Chapter 1 Disclaimer Applies
Chapter 7
Find a new way to live, before your fate is set in stone...' - Anonymous
'Shehensha!' Abdul cried in panic, the sheer urgency of his voice proved to Jalal that something was definitely amiss. In his urgency neither had Abdul remembered to salute him, nor did he ask for permission to speak... But his words were enough to bring Jalal's world to a standstill...
'Shehensha! You have to stop the execution! Jodha Begum is innocent!'
* A little while earlier at the Harem *
Ruqaiyya was a vision of seething anger. Jodha was her greatest obstacle and even though she was going to be executed in the morning a few hours later, Ruqaiyya was still not at peace. It took her a few moments of silence and deep breathing for her to calm down enough to think about her predicament... You have to approach this very carefully... Ruqaiyya thought to herself... Why do you hate Jodha? How is she different to the other Begums in the Harem? She was even less pleased when she realised the answer... Because the Shehensha treats her differently... She is special in the Harem because she is special to him... How is that possible? I do everything to please him, and all she does is incite his anger! The answer to this pleased her even less... She incites passion in him! Not anger, pure undulated passion!
Ruqaiyya had gotten tired of her musings. She decided to ease her mind and went to Khwaja Shera's chambers hoping to find a solution... 'Aadab Begum Sahiba!' Khwaja Shera said in surprise... 'Aap yahan? Iss waqt? Kya khidhmat kar sakte hain hum app ke liye? What can I do for you?' 'The potion didn't work' Ruqaiyya said flatly... 'How is this possible?! You did mix it with the wine and not any other drink did you? Because if the Shehensha was already intoxicated when the potion was in his system, there was no chance he could have come to his senses until the morning!' 'Shut up!' Ruqaiyya said angrily... 'I'm not a fool... I would never have diverted from your instructions... I know how precise your black magic is!' 'My spell book has never failed me before Ruqaiyya Begum... And I followed its instructions perfectly' Khwaja Shera replied with regret... 'I would never betray you Begum Sahiba... You are the only one in the entire Mughal Sultanate that knows my secret... And practising the dark arts is punishable by death! If you know my secret I would never betray you!' Khwaja Shera had a point.
Ruqaiyya was growing impatient... 'I am sick and tired of these minor spells and trickery!' She shouted at Khwaja Shera... 'I keep telling you to give me your spell book! I will pay you whatever you desire! I will give you everything I have I just need that spell book! I don't want the crown, or the sultanate! I just want Jalal! I need him like I need air in my lungs!' Ruqaiyya was hysterical by then... 'I need him!' She wept brokenly. 'Hume muaaf kijiye Begum Sahiba! I also wanted you to become Mariam-Uz-Zamani! I wanted you to have the title to secure both our positions... My spell book and I were willing to serve you forever! But I can't give you the spell book Begum Sahiba! That kind of power is intoxicating and I know how determined you are! You could become hasty and rash! We can't do any big spells Begum Sahiba! If it were any other man I would have him kneeling before you at an instant! I could make him yours forever! Such is the extent of my power! But you have fallen in love with the Shehensha-E-Hindustan! We have to play this smart using minor spells because if anyone and I mean anyone, if they ever got even an inkling that we are using black magic to charm the Emperor of the entire Sultanate we would be where Jodha Begum is right now! And it wouldn't be her burning tomorrow it would be us! Please understand Begum Sahiba!' Khwaja Shera begged her. Ruqaiyya knew that she made sense, she couldn't be rash. She was already successful in blaming Jodha for a crime that never took place. She had even got the satisfaction of torturing her at the hands of Jalal just a little while earlier. She should just enjoy her victory and ensure that she maintained her hold over Jalal...
