Nani were bent on getting me married to this girl and without both your contributions, I don't think she would have made herself available at the Castle so often as to cross my path every now and then."

"Chotey!" Nani was stunned, "it is true we wanted you to marry her but we never deliberately did anything to get her to you. We wanted to, but we hadn't quite begun. If anything brought you two to cross paths, it was-"

"The Divine powers?" Lord Arnav sneered, "Aye, that is wise insight, indeed."

"Chotey, you know well you must not mock the Powers," Nani reminded him.

"I don't believe in them," he alleged, "I can refer to them any way I see fitting."

He turned to the stairs, dragging Kushi with him, but Lady Anjali stepped before him, her hand on her inflated middle, "I cannot let you take her with you. I am sorry to say this for it breaks my heart, but you are not fit to be her husband."

"I am the only one fit for her," said Lord Arnav briskly.

"What if you harm her in the night?" Lady Anjali pleaded.

"I won't," he said. "I will know if I am going to……" he searched for the right word, "….change……and I can stop myself."

"You transformed, Chotey," said Lady Anjali and Payal and Kushi stared at Lady Anjali confusedly, "You may not be able to stop it if it comes again."

"Worry not, Di," he continued sarcastically, "We have a remedy for it. Om PRAKASH!"

"Sire?" Om Prakash stepped out of the kitchen and bowed to the assembly that was at the foot of the stairs.

Lord Arnav looked at Lady Anjali though his words were addressed to the servant, "Call your brothers and get it down from the attic."

Nani gasped and Lady Anjali's mouth fell open.

Lady Manorama looked at her husband, "Arnavbitwa's sanities are getting worse; talk some sense into him!"

Lord Manohar tried to stop the servants from going upstairs, "There is no need. Kushibitiya can sleep with our Lady Mother tonight."

"Don't stop them, Mamaji!" Lord Arnav yelled, turning to his uncle, his eyes glinting menacingly, "Let them bring it down."

"How can you, Chotey!" Lady Anjali was shaken, "How can you be so merciless!"

"I can because I can," he said icily and then climbed up the stairs, dragging Kushi after him.

Our University Project Submission and Viva is due in the beginning week of August. We may not be able to be regular for the entire July but efforts will be made to make possible updates. Do not stalk. Stay calm. I will always come back. This is my word. This story is as important to me as it is to you. Miss you all. And when you have your personal prayers, do pray for me and my family too, especially for my darling Daddy.