(Thread 3)
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*Index*
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Chapter 2: When she tried to run away
Chapter 6: Honor. Duty. Family.
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TRAUMA KAHA 🤧24. 9
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Sept 25, 2025 EDT
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Quiz for BB19 Members.
Chapter Six: Honor. Duty. Family.
Part 3: In the shadows of past (continued)
Ajmer castle:
Sitting on her horse, Jodha was busy watching the tall towers and the huge palace in front of her. The security here was very tight, no one would escape the eagle eyes from the watch towers, she decided.
"Don't even think about it..." Said a voice light as a whisper. Jodha didn't even have to look at the person standing in front of her to know who it was.
"Think about what?" She asked with mischief laden voice. The listener was amused with her stance it would seem, because he cocked his head up to look at her and his lips twisted in a light grin instead of getting annoyed as he extended his hand. "Is this some kind of game for you?" Jodha continued looking at Shehezade Jalal who helped her to get down from her horse.
"You know this place, don't you?" Jalal asked another question instead of answering her.
"This is the first time I have ever set my foot in this castle..." She replied casually, there was no harm in speaking this truth. "Kamal Khan died far away from this castle if you remember..."
"Very well, that means you know this place..." Jalal concluded.
"You are impossible...I just now told you that I have never been here, and it is the truth."
The delighted man in front of her smiled in return, "I never said that you are lying, Princess. But, even though you are here for the first time you knew exact location of the watch towers, some of which even I didn't notice at first sight..."
This man was really impossible. He didn't even have to ask her to know the truth. Come on Jodha, you can't let him do this to you. You need to be more careful. While she was busy reprimanding herself, Jalal gave orders to escort both the Princesses to their chambers.
Soon few maids and some of Jalal's royal guard escorted them inside the palace. Jodha and Shivani looked around the huge palace. "It is so huge and beautiful..." Shivani whispered at her ear. "...and cursed." Yes cursed that part was on everyone mind and everyone tried their best to ignore it. This was the palace of Sun Jodha decided the beautiful carvings on the walls and pillars testified that.
When you find yourself lost and in need to find a way out, just do one thing Jodha--Follow the sun'. She remembered her father's saying that to her when she was a little girl of six maybe seven.
As a little Princess Jodha always liked to run around and hide in royal palace of Amer. The maids and guards were always busy running behind to get hold of her. That was the best part of it all. It was like playing a game with her brothers except that Jodha always won. She thought she had known the palace thoroughly but one day she found herself somewhere she had never been before. A tunnel that ran somewhere below the palace. In excitement, she went on farther and deeper and when she wanted to go back...she was lost.
Afraid she was as any child of her age would be, hours and hours must have passed she couldn't tell. She was sitting in a corner sobbing to herself when finally her worried father had found her.
"I hope you have learnt your lessons, Jodha." He had said. She had expected the same scolding words from everyone but still it was better than being lost in that tunnel that never seemed to end. But what her father told her next came as real surprise. "Remember, Jodha. This palace was built for us and the secret ways and passages as well. When you find yourself lost and in need to find a way out, just do one thing --Follow the sun' and you will find the way."
He must have regretted telling her that afterward Jodha thought fondly because after that day, finding secret ways in palace had become her favorite game. She knew every nook and corner of Amer palace such way as no one would ever know.
If only it would be true for this palace as well, she must find out and soon... Her chain of thought broke when the maids announced that they had reached their chambers. Jodha insisted on seeing off Shivani in her chamber first before entering her own.
"What would the Raajkumari want?" Asked a maid as obedient as ever.
"A bath first and a fresh set of clothes for now..." She declared too spent to utter a word more. But that was enough cue for them so the maids scurried off for their respective tasks.
Jodha sat in the bath tub which was on verge of overflowing. The water was too hot for her taste but maybe she had forgotten how hot water felt against her skin. A maid scrubbed her back furiously as if to get rid of her skin along with the dirt and soon Jodha almost started missing her mother's pampering touch.
