Kriyal entered in her small, but comfortable house. She tiptoed towards her bed, making it sure that she doesn't wake up her mother from her sweet slumber.
"Kriyal..." she heard her mother's voice. It was firm, which surely meant she was in trouble.
"Ji maa? Aap abhi tak soyi nahi? Aapko pata hai naa aap ko kal subah jaldi jana hai, Rani sa ne jo bulaaya hai. Hum toh bas yu hi bahar chale gaye the... Ratri mein ekdum sheetal hawa hoti hai na..." she began blabbering, her ultimate solution when she knew she had to lie.
But her mother was smart enough.
"Kriyal, humne aap se ab tak kuch bhi nahi poocha hai." Her mother interrupted her, in a very cold voice, making the atmosphere almost spooky.
She gulped down hard. She knew she was in deep trouble.
"Kriyal humne aapse kitni baar bola hai ki aap apna mel-jol aur mitrata Kunwar sa se kam rakhengi? Parantu aap sunti hi nahi hai. Hum aapki maa hai. Aapka bhala chahte hai hum. Aap jaanti nahi hai ki yeh raajsi rakt kaisa hota hai. Ve daasiyo ko manushya nahi samajhte! " Her mother spoke with grave seriousness, but when she approached the end, she too had tears in her eyes.
Kriyal very well knew her mother was suddenly disturbed. She didn't know the reason. But she was old enough to understand that this was not the right time to ask that.
"Humme shama kar dijiye maa. Hum aage se aisa nahi karenge." She mumbled an apology and escaped the scene.
She lied down on the mattress, which was spread out on the floor. Approaching her mother was never easy, forget making her calm. There was always a huge gap between her and her mother. She still tries to understand, what has she done so frightening that her own mother tries to stay away from her? It was difficult from the very beginning. But she adjusted. Now she is snatching away her sole best friend! This was too much for her to bear! But somehow she will deal with this. She has to.
With this bizarre of thoughts and emotions, she fell asleep.
The next morning, she proceeded for the palace as usual. She worshipped the idols of Krishna and the shivling, which was kept in Reyaansh's room. But something was different today, which was noticed by this young prince. He knew she was a chatterbox and something disturbing had happened last night, which, perhaps, had made her so quite all of a sudden.
But he had to make some amends, and she had the excuse to escape. He decided to talk to her at lunch, for he knew she would always be there to serve him food. Or else, he won't eat it.
"Kriyal, kuch hua hai kya? Aap ko itna shaant humne shayad hi kabhi dekha hai." He questioned her, while she was serving him a grand arrangement of eatables.
"Humme kuch nahi hua hai Kunwar sa." She said in a robotic voice.
"Hum jaante hai kuch toh hua hai. Kya Lakshmi maa ne aapko kuch kaha? Log jo bhi soche, usse apne aap par utna haavi nahi hone dena chahiye." he said, as he knew something must have happened between the daughter-mother duo.
She didn't say a word. Just a small tear escaped her eye.
He wiped that tear and looked into her eyes, for the first time. He knew that she was beautiful, or maybe god gifted, but he never felt for her this way before. She suddenly began to seem more beautiful and innocent. He is the prince, in fact the sole prince of Marwar. Every command is fulfilled at his beck and call. But still he melts away at the one tear of Kriyal. Her one wish and he starts making plans to fulfill it. He began feeling certain warmth in the pit of his stomach. This undefined, indescribable and unexplainable emotion just made him speechless. It was a feeling to be surely sent from above.
Here she was feeling restless. What was she doing? He is just a friend and she is gazing into his eyes stupidly. Above all, she is a mere dasi and he is a prince. But she couldn't help but get lost in his eyes. She was so lucky to share this heavenly moment with the fantasy of every girl. He is charming, respectful, brave, and diligent. He is the pride of the whole Rajputana! But why does she feel so giddy right now? There is a blush creeping up her cheeks as she wonders about this. And now she suddenly wants time to freeze, so that this moment never ends.
