Unable to take the sounds coming from outside and not knowing what was going on she creaked the door to her cabinet an inch to have a view of the scene outside, only to be horrified by what she saw: Aman and Rudra battling seven of Tejawat's goons all by themselves. Where was the BSD back up?!! How long had it been?She had heard Aman say that they were ten minutes away, when he had come back in after hiding the jeep and then the noises had started as Tejawat and his entourage had entered the workshop to find Rudra and Aman instead of Parvati. Tejawat had roared in outrage and ordered his men to attack him and find her out, for he knew Rudra, just as well as Rudra knew him. Thus knew that he would have kept Paaro somewhere here, where she was near him.
Seeing Rudra and Aman outnumbered, she whispered her prayers to her god, to bring the BSD squad dispatched here fast, to help them out. She was busy in prayer, when she spied an eighth man come out of nowhere and attack Rudra, who was already wrestling with four men, from behind. Her heart cried in fury and forgetting Rudra's order to not leave her cabinet until he or Aman didn't tell her she sprang like a lioness from her cove and attacked the man who had attacked Rudra on his blindside. Shocking him and everyone else in the room, by her appearance. Tejawat cackled aloud, seeing she had been drawn out of her hiding place. While Rudra cursed loudly.
'Paaro, why did you come out?!!!' he yelled at her as he yanked her towards him before any of the men could touch her.
'You were outnumbered Major saab, you couldn't just expect me to sit and watch as Thakur sa's men took you down. If you have a need to protect me then I too have that same need.' She defended herself from behind him, as she gripped his back tightly, for both his hands were occupied with fending off the goons who now came to get Parvati.
'I can take care of myself! I don't need you to protect me!!' he shouted back.
'Yes I can see how well you have taken care of yourself. You're bleeding Major saab.' She whimpered, as she saw the trail of blood making its way down the back of his neck from somewhere in the depth of his hair.
'Paaro...' he gritted his teeth as he kicked the man in front of him in the gut and turned to her for a split-second. 'I am trained to do this,you are not!'
'Major saab?!' she screamed, making him turn in time to see Bheema launching at him with a sword. He batted the hand containing the sword and advanced to kick his injured leg, breaking it in one stomp and thereby disabling him to continue on the fight as the broken bone now made him shriek with agony. However, in taking down Bheema he had stepped away from Paaro for a moment too long, providing Tejawat with the window he had been waiting for. When Rudra turned back to his wife he found her in Tejawat's grasp, causing all the fighting to stop. His men, seeing Tejawat had his prize, while Aman and Rudra stared from each other to Parvati in Tejawat's hand trying to figure out how to save her.
'Let her go Tejawat.' Rudra petitioned.
'No way.' He gave a cruel smile.
'Look you...you were mentioning a deal before the fight broke out. I will make any deal with you, just let Paaro go.' He pleaded, making Parvati stare at him in horror.
'No Major saab. You can't. You cannot make any deals with this man. Not for my sake.'
'Shut up Paaro.' Rudra barked at her. He was trying to gain time to save her life and here she was ready to give it away, did she not understand at all, what she meant to him? 'Tejawat-
'Now. Now Rudra bana...is that anyway to talk to your wife?' Tejawat egged him, as he slid a dagger across Parvati's neck, flat edge against her skin, teasing away the moments that led to his inevitable act of slitting it right across and letting Rudra's life bleed out right before him like a sacrificial animal.
'No...no. Don't.' Rudra raised his hands in surrender. 'Please. Just let her go. I will do whatever you ask.' He pleaded, all the while his eyes on the glinting knife that rested on Parvati's neck.
'Hahaha...now that is more like it Major. Bow in front my kingship, not stand with your chest puffed high. These medals don't stand anything against, Thakur Param Singh Tejawat! Nothing. Your BSD is nothing against my empire! You dared to take away my throne, now watch your wife despair before your eyes.' He turned the blade so that the hilt of it pierced the first layer of the transparent skin on Parvati's throat, making her whimper with the prick.
'No. NO!' Rudra advanced.
'Don't.' Tejawat shouted, stopping him in his tracks. 'Another step Major and she will cease to exist.'
'M-major saab.' She sobbed, terrified at the thought of how her life ending would break him. In that moment it was written clearly in his eyes, what he could not bring to his lips. That she mattered to him, not just mattered but had become his life, his sole reason to live; that is why he had been fighting with her, not wanting her to walk out of his life. She understood now and so feared how her death right before his eyes would kill him, just the way his mother's departure had and this time there would be no one to revive him. She couldn't let that happen. She needed to do something. But what?
