ArHi FF:1: The BEASTS and the BLEEDING ROSES - Page 7

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mona1997 thumbnail
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Posted: 13 years ago
#61
awesome ff loved it thanks for the pm!
anjaani07 thumbnail
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Posted: 13 years ago
#62
Hey😊 wow so I hadn't seen this FF till today and i read all the parts in one go!
Loved it, your writing style is very unique and I love the dark element; it does feel like Arhi but in a different way I can't explain, it's an awesome read. I'm so curious about the second chapter (i think that was it) when he wakes up in the night? Can't wait to find out more and also read more of their interaction with each other. On a lighter note, i loved the 'lordy Lord' comment!
Would love to read more, do you PM updates? If so please add me to the list and if not, i'll bookmark the page and check every so often.
Asma
serialmaniac thumbnail
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Posted: 13 years ago
#63


*EDITED*

Ok so taking your suggestion into consideration i will try to make a long reply to your FF

Firstly i love the dark mystery behind it...reminds me of reading those old classic books wen i was 13-14 you know something like jane eyre and wunthering heights...

but obviously its a dark one so in come the mythical mosters to harrass the female lead

As i read all the chps in one go so cant comment per chp so will do a summary of all:

1) the black hooded female i first thought was maybe khushi's mom but then i think maybe she is arshi's guardian angel..
2) The two sisters are cute but i skipped through it quickly as i wanted to reach arnav' chp fast (sorry)
3) I have a feeling arnav is a werewolf (or something similar creature)...cant be the beast as khushi saw him as a human...
4) curse huh??? so tell khushi to kiss arnav ...there goes the curse...
5) anjali too lonely and general shyam...hmmm...ok but i am stilll intrested in arshi parts😉

Ok i hope this was long enough😛...love your writing style like a proffesional...should become a writer👍🏼
Edited by serialmaniac - 13 years ago
shwetachauhan thumbnail
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Posted: 13 years ago
#64

Ah Lin.. What a treat this is for the reader in me..! What a beautiful story you are weaving..! Loving it!

Well.. the first meeting happened in true Arhi style.. Khushi landing straight into Arnav's arms!!! Your description of the castle and surroundings and how Khushi and Payal were enamored and enchanted with it.. was so detailed and believable! I could picture them vividly!! All the characters in their true form! I dont have a clear idea of the girls' current age in these chapters!! Do let me know..!

A dark love story.. very interesting and intriguing!! Waiting eagerly for it to unfold!!

labi thumbnail
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Posted: 13 years ago
#65
Hey Aqu,🤗

Finally , I read it.😛
Prologue,chap 1 and 2 made me little scared.It's bcoz of that dark lady in hoods and to the top I am reading at night.So u can understand.I know I am silly ..par kya kare?😛
chap 3,4 and 5 are good.I felt as if I entered into a fantasy world.😍

Now my little interpretations...

Prologue depicts Khushi and Arnav's past.How Khushi and her parents met with an accident and how she rescued by her adopted father...How Arnav's mother got shot (I think his father also died )by the hiding man in the bush...and this horrible past made him the way he is now.Am I right?

Is that lady in hood Devi Maiyya or Goddess?😉 then my fear for her will go...😉

Chapter 1...Khushi's present.This chapter reminded me of 1,2 and 3 episodes of IPK.Khushi accidently does harm to Payal, and is blaming herself for all the misery whereas payal and shashi make her comfortable by saying it's not her fault.Reminded me of the marriage fiasco and the later sequences.

Chapter 2...Arnav's present. Didn't get much hint here😉 is he diabetic here?is he suffering from any eating disorder?his past really affected him and made him a horrible one.Loved Anjali Arnav bond here.Anjali knows her chotes habit of dropping food and bearing them all silently.

Chapter 3...first reminded me of the scene where Khushi insist Buaji to allow her to do her saree sale.But here Khushi and payal are going together.

