Chapter 197

Chapter 280: Fidgety Foreplay

The next morning, amidst the bustle and workload of the Industry, the First Lord did a most uncommon thing: he called for one of his employees to his cabin for a purpose of sequestered nature.

In the past, this venturing would afford itself only on account of a forthcoming dismissal of the summoned employee. Which was probably why the gazes of all the other workers betrayed a note of sympathy as they watched the beckoned Mia take hesitantly to the stairs that led to their Master's office.

The summoning had undoubtedly branded Mia petrified. Wherefore was she being called? Had she done an error that would earn her a consequential dismissal from this employment which was her only source of survival?

When Adil presented her into the First Lord's room, she bowed low, feeling lightheaded in the mere presence of the enormous table and the tall, taut Lord standing dashingly indomitable behind it.

The Master's voice shook the tensed air, "I want you to undertake a special assignment for me."

Mia kept her head bowed, daring not to look up, "Whatever the good sire wishes, he only needs to give the order and it shall be done."

"You shall keep this confidential and work on it entirely by yourself."

"As you say, Master."

"For its purpose, you have the liberty to take any amount of portions from everything that is within this Industry and, if something of particular sort is not to be found here, you have Lal at your disposal to be sent to the Market so he may fetch it instantly."

Mia was getting variedly confused as to the object her Master was proposing which sounded so secretive yet significant to him for it to be designed such a way.

He demanded further, "I will need it ready before dusk and handed to my carriage-hand, OmPrakash, before I leave for the Castle."

Mia was reluctant to dare a question but she tried to be as polite as she could be in her enquiry, "Good sire, I am more than willing to comply with your wishes... only you haven't told me what it is you intend me to furnish for you."

Lord Arnav stepped towards the window, his gaze drawn to the bright sky outside, the lush clouds lazily floating over Arhasia, "I want you to make the most beautiful night robe you have ever designed. It must be made of satin, of the best that is to be found in Arhasia. In appearance it must resemble that of a wedding garb, a colour of pure white. Decorate and embroider it to make it as elaborate and elegant as you can in the span of time you have before dusk."

Surely, his curious request surprised her, and though Mia fathomed who it was for, she had to be certain, the knowledge of which she could be easily assured through a single query, "And whose size would you like it to be in, Master?"

Lord Arnav shot her an annoyed look, "Why, my wife's of course!"

Mia bowed apologetically, "It shall be done, sire, and when it is done, it will be the most beautiful satin attire this Industry or any Industry in this world has ever created."

"I will have no other," replied Lord Arnav importantly, and then he dismissed her.

While Lord Arnav made eager preparations for the ritual of the night, Kushi on the other hand found herself in a most peculiar disposition. Everything she did or assisted in was accomplished clumsily and tardily.

She earned the anxious glances of the servants and the frustrated looks of Lady Manorama, not to mention Payal's questioning glances which Kushi shrugged away as though explaining herself to have a momentary lapse from her Ladyship and into the unsophisticated mechanisms of her yester youth.

Interestingly, Nani was the only one who seemed comforted by her plight and not too flustered as to rebuke Kushi or indulge in worry over her. In fact, Lady Deviyani walked about the Castle, occasionally smiling to herself, as though her mind was immersed in secretive contemplations. The other inhabitants innocently presumed it was as a result of her grandmotherly joy at Payal's childbearing.

Poor Kushi was disconcerted to her very sanity. She couldn't keep still and every chair she sat on seemed a seat of pricking needles. She walked about, this way and that, kept things in the wrong places, heard not the questions that were asked to her, and seemed quite unable to articulate a proper sentence the entire day. Poor Kushi indeed.

But what flustered her greatly was her inability to account for her unaccustomed demeanour of the day. Why was she so? She could not, in any way possible, explain away the bewildering state she was in. She was certain she had always looked forward to the day she would truly be his wife but this display of nerves and aggravation was not the bargain she had expected in the aftermath of his announcement.