'Ssh. It's ok. I'm here. Yes?' he beckoned to her. 'I won't let anything happen to you.' he counseled her, afraid that in her fear, she may move too much and end up getting her throat slit even before Tejawat sliced it across her neck.
'Yes...yes tell her Major. Tell her it won't hurt. How it will be one swift motion and she will be gone in peace. You must know, having made many depart in such a manner with your bare hands. Now tell your wife, that she will die peacefully.' He grinned broadly, making Rudra want nothing more than to attack him. But Aman tugged at his shoulder, making him stop, realizing his one wrong move and Paaro would be gone forever.
Desperately searching for a way out, he shifted his gaze from Parvati's neck to her face and was surprised to find a smile on it. A smile that extended to her eyes. A smile he didn't understand, but knew well. That smile meant only one thing, the wheels in her brain were turning. She was about to do something. Only what?
'Major saab,' she called his attention, not that she needed it. 'I love you.'
Just as the words soaked through him, he cried out 'NO!' in fear of her sacrificing herself, just as she closed her eyes and with all her might elbowed Tejawat in the ribs, making him stagger back and drop the dagger, thereby releasing her from his prison. Having managed to free herself, she ran towards Rudra's shocked visage and open arms, as Aman ran towards Tejawat to ground him before he could grab Parvati again. Tejawat's men who had been encircling them all now closed in but before they could even think about commencing the fight again, BSD soldiers had surrounded them, outnumbering them in guns and men.
Rudra bound his arms tightly around Parvati's petite frame, as she wound her arms around his back, pressing him towards her. 'I'm so sorry Major saab, you were right I should have never come out, I put you all in danger-
'Ssh. It's ok. We're all ok. Ssh.' He squeezed her further towards him. Wanting to revel in the feeling that she was safe: alive and in his arms.
'That was very brave you Parvati.' V. K. Singh's voice brought an end to their embrace and they stepped out of each other cocoon, but Rudra hovered over her still, not wanting there to be any sort of distance between the two.
'I wasn't the brave one Singh Sir. Major saab was. To stay in control even with me at Thakur sa's mercy. His strength gave me strength. To do what was right. Thank you for guiding me from the door.' She added.
'Guiding you?' Rudra asked in confusion.
'I spied Singh Sir at the door, while you and Thakur sa were talking. He told me how to get out of Tejawat's prison. So I grabbed yours and everyone else's attention, thereby hitting Thakur sa without him realizing and freeing myself from him.' She beemed, glad to have righted her wrong, of coming out from her cabinet in the first place, while Rudra stared at her in awe.
'Sir.' Aman came back into the workshop, recalling the three out their conversation and making them realize that the moments ago full room, was now completely empty. 'Tejawat's men are cuffed and in the van, while Tejawat is cuffed in the jeep, with four guards standing on him, waiting for you to come.'
'Hunh. Oh, but you wanted to cuff him. I'm sorry Major saab, my mistake le- Parvati began her apology again when Rudra silenced her by placing his finger on her lips.
'You and your safety are more important to me then cuffing Tejawat personally. I would take the relief of having you in my arms and knowing you were safe over cuffing Tejawat or any criminal any day. And so what if I didn't cuff him personally, he got caught by my brave wife and cuffed by my supremely talented second-in-command. So it's a win-win.' Rudra praised, making Parvati smile brightly at him.
'Spoken like a true Major, Rudra.' V. K. Singh praised, as he motioned them all to follow him out.
Once Aman and V. K. Singh left the room, Rudra turned awkwardly towards Parvati. The question from the morning now between them:with Tejawat now caught, would Parvati return home? 'Paaro...' he began. What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to make her stay? Make her see that her bholenaath wouldn't be angry if she stayed with her husband, instead of leaving him.
'Let's go home Major saab.' She said softly, as she slid her hand inside his. He looked from their locked hand to her smiling face.
'Paaro?'
'Yes?'
'Not that I'm complaining, but...what about your vow? I thought you said you wouldn't break it.' He gulped, hating himself for bringing it up in case it meant that she left him.
'I'm not breaking it.' She responded simply, making him stare at her in bewilderment. 'I vowed to fulfill your wish Major saab. At that time I believed your wish was for me to leave you, but you in not so many words told me a while ago that, that was never your wish. Not then and not today. So when that wasn't your wish I do not have to complete it. I will complete my vow by completing your wish is, which is for me to stay. Yes?' she asked just to be sure.
'Yes. Yes. Yes.' He answered thrice. Each time his voice raising a notch in excitement. Paaro was coming home with him. She was not going to leave him. Ever.
