NOVEL~*Hiding behind a Stranger*~THREAD 54 - CHAP 59 - Page 76

Nams became Heeralicious- felicitations are in order!

Omg I can truly feel the appreciation pour in through this Senior English Tutor's words... he will be happy, I am super super happy!

As for the cursive, I still write in cursive, Rosejaan... I agree though about it being a dying breed of writing form. Till junior school they're taught cursive and asked to write in it... once they enter middle school it's all up to the student!!! 😕

These days, if anything, with the advent of sms lingo and type-texting, we'd be grateful in a few years' time if we find kids who can articulate a full sentence eye-to-eye, without having to look down into their screens, or using the abbreviated lingo

The Women's wing...

Long rays of the sun slowly edged in from under the arches lining the corridors, its gilded glow throwing strange apparitions across the stony walls and floors - especially in a corner where the clay jars lay, lumped together. If she hadn't been so preoccupied with worry and woe, Heera might have spent her noons studying the room's interiors, indulging her curiosity for the unknown by trailing her fingers on its walls - decoding stories that its faded paintwork might reveal about those who'd been living here in the years gone by.

But thus far, not once had she felt inclined to do so.

Instead, her eyes had lost themselves in a blank spot and her ears deafened to the sixth argument of the day erupting outside; while her psyche continued to nurture that tiny ember of hope that Bindiya and Dhani had lit alight a day ago.

And she remained that way till the Chief-maid placed a plate of expertly-skinned fruits in front.

'Please eat them... at least now...'

'Alright... thank you...'

Heera was about to dip her hand in, when she paused.

'The noises outside...'

No, they hadn't grown louder. Rather, they'd fallen abruptly hush. As if distracted by something - or someone!

Soon enough, it all became clear.

A parade of feet was heard clomping along the corridors. Accompanied by the sonorous jingles of anklets and bangles. Judging from the heaviness of the metal - one in particular - Heera expected the bangles and anklets to be exotic. Which meant, the lady wearing them had to be a high-ranking woman!

'High-ranking?' A sudden jitter wriggled her insides. A strange jitter it was. Almost discomforting. Was it from nerves? Fear? Or, was it something else? She couldn't tell! 'Who could it be, Gauri?'

'I'm not sure...'

'Are they coming here?'

'I'll find out' Quickly nudging aside the plate, Gauri helped Heera up, when a blaring announcement went off just then.

'Attention, Sahiba of Parnagarh! The honourable wife of our Mughal heir, Begum of the illustrious Shehzaade, is at your door!'

'Wife of the Mughal heir?'

Gauri and Heera exchanged shocked stares.

Why was SHE here? And what could SHE want from a lady who had nothing left to give?

With a single flick of a palm, the Khwaja Seras were dismissed. Then sashaying past Gauri's bowed greeting as if it were invisible to her, the Shehzaadi came to a gliding halt in the centre, flanked by her retinue.

Only a moderate frame she had, but such a large shadow did she cast upon the room. Was that a good omen? Or, bad?

'Shehzaadi Banu Begum Sahiba!'

Heera recalled the title as she caught her first vague glimpse of the royal. If her instincts were right - as they usually were - she could sense no smile on those lips and hardly an emotion on those features. Apart from a frown that adorned her forehead like second skin, of course.

No, this Shehzaadi was not blessed with a beautiful face - made more apparent by the enchanting Ladies-in-waiting she chose to surround herself with. In fact, if it were not for the royal regalia, any of those ladies held a better chance at being recognised as princesses.

However, what this Shehzaadi lacked in beauty, she compensated with a sort of unmatched authority that her persona commanded!

Was that a good omen? Or, bad?

Could she speak to someone with such authority - one lady to another - for the sake of her husband and plead for his cause? Could she beg - one wife to another - hoping a Begum might be able to make the Shehzaade see reason where all else had failed?

'Ma Bhavani... please... let it be so...'

With renewed hope, Heera offered her a salute.

That salute however, was not even recognised with a cursory nod.