"I will do it myself, you all can wait outside. I will call you if needed", She ordered. And when the maids disappeared she completed her bath brooding over all her plans in silence. One thing she was certain that there were secret paths and tunnels built all over this palace and Ajmer castle but she had to find where they were exactly. And she didn't know how many of them were actually known to the current occupants.
Another thing that bothered her most was there was absolutely no news from Amer. After her Bhaisa Raj Singh had visited her, she was sure that news of their being captive of Mughals had reached Amer. But afterwards they didn't even hear a word about Amer, Shehezade Jalal had seen to that. Jodha felt something fishy about it but she couldn't point it out just now.
"Jiji, I am coming inside..." Shivani shouted and barged in when Jodha had just finished dressing herself up in their traditional outfit.
"You look radiant this evening, little sister..." She remarked draping the dupatta around herself.
"I am just happy to be out of that soldier uniform." Shivani chimed with happiness. "Let me call the maids to help you with other things."
The maids came in obediently and started helping Jodha to get ready. This is too much thought Jodha, angrily. First he keeps us as captives and now treats us like his royal guests.
"Jiji, I am going to stay here with you tonight" Shivani declared, plonking herself on the bed in Jodha's chamber.
"And why is that?"
"Don't you remember the stories Dadisaa told us? There are ghosts in this castle and they roam around in the night..."
"Shivani, we are no children any longer to believe in ghost stories..." replied Jodha sitting in front of the mirror as two of the maids combed and dried her wet hair.
"Everyone knows the story of the beautiful dancer...Don't you remember Dadisaa telling that story to us?"
"Which one? Dadisaa tells a lot of stories..."
"Ok, I will tell that story again then, there was a very beautiful dancer who came to perform in this palace of Ajmer. The Subhedar who held the castle liked her performance very much and asked her to stay here. As long as she stayed he started to like her more and refused to let her go anywhere else."
Everyone in the room now was getting interested in listening to Shivani's story. Shivani looked dramatically at her audience and then continued.
"She tried to escape, but all her attempts failed. You would never succeed in escaping from here. Everyone told her...because they knew how strong the castle was and still is. No one can come in and go out as they please. The Subhedar had ordered her maids to keep an eye on her. They used to help her in everything, but at the end of the day they reported everything back to him about what she did..."
Shivani went on ignoring the uneasiness of the maids. "They were...of course not so kind, like you all are..." She assured the troubled audience of hers and Jodha almost swallowed her bout of laughter.
"One day though, she managed to trick her guards. She escaped from her chamber and ran into the passages of the palace trying to find a way to escape. When the news reached to the Subhedar he got furious and ordered his guards to chase her and bring her back to him at once."
"She ran all over the palace from one place to another with her heart in mouth and with a hope to escape. Today she will not go back to the chamber that had become her prison, she had decided. And so, she ran as fast as her legs could take her. The guards chased her closely from one corridor to another. Her anklets chimed loudly betraying her as she climbed the steps and when she reached the last step she realized that she had climbed up all the seven floors and now she had nowhere to go..."
Shivani was on her feet now as if she was the dancer trying to escape, narrating the story.
"It was a dead end. She stood helplessly on the parapet of the seventh floor looking at the guards who closed in on her from all the three sides. Behind her was only the thin air...Today she will not go back to the chamber that had become her prison, she had decided. The beautiful girl thought for a moment and her decision was made..."
All of them even Jodha felt tense at that moment. Her sister was a very fine story teller after all.
"...And she flung herself down from the seventh floor. After all, today she will not go back to the chamber that had become her prison, she had decided" Shivani declared sadly. There were audible gasps heard from the maids, some even had tears in their eyes.
Thud...
A soft noise came from the corner and something black landed on the floor with that, taking everyone in the room with surprise. All the maids ran to the farthest corner of the room along with Shivani. But Jodha sat still where she was her eyes on the black ball that landed on the floor just now.
