Chapter 6
Recap: Hakim came and Jalal get up the bed and waited for hakim's response. He asked hakim how Jodha is doing. Hakim said to Jalal she is fine but weak. She needs to eat something quickly. Jalal knew she is not going eat until she does prayer in the morning.
CHAPTER 6
It was late night and seeing her health condition, Jalal decided not to send her back to her chamber. He thanked the Hakima and said that he will take care of her tonight. Hakim Sahiba respectfully said "Aadab Shenshah, Shabba kher" (Good Night) and left.
Jodha tetchily said " Nahi hame hamare kaksh me jana hai, humein aapka koi upkar nahi chahiye. (I want to go back to my chamber; I don't want any favors from you.)
Then arrogantly she got up from the bed with heavy jolt and tried to walk out of the chamber but due to weakness from fast, she felt dizzy again, her vision faded and she was about to fall but at the last second Jalal caught her and carried her in his arms towards the bed. Their eyes met with each other's. His eyes were dancing with humor and with playful smirk Jalal put her on the bed softly.
Jalal ironically said "Jodha Begum, hame to lagta hai aap jaan boojhkar hamare hi saamne girti hain taaki hum aapko apni baahon mein utha sake aur chhoo sakein" (Jodha begum, I think you purposely fall in front of me so I can carry you in my arms and touch you.)
She gazed at him with embarrassment, then with deep sigh out she thought...why he is so charming and attractive? His aroma is so intoxicating. Why can't I take my eyes off of him? I have never felt like this for any man before. When he hoeld me near his chest my heart stopped beating. He does have a magnetic personality. He is so sharp, quick and a manipulative player, how quickly he played in the Jashn (function) and fed the sweet to Rukaiya begum without anyone knowing the real reason behind it and with his one act he showed every one how he doesn't value me and at the same time he pleased his favorite begum also. He is a true player, he hardly speaks but when he does speak everyone followes him blindly. He is extraordinarily intelligent in talking; he even made me a fool and found out my true identity. Suddenly she realized what she was thinking, she quickly closed her eyes in exasperation and thought 'Oh Nooo Kanah... what is happening to me??? Why am I thinking about this Jallad? I should not take another chance again to leave from here, what if I fell again? Then he will have to support me and I don't want any favors from him. She decided to keep quite.
Jalal saw her lost in thoughts, her face looked so sad and helpless. To distract her Jalaal teasingly said "Today my new begum will sleep in my chamber for the first time."
Jodha squinted eyes and said "My unfortunate destiny...Poor me, I will have to bear the torture of staying with you for the night."
Jalal with his sharp eyes gazed at her impassively but his lips had a hint of smirk seeing her so vulnerable and angery. He was thoroughly enjoying teasing her.
Jalal slowly walked towards her and sat on the bed next to her, then sarcastically asked "My poor unfortunate, brainless begum, I am asking you for last time, do you want to eat something?"
Jodha angrily replied "First of all I am not brainless, and second you are the one who is asking me brainless question. You know I am fasting but still you are asking me to eat food. Shenshah, I will not eat anything till I do prayer tomorrow morning, so don't ask me anymore brainless questions."
Jalal with smirk on his face looked at her mockingly and said "Ok, as you wish, my poor begum" then he called his personal maid and ordered her to bring (Shahi Pakwan) Royal meal.
Jodha got annoyed thinking he is so dominating, even after I denied he is ordering food for me, fumingly she said "I said I don't want to eat food, don't you understand what I said the first time or are you really..."
Jalal scornfully replied: "Jodha begum, aap kabhi apne ilawa kisi aur ke baare nahi soch sakti kya, ye khana humne hamare liye mangvaya hai, apke liye nahi, Vaise bhi Hum Jante hai aap kitni ziddi hain, hum aapko kya pagal lagte hai ki pattar se apna sar fodte raheinge.(Jodha begum, how selfish of you, you think about yourself only all the time, don't you see your husband is hungry, I have ordered food for myself, I am not crazy that I will keep hitting my head on a rock.)