Ruqaiyya was just calming down when Khwaja Shera lit her blood on fire again... 'What scares me though Begum Sahiba... Is how did Jodha Begum break the spell that we put on the Shehensha? Dark magic only bows before two powers... The power of God and the power of true lov...' She never got to complete her sentence... Ruqaiyya turned around and slapped her mercilessly. The surprise of it had her stumbling backwards and she had to grip her dressing table for support. In the process, her drawer fell open and she had tipped one of her vials over... And its contents went spilling all over the floor... The Dhatura extract that she had used to blame Jodha... 'Never ever say that again!' Ruqaiyya thundered at her. 'I won't even imagine Jalal loving another forget hearing about it from someone else!' Ruqaiyya turned around and stormed out of Khwaja Shera's chambers with only one thought in her mind... I have to get hold of the witch's spell book! Then forget the small spells; Jalal will never turn away from me... He would never leave my arms or my bed. He will follow my every command and we could finally build our life together.
Ruqaiyya had just walked out in fury when Resham (Maham Anga's eunuch) walked past Khwaja Shera's chambers... She heard the rattling of broken glass and went to investigate... What she saw in Khwaja Shera's room left her shocked to her core.
'Are you absolutely sure Resham?!' Maham Anga asked in surprise. 'Jee Wazire- Aaliya!' Resham responded. In true Harem style, she had to give news of this latest development to Maham Anga so she told Maham Anga what she saw. 'The vial was shattered on the floor and the Dhatura extract was spilling from it! The same Dhatura that she accused Begum Jodha of adding to the saffron...The culprit is none other than Khwaja Shera!' Maham Anga was in a fix... On the one hand she was eager to see Jodha executed, on the other; she felt she had to expose Khwaja Shera... She is cunning... Maham Anga thought... Tomorrow she may even challenge me! 'I know what I must do Resham...'
Maham Anga had decided to tell Jalal about Khwaja Shera. But she was also afraid to get involved. There could be more people attached to this conspiracy... She thought... Until I don't find out who they are... It would be best not to make an enemy of anyone... And as fate would have it. as she walked out of the Harem plagued with these thoughts... Abdul had been limping past so she decided to tell him... Saap toh marna chahiye par laate bhi naa toothe... She was glad now Abdul would do the job for her, and her name would never even come up. And true to his character, Abdul limped off as quickly as he could to tell Jalal just as the morning rose of the day Jodha was to breath her last...
Jalal in the mean time had woken on his bed with what felt like the worst headache of his life. No more... He silently promised himself, as everyone does when they are hung over. He thought to get up and get dressed but the minute he stood up... The realisation of what was happening today hit him with the weight of a bludgeon.She's going to die today... His chest began to feel heavy... A lone tear glistened in his eyes and clouded his vision... Why do you care?! Shehensha asked him... 'Yes why do you care?' Mischievous Jalal echoed... Wow that's a first... Jalal thought in surprise. Since when do you two agree?
'I don't agree' Mischievous Jalal replied... You are a beast! Try to remember Jalal... What happened last night? Jalal started thinking... 'It's all a blur' Try harder! Mischievous Jalal was relentless today he had to give him that... The more Jalal tried to remember... The more the answers eluded him. Unbeknownst to him, it was the potion that he had drank, it ensured that he would never remember thus protecting its master. But even the potion could not blind him to the shivering, sleeping form of Jodha across his room.
From every wound there is a scar, and every scar tells a story...' - Anonymous
Her state made even the heartless Jalal shed tears. Her hands were decorated like henna only it was with dried blood. Henna was a sign that a woman was starting a new life, new joys but the blood on her hand only signified the terror she must have endured and the life force steadily seeping out of her wrist. He saw his hand imprints on her arms forming into bruises. Her broken bangles and pieces of her sari were strewn all over the floor, she was covered in what remained of her outfit as she huddled herself together for warmth. The holes and tattered ends of her sari did little to protect her from the cold morning dewy breeze. Her body was racked with shivers and her ethereal face was stained with tear tracks. She looked like a painting at that point; no artist in the entire world could have painted a picture of such otherworldly beauty and sorrow... But Jalal was not looking at her beauty today; he looked at how she was suffering...
