Rabbave Guys!
Chapter One Hundred Sixty Five: The Night Before the Wedding Night
Shutting the trunk with all her things packed within, Payal sat back on the floor of her bedroom, her back pressed against the footboard of the bed, and sighed.
She couldn't believe she was really saying goodbye to her family. Of course, she could meet them when she wanted to, but things would all be so different. Besides, she couldn't be too insisting to see her family once she was the Lady of the castle.
She looked around the room and wondered why Kushi was still not back. It was past time for the bed. Payal stood up and walked to the window.
Winter was settling in and, though there would not be snow, the cold winds would keep blowing every day for the next few weeks.
She opened the window and shivered in the rush of the biting cold wind of the night. And then she peered down the window and saw the tiny shape of her young sister sitting cross-legged on the cold garden grass.
Shaking her head, Payal stepped away from the window and made for the door, heading downstairs and then making her way to the garden.
"What are you doing sitting here in this late hour, Kushi?" Payal asked, nearing her sister who looked up.
Payal sat down on the grass, beside Kushi and frowned at her, "Is something bothering the famous Goddess of Mischief? I hope you are not cooking up any plans."
Kushi laughed, "You are clever to have pounced on that thought, Jiji, for I could have been thinking of possible tricks with which I can let you stay back with me instead of leaving us all tomorrow night."
Payal's eyes filled but she smiled, "Well, if you know of any such trick, please do exercise it soon. I do love my husband βto-be, but I simply cannot leave you all behind to go with him. I have not the strength."
Kushi laid her head on her sister's lap and whispered, "And I have not the strength to let you go either, Jiji."
Payal caressed her sister's hair as they remained in silence, listening to the howling winter wind.
"Jiji?"
"Hmmm?"
"I am so happy for you."
"You would be. You always are. You are named so because you find your joy in others' happiness."
Kushi sat up and looked at her sister, "But I am especially happy for you that you are getting wedded to a man you love and who loves you too.Dearly!"
Payal blushed slightly but she pulled at her younger sister's ear, "But I will not be entirely happy until I find someone to love this Goddess of Mischief."
Kushi moved her head, rubbing at her ear with a smile, "Well, Jiji, I guess we would have to hunt for a Master of Mischief to wed me to, right?"
"And together beget a family of Mischiefs?" Payal was appalled, "I am afraid I cannot let that happen! One mischief-maker is well and fine, thank you."
"So what kind of a man do you think would fit me if not one of mischief like me?" Kushi raised her eyebrows.
"Well," Payal laid her head on Kushi's lap this time, "if I am to find the man who is marry my little sister, I would want him to be someone who would let my sister be young and childlike at heart even when she is expected to be all wifely and motherly. I would want him protect you from hurt for you are someone who is willing to sacrifice all your happiness and trade it for pain so that others around you can be happy. I want someone who will defend you and take good care of you even when you fall into little mischiefs of your own making."
Payal sat up and smiled at Kushi who was lost in all the words her sister was telling her.
"And above all, Kushi," Payal whispered, cupping her young sister's face, so that they were looking into each other's eyes, "I want you to be wedded to a man who will love you like no one has ever loved you before. You deserve the best man there is to exist, my little sister."
"She is the most beautiful girl I have ever met in my life," said Lord Akash, sighing amorously as he stared at the full moon, having come back from the Festival.
He was standing in the balcony of his room, dressed in his night robe, sipping wine before preparing for bed. His brother was with him as well, also enjoying the night wine in his dark robe.
"Snap out of it, Akash," muttered Lord Arnav, "What is it with you and this mad love talk?"
"Fuzzy, brother," said Lord Akash, leaning against the railing and looking towards his brother, "I feel all fuzzy inside when I think of her."
Lord Arnav sighed annoyingly, "It's a most ridiculous thing then, this feeling of love that you are having."
Lord Akash shrugged, "I expected no other answer from you, I must say."
