Chapter : 11
To the outsiders, the palace would look like a magnificent city in itself. The sky could barely be seen due to the colorful cloths hanging overhead, lanterns lighting up the gardens and the hallways, flowers decorating everything all the way to the court, where the celebration would be taking place.
The cause, or rather, causes of this celebration were in two different states of mind respectively. One of them laughing and thinking about the plans he set in motion for the night and the other full of anxiety and apprehension of what might happen at the celebration, and with good reason.
Sam was freaking out at the thought of being at the spotlight with Shahenshah. The man would no doubt grasp at every opportunity to humiliate her in every way possible. But she kept her front calm and collected as the maids adorned her with jewelleries. It shouldn't be too long now before she would have to go go the celebration.
Sure enough, as soon as her maids finished their work, a guard came with the news, "It is time to leave for the celebration, Begum Sahiba."
Sam sighed and nodded. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. 'You can do this," she told herself. 'You are tougher than this. You've survived worse. Get it together, Roy.' After a moment of convincing herself, Sam opened her eyes. Acting more confident than she felt, she got up and turned around.
"In a moment," she told the guard who bowed and made to leave. But he halted in surprise as he seemed to see something at the doorway. Sam turned towards the door to see what had the guard so startled only to discover it was not a what, it was a who. Jodha Begum.
The Rajvanshi woman looked beautiful wearing a light blue sari with a blouse of darker shade of blue, matching jewelleries adorning her body. It particularly brought out her doe like hazel colored eyes.
The elder Begum smiled. "Are you ready, Me ... Sam Begum?"
Sam gave a small laugh at the ridiculous rhyming of the words. "Just Sam is fine."
"But that is inappropriate."
Sam shook her head. "Far from it. You are my elder. You do not have to call me by any title. Besides, the rhyming of 'Sam Begum' is absolutely ludicrous."
Begum Jodha chuckled and nodded. "Very well. If that is what you wish."
"It is."
"Well then, we should go." Begum Jodha started. "The celebration is about to start."
Sam nodded. "Yes. Just a moment." She then turned towards her maids. "Lakshmi, Nirja, you two will be accompanying me."
At that, many of the maid's faces fell. Sam guessed they were hoping to be the ones to go with her. Well, she could not bring everyone. But Lakshmi and Nirja seemed to disagree with her decision.
"But Begum/Sam ..." they started.
But Sam stopped them with a look that said, 'Don't argue.' They looked reluctant, but conceded. Sam beamed and turned around. "Now, we can go."
"Wait," Sam frowned at Jodha. "I need to tell you something." She looked serious, none of the previously jovial attitude existent on her face.
"Okay," Sam said cautiously.
"I know Shahenshah is a cruel man." The Rajvanshi princess started. "He can be vicious when he wants to be. Especially to those he hates. Be careful."
Sam smiled at the concern. "Forgive not worry about me. I will be fine." Sam didn't know who she was trying to convince, Begum Jodha or herself. She felt as she strode out of the room with Jodha beside her and Lakshmi and Nirja flanking her on both sides.
'God, I hope I get through this without killing myself ... or anyone else.'
Jalal POV
He entered the courtroom gracefully with a relaxed demeanor that belied his anticipation for the night's events. He was wearing his favourite green kurta with an embroidered black overcoat. Necklaces of pearls hung from his neck and rings of precious gems adorned his fingers.
With the magnificent crown on his head, he was tall and proud as he walked with a tiger-like grace towards his equally magnificent throne. When he reached the throne, he turned around, put his right foot on the footstool and sat down. He turned his scabbard covered sword towards the floor so that the tip was touching the ground.
As he sat down, everyone else in the courtroom took their seats as well. He leaned back and scanned the courtroom like a hunter looking for its prey. His prey would come soon enough.
He did not have to wait long. Just a few moments after he sat down, the guard shouted with his usual vigor. "Begum Meera padhar rahi hai."
Jalal looked at the entrance waiting for her to appear. Soon, a head adorned with a single piece of jewellery across the middle and a veil over it emerged. And them the body followed.