'Oh my god Jodha!' He whispered in shock. He didn't think. He rushed towards her in fear. He was about to reach her, he longed to comfort her, to take some of her pain away, to remove the jagged edges of the remaining bangles that cut into her wrist. He was just about to reach her when the voice in his head stopped him so abruptly that he nearly tipped over... 'Stop!' Mischievous Jalal was livid. 'You did this! You are a monster!'
No! Jalal thought in panic. I would never do this... I... I can't... I... He was so shocked he couldn't even form a coherent thought. Jodha! His non-existent heart wept. What's happening to me?! What have I done? What have I become?! He clutched his head in pain. He had seen and done worse on many battlefields. He had chopped people's heads off and he had never even flinched, but the sight of Jodha's blood seemed to unravel his composure, the pain on her face was enough to make him want to slit his own throat if he thought it would take her pain away. 'Get out from here!' Mischievous Jalal roared at him... You'll only hurt her again... Leave! So that's exactly what Jalal did... He ran... For the first time in his life he ran away... He had never even run from a battle, he never feared death... But the thought of hurting Jodha again was enough to make him flee... This thought worried him immensely... Why?
There's nothing left but emptiness, its all been said and done' - Anonymous
He sought refuge in the Diwan-E-Khaas, after dismissing the guards. He informed Jodha's guards to get her a change of clothes and to tend to her wounds and thereafter sought a few minutes of peace and quiet just to gather his thoughts and try to remember what led to this. The last thing he could remember was being in his chambers with a headache... Oh no! He thought... Ruqaiyya... The wine... We were talking about Jodha... I got angry... I drank the whole bottle... Am I crazy?!... What did I do that for?... Did I get drunk and fight with Jodha? What about Ruqaiyya? But I've never been so intoxicated before, that I can't even remember what happened after that! Why does Jodha bring out this side of me?!
Now I have become death, the destroyer of worlds... I suppose we all thought that... One way or another' - Linkin Park: The Radiance
His mental tirade stopped there because that's when Abdul had limped in with the earth-shattering news that Jodha was innocent. Jalal could not comprehend it... It was too much too fast. 'Shehensha! Can you hear me?! Abdul yelled in urgency... 'Shehensha please stop them! She'll die!' The news of her innocence may have hit him hard, but that was nothing compared to what happened next... Along with Abdul's news came the memories of what happened after Ruqaiyya had left him last night... Jodha... Her blood... Her cries... Her broken bangles and her torn haar... Her blouse... Her begging him to let go... His manic laugh... Was that me? Jalal panicked... I sound like a beast! Oh my god I hurt her! Then he saw himself on top of her, he could feel her creamy flesh in his arms. He felt his muscles clench as he held her down with the brute force of a wild animal. The next image to flash through his mind held enough force to bring him to his knees... Jodha's tears... She begged... I actually tried to molest her... He thought bitterly. I... The Shehensha-E-Hind tried to take a woman by force! Then he remembered the blood rushing to his head when she had found an opening and pushed him off before everything went black...
Manzilein ruswa hain
Khoya hai raasta
Aaye le jaaye
Itni si iltejaa
Ye meri zamanat hai
Tu meri amaanat hai haan...
Apne karam ki kar adayein
Kar de idhar bhi tu nigaahein
Sun raha hai naa tu
Ro raha hoon main
Sun raha hai naa tu
Kyun ro raha hun main
- Sunn Raha Hain Na Tu: Aashiqui 2
'Ek siphai ke seene mein dil nahin hota' Khan Baba's memories mocked him again... 'Lekin ek zameer toh ho saktha hain na?' Mischievous Jalal started up again... Jalal could hear no more... Abdul shook him, begged him, he was struggling between holding his crutches and getting Jalal to get up off the floor. But Jalal looked dazed... the Shehensha was no more. He was no longer a Shehensha or a sipahi, not on the throne and not in his head. He was just a husband. A husband who could not fulfil his vows to his wife, a husband who hurt and humiliated his innocent wife beyond belief but had decided to burn her alive... Jodha No!!' He screamed in anguish.
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