In honour of the episode that is bound to break the record of the Diwali track, I gift this little creation of mine to all my dear readers and especially to the Circle of Arhasian Comrades...
Greetings Comrades and friends!! I have quite short time and cannot linger in thanking each of you the way I want to, but I shall, from my dear heart, mention the names of those who commented last, to show you how much I treasure your presence in the inn.
Kushiarnav, Shas, angeldream, AllSmiles, Shalve, Idealist, kvarsha, hoopoe, Preetianjita, masaf, music, ASRandKKGSRFan, saomom, hatelove, Vamy, Crinklez, Vidya, hellgirl, garlic, Breeze, darya and after a looong time, to the returning Comrade Harsh...
We and many others who will have received the pigeons' message gather once again at the inn. Ah, here comes the innkeeper. He seems to have started liking our little gathering's presence in his inn. Earlier, he used to look at us with distaste for our circle took up too much space in his little inn. But our repeated dedicated presence in his inn has moved his heart, it seems, for he personally comes to take our orders. I have learnt that some of you like to have something cold rather than something warm to drink while listening to my narration of the tale. So, you may individually place your order with the kind innkeeper and once our drinks arrive, I shall tell you what the Dark Lady told me the last few nights about the tale of the village girl and the arrogant Lord in our land of Arhasia...
Chapter Sixty: The Denunciation
"You will not go," said her aunt, suddenly rushing after her niece as Kushi, already dressed and breakfasted, rushed to the door, putting her outdoor boots on the way.
Payal had gone to fetch a jar of jam they had ordered from the neighbor's house and Buaji and Kushi were alone at the house. The memories of the night had been haunting her even more when she had woken up in the morning and her anger rose with each passing minute.
"I must, Buaji, do not stop me," said a determined Kushi, "After what he made me go through last night, I can work for him no more."
"Kushibitiya," Buaji warned, "I suggest you wait a while until the heat in your head has cooled off a bit. You will not do well, trotting up to a foul-tempered Lord with a fierce temper yourself."
"Don't equate him with me, Buaji," said Kushi, turning on her aunt at the doorway, "you always do that! He and I are like..." Kushi didn't know what to say and a painting of a garden, hanging on the wall beside her, caught her eye, "...like two ends of a bridge. We can never be on the same side."
And then she was rushing out and Buaji shook her head exasperatedly, "That Goddess of Mischief! Doesn't she know that 'bridge ends' don't matter as long as they are of the same bridge? And a burning bridge too!! I say, the world is going to tumble down..."
Buaji looked out into the garden and called, "Aye! Kushi!"
But Kushi was long gone and heard not her aunt's call.
Riding on Ram's cart halfway with the young boy, who spoke not a word during the drive, knowing Kushi was in a coarse mood, he dropped her close to the hill upon which stood the dark Raizada Castle. Not even bothering to thank Ram, or wish him goodbye, Kushi skipped down the cart and was racing up the hill, cursing and grumbling as she climbed her mountain of torment, her hands keeping the hem of her skirt out of the way of her speeding feet.
On reaching the closed gate, she walked up to it and stood before the uniformed guard.
"What is it you want now?" he asked, his eyes falling on her empty hands, "No swords and kerchiefs?"
She squinted up at him, "A sword is not needed where there is anger boiling inside one's wounded heart."
"Anger?" The guard peered down at her from under his cap.
"Yes, anger which is rightfully placed," she stated simply and made to enter the gate but the guard stopped her, "State your business and then you may enter."
She stepped away, frowning, "I was working for that horrendous Master of yours in that dreadful Industry of his and I am standing at his gate presently to tell him I shall work for him no more."
The guard's eyes shone with wonder and his tone was amused, "That is one bold business you have come here with, I'll say. The Master has only fired his subjects and never has anyone asked to be fired."
He swung open the gates and let her in. Watching her walk down the path heading for the castle, the guard mused, "Strange girl, that is. She is a bold one and, I'm certain, of a good heart too. The Master might be too hard upon her what with her purpose of visit...they do tend to create a storm when they come together. Wonder why..."
Enough of the watchman, let's walk ahead with Kushi. If you can catch up with her steamed up speed, that is.
I could squash him. I could stamp upon him until he was pasted with the ground. I could...she stopped. The scent of the roses was upon her and she was still a great distance away from the castle doors. Involuntarily, she turned right and walked along the long wall of the Castle until she came to the bend. The hem of her gown flourished over the grass as she moved and soon she had turned the bend and there, under the shadow of the towering Castle, stood the seven-foot tall rosebush enclosure. Enraptured, Kushi stood before it and without her knowledge her hand lifted to touch the green wall of leaves before her.
