Chapter 136

Sorry. Yet to read some comments to the last chapter. Too busy these weeks.

But I must really say sorry for not updating yesterday itself. And to rightfully express my apology, I am updating two chapters. Will you forgive me?

Chapter 212: The Sister Sees

Kushi snuggled deeper into the warm stone pillow her head was inclined against.
The masculine scent of the pillow tingled her senses, reminding her of the strange dreams she had had in the night. Smiling from the memory, she tried to return to her sleep when she heard the pillow chuckle.
A husky manly chuckle.
Kushi's eyes shot open and she stared up at the face of Lord Arnav, so close to hers that their noses were almost touching, his disheveled hair glorious as the morning sun shone over the bed.

The pillow had actually been his chest.
"Fine morning to you, kitten," he greeted warmly, his voice rough with sleep.
Kushi tried to slide away from him, but stiffened when she realized she was naked.
She grabbed her end of the blanket and held it to her chest.
"Why am I-?" she went pale.
"Fear not," he said calmly, leaning against his pillow as he gazed at her, "I did not touch you. Do you not remember anything of what ensued in the Industry last day?"
"The Industry-?" Kushi began and then she blushed as the recollections rushed at her. The way they had fondled and kissed. The way his hands had...
Kushi looked away, her heartbeat suddenly racing for no discernible reason.
"After Adil returned our cleaned clothes and I had changed into mine, I couldn't risk dressing you into your gown, not knowing what I might be tempted to do." Kushi closed her eyes, wishing he would stop speaking, but he continued, "So I waited till all the workers had retired to the Back Room and Adil had also left. It was very late in the night when I carried you to the carriage. But thankfully, it's because we were that late that I could carry you into the Castle in that curtain-costume without any suspicious eyes eager to question. Rahim Chacha received me at the door and it was Om Prakash who drove the carriage home so they are the only ones who know."
Kushi bit her lip. She could hear no more. How could she ever face anyone after this?
Suddenly, something growled.

Wide eyed, she looked around.
She found Lord Arnav smiling in abject amusement and she realized guiltily that the sound had issued from her stomach.
"You skipped dinner last night, no wonder you are hungry," he said, while struggling hard to not laugh.
Red with embarrassment, Kushi wrapped the blanket around her and scrambled out of bed, grumbling, "The nerve of that Lordy!"

The season of rain was back again in Arhasia and last night there had been a slight shower. But that did not stop Lord Arnav from having his usual Saturday ride on Shadow.
After breakfast, he left for his ride and Kushi spent the morning in the living room, reading a book she'd been permitted to borrow from the library.

However, her reading was distracted, not by memories of last day but by the excitement she found hard to suppress: It was a week now since Payal had left and the couple was expected to return from the Village any time that day.
Kushi found herself stealing glances at the window to see if a carriage would appear, knowing that when the carriage came, it would bring not just Payal and Lord Akash but all the love they were showered from Buaji, Amma and Babuji.
It was when Kushi glanced a fortieth time in the direction of the window that Lady Anjali's voice spoke, "They won't come until after lunch, Kushiji."
Kushi looked up at Lady Anjali, who had come to stand before where Kushi was sitting, her hand caringly on her enlarged womb.