Few minutes of silence followed.
Jodha was so irritated, and Jalal kept smiling looking at her. Even he didn't know why, but he was really enjoying teasing her. No one dared to speak to him this way ever, not even Rukaiya. He was enjoying this new relation of hatred. Every begum of his was opposite to Jodha, they could die to see his one smile, all of them always tried to please him in different ways but Jodha didn't care, she didn't even care of his status of Shenshah, she didn't want to be special queen of his. She always said what she felt without any fear of the consequences.
Jodha was thinking, how shameless he is... he will eat in front of me, he doesn't even care I have not eaten anything for four days and smell of food will create desire for food in me and this Jallad is telling me that I am selfish.
Jodha irritably asked in cranky tone "Ab kya aap hamare samne khana khayeinge?" (Are you going to eat in front of me?)
Jalal playfully replied "Nahin...meri bechari begum...hum to aapke saath mein baith ke khayenge! (No...My poor begum...I will sit next to you and eat.)
Hearing this Jodha got really frustrated and said "Humein bechari mat kahiye warna aap jaante nahin hum aapka kya kareinge aur humne aaj tak aap jaisa koi besharm nahi dekha." (Don't call me poor again, otherwise you will see what I can do to you and I have not seen anyone more shameless than you.)
He inhaled sharply, raised his eyebrow and in sarcastic tone replied "Oh...hamari bechari begum, hum to darr gaye! Aree humne aapko phirse bechari kaha, ab humara kya hoga?? Waise humein ache se pata hai ke hamari tarah koi nahin hai." (Oh...My poor begum, I am so scared. I called you poor again, what will happen to me now?? And shameless... I very well know that no one can be like me.)
Jodha shuddered seeing his scary fuming look... she decided not to reply to him... she kept quite...
After a few minutes of deep silence Jalal asked in husky but deadly silent sound "Jodha, Aren't you scared of me? Do you know that how many states I own? How many kings have surrendered under me? People wait months to meet me. Do you really know who I am?"
Jodha shivered seeing his deadly silent eyes and his thick tone... she said to herself...Oh hell ... Yes... you are too scary... just being around you is so threatening...your sharp angry eyes give me tremors to my core... I know how you control and command people... I am very well aware that you too powerful... probably most powerful person in entire Hindustan but I am also fearless princess... and I will not show my fear or weakness to you.
She composed herself and replied in same thick and deadly sound "Shenshah, Am I scared of you??? NO!!! I only get scared of people who I respect... I am scared of my bapusa, bhaisa, masa, dadisa, and Amer people because they all love me but I am not scared of you because I have no desire left to live. I cannot kill myself, otherwise you will punish Amer and you left me no choice but to live. You have gotten puppet from Amer to play. If you punish me to death, I will be rather happy than scared."
He gazed at her impassively and steadily then replied with cool silent thick manipulative tone "Let's see Jodha begum how long you can stay without fear in this palace."
He was constantly drooling over her beauty ... while looking at her, he said to himself, I knew she don't have fear of me and she doesn't care about my status and she has no desire to be special... she is so transparent and pure. His unbreakable, piercing and constant gaze made her very uncomfortable. She scornfully said "Aap hame aese ghur ghur ke kyun dekh rahe hain?? Humein aise ullu ki tarah ghurna band kijiye apni daravni aankhon se warna kahin aapki aankhe bahar na aa jaye aur aap kuch bhi dekhne ke layak na rahein" (Why are you staring at me? Stop staring at me like an owl with your monster eyes otherwise your eyes will come out, you will go blind forever.)
Jalal could not hold it anymore and started to laugh out loudly showing his beautiful pearl like teeth. Suddenly her anger and fear disappeared and she got mesmerized in his innocent glorious smile. Jalal noticed her staring at him.