'So YOU are the woman who's responsible for most of the turmoil going on, Sahiba of Parnagarh!' Her lorldly frown contorted into something vainer.

Tired, was this Hindu Sahiba's attire. Worn out, her face. Despite the courteous smile she presently wore, her aura was aggrieved. With neither the power nor the personality to do so, how did SHE manage to cause such upheaval by corrupting their Chief Intelligence Officer - an upheaval that'd ruined the peace of the Mughal heir, night and day?

Well, at least that was the opinion of Harka Sahiba that she'd formed at first glances.

But a second glance - a closer look at the heiress' face - and her royal pride had to swallow back some of those ill-feelings. Despite the ill-treatment, illness and immense fear for her beloved one couldn't deny that she had a stunning face. Exotically so. Add the fact that this Hindu Sahiba was only 17 and orphaned, and the image was capable of stirring a few ripples of empathy even in a heart as hard as her own!

'Nazima!' she snapped, before she'd feel tempted to soften

One of her ladies stepped forth with a tray.

A moment later, a scroll was thrown at Heera's feet, its contents torn to bits.

'Trying to get in touch with the Shehenshah, were you?' her words came hard as lashes 'He is my father-in-law... all maids who serve him report to me... did you think I wouldn't know?'

'Lord!' Heera felt her feet go cold, as a palm instantly went up to her deflated heart.

An appeal to the Shehenshah had been one of their only pillars holding up the roof of hope that they were trying so hard to stop from flying off. Alas, that pillar was gone too, while they were now threatened with a new storm - the consequences of being caught!

The gales sent her shoulders buckling, blowing away a bit more of what little beam and brilliance remained on her face. But she held on to whatever she could, to keep herself upright - not letting herself be knocked down entirely.

At least, not yet.

'I only wanted justice for Khan Sahib...' Her numb lips moved, as Heera folded up her meek palms 'do to me what you must... but HE has done no wrong... he has been nothing but loyal to his master... please advise the Huzoor... please ask him to spare my Sahib's life... to pardon him! It would stop a lot of pain and hurt on both sides... Khan Sahib would remain loyal to him forever, I promise you that!'

'Trying to get ME to change the Mughal heir's mind?' The Shehzaadi chuckled, turning over to her Ladies - most of whom seemed to share her sense of bloated sarcasm. 'I'm not aware of what sort of a relationship you Hindus share with your husbands... but here, we do not meddle in a man's official affairs... it is called 'respect''

What? 'The sort of relationship WE Hindus share with our husbands?'

That taunt was intended to demean her, but somehow missed its mark - managing to drag in the semblance of a smile on the baisa's blue lips. Surely, any woman who loved her husband would understand WHY she was doing what she did! And if the Shehzaadi wouldn't speak to her husband, even to prevent a preventable crisis, then that left her with little option but to continue trying what she could.

'These 'official' affairs involve the survival of my husband... and all I am doing, is to try save him... from where I come it is not considered 'disrespectful', it is called 'devotion'' she added 'Your Highness!'

'Ya Allah!' The brewing storms came to a standstill. An abrupt standstill. No one could tell which direction those gales were headed for, next. Not even by those closest to the princess. For, a single look at the blatantly stiffening veins on her long neck and it was obvious that their Shehzaadi was NOT pleased by the Hindu Sahiba's unwillingness to be knocked down.

'NAZIMA!'

She snapped her fingers.

'Your Highness...' came Nazima forward.

'Go on, then...'

'But... Your Highness... but...'

'I do NOT have all day, Nazima'

Heera could discern the outline of a hefty Lady coming her way, her thumb furiously fidgeting with the ends of her veil.

'Wh... what does she wan...'

SLAP!!! A hard slap was smacked across her face.

SLAP!!! A second smack descended upon her, harder than the first.

'THAT is for speaking back to our Shehzaadi Banu Begum Sahiba!'