Kushi smiled at the young mother, "I can't stop myself from looking though."
"You will tire your neck with all the craning," Lady Anjali warned as she sat beside Kushi on the lounge.
Kushi tried to return to her book but, feeling Lady Anjali's gaze studying her, she found it hard to focus. She looked at Lady Anjali who smiled at her in a strange way.
"What is it, Di?"
"You look a little different," Lady Anjali ruminated.
Kushi blushed, wondering fearfully if Lord Arnav had somehow accomplished the Poieo-Eros without her knowing. But she didn't feel different. True, she felt more excited lately every time she saw her husband, but everything otherwise felt very much the same.
Lady Anjali tittered, "Oh, Kushiji. Forgive me for making you uneasy; I know nothing has happened. But the little that has, matters."
The little that has happened...? Kushi gulped at the memory of last day at the Industry.
She was startled when she felt Lady Anjali's fingers brush upon her cheek.
Kushi looked at her, "Di?"
"He cares so much for you that he keeps away," Lady Anjali revealed warmly, her sad gaze on Kushi's cheeks, "But I know he will care for you even more after he has made you his forever."
Kushi didn't know what to say. She was having difficulty understanding this cryptic language in the first place and not to mention the inexplicable rush of hot emotions in her.
Lady Anjali leaned back and stared into the sunlit vision at the window, "We had lived in darkness for so long. Chotey and I... after having lost our parents, we tried to seek strength in each other's presence. But we were always broken. Undeniably though, time heals and women heal faster than men. The past hurt me no more and I had a husband who permitted me to not remember the painful parts. But Chotey was still broken, still unhealed though he denied it. I was almost without hope that I could never save my brother when you came. The moment I saw you, I knew I had found the one I was seeking for my brother."
She looked at Kushi who was listening to all this in a staggered rapture.
"But when he seemed to hate you, like the way he'd never hated anyone, I was unsure. Even you despised him and I doubted if what I felt had been wrong. But then I saw Nani's interest in you and I realized she had felt it too... seen in you what I had. In the darkness of her grieving heart, Nani recognized you."
Lady Anjali took Kushi's hand, "Kushiji, when you drew apart the curtains in Nani's darkened room, you were rekindling the dying embers of hope in her tired heart, in my waning soul. Know this Kushiji, the happiest heart alive on Earth is mine. Every time I see you and Chotey together, I am grateful to the divine spirits for bringing you to us. You cannot fathom the changes I see in him after you came into his life..."
Kushi opened her mouth, too stunned to think coherently, "But...what am I to do?"
"Heal him of his hurt, Kushiji," Lady Anjali yearned.
"How?"
"Love him," Lady Anjali's eyes filled with yearning tears, "He loves you. He just doesn't know."
Kushi felt tears run down her own cheeks. He loves me. Di felt it too...
"Love him, Kushiji. Love him," pleaded Lady Anjali, holding Kushi's hands.
"I do love him, Di," whispered Kushi, surprising herself. I did? Yes. I did. I always had.
Lady Anjali smiled through her tears, "No girl can fill his emptiness like the way you do and no man will love you the way Chotey loves you. This I know. As his Di, I can tell you this: if he loves someone, he will lay his life down for that person's sake. You may think he will do it for me but not for you, Kushiji. But believe me: if a day comes when he must choose between me and you, he will choose you. Not me. I am both pained and at peace from this realization."
"Oh, Di, let there be no such circumstance from which he will have to choose," Kushi said worriedly.
Lady Anjali winked, "Don't worry, Kushiji. Even if a day of that sort comes, I am not afraid. For even if my brother will not choose me, my husband will. So we will both be winners in the trial."
A piercing pain of guilt shot through Kushi's heart at the last words of Lady Anjali for she knew what Lady Anjali did not. She knew the real face of the General. Kushi feared that if a situation as stated occurred, if he would choose Lady Anjali... Grief instilled a fear in Kushi's heart and she hugged Lady Anjali, wanting to protect her and her child from harm. If only a hug could be adequate armor from that foul man. But it was not. It took more than a girl and her desperate wish to save Lady Anjali from her fraudulent husband.

The fraudulent husband who, not far away from the two women, stood by the stairway, watching them embrace. He wasn't happy on seeing them, particularly the faint glow on Kushi's face, knowing well that she had had a little intimate moment with her husband.

So he knows how it works too, does he? The General frowned, angered that a truth he'd withheld was not secret to the First Lord either. Well, watch me work my way around your wise moves, Master Menace.