Chapter 4...They are on their way to castle.

Chapter 5...Best part. Bcoz finally they met.😳
Very similar to the way they first met in the show.
She tripped and he caught her.let me aasume that tall rose brush as his fashion industry .Khushi tried to peek into it like she entered the fashion show.He got angry bcoz she tried to touch his rose bush (same way Arnav got angry bcoz she ruined the show).The sleeve ripping similar to breaking of pearl beads..That day she run ...and today too she run after the humiliation...!

Am I right dear? 😛Have I left anything?

It's getting interesting and I loved the 5th part very much.

Pls pm me when U update.
PepsiGirl101 thumbnail
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Posted: 13 years ago
#66
wow i feel like the luckiest person in the world for stumbling upon this FF! its absolutely fantastic and i just love the aura of enigma that you have in your story and this sense of pain around arnavs character. in fact ur characters have really deep personalities although the story has just started. i love the way you've developed ur characters! Im not much of a fantasy person but wow my mind has definitely changed after reading this! and i love the world you created with that medieval tone! this is truly a masterpiece ! LOVE IT!!! :)
Sanjana1679 thumbnail
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Posted: 13 years ago
#67
hi,

I read all 5 parts at once. This FF is totally different and its lovely...But why did Arnav tie his belt to his mouth...I didnt understand that..
sparklystarstud thumbnail
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Posted: 13 years ago
#68
quilz...beautiful update luv
awesome description of the orchard and especially the castle...
lord is already grumpy... he btr apologize soon else... im gonna hate lord arnav...
thanx for the pm quilz...

~~~ sam
Aquiline thumbnail
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Posted: 13 years ago
#69

With my limited knowledge of making pictures, I have created two designs as cover page to my FF but could not quite decide as to which one was to be selected. I would appreciate it if you could spare a moment to just look at the pictures and even if you don't read the story or don't comment on the tale, at least help me decide which of the two pictures struck your aesthetic senses the most. Vote for either Cover Image One or Cover Image Two, thank you.

For viewing the images, kindly visit:

https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/54864230�


Molten_lava and Labi: for the amazing way in which you understood the intended depth of my story and for making me feel like my efforts were not futile after all.

Sam: For always being there to tell me what you think of my FF

Shweta: My little inspirer from the very beginning of my Forum existence...

Guturgutur, masaf, lostlove, Sanjana, Barun_Forever, angeldream: for your appreciation and kind encouragement

MrsRaizada101: I am humbled by the fact that I could have been blessed by being given such an enthusiastic reader

Asma: Your OS (yes, I have read them) have depth and dignity to them and I am so happy you found time to come and join in my little love for ArHi through this story

Serialmaniac: Thank you dear for you suggestions and detailed thoughts, I enjoyed reading them and as I always keep saying, every answer shall need patient waiting for the story to reveal them to us in the course of time...

Chapter Six: Memories of a Mother

Payal hobbled up the wooden steps and emerged panting into the kitchen, her basket heavily dropped onto the floor. Her mother ran to her and helped her to the chair, "What is it, dear? Were you running?"

Payal shook her head and tried to speak but couldn't. She looked towards the water pump over the kitchen basin and nodded at it. Her mother rushed to get a metal tumbler of water and returning to her daughter's side, pressed the tumbler into her hands.

Impatiently, her mother watched her gulp down the water.

"What happened?" she asked again, watching Payal drink the last few drops, "Did..." And then she remembered the note she had found in the flower basket on the window sill of the kitchen, and her face paled with fear, "Where's Kushi? Didn't she come with you?"

Payal's eyes flashed with anxiety at hearing her mother ask about Kushi. She had not found Kushi anywhere on the return trail and had assumed she had probably reached home. But if mother hadn't seen her...

"Where is Kushi?" asked her mother again, this time holding Payal's shoulder and shaking her to wake her from her wandering thoughts.