"It is just a cat...a black colored cat. Not a ghost from your stories..." Saying so she went to the corner and returned with a black cat in her hand.
"Yes...let me see it. We just got afraid because of the story I was telling..." Shivani came forward. "I thought you all must be knowing this story. You must have been serving here for long, right?" She asked the clueless maids making herself comfortable on the bed keeping the cat in her lap.
"No, Rajkumari..." Finally one of the maids spoke up. "We haven't served here for long. We are from farmer families living in nearby villages. These wars have destroyed our crops so we come here to work. Otherwise we never come here or even talk about this castle. But the story...This place is cursed..."
"Don't worry all of you..." Jodha assured all the maids. "My sister listens too much of our Dadisaa's stories..."
"But this palace does have seven floors..." Said one maid.
"And...the dancer's chambers are there on the first floor..." Added another.
"And...there is actually a dead end on the seventh floor, where the passages from three directions unite..."
"And behind the parapet there is only thin air?" Jodha asked completing the last sentence and all the maids nodded in unison.
"You all can go now and don't believe in the stories my sister tells..." saying so she ordered the maids out. And when they all were out of earshot Jodha exploded. "Seventh floor??? Can't you imagine something easier, Shivani? You know how difficult it will be to pull that off?"
Shivani looked a bit startled, "I thought you were impressed by my story. I could already see you running through the corridors..."
"Yes, I was till you brought up that jumping down from seventh floor part into the story..." Jodha fumed.
"I thought it would make it more realistic and the maids won't believe it unless I tell that part..." Replied Shivani in a voice low as a whisper.
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't have to imagine anything Jiji. It is a story Dadisaa told us, don't you remember?"
Of course she did remember, but chose to forget because it was a sad story. The beautiful girl trying to escape used to die in the end so Jodha never liked it much. But it was one of very famous folklores. That is why the maids believed the story, as they too had grown up listening to it from years.
"I do...I remember the story." Replied Jodha thoughtfully looking at the black fur ball resting on her sister's lap. "Shivani, would you do me a favor?"
"What?"
"I need to borrow your anklet..."
***********
Agra Palace:
All the three people in Shehenshah Nasir's chamber waited anxiously for his arrival. Each one of them eager to know the reason behind his hasty decision to visit Ajmer Sharif. Bairam Khan glanced at two of his companions, Wazir-e-Aliya Maham Anga looked totally clueless while Malika-e-Azam Hamida Banu wore a self-satisfied look. Perhaps it was not a good decision to undermine Hamida Banu's activities, he decided.
Bairam Khan had never seen Malika-e-Azam taking interest in political affairs recently so her presence spiked up his curiosity. True that he never really saw her as thorn in his way but he absolutely hated being uninformed. Maham Anga looked in the same state as he was so that was a little relief.
"Ba adaab...Ba Mulahiza..." The sentry at door started to announce the arrival of Shehenshah, and all of them sprang to their feet. Nasir stood in front of them even before the guard could finish the announcement.
"My three most trusted advisers..." Shehenshah started and smiled knowingly.
"Any special reason that I get to see all of you together?" There was a hint of mischief and sarcasm at the same time in that question, Wazir-e-Ala noticed and decided that it must have been a long time since all three advisers of Shehenshah, Malika-e-Azam, Maham and he himself have gathered and held the same opinion about something. So he waited to see if the other two might take the initiative to talk.
Hamida Banu spoke up first as expected, "Is there any word from Jalal?"
"Yes, of course." Nasir confirmed solemnly, "His letters come every now and then, he has reached Ajmer castle as per our messenger who arrived late last night."
"And today you announce that you are going to Ajmer Sharif..." Hamida Banu tried to drive her point home, "Does he need some help? Is he fine?" For a moment it looked like a mother's heart took over the shrewd Queen.