Kushi became more restless as the minutes ran closer to the inescapable night. When dusk had settled in Arhasia, she prayed that he be late to arrive at the Castle, possibly after all of them had turned to their beds and commenced their sleep. This led her to speculate on many happy possibilities: What if an urgent business came about and he had to stay the night at the Industry to work it through? What if the day had been so tiring that he would be fatigued on arrival and render him worthy only for sleep? What if he forgot all about his nightly design and she had worried herself sick for nothing? What if he resorted to his limited kindness and decided to spare her for a night more?

Her muddle of calculations and appeasing conclusions only crumbled to the floor when, at dinnertime, who should walk into the dining hall but the man who had been haunting her befuddled matrimonial mind.

Not once risking a look in his direction, Kushi tried to drown her existence in meaningless chatter with everyone else at the table. Her husband, infuriated by her display of indifference, sought many an occasion to catch her attention for his personal advantage.

One such instance was his direct request that she pass him the saltshaker. Kushi obliged by sliding the requested object towards his plate. Neither did she care to notice the intent look on his face, nor did she give him the opportunity to touch her fingers that were quickly withdrawn as soon as they had parked the saltshaker beside his plate.

Another instance, having unconquered her by hand, he tried contacting her by the lower limb. Sliding his legs closer to hers, he tried nudging the edge of his boot against the side of her sandal, only to make her start and arise in haste announcement, "Tonight, dessert will be served by me!"

"But Kushiji," Lady Anjali was surprised, "We have our servants to-"

"I must insist," Kushi interjected firmly, already walking in the direction of the side table on which were kept the trays that held cold bowls of delicious crme caramel.

It was difficult for Nani to hold back her smirk. She had been watching the two from the corner of her eye and knew what had led Kushi into the sudden fancy of serving. Nonetheless, the wise woman couldn't help herself from asking, "Is there any particular reason, Kushibitiya, that you insist on serving us dessert?"

Kushi had a ready grin plastered on her face as she walked around the wide table, placing the bowls before each of them, "In honour of Jiji's happiness, I had asked Surabhi to make tonight's especial dessert, and the celebration would be complete only if I share it with you all personally by hand."

Payal laughed, "Oh, you sly thing! If I dive into your devotion-dipped dessert, I am afraid my child will certainly grow to crave caramel!"

Lord Manohar winked at Payal, "That should be alright, as long as the child doesn't get a fancy of settling frets by cooking caramel as how the aunt settles hers through chocolate liquors!"

This sent the whole lot of them laughing, including Kushi but excluding Lord Arnav who poked at his caramel bitterly.

Lady Anjali noted, "But it has been really long, hasn't it, since Kushiji went into one of her chocolate-fits? She has changed a lot, I must confess."

Lady Manorama snorted, "That's because she has a husband who would chastise her if she were to pick another ladle for such a purpose ever again!"

Lady Deviyani frowned in her direction, "I believe, on the other hand, that Kushiji does not need her chocolate-liquor to appease her because she has a husband who dotes on her so much."

Nani's words hit the right target. Kushi's cheeks turned red and her gaze, which had been avoiding a certain person the entire day, accidently caught his eye and found him smiling gloriously in her direction.

Scowling, she picked up her dessert spoon and dug into the caramel, grieving that she'd lost her taste for it after seeing his smirk, but nevertheless she kept up pretences of enjoying it as though it was a matter of dignity more than a necessary completion of a communal meal.

When dinner was concluded, Kushi volunteered to escort Nani to her room and help her to be tucked in bed. To Lord Arnav's astonishment, not only did Lady Deviyani express delight at the offer, she immediately attached Kushi as accompaniment and the two of them made for the room at the far end of the floor upstairs, leaving a sour-faced First Lord fuming at the foot of the stairs.