Once again, Jalal was struck. His youngest wife really was beautiful. The last few days, she had worn simple cotton clothes with just a few adorning materials. Seeing her tired and angry face every day, he had overlooked her beauty. Now that he could see it again, he was appreciating it.
She was wearing an orange sari the exact shade of dusk sky. She was not wearing a mountain of jewelleries like his other begums. No, she was a golden chain necklace with a round lockets and a simple but beautiful stone studded necklace that had a sapphire in the middle. The necklace came to rest just under her breasts and it made her look that much more beautiful. Or, maybe it was the other way around. Maybe she was making the necklace look more beautiful.
After roaming the body, with some filthy thoughts, Shahenshah's eyes rested on her face. Even with minimal decoration, her face looked like that of an angel. Again, simple but beautiful. She was smiling sweetly at every one as she greeted them, but the smile did not reach her eyes. In fact, the look in her eyes was hard and cold.
They betrayed nothing. Jalal did not know what the girl was thinking and that disturbed him greatly. He prided himself on his ability to read people. It's how he sought out his enemies in disguise of friends.
No matter. By the time this night was over , the girl will be forced to show her emotions. He would break that mask on her face, shatter it to pieces. She would know humiliation in front of everyone.
The Princess of Malwa reached the throne in a few moments even though it felt like hours to Jalal. He was almost trembling with anticipation as his wife sat down beside him. The girl did not even look at him. She stared straight ahead.
Jalal spared a sinister smile at her before standing up. All the courtiers and all the women stood in respect, all but one. But then again, the bride almost always remained seated during such ceremonies. It was one of those untold social traditions. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the girl roll her eyes. She found this boring, did she? Well, he would change her opinion before the night was over.
He turned towards the court and addressed the courtiers and the women seated behind the veil. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is an auspicious day. We have once again formed an alliance with the Rajputs through holy matrimony." He chose his words carefully to highlight the benefits. Some people were still not happy with him marrying two Hindu princesses, one after another.
He heard a soft snort beside him, so soft that only he heard it. But it was enough for him to realize that the girl had seen through honey coated words. This marriage was not for any alliance and it definitely was not holy. It was an ugly and twisted plot of vengeance and power. And they both knew it. But the girl did not realise the true extent of his vengeance. 'She would soon though,' he thought smugly.
He nodded to the Moulabi Sahib to say piece. The man nodded back and stepped forward. "This day has brought hope for new bonds for the Mughal Empire. By Allah's grace, our Shahenshah has made new alliances and secured the support of yet another strong Rajput province. We pray that such progress continue in the future. Amen."
He nodded again to the religious leader before sitting down, his courtiers sitting down along with him. The man nodded back again and spoke. "And we shall start this holy relationship like everything happy, with something sweet." There was a round of chuckle at that.
The Moulabi clapped his hands and instantly a maid came into the courtroom with a thaali covered with a red cloth, no doubt sweets of some kind there. The maid approached them with nervous steps. When waiting for the maid to reach them, Jalal saw a glimpse of movement by his side. He turned his face as much as he could without anyone noticing.
What he saw made him want to chuckle. His wife was leaning forward, eyes lit up with delight and she was taking a deep breathe through her nose. Like a sniff. She was taking a sniff of the smell of the sweets.
It was at that moment that Jalal actually looked at how young his wife is. A mere child compared to him and his other begums. For one moment, one fleeting moment, he felt guilty for making her a victim of his wrathful vengeance and twisted schemes. But it was just for one moment. The feeling passed as soon as it came and was replaced by his thirst for revenge.
He should not feel guilty, would not feel guilty. This girl insulted him in the open at market, retorted him at the mudikhai ritual, humiliated him in front of his courtiers. She was not as innocent as she seemed at this moment. And she would pay for every bit of humiliation she had caused him.
His thoughts of revenge were interrupted by the maid as she extended the thaali towards him. At that moment, the Moulabi addressed the both of them, "Shahenshah, Begum Sahiba, now you two have each to feed each other these sweets and have a sweet start to your relationship."