Her fingers were inches away from a shadowed leaf when her spellbound gaze caught a movement beyond the bush. She paused and then frowned, slowly withdrawing her hand as her clouded mind cleared.
A little farther away, at the rear of the Castle was a huge lake and standing before it was the man she had come here for.
Her fists clenched at her sides, and forgetting the momentary spell of the rosebush, she lifted the sides of her gown and strode over the grass towards him. The castle wall and the grass crushing under her feet were things of another world. All she saw was his back turned to her, standing and gazing at the lake, his cold hands in his opulent pockets.
The castle wall was over and she was walking over the open grassland, the lake only a little distance away. To her muddled mind, instead of her coming towards him, it seemed that his back was growing before her and she gulped as she gathered her quickly slipping strength and made for him.
He heard her soft feet racing towards him, her swishing gown and her soft boots stepping over the dew touched grass as they approached him. He closed his eyes, remembering last night.
And then he turned, his eyes opening, and glared at her. His frown stopped her in her tracks.
"What do you want?"
Kushi halted and then looked away, "I can work for you no more."
He didn't respond so she looked up and found him waiting for her to continue with that unmoving frown on his face.
She said nothing but stared back at him with distaste in her eyes.
Finally, he had to break the vexing silence, "Why?"
"Because you are inhuman and you put my life under constant danger," she hissed the words.
An eyebrow cocked, he said, "Don't you end up in danger yourself without my intrusion required?"
Kushi gaped at him, "How insolent you are turn events to your undoing!"
He shook his head, "You will continue to work for me."
It was her turn to ask, "Why?"
"Because you still haven't repaid me for the damage to my Industry that you had wrought."
She was ready with her answer, "You gave me no work that promised healthy repayment of the damage I wrought. Every work you made me to do was just to spite me, just to show how much irked you were and how much you could sink low enough to insult me."
"You think so?" he said, moving towards her.
"I think so," she said firmly and took a step backwards; her eyes fell on his approaching boots, "stay where you are."
"You have no right to boss me, beggar," said Lord Arnav as he made towards her, closer.
"I have every right to keep you from nearing MY body," she stated, still backing away.
He stopped. And then said, "I have no interest in nearing your filthy form, reckless girl. But I will have no one tell me what to do and what not to."
And then he was walking towards her with such force that she stumbled backwards in fear and fell upon the ground with a gasp. He stopped before her and his towering shadow loomed over her petite form that was struggling to rise up.
"You're too slow to match a challenge with me," he muttered, waiting for her to get on her feet.
She straightened up and patted the creases on her gown before looking at at him, "I may be slow in your standards but I do not easily give up."
"So I've noticed," he said amusedly, and his evil eyes glinted but the next moment his gaze had unconsciously slid down to her neck and he paused.
Instinctively, her own hands flew to her neck and a terrified shiver ran down her spine, as she looked at him and asked, "Did you-was it you..."
He frowned, "Whatever do you mean?" and he looked away, calming within by the realisation that there were no marks on her neck presently.
"Did you-?"
He glared back at her, "You have the nerve to stand before Lord Arnav Singh Raizada and question him!"
She slid her hand from her neck to her side and clenched her fist, "Yes, I believe I do have the nerve to question an arrogant Lord who claims the world to be spinning on the axis of his fingertip!"
Wrong answer. Wrong addressee.
No sooner had she said what she'd last said, than her enemy pounced upon her and she struggled to release her arms from his cold grip, "Let go of me!"
"How dare you speak so to me!" he growled at her, his face inches away from hers. She looked up at him, her eyes a mix of fear and rage and his grip only enhanced the fire in her further, "You are most horrid and deserve to be spoken thus!!"
"No servant of mine shall speak thus!" he hissed.
Her eyes began to water but her voice was determined when she replied, "I am no servant of yours."
"You work for me."
"I do not."
"Since when?"
"Since last night when you found me in the forest lost and almost killed."
"That is your fault," he claimed, picking on each word he uttered, while his hold on her increased in strength until she felt the silent store in her eyes streaming down her cheeks, "You should have been more careful, you should have collected enough and you should have returned back to the Industry with what you had collected before it got dark!"