They suddenly lost eye contact, due to the disturbance from outside. She quickly served him food and ran away, leaving him the blurred memories of her tinkling anklets and their innocent moment.
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They came out of the canteen, chattering along as they came out. Her mood was quite well now, and he was glad for that. Who would want to bear the frustration of a girl for so long?
"So what next? Do we need to do some research for our assignment?" Kria replied.
"Ya, sure! Let's go to the files and stuff. We'll find something surely there."
"Okay, but I don't think we'll find much."
He just shook his hand and dragged her by the hand. They both felt sparks. Their heartbeat quickened, blood began rushing through their veins and their eyes widened. They gazed towards each other, shocked. As if they both were electrocuted. What was this feeling? He immediately left her hand and they proceeded towards the store room. No words were exchanged after that.
They reached the store room, finally. None of them knew who should speak first. Then shattering the silence, almost spontaneously, Rey spoke up.
"Umm, I'll go to the left you'll go to the right. And if we find anything related to that place, even if it's not that important, we will study it together. Okay?"
"Not okay. What is the need to see so much of detail? We will only understand about it if we see that palace physically."
He pressed the tip of his nose. Why can't she just listen to him once?
"Rey, I think we shouldn't go into much detail. Like which dynasty it belongs to, how many people built it, which period it belongs to, why was it built, etc. All that can be done after we examine that place right?" She best tried to explain him the rational way. Why waste time when you don't have much of it?
After a moment or two of realization, he too agreed.
"Yes, I guess you're right."
"So now hear by my plan...Aah!!" she suddenly screamed.
"What happened?"
"R..r..rat!"
He knew that was outright inhumane but still he couldn't help but laugh at her expressions. And her fear, of course.
"Ek rat hi toh hai, ab kya utha ke le chalu tumhe?"
"Ha, agar kar sakte ho toh please!"
He was really shocked. She was actually asking him to lift her? She is a really strange girl!
"Aise kya dekh rahe ho? I trust you!"
That was all he needed to hear. He swept her off the floor and gathered her in his strong arms. Their breaths were mingled with each other, and so were their eyes. An untold emotion rested in them, which threatened to capture the other's heart. The time was silent; thankfully there was no witness present to spoil their moment. But everything has to end, and so did this.
He made her sit on the table that was kept in the room. Still gazing into her eyes, as if in a trance, he leaned closer to her. His hot breath fanning her skin made her tingly. This was very new for both of them. She was thinking at the back of her mind, that she knows him only since the morning! How could she let him come so close? But she felt as if she had surrendered to him way long back...
Well, he knew what he was doing was wrong, very wrong. He couldn't just get so close to her. He wants this moment to freeze, but he just can't. What if he falls in...? No. Nothing like this will happen. He won't let it happen at any cost. But these emotions? They are certainly not bigger than fear. But what if they are?
He went closer to her ear and whispered, "You sit here, and I'll get the files"
Bringing the files, they discussed over it.
"So this palace was built by Rana Reyaansh Singhania, son of Rana Veerendra Singhania... wait! Doesn't that ring a bell?" she said, while eyeing at Rey.
"Ya, they're my ancestors, the one whom I was named after, was very great." He said while having a proud smile.
"Well, things are not written well for him, this says that he was alleged by his cousin of spending all the gold on a lavish lifestyle and Rajput princesses..."
"This is all wrong! I know that!" He yelled. Making his voice echo.
She was astonished. He seemed to have a lot of respect for that man. He could really have been tricked, or simply preserved that treasure. And it really seemed to her that he was a honest person, she just didn't know why.
"Log jo bhi soche, usse apne aap par utna haavi nahi hone dena chahiye" she replied out of the blue, busy in her thoughts.
"Huh?" He said, unable to interpret her sudden use of philosophy and shuddh hindi.
"Umm, nothing. Let's leave, it's quite late" she said as she hurried away to avoid his questions. Even she didn't know why she said that. It seemed to remain a mystery for some time.
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