The Moulabi then turned towards his Begum. "Begum Sahiba, first you feed Shahenshah and then you feed the Begum, Shahenshah." He could practically feel the girl taking a deep breath and he knew that he had closed her eyes for a moment, as if she was preparing for her death. At that, he did gave a low chuckle, too low for anyone to hear.
Except his youngest Begum, apparently. He looked at her and saw her giving him a dirty look. The kind that would never be appropriate on the face of a princess. His other Begums would frown at the impropriety of it. But somehow it brought out the fire in her eyes.
He just gave her a smirk and then turned towards the maid. He uncovered the thaali a bit and took a laddoo from it. Jalal smiled. He did like laddoos. A lot. And then he handed the laddoo to his wife and she took it with 'the look' still on her face.
She took it and extended it towards his mouth. And unlike Jodha, who had her eyes shyly downcast when she was in this position, the Princess of Malwa looked at him in the eyes, not a single shared of fear or even shyness in them. She looked at him head on.
He grabbed her wrist and brought her hand towards his mouth. Taking a bite from the laddoo, he reveled in the taste of such a simple things. Then it was his turn. He took the laddoo from her hand. It was traditional for the bride and groom to eat from the same sweet. He put it at her mouth with a smile.
The girl returned his smile sarcastically and took a small bite from the sweet. He quickly retracted his hand and kept the hand back on the thaali. The maid bowed and made to leave.
"Stop." It was the first word he had heard her say since she came to the celebration. It was soft, but she said it with such confidence, as if she was used to giving commands. Her self assurance did not falter even when she was in a room full of royal people and the centre of everyone's attention.
The maid turned back, her face full of apprehension, clearly thinking that she had done something wrong. He was confused as well, why did she stop the maid? Was it something the maid did? Or was she going to punish her due to her own frustration at him? Oh well. He would find out soon. It was not like he didn't punish servants just because he felt like it.
But then the Princess just smiled, genuinely smiled. She slowly reached out, as if showing a scared puppy she did not mean any harm. Everyone was expecting the hand to hit the maid in some way. But what happened was not what anyone was expecting.
Instead of the maid, his Begum's hand landed on the thaali. Her hand hovered over the laddoos for a moment and then, in the blink of an eye, she had a fresh laddoo in her hand, smiling triumphantly. "Thank you," she said to the maid. "You can go now."
The maid bowed and quickly walked out of the courtroom. The Princess then smiled and took one bite from the laddoo. And with that one bite, she took half of the sweet and started chewing. And then, even before she was halfway through her chewing, she put the other half in her mouth and started the chewing all over again. It made her look like a completely uncivilised child. But Jalal couldn't find it in himself to care.
He laughed out loud at her antics. At rhat, she seemed to come out of her eating trance and looked around. She seemed to realize that everyone was looking at her. Finally, still eating, she settled her eyes on him.
She swallowed what seemed like the last of her sweet and then spoke, "What? I love laddoos." She said it just loud enough for everyone to hear. And everyone laughed at that. And she blushed. It was the first time he had seen the crimson colour on her. And it was beautiful.
The laughs died down soon enough. And then the Moulabi announced the start of celebration. Say what you will about the Mughals, they did know how to celebrate. Varieties of artists, singers, dancers, actors and banjaraas performed with songs of praises, beauty of the new Begum, bravery of Shahenshah and their beautiful relationship.
And as the last of the artists ended their performance, Jalal got up from his throne to address his courtiers. "Today, we have seen the start of a relationship being celebrated by outstanding talents. The artists a here today has entertained us beyond words. And I thank them for that."
There was a round of polite applause. And then, he spoke again, "But there is another artist here today whose talents we have not yet had the pleasure of experiencing." He could see everyone frowning at that.
He smiled like a Cheshire Cat. "My newest Begum, Meera." He saw her head snap up out of the corner of his eyes and turned towards her. "My dearest Begum, I hear you have a beautiful voice. Why do you not sing a song for us?"
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A/N : I am so so sorry. It's been two months. I was busy and I didn't have much time to write. And I have other stories going on. But I will update the next chapter soon. I kinda left a Cliffy here and I am excited to write the next chapter. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this.
Edited by Agents - 8 years ago
Indian Mythology
Sampoorna
CID
Current Affairs
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