"Kushi-" Payal began and then she heard the front door shut. Both the women looked in the direction of the sound and since they couldn't see the living room from here, only knew it was Kushi by the sound of boots dragging up the wooden stairs.

Her mother released her hold on Payal's shoulder and was about to walk into the living room when Payal held her mother's hand. The elderly woman looked over her shoulder and Payal said, "She's going upstairs. That means she's not in a good mood. Permit me to see what is bothering her and I will come and tell you if anything is needed."

Her mother's face seemed to battle between her desperation to see to Kushi herself and with Payal's suggestion. But the mother knew better. Kushi was closer to her sibling than to her mother. And of course, there was the fact that she would not reveal everything freely to her mother, but that which she would not keep concealed from her sister. Sighing and finally deciding, the mother nodded and moved into the kitchen.

She stood before the dishes to be washed and listened as Payal climbed the stars, the sound of her boots receding with the growing distance. A tear slid from her cheek and fell onto a tilted plate in the basin. The mother closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could see the image of the frightened, wet child in her husband's hand on that fatal night. How she wordlessly, without asking him anything, asked him to transfer the child into her motherly arms. She remembered how she bathed the child in warm water and put a spare dress of Payal on her. She remembered how the child had, all the while, spoken nothing but simply stared at her face with fear in her eyes and a numbness that hindered her from fighting the woman's care. Did the child feel the touch of her mother when I touched her? Did she wonder if I was after all her mother returned from the depths of the lake but in a different form? Or did she know...did she know that it was all over? That her mother would never come back? And that I was the only mother she will now ever have and she had no choice but to accept it? But then again, will a child after almost drowning, think all this? What can a seven year old think?

"Amma," she remembered Payal leaning over the sleeping child and asking her, "Is she going to stay with us?"

"Yes, Payal," she had replied with a smile, "This is your sister."

"I like her," said Payal, "Oh look, she's smiling in her sleep...she must be dreaming of angels, right Amma? Babuji says we smile when we dream of angels..."

"Yes, she must be," said Amma, watching the child. Indeed there was an innocent radiance on her face lit by that little curve that had formed on her earlier grim lips. Had she begun to accept this place as her home? Is that why she is smiling?

"Amma," Payal's voice broke into her reverie, and the mother looked up.

"Yes, Payaliya?"

"What shall I call her?" asked Payal, her eyes lighting up with glee at the thought of having a sister she can call by and play with.

The mother's eyes fell on the sleeping child again, and then spoke softly, as if afraid that the wind outside might snatch the word away , "Kushi. Because angels visit her sleep and make her smile." Loud thunder echoed in the distance but the family was oblivious to it.

Payal only heard that one word: Kushi... She bent low and kissed the girl on her cheek, "I love you, Kushi. And as your sister, I promise I will always keep that smile on you face." Then she giggled and Amma tucked Payal in bed, right next to Kushi. Before blowing the candle out, she had one last glimpse of the two girls. Payal had already fallen asleep after all the excitement over her new gift, her arm wrapped like a ribbon around the precious present, Kushi.

A smile crept on the mother's face, "My Princesses..." And so it had always been.

However, when Kushi was awake, she fell into too many tomfooleries and got on her mother's nerves. The older Kushi got, the more her mother complained of her as the Goddess of Mischief and accused her of all the things going wrong in the house... But Kushi knew her mother loved her, because every time her mother came to kiss the girls goodnight, Kushi got the deepest kiss. Because along with the love that Payal also got, there was the request for forgiveness in the kiss that Kushi got. "Pestering little Princess," was what she was always called.

Yes, decided her mother, emerging from her thoughts and beginning to wash the dishes, though she is pestering and always giving me a headache, she's still my Princess...

Chapter Seven: Tears of Anger