"You're hurting me," she gasped and she braved to keep her feet rooted firmly on the ground.
"Did you hear what I said?" he said, ignoring her last words, "Did you hear how last night was your fault?"
Her hands were numb under his grip and she could feel no more pain. She looked up at him in a last resort to fight back, "I pity you. I pity you because you have no soul, no heart-"
"Silence!" he was enraged beyond control and without a word, in that maddened state of mind that he was in, he swung her around, dragging her feet to circle him and then tipped her before the brink of the lake, holding her by her shoulders. Kushi looked at him, dismayed by what he might be wanting to do, and the memory when he had pushed her off his window ledge crossed her petrified mind.
His voice was like a knife scarping on hard ice and his cold smirk was back, "Tell me, Miss Gupta, do you love morning baths?"
Kushi shook her head frantically, and uttered a voiceless "no", and regretted having not listened to her aunt's advice in the first place.
Chapter Sixty One: A New Disposition
Lady Anjali was watching her Nani knit. The room was dreary and cold but Lady Anjali always felt comfortable, sitting in that room with a grandmother who shared so much of her own pain and love in the silence that prevailed between them.
The young woman's gaze moved from the frail working fingers of her grandmother to the white bird sitting on the window sill. Nani was still adamant about having closed curtains but she sometimes let her granddaughter open the curtains to let a little light emanate into the sad room once in a while.
Suddenly the parrot called out, "Green Heart!"
Both the women looked up at the bird's sudden breakage of the room's silence.
Nani was the first to respond, "You dreaming again, Fortune?"
The bird only pecked at the window pane.
"Hmmm..." Nani frowned, keeping her knitting work on her lap, "Anjalibitiya, could you look out the window and see if Fortune has seen something out of the ordinary this fine morning?"
Lady Anjali nodded, stood up and walked to the window. The gentle light of the morning sun shone on her graceful face when she came to stand before it and, along with the parrot, she looked out into the wide view before her and then she exclaimed, "Oh! Miss Gupta is coming up the hill!"
"Miss Gupta?" Nani asked, her eyes lighting, "You mean the young girl named Kushi?"
"Yes, Nani," said Lady Anjali, her back to her grandmother as she still studied the view outside the window, "But she seems to be without any basket today. Wonder what she has come up here for..." And then she realized, "Oh, she must be coming to meet Chotey."
And then Kushi had probably moved to the other side of the Castle for Lady Anjali could not see her anymore from the window and the young lady moved back to sit before her grandmother again.
"To see Chotey?" Nani was confused, "But why?"
"She has been working for Chotey in his Industry for the past few days," said Lady Anjali.
"Who told you that?"
"Lady La."
Nani's face stiffened, "Oh." And then her face softened, "But that poor girl, working herself beyond her strength to help her family..."
"Yes, she is of a most considerate soul," said Lady Anjali, speaking as if from memory, "And how lovely it is talk with her. One could sit all day and never tire from listening to her innocent chatter..."
"True," said Nani, and then she frowned, "But why has she come here? Doesn't her work under Chotey entail only in the Industry?"
"I do not know," said Lady Anjali and then she pulled at the bell pulley by the side of her armchair to summon up the butler.
When the butler, whose name is Rahim Chacha for your remembrance, came up, Lady Anjali asked him to find out from the guard at the gate what Miss Gupta had come to the Castle for.
A minute or two later, the butler came up and conveyed what the village girl had told the guard of her 'business' at the Castle.
The women were astonished.
"To ask him to release her off his service?" the disturbed Lady Anjali wondered, "Oh, what must he have done? He always is hostile to everyone and I have noticed that he is extremely and most cruel towards that poor girl. Whatever has he done now?!"
Nani shook her head, "Young Kushi must have kept her family in her mind and, probably, worked under him merely for the earning, despite knowing how ruthless his demands can be..."
Lady Anjali was moved, "She struggles to earn and it is such a sad sight."
Nani nodded and then a thought crossed her mind, "Anjalibitya, if Kushi stops her job at the Industry won't she be searching for another one?"
"Yes?"
"Why don't we give her a good enough job here?"
"What kind of job?" wondered Lady Anjali, "We have a hoard of servants to do every single work there is to be done in this house and we do not need anymore..."
Nani rocked in her armchair, contemplating over this thought and as she rocked to and fro, Lady Anjali noticed how younger she looked with the rising glow in her eyes.
Her grandmother stopped rocking and sat up, "We shall set her up to be Lady Keshab's handmaid."
