New FF -Bonded by the Baby ch 5 pg 30 - Page 10

Ishita iyer known to her friends as ishu sat alone on her couch in her apartment at the palace of raman sindhiya, drying her hair while she was actually glued to the tv. She was watching the live telecast of the Prince raman opening the cultural festival from the balcony of his palace.

Ishita did not knew that he was back. Her father vishwanathan iyer , the chief of security of the palace, had been so busy , he obviously had no time to inform her.

She had first met raman 16 years before, when her dad had been made the head of the palace security. The king had brought him and his wife madhavi and daughter ishita from the airport in rajasthan to live in apartment on the palace grounds. She had been 12 to his being 18.

Most of her teenage years had been spent studying him , including his tall, hard muscled physique. Instead of a filmstar or a famous rock star, she had idolized raman sindhiya. She had even kept a scrapbook that followed his life but she had kept it hidden from her parents . Of course, that was a long time ago.

Thr crown prince, the most striking male ishita had ever met in her life, had many looks depending on his mood. From what she cud see now, he appeared more rested since his trip.

Sometimes when he was aloof, those black eyes and furrowed brows that matched his glistening black hair made her afraid to approach him. Other times he cud be charming and fun, even a tease. No one was immune from his masculine charisma. Shagun had been the most fortunate woman alive.

His picture was always on the cover of magazines and newspapers in rajasthan. The cameras loved the handsome 33 year old son of the royal lineage with his intense eyes and fair complexion. Dogged by the press , he made the nightly news on television somewhere on the continent every day of the year.

The knowledge that he was home from his travels sent a wave of warmth through her body. 6 weeks without seeing or talking to him about the baby had felt like an eternity. She knew he wud get in touch with her at some point. But after being away, he wud have so much work to catch up on at home, it might be another week before she heard his voice on the phone.

Now that he had left the balcony and had gone back inside the palace, the channel began showing a segment of th funeral that had been televised on the local news channel throughout the kingdom and rajasthan 6 weeks ago.

Flashback

She wud never forget her dad's phone call as he said-"ishu buri khabar hai hamare paas...aaj prince raman aur bahurani shagun jan waapis aane wale the jodhpur se usse pehle shagun bahurani horse riding ke liye chali gayin...raman bhi the unke saath aur unke peeche hi the ghode par jab shagun bahu ke ghode ka ek pair ek gaddhe mein phas gaya aur shagun kafi door jaakar giri...kafi chot aayi...on the spot death ho gayi unki ishu..."

Ishu froze listening to that. Shagun was dead???

It was like a dj vu sending ishita back to that horrific moment when she had learned her own mother madhavi iyer had died.

Poor raman...he had seen the whole thing unfold in front of his eyes...ishita cud not stand it how raman had gone through the ordeal. She had said-" papa...yeh kya ho gaya ...unka bachcha ab kabhi apni maa ko nahi dekh payega..." she had trembled saying this.

Before long she was driven to hospital where Dr Ria Singh had her office. "my dear ishu...what a shock this has been... I am glad mr vishwa brought u here. I am going to keep u in hospital overnight and maybe longer to make sure u are all right. Raman ke paas abhi khud bohot kuch hai to deal wid ...toh agar use pata chalega ki tumhara khayal achche se rakha jaa raha hai toh he will be relieved from this side atleast. Excuse me main private room arrange karti hun."

When ria left the room ishita turned to her dad saying-" raman kitni pareshani mein hoga papa..."

He kissed her forehead saying-" main janta hun ishu...but right now its u I am worried abt. Ur bp is very high. Main yahin rukta hun aaj raat aur main leave ke liye jhoot bol doonga ki tumhe cold hai aur tum rest kar rahi ho."

"aap yahan nahin ruk sakte ho papa...aapko aaj wahan mahal mein rehna chahiye...abhinav uncle ko aapki zaroorat hogi." Ishita had said.

"aaj nahi ishu...aaj koi aur meri jagah sambhal raha hai..aur main aaj apni beti ke paas rahunga. So this is d end of discussion for the night." vishwa had concluded.

Her dad's words had been final. Deep down she was happy he was by her side that night.

Back to present.

Ishita kept on watching the re run of funeral again which she had lived through once. It was so shocking to see how gaunt and shadowed raman's handsome features had been back then. His wife's death seemed to have aged him in few weeks.

flashback

The most beautiful man she had ever known in her life made a striking yet lonely figure in his mourning attire. Once again her soul shuddered to see his somber expression as he performed the last rites of his wife. The scene was so heart wrenching. Ishita felt tears welling up her eyes once again.

Behind him was his dad , the king abhinav sindhiya in his usual attire and raman's mother in-law poornima maheshwari. The familes were present there too. As the broadcast continued ishita heard the pandit chanting all those mantras and making raman do all the rites. When it all got over with shagun being departed soul...ishita was trembling mass of emotions for the nth time.

"aap mein se jin darshakon ne abhi abhi dekha hai main aapko bata dun aap dekh rahe the rani shagun maheshwari ki aakhri vidaai...unki maut ek hafte pehle ek bohot hi dukhad durghatna mein huyi thi. Aap dekh rahe the prince raman sindhiya aur unke parivaar ko bohot hi dukh bhare bhaav mein."

Ishu listened as the reporter continued to say- " aaj iss din par bohot se sawaal hain sabhi ke mann mein iss raj gharane ke future ko lekar...hum sab toh ek khush khabri ka intezaar kar rahe the prince raman aur rani shagun se par ab aisa lagta hai sab ki sab ek dead end par aa gaya hai."

Present

Ishita shut off her tv and got to her feet unable 2 watch any more. She shld nt have allowed herself to live through that funeral segment again. Raman's trip appeared to have done him some good. It was better to leave the tragic past behind and concentrate on the future.

She walked into the den to do some work at her laptop. Her dinner wud be arriving shortly. Except for occasional meal out wid her best friend mihika , ishu normally ate in while she worked on one of her law briefs. But she did not have any appetite that night.

How hard for raman to come back to the palace wid no wife to greet him. His loneliness had to be exquisite and her heart ached for HIM.😭😳

precap- ishra ki first meeting.

so how is it?? waiting

Love❤️

Shivangi