Chapter 213: Two Angry Young Males

He loves you. He just doesn't know...
Kushi opened her eyes and the late morning sun looked down on her face where she sat on the bench in the Castle garden.
Lady Anjali's words kept recounting in her mind.
He loves you. He just doesn't know...
The sound of the stable door closing in the distance caught her attention just then, and she looked in the direction to find Lord Arnav, dressed in his riding shirt and boots, walking out of the stable.
She saw him pass by Om Prakash and though she could not hear them, she knew he was given orders with regard to Shadow for he had nodded in the direction of the stable.
Om Prakash affirmed the order with a low bow as his Master strode on towards the Castle.
With keen interest, Kushi studied his gait: his arms swing coolly, the hair over his forehead waving lightly in the breeze, his striding boots swift though they were dirty with mud that last night's drizzle had begotten with the land.
As soon as he had walked towards the rear of the Castle and become out of sight, Kushi got on her feet and raced towards the stable into which Om Prakash had already entered with a bucket of water and a massive hand-brush.
When she stepped within, she saw that Shadow was tied to a post in the corner. His hoofs and legs were very dirty and he eyed Om Prakash warily while waiting to be washed.
Om Prakash was crouched low at the knees of the equestrian, dipping the hand-brush into the pail of water. He was about to lift the wet hand-brush to scrub the dirt off the horses' hoof when Kushi interjected, "Wait!"
Om Prakash looked over his shoulder in surprise and Shadow lifted his proud head to suspiciously appraise the stable visitor.
"I'll wash him," offered Kushi.
"But, my lady-"
"Allow me," Kushi said emphatically.
Om Prakash was reluctant but he knew he was required to obey. He stood up and, as she stepped towards the horse, he handed the hand-brush to her which she took happily without any display of aversion, despite its appearance being ugly and filthy from repeated use on many horse hoofs.
He stepped back and watched as she dropped the brush into the water so she could roll up her sleeves.
Shadow had started to fidget, not liking the idea of a female touching him. Why, he would not let that sweet Lady Anjali wash him! Not even his metal hoofs!
Picking up the wet brush again, Kushi moved towards the horse.

Shadow stepped back.

Kushi stepped towards it.

Shadow moved to the side.

Kushi frowned.

Shadow grunted annoyingly at her. No way was she going to touch him!

Om Prakash, feeling pity for both horse and Lady, tried to assist, "My lady, you could let me-"

"I need no aid, Om Prakash," said Kushi boldly, holding onto the hand brush like she would a sword, "Shadow is just playing around to furnish his bathing spirits."

Shadow exhaled through his nostrils and grimaced at her.

Kushi pointed the hand-brush at his face, water dripping from brush tips, "You better make this easy for me, friend, or we are going to do this dance till the sun brings another morning."

Shadow was persistent. He lifted his proud head and leaned away from Kushi, determined to not let her wash him.

Kushi flashed him a wicked grin, "Alright. You keep away from me and this brush and prolong this cowardly display of yours so that a certain someone can have the fun of watching you."

Shadow paused and blinked at Kushi.

Om Prakash tilted his head in pondering as to who that certain someone' was.

It didn't take any hint for Shadow to assume the right answer: the white mare lying half-asleep on a hay bed in her stall. His spite could sense her smiling in her sleep, amused by the sounds of the proud black horse in his helpless disinclinations.

Kushi tapped the brush against the pail of water, annoying the dark horse who bared his teeth at her.

The handbrush had gone dry with being held uselessly in the air for long. Kushi dipped it in the water again and then, lifting it, held it toward the horse.

Shadow narrowed his gaze but he didn't move away.

The proud horse had surrendered.

But, though he had bit the bait, he still held his arrogant head held high and spitefully regarded the gowned apparition before him.

In all earnestness, crouching down before the dark horse, Kushi began scrubbing his first leg.

Shadow neighed in protest but he was hitched to the corner, giving him no escape.

Kushi dipped the hand-brush in the water and scrubbed his second leg while Shadow watched the brown mud from his legs swirling in the water.

His head felt dizzy. Master's wife was still scrubbing him. This was so not happening!
He neighed in a grumble. This was a taint upon his manliness, a woman washing him! How could he let this happen! How could that Om Prakash betray him to a woman's hand! He would rather kiss that foul Lightning's evil white hoof than have a woman scrub him!