"What?"
"Yes," said Nani, and then said mordantly, "Isn't that fashion-struck flamingo always cringing about not having proper handmaids in this house? Why not give her one for herself?"
"Aren't the ones we've always given her enough?" asked Lady Anjali, "Two of our own regular servants?"
"That is not quite enough," said Nani, "Our own servants are always submissive and plaint and that Lavanya learns nothing from them but how to exercise more of her dominance and haughtiness."
"Are you-?"
"On the other hand," Nani continued as she unwrapped her prized proposal before her grandchild, "if Miss Gupta were to serve Lady Lavanya, she would neither be a complete servant nor be submissive to every absurdity of that proud female."
"Nani!"
"What else should I call her?"
"You are utterly unkind in your words with regard to Lady La," said Lady Anjali.
"Not as unkind in manner as my grandson, though," corrected Nani, "Besides, I can't stand that woman he's brought home! And the way in which it was conducted!"
"Neither did I," reasoned Lady Anjali, "But I would never dream of calling her names..." And then she smiled, "Though I wish I could..."
Both women giggled at the thought and then Lady Anjali said, "This is a most brilliant thought, Nani. To have Miss Gupta as part of this house and its dreary days would be quite delightful."
"Yes, and I am already looking forward to it," said Nani.
Then Lady Anjali's face fell, "What if she says no?"
"She won't," said Nani, "We must coax her in such a way she won't say no."
"What if Chotey says no?"
Nani sighed upon this question and was silent for a long while.
The butler at the door had not been dismissed and he had been waiting there for a slight breach to appear in the conversation so that he could make their excited minds aware of his presence and ask them to dismiss him. It was never respectful to interrupt his mistress' in their royally deep discussions. He found the sudden silence as the opportunity and had just been about to clear his throat to inform the women of his existence when Nani said, "Chotey won't be a hindrance."
Lady Anjali looked at her.
Nani picked up the knitting on her lap and began working again, "I will deal with him myself, Anjalibitiya, you don't fret over that."
"So, what shall we-?"
Nani kept knitting and without looking up, commanded, "Rahim Chacha?"
"Yes, Lady Mother?"
"Inform Miss Gupta that I want to see her in my room immediately."
Rahim Chacha did not move. Nani looked up, "Yes?"
"Isn't this...Miss Gupta in conversation with Master?"
Nani frowned, "So?"
"Must I interfere?"
Nani's lip curved in a smile, "You are aged to be older than his father, Rahim Chacha and yet your servitude to him fears you to interfere in his dealings?"
The butler spoke nothing but blushed, "I have been a loyal servant to this family for years and wish to remain so."
"I know," said Nani kindly, "But please do not worry to interfere the Master if the Master's grandmother insists to do so."
"Yes, Lady Mother," said the butler, and with a smile he bowed and left the room, heading straight for the rear of the garden where the lake stood.
When outside, he had just rounded the corner and emerged out into the open grassland behind the Castle when he saw the Master dragging the girl by her shoulders to the brink of the lake and daring to push her into it.
The butler gulped and raced to the lake, muttering 'bad timing, very bad timing' under his breath.
The butler reached the contending couple just in time to see the girl shake her head and the paleness of her frightened face add to the panic in her whispered 'No', and before whatever was about to happen happened, the butler's voice broke into the tensed air, "Master!"
Seething with rage, Lord Arnav looked over his shoulder at the butler, the girl still held in his grip.
"What?" The one word exploded onto the nervous butler's face.
"Master..." He said in a more respectable tone and bowed low before proceeding, "Lady Mother wishes to see Miss Gupta in her room." And then as an afterthought of haste he added, "Immediately."
For a while, there was only a rigid silence and the butler could hear nothing but his own heartbeats racing at the fear thought of what his Master might be thinking up. Will he substitute the girl in his arms for me in her place, in honour of interfering in his...masterly newfound hobby of pushing-village-girls-into-my-lake?
"What does she want now?" said his Master suddenly and the butler looked up to see his Master had let go of the girl and she was standing at a wide distance away from him, trying to get her reeling head to balance itself.
"I am afraid, sire, I do not know," said the butler, though he did in fact know, for, in his waiting, he could not deny he had NOT heard the women's open conversation.
"Whatever this is," said Lord Arnav, "I need to know of it too for if it concerns this family or this Castle, it is of vital importance of my notice too."
