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...His Promise... Her Fears...
The mid-February wind fluttered the silk curtains that hung around the tent. The young queen slept inside richly decorated in wedding fineries. The chill midnight breeze ruffled her raven black hair slowly as if lulling her to sleep. After all the hardships that she had faced during the day in the name of marriage, the night gave her the privacy to shed all that and to prepare herself for the coming days. Coming days in the Agra Palace, as the wife of the man who had five thousand concubines.
...*...
His long rich auburn hair blew in the chilling breeze but yet he felt no cold. The Mahogany colored overcoat that he wore danced with the breeze while he continued to walk towards the tent, the tent where his youngest wife slept. The warm alcohol that danced through his veins kept him warm against the bone chilling cold air in the desert. The words of his foster mother and his courtiers did no less to keep him warm.
"It's just a few hours that they are married and see the new queen has already started to make the King wait!"
"She said that she's feeling tired. So she wanted to sleep."
"Begum Jodha said that she'll not come."
"She's in her tent."
"She asked for a separate tent."
Their words kept on rolling in his ears as his legs escorted him to the tent. Opening the flaps he went inside only to receive the picture of his beautiful wife sleeping on the King-sized bed.
The picture was so serene, so mesmerising that Jalal forgot the main reason behind his coming to 'her' tent. His anger evaporated in no time, replaced by a sense of deja vu. He strolled towards the bed all the while keeping his gaze hooked on the sleeping figure.
Her face glowed in the dim light that came from the burning torch kept in the farthest corner of the tent. The swiftly blowing wind ruffled her hair. Her dislodged maang tika gave a peek at the vermilion filled parting in her hair. The red bindi placed between two perfectly shaped brows increased her beauty while the combination of light and shadow on her face helped to enhance her facial features.
Jalal was so lost in the sleeping beauty lying in front of him that he didn't know when the frown on his face was replaced by a soft smile. He didn't know when his legs made him get up on the bed. His senses came back sensing the person behind his mood change shifting slowly.
...*...
Her sleep broke sensing movements on the bed behind her. Slowly the reality struck her. She was in the Mughal tent, her identity being the youngest wife of the man she despised the most, the man whose head she had promised to the Deity.
The shifting of the bed along with the slight creaking sound made her reach out for the small knife that she had kept below the pillow. This was an act that was taught by her father in her childhood. Being a princess she always required protection, which was given to her every time. But her father had taught her that a person is most vulnerable when he's asleep. That's where the idea of keeping the small knife under pillow came.
She gripped the handle of the knife stealthily and increased pressure on it in an attempt to assure herself that she can fight the danger alone and also to prepare herself for the attack.
...*...
The slight shifting of his youngest wife brought Jalal to his senses and he found her gripping something under the pillow. Understanding what the object in her hand could be, he prepared himself for the attack. He was not disheartened when after a moment her right hand gripping a sharp knife was in his with the knife biting on his skin, taking out blood from it.
...*...
Jodha tried to get up from her half lying position but her husbands force stopped her from doing so. Instead she found herself falling back on the bed with the knife in her hand biting on her husband's palm. The red liquid flowed freely but Jalal seemed to be oblivious to the pain.
Gripping the knife, he forced his fiery wife to fall back on the bed, with her eyes showcasing the fear in her heart, locked with his.
Jodha saw a maniac gleam in her husband's eyes which removed the courage from her eyes, replacing it with pure fear.
"I called you to sing in the court but you didn't come. Why are you silent now?", she heard Jalal speak in his usual husky tone, "You remember the vows you took recognising me as your husband. You promised to abide by everything that I say."
"Yes I remember that I'm your wife", she found herself retorting back, "But you seemed to forget that for any husband, protecting the honour of his wife is above any order."
A small smile touched his lips on listening to her answer, "I came here because I was angry with you for not obeying me, but you managed to prove me guilty."
Jodha looked on as Jalal continued, "I like the fear in your eyes and I like it much more because it's for me. I would love to see the fear residing there always."
His words hit the expected mark as he saw his youngest wife's eyes slowly taking in the light from the burning torch. Her anger was back.
Succeeding in his mission to rile her up, Jalal slowly detached the knife from his palm, taking in the pain that his wife gave him. He left the bed slowly all the while continuing to smirk at his wife's angry expression.
Bending down he collected some mud from the ground and applied it in his wound to stop the blood from flowing, a necessary first aid taught by his Khan Baba.
"From next time there is no need to sleep with the knife. I'm there to protect you from the world", he uttered the words slowly, carefully taking in her expressions, "But there is no one to save you from me."
He gave his usual lop sided smile as he saw his words registering in her mind. Leaving her to deal with the words, he left the tent with a huge grin. It was not even a full day that they were married and yet he had managed to irk her, successfully!
...*...
She saw Jalal leave the tent with his usual smirk. But a fear had managed to grip her heart successfully.
What did he mean when he said that there is no one to save her from him. The young queen didn't get the meaning but she knew that she had to be prepared for every danger. And she also knew another thing. Come what may, but she'll never let Shahenshah Jalaluddin Muhammad get the satisfaction of winning against her.
With these thoughts playing havoc with her mind, the youngest queen of the Agra fort lowered herself on the bed, knowing very well that sleep was going to be the last thing coming to her that night!
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Done! Tell me how was it! This is the first time I'm writing something so close to the show!
Do hit the like button and leave your comments!
M ready for healthy criticisms!
PS. Updates of WBD will come once I'm done with the story completely.. So a lot of time is left for that! For now read this!
With love,
Barnali aka Sonai...
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