The upstairs of the cottage contained only the attic and a guest room which was most often not used. The attic was where all the unwanted things of the house were stocked but Kushi had transformed it into a private section of her own. All the things that had been dumped or stocked here, she had moved into the far corner and, in laying carpets and curtains near the tiny window, she had made herself a little kingdom where she ruled and read books from the gentle sunlight tripping though the window. Into this little haven did she often find refuge when she was hurt by her mother's words or because she missed her real parents. Into this world did Payal often enter and find her sister broken over tears or cheery over books and remained with her until Kushi was ready to come downstairs.

And that is how Payal found her that day. She knocked on the door to let Kushi know she was about to be interrupted. Just preparing the little sister to gather her strength to make a brave front, which would fail as soon as Payal embraced her.

"Kushi?" asked Payal, peeing through the door she had opened a little way. She looked around and was shocked to find that for the fist time the attic was in pitch darkness. Kushi never let the attic dark.

Payal rushed into the room and stripped the curtain away from concealing the window.

Turning around, pain stung in her heart at the sight she was met with. Kushi was huddled, exhausted and trembling, against the far wall, her head buried in her knees, her hair let open, hiding her frail form. Payal rushed to her side and without a word, embraced her sister and stroked her hair.

That was when her eyes fell on the huge slit in her sleeve, a long strip of cloth hanging down, its dipping end lying on the dust of the attic floor. The hand that Payal had used to stroke Kushi's hair, moved towards the torn strip but before she touched it, Kushi jerked her hand away and looked up.

Her face was pale with too much crying and her eyes red with endless tears.

"Kushi?" Payal was doubtful if that faraway voice had been her own.

"Its nothing," said Kushi, lifelessly, and looked away. Her eyes, though moist, suddenly blazed in wrath. Payal had never seen Kushi in this state before. Something had happened to make her act this way.

"Kushi?" Payal tried again, and pressed her sister's hand.

The fire in her eyes faded away and Kushi looked up at her sister. She could see the anxiety in Payal's eyes and she knew she was making her sister panic. Her lips broke into a helpless smile and she brought a trembling hand to caress Payal's cheek, "Its okay, Jiji. I just fell."

"Fell?" said Payal, disbelieving, "You've fallen many times before. What kind of a fall was it that you would turn...so strange and broken?"

Kushi tried to keep the smile on her face, "A fall from a great height." And she shivered inside remembering the way the wind had rushed past her, when he had dropped her to the ground. A slow fall into her fate...

"Great height?" repeated Payal, not understanding and then her eyes fell on the torn sleeve, "And this?" She nodded at it and Kushi knew she had to answer it this time. There was no more avoiding. But she couldn't lie to her sister nor could she tell the truth. In the struggle of finding an answer, she said the first thing that came to her mind, "It was the rose bush." After all, the bewitching rose bush had been the cause of her morning tragedy. So she wasn't lying in a way.

"The rose bush?" asked Payal, remembering how Kushi had looked so longingly at it from where they could see it while standing at the outskirts of the grove.

"Yes," said Kushi, her eyes glazed, and looked out at the light falling timidly through the window. In the back of her mind, she saw the detested hand descend and softly graze her as it passed by her upper arm. A fatal feather touch. A warm passing touch to a cold aftermath...

"Your sleeve was torn by a rose bush?" Payal still was not convinced, and then she remembered her own little shock on being found by the First Lord, "You saw him, didn't you?"

Panic rose the rate of her heartbeat, as Kushi stared at Payal in astonishment, "Saw whom?"

"The First Lord."

Kushi forgot to breathe just then. The moment Payal had named his title, concreting the fearful memory she was trying to forget, Kushi saw his face before her. The cold eyes burning her soul, killing her tenderness, his one wild step towards her sending terror to tear at her senses...

"Kushi?" Payal shook her sister, and Kushi broke from her trance.