He shot a cold glare towards the girl but she was already walking towards the Castle.
With swift strides, Lord Arnav had caught up with her and had pulled hard at her arm to face him, "I have said this many times already and I say it again: I do not like you entering my premises."
Kushi pulled her hand free of his grip and stepped back, and her words were angry, "I hate stepping into anything that belongs to you too, Lord Raizada, but presently I am called to walk into the Castle and I cannot disobey orders given by someone more worthier than you."
Lord Raizada clenched his fists and his lips were a thin line before he whispered cuttingly, "Once you finish with whatever Nani has called you for, I need you to come meet me."
"That I shall decide," she said hauntingly.
"What?" Angrily, he stepped towards her.
"I work for you no more," she said again, "And so I have no need to obey your orders."
"You think you are clever with words, girl?"
"No," she said, "But I know I am no fool to dance to your whims."
Lord Arnav could feel his anger rising and he knew that the more he stayed talking with the village girl, the more he would attempt dangerous deeds he would later have to regret. So, still looking coldly at the girl, he called out aloud to the butler, "Escort her in yourself and make sure she doesn't sneak into any forbidden rooms like the last time."
Kushi opened her mouth to retort but she felt the butler's hand on her shoulder and she shut her mouth and followed the aged butler who was relieved that he had played a part in obstructing an epic war from breaking out in the heart of Arhasia.
Chapter Sixty Two: Requests and Reserves
Kushi stood at the door of Nani's room upstairs and waited for Nani to look up from her knitting. But the elderly woman had eyes only for the work at hand and she gave all her valuable attention to it. Lady Anjali sat on an armchair closer to the door and from there, she smiled at Kushi.
Kushi smiled back, and bowed again.
"Miss Gupta," began Lady Anjali, "Is it true that you have castoff your job at the Industry?"
Kushi processed the answer, "As far as the latest conversation with my short-term Master is concerned, I believe, yes, I no longer am a worker of the Industry."
"Very well," said Lady Anjali, "Are you seeking a job as of this moment?"
"Not this very moment as I stand here," replied Kushi, "But yes, as soon as I am back home, I might set out to search for a new job."
"Are you in earnest need for a job?"
"Very, my lady."
"Will you be willing to work any position?"
"As long as it is dignified and doesn't mar one's self-respect."
"Well-worded," Lady Anjali nodded, serious-faced, "How would you like to be a handmaid to Lady Lavanya?"
It was like the room had transformed into a vacuum and all air and sound had been extinguished from existence. Kushi froze in the aftermath of the question and it was a long time before she blinked and looked at Lady Anjali. The prolonged silence made Nani stop her work and look up, but the pallid Kushi was addressing Lady Anjali.
"Handmaid to Lady Lavanya?"
Lady Anjali nodded.
"Here?"
Lady Anjali nodded.
"In this Castle?"
Lady Anjali and Nani nodded.
Kushi's lips trembled and she clenched her fists. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them, ignored the eager faces of Lady Anjali and Nani, and determinedly said to the wall above them, "No."
"What?" Lady Anjali was surprised.
"Why, bitiya?" Nani was curious.
Kushi looked away, "I cannot work in the home of the man I-" she stopped, she couldn't speak about him in such a way to his own sister and grandmother, so she rephrased her sentence, "I cannot work under him anymore."
"You are not working under him but under me," said Nani, "This is my decision to have you as the handmaid for..." Nani paused a moment before saying, "Lady Lavanya."
Kushi shook her head, still not looking at them, "I cannot work in a place that is his home."
"You wouldn't have to see him for you will only be working for Lady Lavanya," assured Lady Anjali.
"But if I have to be her handmaid, wouldn't I have to stay at this Castle?"
"Yes," said Lady Anjali, "We have a room reserved for all the Castle handmaids near the kitchen, but if you want a separate room to yourself, we could-"
"No," said Kushi interrupting, "It is not my privacy that is in risk here but my pride."
"How so?" asked Nani.
"Lady Lavanya will insist on meeting the First Lord whenever he is here. And during breakfast and dinner, he will probably be here and I will be waiting on Lady Lavanya."
Lady Anjali, "So, you are saying-?"
"That there will be ample opportunities for me to confront him even though you promise me I won't have to face him. This is his house, and I don't think it is possible to be an invisible member of the Castle whenever he is around. There could be accidental meetings or abrupt...clashes."
"Whatever are you talking about child?" Nani was concerned, and she stood up.