The heat seared into Heera's young flesh like fire into cotton. Precious beads of pride were scattering away from her person, some of it lost forever from the ONE ornament she always chose to grace herself with - dignity! Her frail frame would have stumbled onto the floor, had another Lady-in-waiting, who'd been picking up the littered pieces of scroll, not caught her in time and propped her up.

Tears streamed of their own accord. But the baisa wasn't crying. The tears that left a blazing trail down her cheeks were from an angry rush. And with every slap-sound that rang against her ears, her heart raced faster to nurse her bruised honour. She was Hukum Jagat Prasad Singh's daughter, a noblewoman by blood, hailing from a reputable line of Kshatriyas who served the royal family. Yet her honour had been deliberately reduced to mere entertainment for an audience of slaves and maids to delight from. As if she were a common courtesan of the harem who had to be put in line.

Letting the tears dry off naturally, Heera stared on. In fact, had her cheek not turned dark red from the abuse, one wouldn't be blamed for assuming nothing had happened at all.

'Such pride!' Gaped Nazima before re-joining her princess - who was just as stunned by what she was witnessing; though of course, she would never allow it to show.

'Sahiba of Parnagarh!' Her royal call shredded apart the black fabric of silence shrouding the room. 'That maid who took your bribe to pass on this message has what's coming for her... I could make it worse for you too... as it is, you are on death roll... do NOT ruin the last days of your...'

'Nooo ooo ooo ooo ooo'

A flurry of hollers from the courtyard out below had interrupted her warning, whipping their strained nerves into a fresh frenzy. 'Nooo ooo ooo'

Inmates rushed forth to the corridors in drones, grabbing whatever spots they could, to catch a glimpse of the commotion. However, they were nudged aside to make way, when the Ladies-in-waiting stepped outside, followed by the Shehzaadi.

'Guards!' Echoes of Nazima's pitch from the top floor drummed the sentinel below into attention 'Have you not been informed? Our Highness, Shehzaadi Banu Begum Sahiba is here!'

'Y... y... y... yes...'

'Speak up!'

'Yes yes...' stuttered the guard loudly. It wasn't so easy to ensure his voice carried two floors above while keeping his head low. Yet, he wouldn't dare peek up, in the direction of the Shehzaadi, or his Huzoor would have him blinded!

'This lady does not belong here...' he pointed to a captive they had surrounded with spears. 'She probably slipped in with the kitchen crew somehow... but one of the them spotted her... and raised an alarm...'

'Is she here alone? Or is she with someone else? Have you checked?'

'We've checked... she's alone and she has nothing on her!'

'I see...' The princess took one long look at the young captive, and then glanced aside, at the Sahiba of Parnagarh who had just assumed her spot as an audience to the unfolding drama in a far corner.

'Check again!'

'Check again? What's going on?'

Handicapped by a blindness that showed her nothing beyond a mere mesh of figures assembled at the courtyard below, and able to decipher nothing from the racket of murmurs around, Heera inched back.

'Gauri...' she whispered, sensing how the breath of her best friend had turned much shakier. 'What's going on?'

When an answer did not come at once, Heera felt her next beat hit the roof of her mouth. 'Speak to me... what's going on? Who's down there? Who's been caught?'

'Bindiya'

The movements of her breath abruptly stopped as if her chest been walloped with a cudgel 'Oh my God! Bindiya? H... h... how?'

Had she returned with some news for them? Or had she sneaked in, to hand over the ingredients they'd requested for? If so, why was she alone? What'd happened? Surely, their folks would not have sent this young girl in with the herbs by herself. 'Where is Dhani?'

'I... I... I...' Gauri spoke in low terrified bursts 'I do not know... and I cannot see anyone else I recognise either...'

'So...' There was a tune - an almost playful tune - in the query of the princess 'tell me young lady... what... or rather, WHO... brings you here?'

'I... I... I...' Bindiya sniffled with little control over her words and emotions. Her knees were trembling under the paltry weight of her thin figure. She would've collapsed if it were not for the Khwaja Seras who were holding her up by her shoulder - so crudely, in fact, that her feet were almost dangling above the Earth. 'I was hoping to find some work... and to be paid, Your Highness... that's all!'