When Lord Arnav strolled into the stable an hour later, his hands tucked into his pockets, he found it hard to suppress his laughter. He had refused to believe Om Prakash when conferred that the First Lady had insisted to wash Master's ride,' but now that his eyes had seen it, he was equally amused and awed.

With a wry smile, he looked up at his horse, whose black hide and mane shone like silk but whose face was dark with glowering.

"Impressive!" remarked Lord Arnav, appraising his horse with raised eyebrows.

Shadow grunted disgustingly and then shivered as though he hated to be in his own skin that had been touched by a woman's wielding brush.

Leaning towards the ear of the horse, his tall Master whispered, "Shadow, I've had experience of this sort myself with the very same woman, though with a different scrub brush. So I know that whatever face you put on, you secretly enjoyed it."

Shadow neighed disapprovingly.

In camaraderie, Lord Arnav patted his horse on its shoulder, but when a sly chuckle escaped his Master's lips, the horse looked away. However, what irked him more was not his Master's repartee but the thought that the General's lewd horse was probably gloating over his moment of mortification.

At lunch, as the family seated themselves at the table, Lord Arnav eyes first fell on his wife. She tried to look away from him but when her gaze met with the General's, she returned her gaze to her husband where he was sliding into the chair beside her, at the head of the table.
As the servants served, he asked her in a low voice, "Why did you scrub Shadow? Om Prakash would have done it."
Kushi looked at him, "Why did you buy me a bottle of imported Chocolate Liquor? I could have made it myself."
Lord Arnav opened his mouth to answer but knowing well there was no answer by which he was safe, he returned his attention to his plate and bestowed upon it a frown.
Kushi struggled to not smile. She knew what he was having hard time admitting. It was just like what Di said: He loves you. He just doesn't know... Or more rightly: His pride just won't concede.

After lunch, the family was lounging in the living room when the carriage from the Village arrived at the Castle. There was a cheerful uproar in the lawn as Payal and Lord Akash stepped out of the carriage and the family rushed to receive them with much embracing and patting.

"Jiji! Jiji! Jiji!!" Kushi was practically jumping with her sister trapped in her embrace, "You're back! Oh how I've missed you!!"
"Kushi, pray stop reeling my head," Payal cautioned warmly, feeling dizzy with emotions.

Lady Manorama sighed, "And who will stop my head from reeling with the return of our Bruised Beauty?"

Kushi sniffed at Payal's shoulder, "Dear me! You smell like home!"

Lord Arnav, who was hugging Lord Akash, heard Kushi's last acclaim and stole a glance in the sisters' direction.

"My! My!" Lord Manohar ejaculated as he monitored the servants unloading the carriage goods, "You come with double the store than you went with."

"Ah, Father," Lord Akash said, "the Guptas are just too generous and the outpouring of their affection just cannot be corked."

"But their affection cannot possibly come with standard," mumbled Lady Manorama as her salacious eyes unblinkingly tried to keep a count of the number of gifts being paraded by the servants into the Castle.

"How cheerful you look, the two of you!" Lady Anjali grinned at the radiant couple, "If only Chotey and Kushiji could also-"

Nani cleared her throat in warning and Lady Anjali halted the verbalization of her wish to look at her brother. But she couldn't contain herself, "Well, Chotey, she does deserve to spend some time with her family you know."

"We are her family now, Di," Lord Arnav asserted.

Nani interjected, "They are her family as much as we are hers."

Lord Arnav had turned on his grandmother to offer a riposte but, stunning the whole family, Kushi stated calmly, "It is alright, Nani. I am certain he has reasons for not wanting to go; per se, he wants to be with his family here."

"Hello, Hi? What is this I hear?" Lady Manorama blinked at Kushi, "Riled Rags wanting to be martyr?"

Lord Arnav stared at her for a disbelieving moment (as did the rest of the family) and then, without a word, turned on his heels and stormed back into the Castle to find his resolve that was slipping fast to pliancy.