HBAS Chat corner - Page 7

Periyamma 🤗Chellam 🤗Bindup 🤗Mitu 🤗Selvi 🤗Lana🤗 Jyothi 🤗

Good afternoon, Periyamma ! ❤️

Good evening, Lana , Pallavi!❤️

Even in the form of a portrait, she exuded charm and finesse, her eyes spellbindingly radiant. Even through a still-image, she could breathe life into a place, her vibrancy somehow uplifting the dark ambience of the hallways.

Curling his fingers around the slim object that neatly fit within his fist, he brought it up to the surface - his intrigued features coming alive with a glimmer of fascination as the buried box finally saw the light of day.

It was a brass rectangular case. Heavy. Possibly an heirloom.

His fingers then flicked open the lid to unravel the mystery and witness the marvel for himself.

An old rolled up scroll, sealed and intact!

To his trained eye, it took less than a blink to recognise the original seal of the Mughal court.

Here it was, finally. The Farmaan!

Suddenly, the document did not feel so thin and flimsy anymore. It felt heavy. Uncomfortably heavy, in fact - so much so that he couldn't wait to unburden himself of it.

'Another achievement... another feather in your cap... what a proud moment it'd be when you hand it to him...'

Akbar didn't respond to that last statement though.

'A proud moment?' Somehow, he wasn't sure this was an achievement he was going to be proud of.

'Jijasa... I am sorry if I've hurt your sentiments... I am sorry for the trouble this has caused you and your family... but please understand... I do not want this wedding...'

'How dare you...' Mahendar snarled.

Having finally exhausted his stock of patience, he thrust his sharp jawline right into her face. Yes, he was fed up. Fed up of putting up a show. Fed up of putting up with the two sisters - especially with this partially-blind exiled one! So, he let her see him for who he was 'Is there someone else in your mind then?'

'Someone else?' Her heart lurched into a frenzied beat saying 'Yes'

'No...' she lied and quite convincingly, in fact.

...

After a very tense interval, kakisa spoke up 'Is there a problem, Ranisa?'

'Yes there is a problem!' the queen uttered with an audible sigh ..'this morning, I've come across quite a few disturbing facts that compels me to question her upbringing... and even her character!'

'My character?' Heera's eyes widened. She had expected bad. But this was turning out to be worse.

'Upbringing?' Chitranjan broke his spell of silence 'W... what do you mean Ranisa? Our Heera has very high morals... you must be mistaken!'

'Maharaj...' disputed the king of Manswar 'then, why has she been secretly meeting our Kunwar behind our backs?'

'I have learnt that they spent a good while together... alone in a room... last night?'

...

'I have a suggestion...' intervened one of the dignitaries who seemed to want to stop the situation from taking a more unpleasant turn 'as it is we were meant to get the two of them married in a few months' time... why not do it now and be done with it? That should bury any scandal!'

'Yes...'

'Yes I agree...'

Alas! The Kunwar was feeding them a ridiculous story about a romantic affair that never happened - dragging her name, along with his, right down into the gutter. Thus leaving the families with no option but to rush ahead with the marriage...

'YES, I admit... we did meet twice...' she ultimately announced 'alone...'

'I wanted to know how Kunwarsa was feeling... from what I'd heard, he was devastated after jiji's death... so... as Durga Bai's sister, it was my duty to assure him that he mustn't feel pressurised to go ahead with the marriage...' she shrugged her petite shoulders casually 'Of course, I had assumed that since he loved jiji so dearly, he would appreciate my gesture... maybe, even feel relieved to hear my words...' she nodded humbly 'but I was mistaken... he was perfectly fine... and on the contrary, he is looking forward to the wedding...'

Mahendar was aware of what she was trying to do.

'Darn!' He rolled his fists as he struggled to internalise the fury.

A Caravansarai - in a town enroute the capital

Grabbing his bag from the saddle, Akbar made a routine check of its most important belonging - the tunic, within which the Farmaan had been secretly sewn in.

And then, he checked for the small memento tucked below - the embroidered drawstring pouch.

Her gift!

Letting his rugged features relax and his gazes grow warm, the young man loosened its strings and opened it.

'By the way... I... I wanted to give you this... Maharaj kakasa's laddus... the maids had mentioned that you'd enjoyed them during the feast...'

There it sat. One last laddu that he had stored away for himself, wanting to preserve the perishable token for as long as he could. However, the laddu was beginning to lose shape. And it looked like it might not last for long.

Maybe time had come to accept her gift.

Sabha Niwas

'What do you mean?'

'For instance Kunwarsa... we were alone in the chamber last night... and we both agree that what happened between us was anything BUT romantic!' she deliberately paused, glancing at her Godparents to ensure the gist of her message had sunk in 'Our guards and maids wouldn't dare to spread to such rumours... it's obvious I wouldn't tell stories that would malign my character... so, I'm left wondering who cooked up these dirty tales about us, to speed up the wedding?'

...

'Then for whose sake do you think I'm doing all this, Harka Bai?'

'Basically Kunwarsa' she persisted - despite kaki's repeated attempts to get her to stop 'I wanted to show everyone that you are neither doing this for jiji's sake... nor for your parent's sake... you are doing this only because you want Parnagarh and the iron ores that lay under them!'

'Ranisa, I would lay my life for Parnagarh, if needed...And it is because I care so much for Parnagarh that I had to bring out the truth now'

'Aidabad?' he whispered - low enough to leave an impact, but loud enough to be heard by her Godparents.

'You were there for two weeks... which is long enough...'

'You stayed at a Mughal businessman's house' he candidly observed her features for signs of a reaction, like a hawk would observe its prey 'Didn't you?'

'I heard that the two of you spent time in each other's company...'

Heera glared at her challenger, her unbroken stare awash with a fresh pang of hatred. ...Helplessness. Desperation. Anguish. Exhaustion. Loneliness. Self-pity. A broken heart.

There was only so much of it she could take 'It was just business...' she lied again, striving her level best to make her lie sound as convincing as possible - but not before her left eye had involuntarily misted up 'nothing more...'

...

'Maasa... Bapusa... and all this while she's been maligning MY character...'

'Shameful indeed, my Kunwar...'

'This is not true' A hot tear burst its bank when she found herself at the receiving end of several disgusted sighs from onlookers. Another tear came gushing down when she noticed the mortified expressions on the faces of kakisa kakasa 'He is twisting the story, like always!'

'Imagine the scandal when the rest of our community come to know of this... I wonder how many Rajput kingdoms will come to Parnagarh's help then...'

'You are accusing me without proof, Kunwarsa...'

'You forget...' he murmured 'scandal doesn't need proof... a few willing ears will do!'

Having dealt the final blow, Mahendar walked out on her, quite pleased with how well his gamble had paid off. ...He'd rendered his enemy disarmed, vulnerable and wounded.

Inside the Sarai...

'News for you, Khan Sahib...' the informant murmured near his ears.

'Yes?'

'The devil has returned... to the capital... he's plotting...'

His jaws stopped moving - what with Akbar biting down upon his teeth instead of the piece of bread in his mouth. Khalil back from Kabul? So soon? Why? 'To instigate Shehzaade against me!'

(Contiued in P14.)

Karkuzhali.