Chapter 18
Gone Rogue
Among the endless alcoholic beverages that adorned the walls of her beach house, the queen picked the strongest one she could get her hands on. She had just about downed half a bottle of patron. Yes, she shocked herself with the tolerance she seemed to have developed overnight. She didn't even bother with the shot glass on the other end of the kitchen island. All she wanted was to drown somewhere in the scent of the tequila and cross her heart that she wakes up alive. Looking back at her life through the years, one emotion stood out consistently among others: hurt. The blows she received during her time on earth would have made an ordinary human ten times more suicidal that she felt at her lowest. But, what kept her going was the words of her father. "My dear Lizard". He used to call her liz, lizard and pretty much anything that would get her irritated enough to stop the silent treatment. "You are anything but ordinary. You were brought into this world because your mother and I knew you were made of greatness".
A proud grin on her father's face and she would melt. Melt like candle wax at the sight of her soldiers. She was the most proud sister in the world when her brother came home with a medal. She would call Kesh her rock. Liz & Rock, they made quite the team. The family of three would celebrate every day they had together because if they had learned one thing from Padmini's tragic end, it was that their name itself shouldered great responsibility. The Maliks were a legacy build by generations of loyals to the monarchy.
Mohan Kundra had been the weakest of kings in the hardest of times. To keep the nation afloat, he unofficially handed all political reigns to the Prime Minister. His majesty's secret service was given some overt and other, prominent off the book powers that only cabinet minister held in a democracy. The deal was to back off and let the new king take care of business as soon as he was enthroned. But mother queen had her own plans. Shamsher Malik was convinced Rishabh would not survive the attack if they left him alone. But, he couldn't have the ambitious new secret service directors make the new king another puppet in their hands. So, he did what was best for the nation. He destroyed all secret records, all connections, all indications of any deal with the covert agents. The monarch would be in charge, like it was meant to be.
Except, this did more than just make Rishabh all powerful. His actions pissed off a lot of angry spies and thus began the mission to end anything Malik. Madhubala balled her eyes out the day her brother didn't turn up at the airport. She just had the feeling his body would return in a flag covered box. And, there he lay covered in white flowers as the military procession passed down the highway of heroes. "Atleast one of us will kick the bucket honorably", he would joke referring to Madhu's aspirations of a political career. Kesh never had a liking for the power hungry game of politics. He was right about valor and honor as Madhu recalled tearfully on more occasions than her delusional mind could remember.
Another sip of the patron and maybe the pain wouldn't feel so painful. Goddamn it! She was running out of words. That's what alcohol does to you. It cuts open your wounds and sits in them, burning until only a dull, achy feeling remains. Hoping the dullness would soon take over the stabbings she was feeling from the beating the gunmen had given her, she showered with the rest of the liquor. If it didn't sound so bad metaphorically, might as well do it literally. Her wet clothes were too much of a burden to carry around now so, they were off too. Somewhere on the floor. At this point, she couldn't care less if it was $50 dress or a $50,000 pant suit. Oh, there was blood as well. She hadn't noticed it before but, a wound or two on her back had turned gory stained the underwear she had on. She began slipping out of the last bit of clothing, stumbling her way across the empty hallway.
At that precise moment, something unexpected happened. He showed up...her husband. The man who told she was no longer worthy of him, was at her doorstep with a twinkle in his eye. A part of her, the proud, ambitious gem of a woman wanted to berate him. Tell him how much of a coward he had been for leaving her in quick sand. Tell him she could not love a man who did not respect her enough to listen. But, the other part...most of her, was drunk. The bloody patron had talk her down a guilt trip. He was her innocent flower who needed to be protected from the harsh realities of a mad world. She had promised her father she would take a bullet for Rishabh. Swallowing her pride and running into his arms, begging for forgiveness wouldn't be such a mountainous task.
She composed herself, straightening the underwear she had been struggling to take off earlier. Then, she swiped the blood stain on her waist and extend her left hand for a shake. He took the arm instead, pulling her body into his with full force. His grip was tighter than a rope tied around her wounded back. She had to scream for him to let go of her gash.
"When did that happen?" He looked on concerned but did nothing other than give a statue still look to her injury.
"There are a lot of things that happened to me. Things that are way worse than this". She led him to the bedroom not knowing where the conversation was headed.
"Took me a lot longer than it should have but, I understand. The abortion was forced that's why you were trying to vomit out the medicine. You were forced, right?"
That last spec of doubt flared Madhu up. This man would be the death of her. "Yes. No matter what the reasons, every woman who goes through this grieves. The least you could do is comfort me. I don't want to hear the excuse that you were confused or angry at the moment. You were wrong, there is no way around it. I have done bad, bad things but, this is not one of them. Even if I had done it willingly, it is my body and you don't get to tell me what to do with it".
She wasn't sure what the outburst was about. To her conscious, this was a long forgotten issue but his presence awakened the rawness of her being. The worst part was, as much as she wanted to keep her guard up, her nose was buried in his neck. She was breathing on in, breathing him in, whispering in his earshot.
"I was wrong. Yes. And, I am sorry. No. A plain apology is not enough. But. I am ready to work this out beginning by finding the bas***ds who did this to you. This", he caressed her blue and black skin. "This and the baby. They will pay for all of it".
A small smile formed on the edge of her lips. The happiness quickly faded as she realized he would want to know more than she was willing to divulge. But, why? Who was she hiding from? Who was she hiding for? Her bloodline was dead. Her only family was him. Her job was to protect him and she could best do her job when she was with him. The worst case scenario would be a bullet in her head. Atleast she could die saying she trying. To hell with it all! She was going rogue. Drop everything and elope with the love of her life. Or, atleast the man she hoped was the love of her life.
"Sit down Rishabh".
The pull on his wrist was of a determined woman, the woman she knew his wife to be. But, he wasn't certain of her mental state. Her breath reeked of tequila and her coordination was the worst he had seen in years. For all he knew, she was planning to beat the crap out of him once she had him down. Still, he complied hoping for the best.
"I am a spy", her voice felt husky in his ears and her words were surreal. "Our marriage was a political one", she continued. "But not in the way you think. I was in deep cover, protecting you from your own men. My father had assigned me as your bodyguard, the person who jumps in the way if an assassination attempt. Except, the assassins were under direct orders from the director of his majesty's secret service". The last words came out with feelings of shame, angst and anticipation of wanting to hear Rishabh's reaction. Except, he didn't react. So, she went on. "At first it was to make sure you had all the powers you were meant to because that's what my father died for...for your coronation and reign as king. Then, it was to make sure the men didn't try to kill you. Then, it was your mother. Sometime in between, they...the spies of the agency, told me if I stayed out of their business, they would let you live. Later, I found out they wanted more. They had me...that man isn't my brother...they want to end this...you here". Her slurring speech was partly because of her drunkenness and partly because she was afraid of what was coming. Rishabh's expression foretold a dangerous tale. "With this generation, the monarchy will be over. If I had your child, it wouldn't. They are planning to keep you alive long enough for the doubt in public that you are in danger to settle and one day, out of the blue, you will be gone. I am supposed to keep my mouth shut and hope that I eat the poison meant for you or take the arrow thrown your way but...I can't. I refuse to live with this fear anymore. I am cutting off all ties with the agency. I am going rogue and I will defend your life to no end. If they want you, there are getting you over my dead body".
And, slam! Her head crashed into the pillows and she was out. The king was alone with a burden of shockers he had to sort through.
Edited by DonnaHarvey - 12 years ago
Pati Patni Aur Panga