There as a pause in which both brothers remained in their own thoughts, silently sipping their wine.
The moon reflected it's bright shine in Lord Arnav's eyes as he looked up at it, "What does it really feel like, Akash?"
"What does?" Lord Akash looked at his brother.
Lord Arnav waved his hand vaguely, "Thisβ¦β¦...this love thing."
Lord Akash chuckled, "I can't believe you are asking this!"
"Forget it, then! I am not interested," Lord Arnav fumed.
Smiling, Lord Akash gazed at the lake below, Payal's face appearing in his mind's eye, "Love is magic."
Lord Arnav shook his head and muttered, "Bother I even asked!"
But Lord Akash continued, not having heard it, "Every time you see herβ¦β¦β¦you feel like you are being awakened from death itself. When your hand brushes against hersβ¦..β¦tingles run down your body and you feel alive. When she smilesβ¦β¦β¦you know you would die to keep that unfading smile on her face..β¦β¦."
Lord Arnav lost string of what his brother was saying as memories of a certain girl rushed to his mind and his own thoughts formed words he never knew existed in his cold mind.
Her laughter, Kushi's laughter, moved around him like the sound of wind on silver chimes, and he remembered how her tender fingers had brushed past the crystal wind chimes in the pavilionβ¦...β¦Her smile, which she had numerous occasions to grant him, simply lighted up his inside and he felt weightless with inexpressible joyβ¦β¦β¦β¦.When she cried, and he saw her standing in the rain before him, weeping about her parents who would never come back, and that very moment, his own breath had stopped and his world had frozen upβ¦..β¦..When she was near, being held in his arms as they danced, pressed to a wall in his anger, the scent of her hair calming him as he rode behind her on Shadowβ¦β¦..β¦.he didn't feel lost and incomplete anymoreβ¦β¦...And when she gave him those innocent kissesβ¦β¦...
"just like that," Lord Akash's dreamy voice snapped Lord Arnav back to the present, "in everything you do, you just know she belongs to you (Kushi hugging him in the rain and his own hand pressing her closer to his chest)β¦β¦that she is the one for you (he opens the door in the Industry to find Kushi looking at him from where she lay on the ottoman in a red silk robe, bathed in the sunlight from the window, her eyes innocent and her lips quivering under his gaze)β¦...that she is the one you loveβ¦...β¦" (the white curtain from his Castle window falls on Kushi and she looks up at him, looking as exquisite as a bride)β¦...β¦"
"Akash!" Lord Arnav said suddenly.
"What is it, brother?" Lord Akash looked worriedly at Lord Arnav, snapping out of his own Payal-prancing thoughts.
"Nothing," said Lord Arnav vaguely, handing him his empty wineglass, "It's time we stop this late night talk which is by itself on a topic of no relevance and get to our beds. You've let yourself wander with your words, Akash, and I assure you, all this is practically ridiculous. I am leaving. It's a big night for you tomorrow so I suggest you get good sleep now when you can."
Lord Akash stared at his brother as the latter left, "Strange. Brother never gives advice on personal matters and here he is telling me about how my wedding night will be?"
Lord Akash drained the rest of the wine in his glass and frowned, "Well, one thing I am certain of. If there is ever to be a girl in my brother's life, she will have EARNED her way into his wall-like heart and hence she will be a worthy woman indeed, for her to be chosen by him," and then he chuckled, adding, "Wonder who that impossible future sister-in-law would beβ¦β¦...β¦"
A gold necklace on a maiden's neck shone in the darkness of her mind. Flitting through the dim cave she had been waiting in, the Lady in the Dark Hood moved to the mouth of the cave and looked up at the moon, her face in the shadow of her hood, "Finally! It is time."
This is the last update. Our exams start next week. Remember us in your prayers.
See you in June. Love you all... Take Care..
Index: (Scroll down, fourth comment)
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/topic/3529424
Edited by Aura7 - 10 years ago
comment:
p_commentcount