The Shehzaadi grinned her first grin that noon. 'You are a poor actress... have you been told that?'

Poor actress? 'Yes'

Having tried every version of the trick that her partner had tried an evening ago, and having failed miserably thus far, Bindiya needed no reminders that she was a poor impersonator. That was why Dhani was supposed to play the role of actress all along. However, while attempting to slip into the ladies wing with the kitchen crew earlier, a member had spotted her and raised the alarm. In the ensuing confusion, the compound was sealed straightaway - leaving Dhani stranded outside with the crowds.

And by an ugly strike of fate, she was now bearing the brunt of a thousand harsh glares alone on the wrong side of these hostile gates - two mammoth iron doors sporting thorny fans at the top and pointed spikes on its facia that would deter the worst criminals from plotting an escape!

'Oh Lord!'

Having said that, even at such a hapless juncture, Bindiya wouldn't deny that there WERE two things she was grateful for.

One, she'd managed to slip the parcel of medicines into a planter 20 yards away just as the guards were being alerted. Nothing was found on her when she'd been checked, thus keeping the parcel safe for the time-being. Two, her friend hadn't been caught - and she could only hope Dhani wouldn't do anything foolish that'd jeopardise her own safety too! 'Ma...'

'Ma...' Heera grabbed her flattened stomach, feeling the sting of acid from the climbing tension during the impasse.

Mustn't she speak up? Mustn't she intervene on behalf of this young maid who'd risked her safety for their sake? Must she continue to act as though she had nothing to do with the entire spectacle? What sort of a leader would she be if she let her maid suffer thus? What sort of a woman would she be if she stood by and watched while a lady was humiliated?

'Bin...' she was about to break her silence, when Gauri buried all five fingers into her slender arm, immediately stopping her.

And Heera knew exactly why Gauri had stopped her -

'The toughest part of a leader's life is living with the difficult choices we make...'

It was for the sake of the greater good, as Khan Sahib had once said when dealing with the messengers. A wise truth. But a harsh one to adhere to when the time came, since her heart was born to give life and blood, not take it from another.

'Besides...' her pupils flitted feverishly from one blank spot to another. If she DID intervene, what would she say - seeing how the Shehzaadi wasn't so fond of her? In fact, what if 'speaking up' put Bindiya in greater trouble with the princess? 'Ma Bhavani...' her palms clawed into the parapet wall so hard a fingernail snapped backward 'help us!'

'I ask you once again... WHAT brings you here?'

'Oh God!' Wailed the girl, sweat and tears drenching her veil. 'Try thinking of something Bindiya... think think...' she put the muscles of her forehead to work, wringing them hard till a painfully dizzy spell squeezed through her temples.

PAT! A hard tap struck her face, forcing her to stir awake. 'Oh Lord...' she was physically sick, and emotionally pathetic. And even as the Khwaja Seras were propping her up, taller than she'd ever stood, her persona felt so small.

Not only had she got caught in this net of perils, she'd let its webbing spin around her baisa too. Yet, she could do nothing to get either of them free! Because whatever she tried, she could never be an actress as good as Dhani, a warrior like Durga baisa, or quick-witted like Harka Baisa. She was nothing beyond a silly maid!

The girl finally looked up at her leader as a lone and frightened soldier - must she admit defeat?

'This girl doesn't speak. Have her taken to the gallows!'

'NOOO! Baisa aaa aaa... I am sorry'

'That's it!' Heera had had enough - the conflict of her conscience now settled with Bindiya identifying her in public anyhow. Letting go of the parapet wall, she stormed through the parting crowds and approached the princess 'Your Highness... yes, she is my maid...' her palms folded upon her chest 'but, one can see from the innocence on her face and the immaturity in her actions that she is only a child!'

'Then... ' The Shehzaadi swayed a palm slowly - the developments having peppered an extra pinch of spice onto an already delightful array of events 'Why is she here?'