Jalal with smirk snapped back at her with the same sentence "Humein aise ullu ki tarah ghurna band kijiye apni daravni aankhon se warna kahin aapki aankhe bahar na aa jaye aur aap kuch bhi dekhne ke layak na rahein" (Stop staring at me like an owl with your monster eyes otherwise your eyes will come out, you will go blind forever.)
She could not hold herself either and started to laugh. Both of them were laughing together for the first time.
Jalal sat on the couch relaxing waiting for his food to arrive... he dryly asked "Jodha begum, why are you fighting with Lord Krishna, and punishing yourself to punish him?"
Jodha grumpily replied "So you tell me Shenshah what else should I do?? I have prayed and worshipped Krishna since I was a kid. I talked to him for hours and hours, I shared everything with him...my dreams...my dreams about my future husband...my life...my everything and see what he did, what he let happen with me?? So now I am thanking Kanah for giving me a husband who has more than 5000 women in his harem, I am thanking Kanah for giving me a cruel husband who doesn't even respect other religions, who doesn't even know the meaning of marriage, who feels proud to be called a heartless man." She paused and then continued "Anyway, this is between me and Kanah and you have nothing to do with this. I have always believed that everything happens for good and with wish of Kanah but for the first time in my life I don't feel everything happens for good."
Jalal looked at her innocent sad face and thought, how simply she said what she felt about him, it was hurtful to hear it but its the truth... how purely and easily she showed me the mirror.
It was true, the way he treated women, every time he won states, he demanded to gift women for his harem. He never respected other religions and he indeed felt proud be a called as cruel heartless warrior. He knew everything but hearing from her was still painful for him. His dead heart winced in pain for the first time. Her blunt answers were pounding on his heart, his anger was slowly starting to boil up to take revenge from her but her innocent purity was constantly defeating him and her pain started to wound his stony heart. He couldn't face her for long so he closed his eyes and rested his head on the couch.
Soon the guard came inside to inform food has arrived, which snapped both of them from their thoughts. Jalal gave permission to serve food.
Maids entered with lots of different dishes. The entire room got filled with aroma of delicious food. Jalal's plate was served by maids and then they left. Jalal was really very hungry as he didn't get a chance to eat properly the entire day. He started eating food quietly but then realized that Jodha has not eaten anything for the last 4 days. He suddenly stopped eating in the middle and called maid and told her to take the food back.
Jodha noticed that Jalal suddenly stopped eating food and sent it back, so she asked him sarcastically "Shenshah ko khana pasand nahi aaya kya??" (Did the Shenshah not like the food??)
Jalal quickly replied "Nahi Jodha begum wo kya hai na ki hum hamari ammi ki ekloti aulad hain aur hum nahin chahte ke hamare khane pe kisi ki nazar lage aur hum bimar ho jayein, pata hai kali billi ki nazar kitni buri hoti hai??" (No Jodha begum, actually the thing is I am my mother's only child and I don't want anyone to keep a bad eye on my food and make me sick, you know how badly black cats affect??) then he smirked at her.
Jodha asked with anger "To kya hum aapko kali billi lagte hai??" (Do I look like a black cat to you??")
Jalaal quickly replied "Nahi Nahi Jodha begum aesa mat kahiye, dekhiye aapki vajah se wo kali billi humse naraz ho gayi." (No no Jodha begum don't say like that, look because of you that black cat is mad at me now.) He smirked at her again. Jalal was really enjoying teasing her.
Jodha was really annoyed now and said "I don't want to talk to you anymore and I am going to sleep now."
Irritably she started taking off her jewelry and then she opened her long hair.
Jalal was staring at her the whole time and enjoying her beauty.
Jalal mockingly replied "I am too tired, I am going to sleep." he got up and took his pillow and lie down on the corner of the same bed.
Jodha suddenly realized he is sleeping next to her, she quickly got up from the bed and said "You can't sleep on this bed."
