Chapter 228

Chapter 309: Armageddon

Lord Arnav was furious, still smarting from the incident of the morning.

But what stung him most, after he'd calmed down, was the manner in which he had handled it.

His mind recalled the violent grip he had on his wife's shoulders.

Cursing himself, he smashed his fist on the table.

How could he have let his anger have an upper hand?! How could he hurt her? He couldn't, for the life of him, understand why he'd lost his cool!

Yes, granted, she spoke outrageous things that wrenched the very life out of him but he was the one who sparked the heat of the argument...by denying her the right to discern her past and mocking her attempts while he conceitedly clung onto the knowledge of his.

Mortified, he buried his face in his hands.

And then, into his mind, came his last vision of her before his frustrated figure stormed out of the Castle: the image of his crestfallen wife, sitting defeated on the chair.

Kushi was, indisputably, a woman of courage, moulded in the mettle despite not knowing anything about her real parents or her real home.

She strode with no burden and with no sorrow, never weakened by grief for her mislaid past...only thinking of the future she was creating happily around her, and living sincerely her every moment.

Seeing her in that indefensible light allowed him to easily forgive her for the denunciations of the morning.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself and conjure some possible way to appease his pride-bruised wife.

None came to mind, ofcourse, so he decided he would consult his brother for ideas that were of a romantic tenor, after the work for the day was done.

Kushi had just informed the Raizadas at the Castle of her gnawing wish to go down to the North Village.

"Why the sudden urge?" Nani probed, sitting up in concern, "Do you receive a pressing message from them?"

"No, I merely want to pay them a visit and see how the Mill is functioning," explained Kushi with an easy smile.

"I wish I could go with you," mulled Payal, a hand on her inflated middle, and then she cheered up with a suggestion, "Don't leave just yet, Kushi. I am baking a blueberry pie and it will be done in half an hour. You know how much Amma loves my pies!"

Kushi nodded genially, "For your pie I can wait, Jiji."

"Let's just hope you don't grow a sudden craving en route to the cottage," Payal winked in good humour.

Kushi only smiled kindly in return, wanting to add to the joke but finding not the heart to. Payal noticed this and was about to ask after it when she was interrupted by another.

"Why don't you take little Ram along, Kushiji?" suggested Lady Anjali, who was worried by this unexpected decision of Kushi's to extract herself from the Castle.

Ram, who had been in the living room with them, glancing through a picture book, perked up at the mention of his name.

Kushi's gaze fell on him and she nodded, "Yes, I suppose a little company would be welcoming."

Ram got off the lounger and headed towards her. Midway, he paused and look towards the baby in Lady Anjali's arms.

Lady Anjali grinned on realizing what was on his mind. She looked at Kushi, "Would you mind, Kushiji, if Ram took a friend along with him?"

Kushi looked at her, "No, who do you have in mind?"

Lady Anjali stood up and walked towards her, cradling her child lovingly in her arms, "I'd much rather Anarkali have her first day out with you and Ram. And today appears to be fine in weather and in opportunity."

Kushi was unsure whether to accept this suggestion, but one look at the thrilled little boy and she could not reject the offer.

"Alright then," stated Kushi, retrieving her cheer a little, "In one hour, Ram and Anarkali will be taking a trip with me to the North Village. With a pie."

While the children were being dressed and readied and the pie was in its last minutes of baking in the oven, Kushi isolated herself and ambled aimlessly across the garden.

The pitched rebukes and marred emotions of the morning haunted her mind. Lost in her thoughts, she wasn't paying attention to where she was heading until she found herself standing in the dark shadow of the tall rosebush.

Slowly, she looked up and stared at the towering bush.

She didn't know how long she had been standing there, staring hard at it, but all of a sudden, she felt her legs weaken and her head dizzy.

She breathed in and fell to the ground on her knees, trying to regain her slipping strength.

Ever since she had named the rosebush in accusation, wanting it to be pulled from its roots and burned to cinder, she had been plagued by this peculiar queasiness inside of her.

With terror, she recalled the very first time she had glimpsed the accursed plant: the day when she and her Jiji were heading for the Orchard Sale in proximity of the Castle - How the first thing she'd noticed when looking towards the hill of the Castle was the rosebush...How she had been driven by an unearthly desire to want to near, to touch it...

Everything that happened was set in course because of it. Because of the DAMNED rosebush.

She glared up at it. Aye, no doubt about it! It is bewitched. Luring innocent hearts and then sucking the life out of them...

Exhausted but struggling to find her footing, Kushi arose from the grassy ground and withdrew hastily, wanting to be as far away from the rosebush as possible.

She was convinced of its evil, now more than ever.

Every theory she had formalized was turning out to be right. And if that thick-headed husband of mine doesn't comprehend it even now, I'm staying out of his sight until he disposes off that foul relic!!

A few miles away, standing in the centre of the sunlit grassland that lay spread between the North Village and the Industry, under the shadow of a solitary tree, the Lady in the Dark Hood smiled slyly at her companion, "How they all walk easily into our little snare!"