"Adi, give the box to the smithy. I will come back with the measurement.", his tone was full of determination. However, in his mind only Maan himself knew how difficult it would be to get what he wanted from Geet. The woman was neither terrified of him nor had any regard of who he was. 'Way to go, Maan. This is your first duty as the groom. You cannot fail this.', he told himself and walked towards her chamber.
"Ok, so all you have to do is, get in there and slip one of her rings! No Maan, that would be stealing!", he thought to himself a numerous other ways and then found faults in them as he walked.
"Bhai sa!", Maan looked up ahead when he heard that voice waking from his thoughts.
"Dev!", he said in a tone that was part resentful and part love.
"Where have you been?", he inquired his voice giving away nothing.
"I...ummm...am back from the arena..you know this is my time to teach the lads", his eyes faltered clearly revealing his lie.
Maan shook his head in disapproval, "Dev, both of us know that you are lying. I trust you, alright. You are an adult. You are free to do whatever you want but not at the cost of betraying me! Betraying my trust. You are not getting into the arena again ever. If you want all that time for yourself, keep it. Don't lie!"
Dev stood there shocked. He knew and he didn't even ask.
"Bhai sa, wont you ask where I have been?", his voice was strained and expectant.
Maan was walking ahead already but he halted without looking back, "You are my brother Dev. I trust you enough to know that you wont do anything that would bring dishonour to our family!"
Dev stood there wondering about his brother. He wanted his brother to be happy in his life. From here on, he was willing to do everything to make this marriage a huge success. It was the Lord Maan bhaisa's wedding after all. He had so much to do.
************************
Wedding. Marriage. All these words were so precious and cherishable for any woman. Any woman but Geet. She didn't know what to feel. She couldn't name what she was feeling.
The fact that in three days she was about to be married to one of the ancestors of the man she was actually supposed to be engaged to, was sinking ever so slowly. But that was not what that bothered her. What really bothered her was that she didn't despise the idea altogether. Somewhere along the lines she was hopeful that it was Maan! That terrified her the most. She wasn't supposed to fall for him.
They don't belong together. Hell, they don't belong even in the same timeline. Technically he was more than a hundred years older than her. Yet, butterflies fluttered inside her belly when she thought about the wedding. The man whom she stood and watched from far was now going to be hers. She could touch him, feel him whenever she wanted. She was his and he was hers. 'Stop it Geet! Hold that thought right there!', she warned herself.
None of this was real. He was not supposed to be real. The wedding was not real. This was not her life. Her real life was back in 2017 where her loving family was waiting for her, hopefully. She didn't want to put much thoughts about the Khuranas who were there. Off late, certain dark thoughts came to her mind when she thought about that. What if they were some vampires like they show in the movies, alive and dead for a thousand years. The only relief she had was that these people looked very alive, much alive with all the blood, flesh and thankfully sickness. Vampires don't get sick, do they?
Who thinks about vampires three days before their wedding? A wedding, where she had no other choice to stay alive. Wedding without her dadho, Arjun bhai sa and Anika bhabhi and her two little sweetus. She was all alone here.
"Geet Maalkin... Look what Badi Malkin sent for you. There are like craters for skirts alone and then one for cholis and chunnis."
"Yeah right, Champa why do you keep calling me Maalkin all of a sudden? I prefer Geet or Geet didi like you used to call me."
Champa smiled and unlocked Geet's braid after keeping her chunni down. "Don't be silly Maalkin. You are the bride of Maalik. I should get into the habit of calling you as who you are. You can't be naive now, can you? You are to be the Lord's wife. The Lady of the house. And guess what that makes me? The queen bee of all handmaidens!"
"Ohhh... I didn't know that!", chimed in Geet playfully when she realised that she could do nothing else with Champa.
Several ladies brought the craters and they were followed by Amba and Malti. Champa was brushing her golden brown hair which looked silky smooth against her white skin that was visible between the tights knots of the choli and now shone brightly as Champa applied the almond oil.
"Malti, now it is our time to rest and let our bhabhi sa do all the work!". joked Amba nudging Malti.
"Are you kidding Amba? She is the Lady of Maalik Maan bhai sa. She is the one who would boss around us. We will have to learn to serve her..right Geet?", she looked at Geet lovingly.
This was the first time Geet was seeing them without the veil on their faces and many other married women. Amba and Malti were both beautiful and had kind eyes. The sisters had no malice in their heart, she figured.