"Why did you look at me like that?" Payal was the one who was afraid now. She had seen the horror in Kushi's eyes as she stared at her, not knowing that she had seen another face instead of her kind sister's.

Kushi shook her head, "I'm fine. It was the rose bush." She looked away, and began stringing a story for Payal, "I fell when I saw him coming. I was afraid, wondering if the rumors were true, and didn't watch my step."

"The rumors are true," said Payal, drawing upon the man's face from her own recent memory, "He was horrid."

"Yes," assured Kushi, "And I never want to see his face again!"

Payal looked up," But why did you cry?"

Kushi fumbled for words, "I was afraid that if he saw me he might punish me...I just couldn't stop the tears. They came simply out of thoughtless fear."

Payal was not convinced. Kushi had never cried like this before. And she had never 'chosen' to sit in the dark ever. Something was not right. She wanted to find out more but just then the front door closing echoed from downstairs, followed by the gleeful greeting of their father's voice.

"Babuji's come," said Payal, though they both knew it was not required to be said.

"I'll wash up and come down," said Kushi, getting up with her sister, both holding hands to help the other.

"Hurry, then," said Payal, hugging her once, before going downstairs to welcome her father, and Kushi stood in the attic and stared at the closed door through which Payal had passed. Oh Jiji, I am sorry I had to lie, but this I cannot tell you...it is too hurting. It was not supposed to happen. I was never supposed to meet him in this life. Not in any life.

Chapter Eight: When the Night Came

The bed creaked and shook and Payal woke up. She stared into the darkness and watched the moonlight fall on the form getting out of the bed. "Kushi?" Payal asked, her voice drowsy with sleep.

"Shh...Jiji," Kushi whispered suddenly.

"What are you doing?" Payal hissed, sitting up, "Get back to bed this instant!"

"I can't sleep," said Kushi, and there was a desperation in her voice which Payal noted.

"What is it?" asked Payal and then she knew, "Is it him? But you said you didn't see him..."

"He didn't see me, but I did," lied Kushi again and she bit her tongue to punish herself.

Payal's sleepy head couldn't make sense of what was being told to her and before she knew it Kushi had dragged her out of bed too.

"What are you doing?"demanded Payal, wanting to go back to bed.

"I'm scared to go out alone," said Kushi, searching for something under the bed.

"Why do you need to go out then?" asked Payal, yawning and sitting on the bed. "It's late and we should be sleeping."

Before Payal could lay down again, Kushi threw a pair of boots onto Payal's lap.

Payal stared at the boots and then at her, "When you said out, did you mean OUT out?

"Yes," said Kushi, putting on her boots and tying her long hair in a quick plait.

"But why?" asked Payal and then it struck her. "Are you planning to go to the mill?"

Kushi didn't answer which meant it was a 'yes'. Payal groaned, "Oh! Not in the night, Kushi. You and your anxiety calmer!"

But how much ever Payal tried to persuade Kushi to not leave, Kushi was determined and in a few minutes the two sisters were walking through the eerily silent fields and heading for their father's mill. The keys of the mill were dangling in the pocket of Kushi's skirt and Payal had to tell her to walk slowly lest the noise alerted any wild animals of their unusual night travel.

"There are no wild animals in this region," said Kushi bluntly, focused on her destination.

"The villagers say that they've heard strange sounds in the night," offered Payal, looking around suspiciously as they rushed forth.

"Villagers hear everything strange," muttered Kushi, and then she remembered the man of her nightmares, "Though some of the strange they hear could be true." She said this through gritted teeth and Payal knew who was on her sister's mind.

"Forget him, will you?" Payal asked, holding Kushi's hand as they sped forward, "You are not going to meet him again. Especially since you know he exists, you'll make sure you won't even accidently wander where he might be."

"I never will," stated Kushi, louder than she had intended to say, that Payal had to shush her.

"He's an animal!" said Kushi, whispering.

"A brute!" offered Payal.

"A cruel evil Lord!" emphasized Kushi.

"An arrogant soul!" laughed Payal.

Kushi snorted, "Does he even have a soul?"

Payal and Kushi stopped and looked at each other and said in one voice, "NO!" And then they laughed.

For once, forgetting that they were walking through a deserted meadow in the night, they held hands and danced as they walked towards the mill, singing:

