lol, guys 7 years is not too much difference. If you're uncomfortable with it, then it's just fiction so you can decide that it's only 5 years, I don't mind! Anyways, here's the next chapter!
**
They ate their dinner with Shalini, and Naina was relieved that they had finished by the time Dr Mishra entered the mess. There was something about the woman that she just really didn't like, something that made her quite uncomfortable. Naina didn't know what it was, but she usually had strong instincts about people, she had in a way been forced to develop them by the circumstances she had lived through. And there was something about Dr Mishra that just wasn't right.
It seemed like Rajveer was keen to stay away from her too, by the way that he stood up quickly to go when she came in. Naina wondered whether he had the same bad feelings that she did or whether he was just nervous about Dr Mishra trying to once again question Naina.
They only managed to nod at each other as Naina and Rajveer were leaving and Naina was happy about this, the less time that she spent with that woman, the better. Still, she would've preferred it if they hadn't had to leave the mess so soon, because the sooner that they left the mess the sooner they would reach the room, and the sooner they reached the room, the sooner…
She had been avoiding thinking about it, about what would be expected of her now that she was living with him. Rajveer might be her husband, but he was after all a stranger, and Naina didn't think that she was ready to have that type of relationship with him just yet. She had only known him properly for one day now, and from what she could tell about his personality, she didn't think he was going to rush her or pressure her into anything. But she dreaded even having a conversation about it. It was all just far too awkward.
However Naina needn't have worried because Raj had already had exactly the same thoughts as she was having right now. In fact almost as soon as BC had ordered him to bring his wife here, he had started worrying about what would happen when she arrived and how they would deal with living together.
From the moment they stepped into the room, Raj could sense Naina's nervousness, and it made him feel terrible. He wondered whether all couples in arranged marriages went through this type of confusion and awkwardness or whether theirs had been made worse by the circumstances in which they were married in.
Without waiting for the situation to become even worse, Raj grabbed a pillow and some bedding and began making a bed for himself on the floor.
"You don't have to…" Naina began to say, even as he could see the relief in her eyes, "I mean, I could sleep on the couch, I don't want you to have to sleep on the floor."
"It's okay, Naina." He told her, "I'm a soldier and therefore I can sleep just about anywhere comfortably. I'll be fine."
Naina just nodded as she watched him prepare his bed, looking as if she wanted to say something else but didn't have the courage. Deciding that it was best not to protest anymore, she began to prepare for sleep before finally getting under the covers, lying on her side so that she was facing in his direction.
Raj turned off the light and also settled into his own bed. He had the unsettling feeling that Naina was staring at him through the darkness.
"How was your first day?" he finally asked her, not quite ready to actually go to sleep yet.
"It was fine," Naina replied quietly, "Shalini was nice, and the cadets… and Suriji, he was just the way that Navin described him."
Raj chuckles, "You know Navin was one of Suriji's favourite cadets," he tells Naina, "He would get up to just as much mischief as the rest of us but he had such an innocent face that he always got away with it. Suriji never realised exactly how much of a sheitan Navin really was."
Raj isn't sure, but he thinks that Naina might be smiling in the dark as she thinks of her brother and his academy days.
"Navin was happy here, wasn't he?" She finally asks Raj, quite thoughtfully.
"He was." Raj replies, "We all were. It was the best time in my life, a time that I'll never forget."
Naina is silent and Raj feels the need to say something else, not wanting the conversation to end just yet. "We will prove his innocence, Naina." Raj promises her, "I haven't given up yet and I never will. I'll do it no matter what the cost is."
"Rajveer…" Naina says quietly, and Raj is once again surprised by how different his name sounds coming from her lips. Navin had always called him Raj, most of his friends did, but he didn't mind Naina using his full name, not at all.
"I want Navin proven innocent, but not at any cost. I've already lost far too much already." She left the last part unspoken, that she didn't want to lose him too, that after everything else that had happened, she didn't wish to become a widow.
"Don't worry, Naina. Whatever I do, I'll do with great thought and care." Raj promised her. "I'm sure that somebody in this academy must know something, and Suriji has been here for as long as anybody else. He might be able to tell me something."
"I hope so," Naina replied, "After all, I don't think that Major Nair is going to help you out in any way."