'Because she grew up in our home, under our care... and has travelled miles to come meet me... as any child would' she added, hoping it'd tap into the maternal sentiments of another woman 'possibly after hearing of my sentencing'

For a few cold instants, the princess came back with nothing. 'Now YOU are a good actress... you almost had me convinced there'

'Your Highness...' Heera's soft cheeks toughened from all of that repressed anguish 'But she has committed no crime... take pity on her... I beg you... it is the law here, is it not... a law made by your illustrious family, no less... that unless a woman was found to be dangerous, or immoral, she would not be hanged...' The droplet of sweat that'd been hanging by her jaw slid down from the added weight of her desperation. She had no idea how the Shehzaadi would react to being reminded of the law, in public. But it was the only recourse she could run to right then, to save Bindiya from the gallows! 'As a fair ruler, you would not overlook the laws, Your Highness, would you?'

'Oh I wouldn't, would I?' The Kohl lines of her smoky eyes narrowed, her glare turning harsher than a pointed needle.

But five skipped blinks passed, and the dreaded glare couldn't knock the 17 year old down a notch. It was then that she recalled why - her opponent was blind, and could not be affected!

'Darn it!' Her jowls hollowed as she turned away, a vague dislike emerging to the sight of her own reflection in those hazel crystals, as she was forced to rethink it all. Throughout, while she'd been engaging in this war of wits simply because she wanted to, her opponent was fighting back because she had to! Isn't that why the Sahiba of Parnagarh hadn't been knocked down yet? She could disregard the law and continue to engage, but that'd make her a slave to her own ego - in public! Or, she could hold onto her dignity, be regardful of her husband's popularity that was already under threat, and let the law punish them both.

'Well...' The ridges of her throat bobbed up and down, as she tried to wash back the bitter aftertaste following that lengthy self-debate 'the maid might have committed no crime... but she's trespassed the gates sneakily... and I want to be sure no one dares to even think of repeating such a thing...' she paused 'GUARDS! Have her thrown in prison...'

'What? Oh Lord... no...'

Dropping her courage and composure, Heera rushed back to the wall, followed by Gauri 'Bindiya'

'Baisa... I am sorry...'

The girl's soaking eyelids moved upwards, almost aimlessly, to the skies.

Prison. 'Prison... really?' Was this going to be the last instance she got to stand under the open skies? Was this the last day she'd get to witness daylight? 'Prison' Was she going to spend the rest of her years in a grey cell? Die there?

'Then again' These were risks she had been aware of, when volunteering for this mission, hadn't she? Besides, what if this was all fate's method of punishing her, for abandoning the baisa during her most crucial moment? 'Ma Bhavani...' She crunched her lashes - the light had gotten too much. 'if that's the case... before I am taken, I want to do at least a single good deed for her today... if only I could stop being a whimpering child and come up with a way... if only I could signal that the medicines were here, without giving baisa away... if only I could muster the grit to sacrifice myself with dignity, oh Goddess I pray!'

Her lashes flipped open, her mind's gaze envisioning the image of Durga bai amongst the white canvas of clouds. 'Words!' Yes! She might not be a warrior, an actor, or a diplomat. But she WAS still something! She was a gifted poet, where words naturally flowed from her lips like grace from a dancer's feet. 'Yes' She would let her baisa know about the hidden stash of medicines through poetry. After all, that was how Durga baisa had left her clues about the Farmaan once, hadn't she?

'You being here is not in vain! You get to make an attempt to save the life of Khan Sahib and even the future of Parnagarh - what better deed could there be than that?'

With clarity having returned to her mind, and a renewed strength bracing up her legs, her feet dragged to a stop as the Khwaja Seras began lugging her away towards the prisons.

'Wait...' A soldier now walking into her last battle while trying to hold her chin high, Bindiya glanced up at the enemy. 'Your Highness... I am a poetess - an identity given to me by my baisa... before I go, I wish to dedicate my last few lines of poetry to her... an expression of how much I adore her... and will continue to do so!'