"What happened Malkin? Already lost in the thoughts of our Lord, huh?, Amba pinched her cheek playfully.
Geet smiled blushing. Come whatever tomorrow, at the moment they were all pampering her and Geet after careful analysis decided to enjoy the moment rather than worrying about the future that she left behind.
That was until he rushed into her room like a boss.
This was the olden times. It was not at all normal for the groom to march in to his bride's room like that. The women there giggled and teased Maan. Maan on the other hand never expected to find anyone else there. The married women had their veils on, including Amba and Malti.
"Bhai sa, don't you know the groom is not allowed to see the bride once the ceremonies begin? Have patience now, Wait for three more days and she will be all yours.", the room was once again filled with pleasant giggles as they heard Amba.
Maan rolled his eyes. He had to get that measurement tonight itself in order to make the ring in time.
"Look, the Pithi Dastoor (haldi) starts by what? tomorrow morning? So the wedding hasn't officially started yet. Which means I still get some time with my bride, no?", concluded Maan.
"Looks like Maalik can't even stay one minute without his Lady already", the group of women burst into laughter at Champa's remark and left the room. Geet waited patiently till the last woman left wondering what Maan was here for?
There was a moment of awkward silence when they were alone. She didn't even realise that she was standing there with just her choli and skirt and the chunni was left at the corner of the dresser table where Champa had left it. Maan looked away blushing.
It was only at that moment Geet became aware and searched for her chunni. As she was about to reach it, much to her shock Maan already had it in his hand before she could get her hands on it. They were probably less than an inch away from each other. When their eyes locked, both could feel the heat between them.
"Ok, Maan what is going on? Why are you here?", she asked in a scared tone.
He didn't say anything but kept looking at her. This was the first time he was seeing her in this new light. Geet, his bride, so close to him. His eyes quickly wandered up and down her form. She squirmed at his gaze. Geet was not feeling uncomfortable. His gaze made her feel something different inside. And the knowledge of that feeling made her uncomfortable.
She tried to take her chunni from him. But he held on to it. Her bossom was heaving up and down with the tension and it brought the attention of his eyes. She tried to cover herself with her hand out of feminine shyness. But he held her left hand tight as if ordering her not to do so. Geet struggled to free her hand from him. Only, Maalik Maan's hand was too strong for her. He had a glint of that naughty smile. She pouted cutely. Unbeknownst to her, his fingers gently placed a tiny thread around her ring finger during the push and pull between them. Now, the only task left for Maan was to distract her attention from her hand. He placed his other free hand on her bare waist and brought her closer to him, her bossom now joined to his muscular chest. Her eyes went into shock at first and then revelled in the feeling of being near to him for a few seconds. Their heart beats were now in the same rhythm. Her eyes peeled away from him as she felt his breath on her. Maan could see the hint of smile on her soft pink lips.
It was tempting him more than anything else. He tilted towards her, their lips almost brushing agaisnt each other. He flicked his finger softly and briskly on that ring finger and tied a knot that fit perfectly like a ring. In a split second Geet came back to her sense and tried to free herself from him. He let her fight him in vain and pulled that thread gently out without her knowledge. His gift would now be ready. The moment he had the thread, he left her just like that.
Geet glared at him,"What is the meaning of all this? "
"Don't you know my Lady?", he teased his eyes glowing with some unfathomable feeling for her.
Geet didn't expect that. She could barely resist the Maalik Maan. How was she ever going to resist the lover Maan? She blushed not knowing what else to do.
He stepped back with the most charming smile that Geet had ever seen.
"I can wait. It is only three days from now after all", with that he left.
When Maan walked out of that door, Geet had a knot forming inside her chest. For the first time she realised that she too liked him. The idea of such a charming prince- knight in shining armour- who was also gentle and kind, having him all for herself, was an irresistable idea.
Geet realised that she was falling for him! This was trouble. Perhaps, just the beginning of the trouble. It complicated everything. It went against every single plan that Geet had in her mind. She had thought of agreeing to the marriage without making any unnecessary scene in order to stay alive for five more days. And then, when everyone else celebrated the feast she could just skip away and go back to where she belonged.
All this looked so easy, as long as she had no emotional attachment to anyone of them, whatsoever. She clenched her fast beating heart and looked for a support to rest. This whatever feeling she had for him, was putting everything at risk. She had to stay away from him. This was not real. Whatever happened here or happening here was not real and should not have any meaning at all once she went back.