Raj laughed, "Well as Cadet Ghai would say, 'You've certainly understood his ring tone correctly'."
Naina laughed at this too, only briefly, but the sound was sweet to Raj's ears. He hoped that she would laugh more often from now on, that she would become the girl that he knew she used to be.
"Naina…" There was something that he had to ask her, but he was worried that it would just cause the wounds to reopen again. Still… it was important for him to know. "That day, when you found out the truth… did you hate me?" Raj holds his breath, waiting for her answer. It's something that he has wanted to know for two long years, ever since he watched her crying in her lounge room as he told the story of Navin's death.
"I don't know," Naina tells him, and he knows that it's an honest answer. "Maybe I did. At the time everything happened so fast that I didn't know what I felt. I had only just met you, and then you confessed… and a few minutes later, my parents arranged our marriage. I didn't have time to think properly about anything."
Raj is glad that she's told the truth, he knows it's going to be important in their relationship for them to be honest with one another.
"But…" Naina continues and Raj is surprised, he hadn't thought that she would say anything else. "I don't hate you now." Naina tells him, and Raj's heart lifts. He thinks that if somebody were to ask him then he wouldn't be able to express how happy this one sentence makes him and how heavy a burden has been lifted off his shoulders. Because as long as she doesn't hate him, he has an even greater chance to fix the past.
"Thank you," Raj tells her quietly, not feeling the need to tell her what it is that he's thanking her for. He knows that Naina will understand.
"Good night," she tells him, and Raj repeats the sentence back to her. However he doesn't close his eyes immediately, instead listening to Naina's breaths becoming heavier and calmer, as she drifts off to sleep.
**
"Where the hell have you been?" Ritu asked the person on the other end of the line angrily, "I've been trying to call you for hours."
"I've been busy," The man replied, not sounding sorry at all.
"Listen then," Ritu tells him, "This girl is not going to be as easy to handle as I had thought. She's smarter than she appears and she didn't take the bait at all."
"You're just going to have to find a way to deal with it." He told her, "You know how important it is for us to get a hold of the triggers. If you can't manage it by seducing Captain Rajveer then make a new plan. You've been doing this for years, I know you won't disappoint us."
"Don't worry, I won't allow these triggers to escape from our grasp." Ritu told him, "We might have failed four years ago, but I won't allow us to fail again. If Captain Rajveer won't fall for my charms then I'll find another way to remove him from my path, and his wife too."
"Don't fail us this time." The man warned her, "Too much is at stake now."
"I won't, Sir." Ritu promised him, "I'll never fail you again."
She knew that she couldn't afford to, after her mistake the last time, they wouldn't forgive her for any more errors.
Ritu would gain the triggers for them.
No matter what it took.
**
Raj woke early the next morning and not wanting to disturb Naina, he decided that it would be best if he followed his normal schedule and went for a morning jog. It always helped him to clear his mind, and now more than ever, he needed to be able to do that.
He had a lot to handle, and no idea whether he would be able to cope with it all. His first priority of course, had to be to protect the triggers and reveal the identity of the spy. Everything else would be secondary to that, but he would never allow his country's enemies to get their hands on such a powerful weapon.
His second task, one which he had never admitted to his commanding officer, and which would have to remain unofficial, was to try and uncover the truth surrounding Navin's death. He knew that KMA played an important part in the mystery and that somebody here had to know at least part of the reason why this had all happened. When Navin was such a competent army officer, how had they managed to trap him in the first place?
And now he had to somehow conceal Naina's true identity while trying to make his marriage work. He supposed he should probably thank BC, at least due to his interference, Raj had finally had to deal with the fact that he actually was married. It was a fact that he had never forgotten in the last two years, one which had always remained at the back of his mind. But without Brigadier Chandook's request, Raj had no idea how many years more it would've been before he and Naina finally began living together and getting to know one another.
And he was honestly glad that they had.
In the day since she had arrived, Raj had realised why it was that Navin had loved her so much, and spoken about her so glowingly. Fragments of her real personality which had been buried under her grief had begun to reveal themselves. He saw a spark in her, long hidden but not extinguished and longed to fan it into a full flame. Two years had made a difference in Naina, and Raj supposed that for everybody grief faded in time. At least now she was beginning to talk to him, and he hoped that with time she would open up more about herself.