"Lordy Lord owns no heart, and has no soul to spare,

His eyes are blind, and his tongue is black,

With only a sister for slave...

Hated nasty animal is he, and no one dares to cross his path,

For its better to stick one's head in the mud than face his deadly wrath."

The mirthful laughter of the sisters echoed through the still night air and even after the two of them had reached the huge metal doors of the mill, entered it and closed the huge creaky doors heavily behind them, their soft laughter still carried itself in the air and sadly floated into the shine of the melancholy moon.

Lady Jha looked up from where she was sitting by the window, reading a book and gazed at the moon. Did the moon just laugh or was it someone else's mirth that the moon had permitted her to hear? She felt saddened by the thought that someone could laugh when all she could do in this house was brood and cry and ache some more on seeing her brother's plight. She sighed, closed her book and went in search of him. He was in the library, reading a massive antique book, in the candlelight.

She knocked on the door, "Chotey?"

He didn't look up but stared hard at the page before him, sulking.

She sighed and walked to him, "Chotey?"

He frowned but continued staring down. It was certain he wasn't reading a word.

She ran her fingers gently through his hair, "Why is my Little One angry with me?"

"I'm not angry," he grunted.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, please, not that remark. You know no other emotion other than anger."

"I know others too," he said.

"Really?" she asked, bending low, until her face was almost at the level of his.

He slid a glance at her and she saw how his eyes softened on seeing her.

In the candlelight, his sister looked like an angel. The radiance of her innocence, the beauty of her smile and the glow of understanding in her eyes. No one could care for him as much as she did.

"Chotey?"

He only stared at her, in response, waiting for her to continue.

"Have you forgiven me?"

He closed his eyes and, as if it was hard for him, finally nodded.

Suddenly she smiled and straightened up. Clasping her hands before her, she said happily, "So you will let them come to visit me again?"

His head shot up and anger raged in his eyes, "Let who come?"

His sister was not impinged by his anger and continued smiling at him, "The girls who visited me today."

He slammed his book shut, and glared at the feeble candle that had almost extinguished with the force of the book being closed, "I shall permit no beggar to step into my house again!"

"Beggar?" gasped his sister and her smile faded, "How can you look so lowly at the people who are not as fortunate as you are, Chotey? Do you deny the hand of Divinity in your affluence?"

He stood up and spoke through gritted teeth, "All that I have made is my own creation. I will not permit any gods to take credit for the blood and sweat I have spilt to become what I am now."

"Your heart was long gone," said his sister, the light in her eyes dimmed, and in a voice that almost sounded like a whisper, "And now your soul...is there no hope?"

He looked at his sister, disturbed by her questions, but his face was hard and relentless, "You shouldn't worry about me. I don't want anyone to worry over me. I can take care of myself."

"That is what you think," said his sister. "You think by being so cold to everything warm around you, you are living the right kind of life. But no, Chotey, you are dying inside, and I cannot let my brother die!"

"Oh please, Di," barked her brother, looking at her, "Stop fussing over me. Why don't you coo and cuddle your husband who never seems to have a break from his battle cries to spend some time with his wife?"

"I had you before I had him, Chotey," said his sister and then her face softened and she held his face by her warm hands and he flinched at the caring touch, "Know that you are primary to me, Little One."

His eyes moistened and he held her face too, "You are the only one I care for Di. I live for you. And I am ready to die for you."

"No, don't die," said his sister and a helpless tear rolled down, "I just..." She sighed, and let her hands drop, "It's just that, I was dying inside myself with all this lifelessness in the house and because I have to see your remote aloofness everyday and there is never anything to look forward to and you wouldn't let me out for fear some harm might befall me...I just... It was like when those girls came to visit me, I had begun to laugh for the first time after a long..."

