Chapter 17
Big Brother
Her majesty put on the gracious symmetric smile she kept handy and greeted her king.
"What brings your grace here unannounced? I have not had any luck getting an appointment with you. You are a busy man".
The king had spent the last hour contemplating his future with his lady. Would she do this to him? The report didn't lie. Was the breakdown a part of her guilt? Finally, he decided he would let his emotions rule his decision. Unlike his father, he would not sleep in bed with a traitor. He would isolate her and eventually force her out of his life because unlike his father, the king could not let love triumph loyalty.
"My queen, we shall have our next meeting in the summer palace where you will reside until further orders".
His majesty signalled his wife to stay a distance away, disgusted at the findings he carried in his hands.
"Now, you will tell me why you aborted our issue without informing me. You did not so much as let me have a second of joy…..why?"
She moved a pace forward in his direction. Judging by his reaction, she had to present her case fast.
"I did abort twice. Once when the murder happened and then again two weeks ago. I.."
"Enough! If you did not want this, I would have supported you. But you didn't give me that chance. Now, you don't get a chance to explain. Pack your belongings, there is a fleet of security vehicles lined up outside to escort you to the beach house".
"Rish..."
"Don't call me".
"Your majesty, can I atleast have a greeting?"
She pulled him in her embrace. He did not pull away but he did not respond either. He stood still as a statue as she spoke the final words:
"Death and vengeance come without notice. Here is a kiss, just in case".
-----------------
Madhubala, with her Kundra status still looming in a limbo, sat in a dark corner of the royal beach house planning her next move. She had saved up enough over the years to buy two dozen disposable cell phones. Some untraceable call connections could do wonders for the women on the blacklist of the monarchy. Every wall in her palace had ears. She had to be careful not to whisper anything that may make its way back to Rishabh through the grapevine.
The secluded queen didn't know why she was silent. Neither did her husband. If Madhu was in the wrong then, why was she not screaming to the press about how bad a husband Rishabh had been? If she was right then, why did she not seek a meeting with Rishabh?
Instead, she had decided to wait it out until someone else made the first move. Only, she was hoping that someone would not be men with guns. They knocked her two assigned bodyguards down with blows to the neck. Now, it was just a vulnerable queen in the shower gunned down unless she followed orders. The big boss was on the other side of the line ringing one of her many disposable cells.
"Fake your own death and fly out somewhere deep in. we'll say it's a suicide. Leave a note, the whole spiel. Just make it look believable".
"No", she judged the tension in the group of armed men waiting to take her down. But, no orders came. Madhubala realized she had, at the very least, some control over what became of her.
"I am the queen. You know you can't get your hands dirty with my blood. If you wanted that, I would be dead by now. So, what is it that you want?"
"Same thing you miscarried for".
Her aggression turned into sadness then desperation and back to anger again within a matter of seconds.
"I did not miscarry. You induced…….your forced that poison………I wanted to grieve and I couldn't even mourn the loss of my……..my husband hates me. Isn't my hell hole of a life enough punishment for you?"
"You bitch. You tried to vomit it out. Too bad you are absolute shit at it. You think Kesh didn't snitch on you? How else did your henpecked man find out?".
Then, Madhu discovered the first and the riskiest mistake of her life. She had replaced her dead brother with the kingdom covert operative: this one nave move had cost her her life.
"Kesh told Rishabh I did this on purpose?"
"No. But he said enough. The king is smart enough to figure the rest out himself".
"Where is he? I will kill him and his undead girlfriend. Those two beat me till my ribs came out. I kept my mouth shut. Aborted my pregnancies twice, I was still mum. But this has gone too far".
"You are right. This has gone too far. You should have been long out of the king's life. Your mission was over back in January when you got rid of the high queen. Instead, you decided you wanted to fall in LOVE. With the KING. You dug this hole yourself. We didn't ask you to try for a child. You started dreaming of a family when you were supposed to be destroying the state enemies. You didn't think we were going to fight back? Your job is here is done. Now, move on before your cover's blown".
The man on the line was about to hang up when Madhu screamed out her last plea.
"Let me protect him please. I ask nothing more of you. I can fall out of love just as easily as I fell in. I can keep my mouth shut. I will die with this secret. Just please…….."
"What if he asks for another child?"
"I'll do as you say"
"What if he gets angry, starts cheating on you?"
"I'll sit in a corner, never make presence known. Let me protect him please".
"Why go through so much trouble when we can just hire one of our guys to be his bodyguard? The biggest threats are behind bars. Your services are no longer needed Miss Liz".
The line turned blank and so closed another door of hope for the queen.
Cricket
Marathi TV