On the contrary, she was getting attached and attracted to everything that was in here. And most importantly to him, she realised with disbelief. It mattered to her when he frowned, when he questioned, when he smiled and when he almost kissed her.
How was she going to stop herself from associating with a man centuries before her? What did marriage mean to him? Would he be even considerate and respect her wishes or would he insist on consummating the marriage? Not that she cared about being chaste amidst the chaos. If someone deserved a rite of passage it was her. But what about him? If she didn't consummate the marriage and disappeared, he could just annul the wedding and move on.
Oh dear Shankarji!, she even promised not to disgrace him! What would these people say when she disappeared two days after the wedding? Or perhaps, she would somehow make everyone believe that she drowned in the lake and people would sympathise with him as a widower. The farther she stayed away from him, the lesser his grief would be! Geet told herself to stick to her plan as close as possible.
Geet looked around and saw the teasing women entering the room. They were all pulling her leg and saying all those girly matters that any bride would want to hear. But she heard none of it. Her mind was clouded. It raced between two timelines. She tried hard to focus on her lousy date with Dev. Who knew, even that might help! But all that she could remember was how Maan carried her in his arms when she drowned in that lake. How they rode together. How she treated his wound and from there on how they reached where they were today from where they were. Geet felt the panic rise once again. Her brain was catching up on what her mind had already processed. She, Geet Handa, was falling for a man she wasn't supposed to!
******************************
And so was he, Maan Singh Khurana. Adi had the smithy work like a machine and magically produce a ring by the dawn next morning. Maan held it in his hand against the rising Sun. The ring glowed bright just like her beaming bright smile, he thought to himself. The metal was bend to make the body of a smooth ring on the inner surface while the outer surface was covered with countless number of tiny shattered rhodium beads that gave it the elegant look.
He knew it would fit her the moment he saw the ring. The very thought that she was his was stirring something inside him. Maan couldn't quite place what that meant, but he was enjoying it unlike Geet for he was unware of the perils it would bring to him. As a second thought, even if he did know, it wont change what he felt.
When the heart finds someone destined for us, it tends to forget about all the boundaries that are around us. Only in this case time is the boundary which one of them is aware of yet not able to stop herself, the other one had been racing towards it without knowing what he was getting into.
Just when Maan was done admiring the ring, he heard a creek on the door to his bed chamber. He kept the ring carefully inside the wooden box and turned towards the direction.
Sameera was standing at the doorstep with a bowl.
"It's dadisa's Moong dal halwa..", she said as if to break the ice.
Maan stood up from his comfort chair and walked towards her, "Oh, I had it yesterday itself."
"Well, there was some left. I thought I would bring it over since you like it..", she smiled.
"That's very thoughtful of you.", he returned the courtsey with a polite smile.
"So..Geet, huh?", she finally got to the point.
"Sameera, you of all the people should know that we two could never be happy together...", Maan started with a defensive tone when she gestured him to stop.
"It's alright Maan. I understand. We were never meant to be together. But when, everyone starts putting these ideas into your head, you end up believing them! That was my fault! "
"I am truly sorry if I ever gave you that idea. It was never intentional", he quickly apologized.
"It was not you. Just every one else. Anyway, I am happy for you and that Geet. But, I came here to tell you that I can't stay here knowing that you are going to marry someone else. How would I stay here and be a sorry figure in front of everyone? I don't want anyone pitying me!", her tone was determined. Maan knew that she had made up her mind.
"You can't go back Sameera. The Krishnavanshis banished you and Jai. They still fear Rana!", warned a concerned Maan.
"I know that. I am going to stay with my cousin at Ajmer. Sajjan bhai sa asked me to stay there already. I declined because I had to come back here. Well, now there is no point I guess", her tone was not bitter yet the sadness was strikingly present.
Maan smiled sadly, "It doesn't have to be that way, you know. This is not going to change anything!"
"Oh, Maan!...I mean Maalik, this is going to change everything! A marriage is for a lifetime and all the lifetimes that is to come. By uniting yourself with her, you have changed all our destinies. Perhaps, it was meant to be that way! Allow me your leave Maalik. I ride in my cart before sun down"
"Farewell Sameera! Remember if or when you need anything, you have a kin equal to your Jai bhai sa here."
Sameera nodded in affirmative and left quietly.
Maan stood there as his mind replayed all those happy memories he had with his childhood friend Jai Krishnavanshi.
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