Raj arrived back from his jog sweating and breathing hard, waving to Suriji as he passed by him. He hoped that Naina was awake already otherwise they would be late for her college. He wanted to get her there early today so that they could ensure that the registration had been completed correctly and there would be no problems at all.
Reaching the room he opened the door and leaned against the entrance, wanting to catch his breath after the exercise. It was at this moment that Naina emerged from the other room, already dressed for her first day in a white salwar kameez, her hair still wet from her shower.
For a moment Raj stared at her, unable to do anything else. He had known that she was beautiful, he had noticed it the day that they married. But noticing it and seeing it at such close quarters were two entirely different things. There was nothing fake about her beauty, or overstated. Standing there with her hair dripping water onto the floor and her towel in her hand, she was stunning.
Raj realised that Naina was now staring back at him a bit awkwardly, as if wondering what had happened to him.
"I went for a jog," he says a bit dumbly, not able to think of anything else.
Naina nods once, and starts drying off her hair. Raj is thankful that she didn't realise exactly what he was thinking.
"I'll just go take a shower and get ready," he tells her, "Why don't you go and have some breakfast? You definitely shouldn't go hungry for your first day at college."
"Alright," Naina says, setting down the towel and picking up a comb, "I'll go as soon as I've gotten ready."
Raj nods, a lump in his throat as he watches her comb her hair and then decides it's far safer for him to go and take a shower rather than keep watching her here.
**
Naina had finished getting ready for the day ahead and was about to leave for the mess when a thought struck her. Maybe she should wait for Rajveer before she left. After all, she had no idea whether she would know anybody there or not. What if she ran into Dr Mishra or Major Nair, would she be forced to sit with them? The thought of going there without Rajveer panicked her slightly as she thought about having to face their questions alone.
After a moment of worry, Naina steeled herself. She wasn't a child anymore and she didn't need anybody to hold her hand while she went and got breakfast. She wouldn't allow herself to be a burden to Rajveer, somebody that he felt obliged to take care of. Instead she would go, eat breakfast, and handle any questions or difficult situations that came her way.
Her mind made up, Naina headed towards the canteen.
As soon as she entered, she wondered whether she'd made a mistake. The canteen was already full of cadets, most of whom turned to stare at her as she entered. And the only faculty member in sight was Dr Mishra. Luckily the woman hadn't spotted her yet and Naina wondered whether she could make a quick exit and come back later with Rajveer,
"Ma'am!" she turned around at the sound of the voice to find Pooja Ghai smiling and waving at her, sitting at a table with her friends. Naina smiled back and hesitantly made her way over.
"Do you want to join us, ma'am?" Pooja asked her, "It would be nice to have breakfast together."
Naina noticed that the rest of the table was nodding politely.
"I've told you before, you don't need to call me ma'am." She reminded Pooja, "Please just call me Naina, ma'am makes me feel like I'm old."
"Alright then, Naina." Pooja said with a grin, "But I don't know if our Ali will be able to adjust or not, his phone settings are permanently fixed at formal."
Ali turned bright red at this comment, and Naina tried not to smile, knowing how embarrassed he was.
"Alright, I'll just grab some breakfast and then come over to join you all." She promised.
Naina was just returning holding a plate and a cup of chai when she found Ritu in front of her.
"Hi Naina," Ritu said in a very friendly way, "Would you like to join me for breakfast?"
"I'm really sorry, Dr Mishra." Naina told her, "I've already promised the cadets that I'll sit with them."
And thank goodness for that.
Naina made her way back over to sit with the five cadets, who were already discussing their schedules for the day and how Yudi would be able to complete the drills on his injured foot.
"There's no problems with Captain Rajveer's, he'll make some adjustments for you, but Major Nair will definitely insist that you do them as normal." Ali told Yudi, who looked a bit worried.
"Don't stress guys, why do you fear when Huda is here?" the Jat announced confidently, "I already know what we're doing with Nair today, it's a rifle drill. You won't need to use your foot too much for that, Yudio."
"Thanks bro, you've set my mind at ease." Yudi told him with a sigh of relief.
"Don't relax too much," Alekh warned him, "Or you might end up nearly blowing somebody's head off again."