'What?' Snorted the Shehzaadi!

What an unusually sentimental lot they were!

However; after having cornered, slapped, humiliated and taken this 'child-maid' away, maybe there was nothing wrong in letting the Sahiba of Parnagarh have this one last pleasure!

'Go on... be quick then!'

'God!' Clamping her palms over her lips, Heera tried focusing on the small halo that was Bindiya! 'Give us... give HER... strength'

Bindiya cleared her throat, with a tearful smile -

Hear oh people, I speak a truth that's never been truer,

In honour of my Lady, the baisa of Parnagarh!

Than the gold of soothing turmeric is her glow purer,

Than the white of poppy is her skin fairer,

Than the perfume of lavender is her fragrance sweeter,

Than the powders of silver is her heart rarer.

Such a Lady is the baisa of Parnagarh!

'Wait...' Heera swallowed a puff of air from shock 'Turmeric, White of poppy, Powdered silver, Lavender...' Bindiya was listing the ingredients that she'd requested for!

Than the roses in a planter are her lips redder,

Than the knots of silk is her grace finer,

Than the odes of a poet are her words kinder,

Than the Holy fire are her deeds diviner.

Such a Lady is the baisa of Parnagarh!

'Planter...' This wasn't a poetry dedicated to her, was it? These were clues! 'Planter... knots...'

Did that mean that the medicines were here already? Hidden inside a planter somewhere, in the courtyard downstairs?

'Possibly!'

Heera cried. And then, laughed. And then cried again. 'Our dear Bindiya... people have always mistaken you be a childish maid... you've shown everyone what a clever and brave little girl you truly are!'

To her illustrious family, a noble sister and daughter,

To her townsfolk, a valued guide and mentor,

To anyone's misery, a miraculous healer, a curer,

And to me? Well, my 'everything' I owe to her!

Such a Lady is the baisa of Parnagarh!

'Bindiya! Oh God!' Wishing those beautiful couplets would never end so the girl wouldn't be taken away, Heera strained hard - managing to break through the mesh of blurry blobs briefly, to catch a fleeting sight of Bindiya.

But the couplets did end.

And Bindiya was finally nothing beyond a memory in thin air.

Sometime later, Gauri dragged her misty sight about and around till she eventually spotted the planter not far from where the girl had stood - the scenes from a few moments ago a bizarre smudge of ugly colours to her pupils.

'Bindiya?' She asked herself for the nth time - and every time she did, it pushed the brine of bottled tears up her throat. If only she could hold the girl once, clasp her close to her chest and weep, like a mother would do before sending her young daughter off forever. But she couldn't. If only she could recall the last day she'd spared a kind word for the child. But, she couldn't. How wrong had that girl proven her opinion of her today - displaying such maturity while being led off into a world of the unknown. A world in which, one could never tell if there was a doorway of hope through which she might return.

Trying to gather up whatever spirits and senses she could find, Gauri began strolling her slow way towards the planter. The surrounding ambience continued to have a ring of morbidity in it, as if a funeral procession had passed by. However, with a thousand thorns of grief prickling her senseless from all sides, she couldn't care less for the whispers and stares that continued to feed off of their misfortune.

'Do not let Bindiya's sacrifice go to waste!' Thankfully, despite forgetting herself, that message hadn't been forgotten yet. As she sat by the planter, pulling open her flask to drink a few sips of water, she let her glimpse slide left, reminding herself to act inconspicuous as she did so.

It was then that the corner of her glimpse caught something that resembled a parcel tucked underneath the bunch of leaves and branches. Making sure no one else was watching, she took a closer look 'The knot'. The 'unique' knot. It was indeed the parcel of herbs!

'Oh Bindiya...' The bottled grief and guilt toppled over, and it came rolling down in streams.

Hope Heera will not be miffed at me for leaving out some of her belongings.

Must say a very good place to lose one's possessions.😉 😆