Kushi backed away for she had never seen Nani leave the armchair before.
"Kushibitiya," Nani said warmly, coming towards her, "Look at me."
Kushi looked at the elderly woman and the latter caressed her cheek, "I know how hard my grandson is especially on you, as I have heard from my granddaughter. But I assure you, you are here under my care and I will not let him tamper with your self-respect as long as there is the strength of life in me."
Kushi looked hopefully into Nani's eyes and sighed, "I wish I could say yes, ma'am, but this is a most hard matter. I must talk with it to Buaji and my sister, especially because this job calls for me to stay away from home and spend my nights in an alien place."
"It is fine with us," said Lady Anjali, standing up and walking to stand near her grandmother and Kushi, "You need only give us an answer after consulting with your family. That is the right thing to do. But please do not see this as an alien house, Miss Gupta; see it as a new home."
Kushi shook her head, "I cannot see it as a home presently, Lady Anjali, and you know why. But what with two caring ladies as you two, I do not know what the future holds for me."
"It will all be for the good," assured Lady Anjali.
Then a new thought crept in Kushi's mind, "Lady Lavanya had not liked me the first time I had played handmaid to her at the Industry."
"So I've heard," Lady Anjali's eyes were warm as she gazed at Kushi, "But don't worry, we will try and make it happen this time."
"What if she says no?" Kushi asked.
"We will speak with her about this," said Lady Anjali, "She is greatly in need for a handmaid at this Castle and I can't possibly see why she would deny you a second chance."
Kushi looked at Nani doubtfully but Nani was smiling, "I am certain, child, that Lady Lavanya will affirm and that you will come to stay with us soon."
Kushi smiled, seeing Nani's childish excitement in her eyes but Kushi's own heart was still heavy.
Lady Anjali suddenly remembered the box with Kushi's gown in it which she had been given by Master Aman and she went and fetched it for Kushi.
The young girl, on gratefully receiving her box, smiled, bowed and asked to be permitted to leave and the women granted her permission.
Kushi had stepped out of the room and walked a few paces down the corridor, heading for the stairs, when the door to her left opened and out emerged Lord Arnav.
He stepped in front of her and she halted, before saying, "I must go."
"I had told you to come see me after seeing Nani," said Lord Arnav, curtly.
"I have nothing more to tell you," said Kushi.
"But I am not finished with you," warned Arnav.
"Chotey!" Lady Anjali's voice suddenly called out from the far end of the corridor and both Lord Arnav and Kushi looked up to see her standing outside Nani's door.
"Yes, Di?" asked Lord Anav, slightly irritated that he was again interrupted in his verbal battle with Kushi.
"Nani asks to speak with you and Lady La," said Lady Anjali.
"We will be right there," he said and turned to look at Kushi, but Lady Anjali said, "Right now."
Lord Arnav closed his eyes and sighed, "Alright."
He opened his eyes and glared at Kushi, "This is not over yet but since this is our last meeting, I hope I shall never have to see your beggarly face again!"
Kushi was shocked by the words he used and said through clenched teeth, "And I am glad that I will never again have to vision your gloriously filthy arrogant face either!"
Angered, Lord Arnav had almost pounced upon her for her retort when he caught Lady Anjali watching their feud from where she stood at the far end.
He looked at his sister and she smiled. And then when he looked back to glare at his enemy, he found that she had used his distraction to slip out of his shadow and was running down the stairs. He stood, furiously watching her retreating back, and only after she had slipped out of the central doors and the door stood shut and cold, did he return his attention to the issue in question: a meeting for him and Lavanya with his Nani. He hoped this had nothing to do with the village girl because he wanted this to be the last time he had seen her. And he was certain that it wasn't.
Chapter Sixty Three: The New Agreement Conveyed
"No!!"
The single word, spoken by two adamant people, rang through the room making all noise and movement come to a standstill. Nani's knitting stopped, Fortune stopped nipping at his wing and Lady Anjali paused her teacup in its progress to her lips.
Even the servants downstairs were stiffened and silenced as if under the spell of that one word which had been heard from the room at the far end of the upper floor.
Lord Arnav shifted in his armchair and glared at Lady Lavanya, who was the second person who had said that word. The first person had been him.
"Was this your idea?" he was seething as he dared her.
She was shocked he had suspected her.
"No, it was not!" she snorted, "How can you possibly think that I would reappoint a handmaid I had fired and who actually was not legally my handmaid in the first place because she had not been a labourer of your Industry?"