They all laughed while Yudi looked quite embarrassed.
"So how did you all end up choosing to join the academy?" Naina asked them, "I mean, it's a difficult career, and not one that many young people are attracted to."
"The army is in my blood," Ali told her proudly, "Both my father and grandfather were Subedars, my grandfather during the times of the English."
"My mummy made a bet with me that I wouldn't last here for a month," Huda annouced, "And I'm going to prove her wrong and become her brave jawan."
"Well my parents wanted to send me to America to do MBA, but I want to make my own name in my own way. I'll show them that I don't need their influence to make myself somebody." Yudi told her earnestly.
"Well I'm just here on roaming," Pooja told her, "Once I find my Ranjha I'll go back to my old plan."
Naina was wondering who this Ranjha was, when Alekh spoke up.
"The judge sent me here, told me to become a soldier." He said simply, "Otherwise I would've gone to jail."
Naina was curious about his past but decided that it would be better not to ask. She knew that sometimes a person's life could be so painful that they would prefer not to talk about it. She knew this very well.
"And how did you decide to become a doctor, ma'…Naina?" Pooja asked her.
"My brother…" Naina started to say, and then wondered why she had been prepared to tell the truth so easily. She had to remember that revealing anything about herself was dangerous here. However it was too late and she might as well finish the sentence. "My brother encouraged me to. He said that it was a good way I could serve my country." She told them, biting her lip at the memory.
He had joked that she should join the army with him, which she had refused to do. She had told him that she didn't think she would be able to kill anybody, and he had told her that she should try healing them instead then.
The cadets noticed the lost look on Naina's face, and Pooja reached out a hand to touch her arm gently. "Are you alright?" she asked Naina, "Is something wrong?"
Naina shook herself out of her daze, and was just thinking about what to reply, when she noticed Rajveer enter the canteen and survey the room as if to check where she was. He spotted Naina and made his way over to join them.
"Good morning, cadets." He told the assembled group, "Are you all ready for our hand to hand combat lesson this afternoon?"
"Of course, Sir." Huda replied confidently, "We're all waiting for it."
"Excellent," Raj told them, and then turned to Naina, who by now had finished her breakfast. "Shall we go, Naina? I don't want you to be late on your first day."
"But aren't you going to eat anything?" Naina asked him, glancing down at her watch.
"It's alright," Raj told her, "I'll eat when I return, I'd prefer to get you there in plenty of time to ensure that there's no problems."
"Alright," Naina replied, "I'm ready to go then, I'll just grab my bag from the room." She turned to the cadets, "Thanks for inviting me to have my breakfast with you." She told them with a smile and followed Raj out.
"If only she'd been a cadet too," Pooja remarked wistfully.
"If only she'd been unmarried…" Huda commented in a similar tone.
*Whack*
"Ouch! What was that for, Punjaben?"
"You know very well what it was for!"
"Saala… don't you have any shame?"
**
Shalini finally walked into the mess and Ritu decided that this was the perfect opportunity as she waved to the doctor, and Shalini came over to join her. After all, Shalini had spent quite a bit of time with Naina already, she would know something about the girl. Ritu knew her job well, in order to be successful, information was the most valuable thing she could obtain.
"So Shalini, what do you think of Captain Shekawat's wife so far?" Ritu asked her, knowing that Shalini would just assume that she wanted to get some gossip.
"She's such a sweet girl," Shalini said glowingly, "When I first met her I was surprised by how young she is, but she's definitely mature for her age. She's so quiet though, and very serious."
"Well then she definitely suits our Captain Rajveer," Ritu remarked, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "No wonder they fell for each other."
"Well actually Ritu, it was an arranged marriage." Shalini informed her, "Rajveer told me. It just goes to show how well these things work out sometimes. I mean it's obvious what a well suited couple they are."
Ritu hadn't even listened to Shalini's last sentence, the last thing she had heard was 'arranged marriage'.
This was interesting.
Interesting indeed.
The more that she found out the better, and as soon as possible. Her mission depended on it, and she would not fail in her mission.
Captain Rajveer and his oh so sweet wife were definitely hiding something.
Ritu wouldn't stop until she found out what it was.
Parineeti
Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan
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