Jalal dryly without any expression asked "Why not?"
Jodha replied "Because I am saying so, we can't sleep on the same bed."
Jalal crossly questioned her with his gleaming angry eyes "So you don't have trust on me, you still think that I will take advantage of you and force on you??"
Seeing his angry hurtful eyes she got scared a little and replied calmly "It's not like that, I know you will keep your promise but how can we sleep on same bed, that close?? What if we lose our control??"
Jalal's eyes gleamed with humor and playfully he asked "Ohhh!!! you don't trust yourself Jodha begum??"
Jodha petulantly replied "I don't have any problem, sleep on the same bed but don't dare to come anywhere near my side."
Jalal smiled on his little victory.
Jodha went to sleep in a flick. Jalal watched her impeccable beauty. Few strands of her hair fell on her face, Jalal quietly moved those strands of hair from her face and gazed at her beautiful face till he fell asleep.
Both of them were very tired from their long journey and all the sleepless nights. Jodha turned few times in sleep and moved towards Jalal's side and unknowingly her head was resting on his shoulder and her hand landed on his chest in sleep Jodha's chunni went under Jalal's hand. Jalaal woke up feeling heavy on his chest and soon realized it's because Jodha was sleeping on him. He smiled looking at her possessing him in sleep, he was loving this closeness. Soon he fell asleep while gazing at her.
Jodha had slept peacefully after so many days and woke up early in the morning feeling extremely fresh. She noticed she was completely on Jalal's side of the bed. Her hand was resting on top of his chest and her head on his shoulder... she noticed in sleep his hand was on top of hers... She felt embarrassed and quietly decided to move away from Jalal. She slowly tried to put his hand on side but in sleep Jalal turned towards her and put his hand back on her waist. Jalal was still sleeping peacefully, but her chunni was stuck under him very awkwardly. She tried pulling her chunni but while pulling it she fell on him. Jalal suddenly woke up and realized exactly what happened. Jodha was now resting on top of him and for a few seconds both got lost in each other. Their inconsistent heartbeats were clearly audible to each other. Their faces were inches apart, warm breath was creating sensation in Jalal and he was completely mesmerized in her beautiful deep shy eyes. Her trembling lips were creating desire in him to touch them. Jalal tightened his grip and pulled her little more closer by her bare waist. Jalal with close eyes rubbed his cheek with her cheek. Her soft skin and sweet smell made him fanatical. His first sensual touch sent shivers inside her body. After few seconds of lost control she came back to her senses and tried to push him away, Jalal also snapped out from her beauty spell and came back to his senses. He tried to let Jodha free from the situation but her chunni was stuck badly under him, to release her he grabbed her and rolled over her. Now Jalal was resting on top of her and again they got lost in each other for a few seconds. Jalal warmly with sensual whisper said in her ears "Good Morning Jodha begum."
Jodha tried not to blush but still she blushed and there was a little smile with fake anger on her face.
Both of them swiftly got up from the bed... Jodha angrily said "Didn't I tell you we shouldn't sleep on the same bed." She started murmuring to herself softly "He never listens to anyone, don't know how he became shenshah!"
Jalal was taking pleasure in her anger. Her irritating cute face was creating humor and making her look more adorable.
Jalal teasingly winced "oohhh aaah my whole body is aching!!!! Jodha begum, what have you done?? Seems like the entire night you slept on top of me."
Jodha felt so flustered and embarrassed, without looking at him she walked out of the room without saying a word.
Jalal smirked watching her going out.
Jalal called his maid and instructed her to inform him as soon as Jodha begum finishes her prayer.
Jalal finished his routine namaj then sword practice and was ready for the day. It was almost time for Diwan E Khas. The maid came and informed him that Jodha begum is done with her pooja.
Jalal immediately went to Jodha's chamber and instructed maid to leave the food platter and go.