He watched the light in his sister's eyes as she remembered the girls who had come to glow for a few moments in her dark and desolate existence in that cold mansion. And she longed to relive those moments in a more lasting way. She wanted to be in their company and forget her pains.

"Fine," he said reluctantly, "but not them. I will see if I can get a good female companion for you who will have some dignity and class in her as well."

His sister frowned first, "You and your class talk!" and then she smiled and was practically dancing with glee, "Anyone is fine for me...anyone with a happy heart," and she hugged him. He smiled at the childishness of his sister but when she left, he sank into the armchair, his face hard and thoughtful.

An arm under his chin, the book before him forgotten, Lord Arnav sat staring at the flickering candle that almost seemed to tremble under his intent gaze, but a young face crossed his mind and he closed to his eyes to forget her but, oddly, knew deep down that that face would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Chapter Nine: Preparations

Every summer, just before autumn arrived, Payal and Amma would spend their days in making preserves and jams out of the fruits collected from the Orchard. Kushi never partook in them for she was her father's daughter and would always be convoying her Babuji when he went to the mill. For the first time, Kushi remained home to help the two of them in making jam.

Payal had gone to the fetch the sugar barrel from the storeroom and Kushi was helping her mother in washing all the fruits. The fruits danced in the huge basin of water as two pairs of hands dipped in the water, rinsed them.

"Kushi bitiya," her mother said gently, "Why were you glum yesterday?"

The tiny strawberry Kushi had been inspecting dropped into the basin and water splashed onto her dress. She looked down to stare at the wet stain on her apron. In short, she was looking everywhere but at her mother. And her mother knew this too.

"I know you went to the mill in the night," offered her mother and Kushi looked up, fearfully, "Did Payal tell you?"

"No," said her mother, "I will know if someone enters the room I sleep in, and so I knew when you tip-toed at night and slipped out with your father's keys."

Kushi dipped her hand into the water and played around with some apples, "I'm sorry, Amma."

She hated it when her mother used her soft tone on her. She was used to the rebuking tone, but the softness in her mother's voice, though in rarity, would reach out and touch her right where it hurt, where she hid, where she wanted healing...She didn't know how Amma knew where to reach into, but her mother always seemed to succeed in knocking at the right door.

"Do you want to tell me?"

Kushi was silent, staring at some fruits bobbing on the surface of the basin. How could she tell her mother? Not this surely...

"At least tell me this: do you feel better today?" asked her mother, her eyes earnest for an answer.

Kushi nodded and looked up with a smile, "I'm fine, Amma..."

Her mother gazed at her for sometime, reading her eyes and her struggling smile. But finally, Amma herself broke into an assuring smile, "I'm glad you're happy. Hope whatever it was that had bothered you won't come bothering you again. I cannot see you broken..." And then she realized what she had said, and corrected, "I cannot see any of my daughters sad..."

"I know, Amma," said Kushi smiling, and she treasured her mother's first words and not the corrected version. She knew her mother loved her and her mother spoke her love in the not-very-obvious moments. And Kushi was always there to collect the tiny pearls of love. She silently stringed them in her mind and when she felt sad or lonely she would recollect the message in the pearls in her dreams.

Payal appeared into the kitchen just then with the sugar and soon mother and girls were busy with the fruits. It was almost lunchtime when they had finished with the jams and preserves and had cleared the place up. They were storing them into jars and bottles and placing them in the pantry, when the door opened and Babuji walked in happily, "Looks like someone was in my mill last night for I had only half the work to do today." He eyed Kushi and Payal but there was jollity in his look, or more properly, a mischievous glint of humour as if he knew who the 'sneaking thieves' were but would not tell their names.