"No, Ammijaan. Jalal is very well capable of handling everything that comes his way." Nasir went to his mother and assured her, "This journey to Ajmer Sharif is just to visit dargah and pay my respects there. It has been long since I visited the holy place...Of course there are some political reasons too...but you do not have to worry about that..."
A small victory. Bairam Khan mused and waited to see how much Hamida Banu could dig up the things they wanted to know. But before that Maham Anga interrupted, "If that is so, it would be an honor for me to accompany you to Ajmer Sharif if it pleases Shehenshah...I will get a chance to meet Jalal as well..."
Nasir looked back at his and his brother's foster mother and then nodded in acceptance, "As you wish, Badi Ammi..."
This woman. Does she always have to interfere? Thought Bairam Khan angrily. When Nasir turned to him.
"I guess you too have something to say Khan Baba?"
"No..." Wazir-e-Ala found himself speak. "I got all my answers Shehenshah..."
"Very well then...now that I have answered all the questions. I would like to talk with Ammijaan regarding the Jakaat we need to distribute at Ajmer Sharif."
"Of course, Shehenshah." Both left the chamber immediately leaving mother son duo alone to discuss.
"A word with you...Wazir-e-Aliya, if you please" Bairam khan signaled Maham to follow him without wasting much words.
"You would have let Nasir speak more about his reasons for this sudden visit..." He spoke once they were inside a secluded chamber where no one could eavesdrop their conversation. Bairam Khan tried to study the wall in front of him as he stood with his back towards Maham Anga.
"You could have asked him directly. Wazir-e-Ala has a right to do so..." Replied Maham with an edge of sarcasm in her voice. "Or shall I take that Shehenshah doesn't find it necessary to confide in Wazir-e-Ala of Mughal Sultanate about his political decisions..."
Pointed words those were...Had it been any other time Bairam Khan would have called Maham foolish even to think so. But today...can he do that? But those were woes of his and his alone. The conniving women standing behind him need not know about them. So his back straightened more in pride and he turned back cold, unaffected and least bothered about the words said a moment ago.
"Maham, they call you Wazir-e-Aliya...I call you Wazir-e-Aliya, but we both know that it is for namesake." His words were as low as a whisper. There was no sarcasm only the fact and truth. "We both want to rule. But there is a difference...I rule and you...you just try to..." Wazir-e-Ala Bairam Khan watching the women standing in front of him clad in all white--head to toe and he continued.
"After Shehenshah Humayun died I was most powerful general of Mughal Sultanate. I could have easily killed his sons and declared myself as Shehenshah. But, I didn't do it. Why? Because people never accept someone who is not of royal blood as their King. They always want someone from royal descent to rule over them, not some powerful general who owns an army of barbarians. So, I helped Nasir to sit on this throne and declared him Shehenshah of Mughal Sultanate. Fought the rebels and established the rule under his name and I ruled this whole Sultanate in his stead for these many years."
"I don't know, why you are finding it necessary to tell me all these things as if I don't understand it all?" Maham asked with a straight face.
"You do, Wazir-e-Aliya. Of course! But that doltish son of yours he doesn't...It is past time you make him understand it." Warned Bairam Khan.
"Adham Khan??"
"My spies tell me that he is planning to revolt after taking Malawa..." He tried to fathom the expressions on the face that betrayed nothing. But Bairam Khan was sure that he had hit the right nerve.
"What? I don't believe you" Maham tried last feeble attempt to avoid it all.
"Now, this must be a great moment...I know something that you don't. And that too when the news is about your own son..." Declared Bairam Khan triumphantly. "And now, I believe you will be making plans to reach Malawa as soon as possible, instead of accompanying Shehenshah to Ajmer." If I don't know Shehenshah's intentions then you won't get to know them as well.
"Of course, I have to..." Maham Anga understood his subtle message very well and replied back in her vicious voice. "But before I go let me tell you something, Children grow up. Shehenshah Humayun's Sons are no longer the children who used to obey your orders...It is time you stop living in the past Wazir-e-Ala..."
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That's all for now...
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