Lord Arnav closed his eyes, trying to calm down his never-there-patience. When he opened them, their focus was upon the woman who had coolly resumed her knitting, "So it was you, Nani? You are the mastermind behind this new plan?"
"What new plan?" asked his grandmother, "Chotey, let me tell you quite clearly: wanting an efficient handmaid for the well-off girl you brought to your house is not a product of a plan but a necessity of etiquette."
"What the!" Lord Arnav stood up from the armchair he had been sitting on, "I will not tolerate this subservient way of managing the house while I am the Master here."
"Why?" asked Nani, her eyes still on her knitting and her voice calm and composed.
Lord Arnav frowned, "What do you mean 'why'?"
Nani looked up, "Why do you have a problem with this arrangement of mine? Is it because I am the one making it?"
"No," he said and he was about to say more, when his grandmother interjected, her eyes fixed on him, "Is it because you don't want a handmaid for your friend?" She stressed on the last word, but gave no glance to the mentioned person.
"No," said Lord Arnav and was again about to say something when Nani, with a slight grin, asked, "Or is it because the handmaid I've appointed happens to a particular village girl you just cannot tolerate?"
Lord Arnav had opened his mouth with an answer ready but his Nani's candid question was more or less rhetorical and needed no answering. Instead he was fuming inside, "if you knew it all along, why do you go ahead and do just that? Why did you appoint her if you knew I wouldn't like it?"
"Because I like her," said Nani simply, and resumed her knitting.
"This cannot be," said Lord Arnav flatly.
"And I second it," said Lady Lavanya, supporting him but earning an angry glare from him in return.
"What did I do?" she pouted at him.
"This is all your fault," he hissed at her from where he stood, "If you hadn't gone and appointed her in the first place, she wouldn't have entered my Industry, and if she hadn't entered my Industry, she wouldn't have done the damage to the grainage, and if she hadn't done the damage, she wouldn't have been appointed by me and if she hadn't been appointed by me, she wouldn't have asked to be released of service today and if she hadn't come here asking for release, Nani would never had thought up this idea!!!!"
Lady Anjali and Nani stared at him, open-mouthed, for it was rarely that their Chotey spoke more than twenty words at a stretch.
"Oh, well put," huffed Lady Lavanya, sulking in her armchair, "Everything is everyone else's fault."
"What did you say?" he dared her to repeat it but she kept silent and fortunately, he was not interested in hearing from her. If she had been Kushi, on the other hand, he would have loved picking a fight...
He froze, WHAT THE! I really didn't think that!
"This is not to happen," he said with finality to his grandmother, more to tell his own mind to die down in its wandering thoughts.
"It is too late," said Nani, calmly knitting, "I have made my decision and you cannot possibly refute the decisions that the Lady Mother of this Castle makes."
Lord Arnav clenched his fists and then turned to his sister, helplessly, "Di?"
Lady Anjali sipped her tea and smiled ardently, "Sorry Chotey, but, adding to the fact that she would make an outstanding handmaid to Lady La, I want Miss Kushi here too."
Lord Arnav sank into his armchair and brooded over the situation. Then he rose and made for the door. Before departing, he looked over his shoulder and addressed them all coldly, "You may succeed in deciding to bring her in here, but let's see how long she will stay when I rule this house."
And with that he was gone, leaving behind an expressionless lover, a calmly knitting Nani and a suddenly worried sister who sipped her tea and wished her brother would not mess her lovely dream of having Miss Kushi to afford laughter to her lacklustre life at Castle.
Hmmm...what's with the extra updates? Well, its weekend and I know you may want to kill your boredom. Not that we don't have Friday's hot episode of ArHi magic! We'll lose count of the number of times we watch it, but we will and then cry, blush, giggle and tremble all over again!! But pray, before you leave the inn, do tell me what you think of the story so far. For if I need to meet with the Dark Lady again to hear the rest of the story, I will need the motivation from your words to tell me what makes your hearts move and your eyes hunger for more on Arhasia...
P. S. I need to focus a bit on my college work so I will not be updating everyday like I used to. Hope you will understand. But every Saturdays I shall update a set of chapters to keep your weekend occupied with thoughts of the happenings in Arhasia. So until we gather at the inn next Saturday, I depart for now...
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https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2901910/arhi-ff-1-the-beasts-and-the-bleeding-roses
Edited by Aquiline - 12 years ago
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