Lord Arnav was furious. Why ever must Kushi be the one to keep Nani company?! Couldn't one of the maids offer service? Or maybe Mami? And what was Kushi up to, acting all distanced and busied from his compass of need?!

Exasperated, he walked about in his bed chamber, trying hard to restrain his rage. He was about to storm out of the room and fetch her forcibly when the door opened and in walked the subject of his intolerant time.

"What the!" he fumed, "What took you so long?"

Kushi stood awkwardly at the doorway, "I was with Nani-"

"I know you were with her!" he barked at her.

Kushi's hands involuntarily fisted at her sides, but she did her best to sound composed, "I didn't intend to stay there the entire night."

"Not if I'd let you," said Lord Arnav.

Kushi moved to the wardrobe and began rummaging through the clothes.

Lord Arnav frowned, "What are you doing?"

His wife turned on her heel, holding a green nightrobe in her hand.

"Getting ready for bed," she stated, ambling towards the bath chamber.

"No, you're not!" declared the irate husband, barring her way.

Kushi frowned up at him, "What else do you want me to do? Make meaningless banter with you through the night?"

And then, without waiting for his reply, she walked around him, nearing the bath chamber.

Lord Arnav closed his eyes, anger rising in him, and his words came out slow and threateningly, "Kushi, this is an important night for us and you are make a mess of it already."

Startled by his accusation, she spun about and sauntered boldly up to him, "I? I am messing the night up? Well, what are you doing then? Are you denying your share of fury being spewed in this room as of now?"

"What of your manner at dinner?" pronounced Lord Arnav hotly, "What have you to say about that?"

"Well, there was nothing untoward in my manner the way I recall it," said Kushi defiantly, turning in the bath chamber's direction again.

Instantly, Lord Arnav's hand shot out and pulled her by her wrist, "You vastly ignored me and obstructed my every attempt to-"

"I had my reasons," said Kushi hastily, struggling to wrench her captive hand from his hold.

With one yank, he crushed her to his chest, clutching her hand behind her, and then scowled into her eyes, "I demand you name those reasons."

Kushi stared in alarm at the suddenness of his action and then frowned at his neck, "I was understandably..." She paused, uncertain of the word that should describe her manner of the previous hours, "...Nervous."

The confession made her defensive and she glared up at him, "And it's all your fault! Your proclaimed scheme rendered me unexplainably ill at mind and anxious with blind anticipation!"

"Anxious with anticipation?" Lord Arnav's eyebrows rose in surprise, "I believed you were not unwilling."

"I am not," said Kushi, her eyelashes batting uneasily, "But when the probability of our procrastinated Poieo-Eros came close to being a certainty, my nerves flustered and all sorts of thoughts muddled up my senses until I knew not what I was doing or saying-"

Kushi paused, noticing Lord Arnav absorbed gaze on her, his face so close to hers. She pursed her lips in defiant annoyance and even forced a frown. But it slowly succumbed into a smile that had been struggling to surface, which gradually broke all resolve and turned into laughter.

Stumped, Lord Arnav stared at her.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked cautiously, while secretly admiring the sudden burst of mirth in her dancing eyes.

"Of all the days we could have conjured a fight, we had to pick tonight!"

That made Lord Arnav grin and, to her surprise, he even shrugged casually. But in the next moment, throwing all pretences off his shoulder, he was leaning forward and kissing her lovingly on her lips.

When he had tasted enough of the sweetness of her lips, he whispered words that caringly caressed his breath upon her bridal lips, "One word from you and I would withdraw my decision."

With her forehead pressed against his, she ran her fingers through his hair, "I am willing, my lord. Nothing more do I desire in this life than to be, in every complete sense, your lawful wife."

Overjoyed by her willing surrender, he pulled her to him again and drowned her in another deep kiss of conjugal craving.

Like Keerthi said, Saturday is part of my schedule to be the "Update Day" but posted this one early coz I know you are all wanting to hear more. But Patience. Next chapter is due tomorrow...