"It is good you could come early," said Amma, and then paused wiping the table, "Today begins the three day feast of the Harvest in the village. We have not been gone to it for the last two years. I suggest this time we take our daughters and let them see what it is like..."

"Good idea, Amma," said her husband and the two girls cheered and got excited with the planning for the evening.

In the privacy of their room, the two of them got busy with picking the gowns.

"I'll wear my yellow one," said Payal, "with the green flower prints on it. Won't that be good, Kushi?"

"Yes, that yellow one does suit you, Jiji," said Kushi and then her face was glum, "But I haven't any gaudy ones...expect for my Sunday gown, which is white."

"So what if it's white," assured Payal and took the mentioned white gown out, "It brings out the light in your eyes and the rich beauty in your dark hair."

And as if to emphasize this truth, Payal set the dress against Kushi's frame and looked at her admiringly, "You know, Kushi, you are the most beautiful sister any sister could ever have got. And I simply loved dressing you up and braiding your hair when we were little."

Kushi hugged Payal with the gown crushed between them, "And you are the sweetest sister in the entire world! I loved how you were always mothering me..."

If I were standing there, I would have seen the happy light emanating from the bond these sisters shared and I would have been struck by the contrasting 'warm darkness' that prevailed in another similar sibling bond elsewhere. At the Raizadas Castle, though their love was much deeper than the one the Gupta sisters shared, Lord Arnav and Lady Anjali kept too much things to themselves and shared less openly. They were both scarred and they let their silent love for each other try to heal those age-old scars, not knowing that it was all in vain.

Lord Arnav was dressing into his evening suit and Lady Anjali was helping him put on his overcoat, "It will be cold tonight, Chotey, I suggest you take the muffler with you as well."

"No cold penetrates into my already cold heart, Di," stated her brother bluntly, adjusting the scruffs.

"Besides I should be staying here with you tonight instead of wandering aimlessly through the village for your sake."

"Well, if you let me go myself..."

"No! I will not have you wandering out of home."

Lady Anjali stepped away, "Our Home, my prison..."

Lord Arnav turned to look at her, understanding, "Home has always been a prison. Isn't home where our heart is? Haven't our hearts always been under chains?"

Lady Anjali looked at him, with sad eyes, "Why do you speak so, Chotey? Cold words but truthful, yet I cannot bear to hear them. Get me that companion you have promised me as soon as you can. I need some warmth in the form of loving happier words..."

Lord Arnav sighed and made to move away. His sister held his hand, "You are forgetting my coin."

She held out her hand and displayed the silver coin lying in the bed of her caring palm, "I have whispered my wish to it and sealed it with a kiss."

Lord Arnav grunted, rolled his eyes and snatched the coin.

"Careful with it," she said, and watched as he dipped the coin into his waistcoat pocket.

"Won't you be making a wish, Chotey?"

"I never have and never will. I have everything I need." And then his face darkened, "Besides, we never get what we wish for. It's a lame belief..."

"So you think," said Lady Anjali.

"What is your wish?" he asked, "Shouldn't I be saying it when I throw the coin?"

"No," said Anjali, "I will whisper it from my window here, at the time I believe you will dropping it..."

"Vey well," said Lord Arnav with a shrug and with swift strides, was out of his room.

Lady Anjali watched from the window as he climbed into the carriage and the horses led him down the hill, heading for the village.

She sighed, "Every year I make a wish. And every wish of mine is for him who never believes in them." She smiled at the moon, "How ironical that he goes to put a wish that has never been for me...But when will this yearning wish of mine come true?" The silence was pierced by the hoot of an awakened owl, and nothing else stirred the air expect for the receding echo of the horse carriage.


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Edited by Aquiline - 13 years ago
vidya.sanjay thumbnail
14th Anniversary Thumbnail Voyager Thumbnail
Posted: 13 years ago
#70
Excellent!
I read all the chapters together.
Truly the story is wonderful.The plot,characterization,the background,everything is unique.
Thanks a lot for this fantasy in Arhasia.
Happy vacation dear!!!!😊
Edited by vidya.sanjay - 13 years ago

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