Jodha irritably asked "Ab kya aaj bhi koi gunah ho gaya hai hamse, hum khana khaye bina aur ek din aaram se gujar sakte hain, Hum Rajput hai itni Jaldi nahi marenge" (What happen??? Shenshah, Have I done any crime?? I haven't eaten yet, I can go for another day without food. I am a Rajvanshi Princess; I will not die that easily.)
Jalal teasing replied "No way Jodha begum, I can't punish you any more, my shoulders can't bear your heavy burden anymore. My body is still aching."
Jodha squinted her eyes and said "Oh...I didn't know... King of kings...Shenshah E Hindustan's shoulders are so weak."
Jalal snapped back at her "Oh...Jodha begum, the day you want to test my shoulders, my hands, my legs and you know what else, let me know, I will show you how strong they are!" His sharp eyes turned dark with humor and his lips curved with hint of smirk.
Jodha's face turned pink, she saw wicked gleam playing in his eyes and then she said to herself...Oh god!!! He is so intimidating.
Jodha irritably asked "Kripa aap humein batayeinge ke Shenshah E Hindustan ka aagman yahan, is bechari begum ke yahan par kyu hua hai." (Can you please tell me why Shenshah E hindustan came to see his poor begum?)
Jalal confidently replied "Wo kya hai na Jodha begum hum kisi kaam ko adhura nahi chodte, Apne kal hame mithai khilai thi aur hum aapko nahi khila paye the to humne socha uss rasam ko aaj poora kar dein. Aur kya pata isi bahane aapki namkin aur kadvi zuban ko Jara mithi ho jaye." (You know Jodha begum, I never leave any work incomplete. Yesterday you fed me sweet and I couldn't, so I thought why not finish that custom today. And who knows maybe this way I can make your salty and sour tongue sweet.)
Jodha got shocked hearing that Jalal came to feed her sweet. His commending and intimidating tone scared her again. She replied sarcastically "Apni iss bechari begum par itni meherbni kyun?? Aapki is meharbani ki vajah Shenshah?? Kahi iss upkar ke piche Zehar khila ke marne ka irada to nahi hai na?" (Oh!!! That is a big obligation for this poor begum, why are you doing this favor Shenshah??? What is your intention behind this care??? Your intention behind this care isn't your decision to kill me with poison, is it?)
He gazed at her sternly. He smiled dryly which didn't touch his eyes, his eyes looked elusively disappointed.
He raised his eyebrow and sternly replied "Aap hamari sabse badi dushman hain Jodha Begum, aapko itni aasan maut nahin de sakte hum." (You are my biggest enemy Jodha begum, how can I give you such a easy death.)
He sounded bitterly hurt but then quickly he took a piece of sweet from the platter and forwarded his hand to feed her sweet. She shyly opened her mouth and ate the sweet. Her eyes gleamed with tears. It was horrifying to let her uninvited tears prick out in front of him.
Seeing her in tears, Jalal's anger vanished in a flick of a second. He calmly said "Jodha begum, Hope this sweet diminishes your bitterness." He looked at her sad teary face and walked out from there swiftly.
Jalaal went straight to Diean E Khaas.
Diwan e Khaas was filled with many intelligent and talented administrators and maulvies. This was the first time Jalal was attending the court after his marriage with Jodha. All the maulvis were really upset with Jalal because he got married to a Hindu Princess and also accepted her conditions. They were complaining, why this marriage was not discussed with them in advance. How can he give permission to Jodha begum to continue her religion and have a temple in her chamber? Every Mughal in the court was against Jalal. Jalal scanned the whole court with his sharp eyes, looking at each and every person in the court. Even after so many complaints his face had an impassive expression and eyes had dangerous silence in them.
Mahamanga loudly yelled "Khamosh!" (Quiet!)
Everyone in the court got shocked and fell quiet hearing Maham Anga's roaring yell.
Next: Letter from Bharmal arrived informing his arrival in Agra for Pag Fera rasam.
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Edited by shahbhavini - 10 years ago
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