'Then let's go home.' She grinned, making her whole face and his heart light up in its halo.
Seeing Rudra and Aman outnumbered, she whispered her prayers to her god, to bring the BSD squad dispatched here fast, to help them out. She was busy in prayer, when she spied an eighth man come out of nowhere and attack Rudra, who was already wrestling with four men, from behind. Her heart cried in fury and forgetting Rudra's order to not leave her cabinet until he or Aman didn't tell her she sprang like a lioness from her cove and attacked the man who had attacked Rudra on his blindside. Shocking him and everyone else in the room, by her appearance. Tejawat cackled aloud, seeing she had been drawn out of her hiding place. While Rudra cursed loudly.
'Paaro, why did you come out?!!!' he yelled at her as he yanked her towards him before any of the men could touch her.
'You were outnumbered Major saab, you couldn't just expect me to sit and watch as Thakur sa's men took you down. If you have a need to protect me then I too have that same need.' She defended herself from behind him, as she gripped his back tightly, for both his hands were occupied with fending off the goons who now came to get Parvati.
'I can take care of myself! I don't need you to protect me!!' he shouted back.
'Yes I can see how well you have taken care of yourself. You're bleeding Major saab.' She whimpered, as she saw the trail of blood making its way down the back of his neck from somewhere in the depth of his hair.
'Paaro...' he gritted his teeth as he kicked the man in front of him in the gut and turned to her for a split-second. 'I am trained to do this,you are not!'
'Major saab?!' she screamed, making him turn in time to see Bheema launching at him with a sword. He batted the hand containing the sword and advanced to kick his injured leg, breaking it in one stomp and thereby disabling him to continue on the fight as the broken bone now made him shriek with agony. However, in taking down Bheema he had stepped away from Paaro for a moment too long, providing Tejawat with the window he had been waiting for. When Rudra turned back to his wife he found her in Tejawat's grasp, causing all the fighting to stop. His men, seeing Tejawat had his prize, while Aman and Rudra stared from each other to Parvati in Tejawat's hand trying to figure out how to save her.
'Let her go Tejawat.' Rudra petitioned.
'No way.' He gave a cruel smile.
'Look you...you were mentioning a deal before the fight broke out. I will make any deal with you, just let Paaro go.' He pleaded, making Parvati stare at him in horror.
'No Major saab. You can't. You cannot make any deals with this man. Not for my sake.'
'Shut up Paaro.' Rudra barked at her. He was trying to gain time to save her life and here she was ready to give it away, did she not understand at all, what she meant to him? 'Tejawat-
'Now. Now Rudra bana...is that anyway to talk to your wife?' Tejawat egged him, as he slid a dagger across Parvati's neck, flat edge against her skin, teasing away the moments that led to his inevitable act of slitting it right across and letting Rudra's life bleed out right before him like a sacrificial animal.
'No...no. Don't.' Rudra raised his hands in surrender. 'Please. Just let her go. I will do whatever you ask.' He pleaded, all the while his eyes on the glinting knife that rested on Parvati's neck.
'Hahaha...now that is more like it Major. Bow in front my kingship, not stand with your chest puffed high. These medals don't stand anything against, Thakur Param Singh Tejawat! Nothing. Your BSD is nothing against my empire! You dared to take away my throne, now watch your wife despair before your eyes.' He turned the blade so that the hilt of it pierced the first layer of the transparent skin on Parvati's throat, making her whimper with the prick.
'No. NO!' Rudra advanced.
'Don't.' Tejawat shouted, stopping him in his tracks. 'Another step Major and she will cease to exist.'
'M-major saab.' She sobbed, terrified at the thought of how her life ending would break him. In that moment it was written clearly in his eyes, what he could not bring to his lips. That she mattered to him, not just mattered but had become his life, his sole reason to live; that is why he had been fighting with her, not wanting her to walk out of his life. She understood now and so feared how her death right before his eyes would kill him, just the way his mother's departure had and this time there would be no one to revive him. She couldn't let that happen. She needed to do something. But what?
'Ssh. It's ok. I'm here. Yes?' he beckoned to her. 'I won't let anything happen to you.' he counseled her, afraid that in her fear, she may move too much and end up getting her throat slit even before Tejawat sliced it across her neck.
'Yes...yes tell her Major. Tell her it won't hurt. How it will be one swift motion and she will be gone in peace. You must know, having made many depart in such a manner with your bare hands. Now tell your wife, that she will die peacefully.' He grinned broadly, making Rudra want nothing more than to attack him. But Aman tugged at his shoulder, making him stop, realizing his one wrong move and Paaro would be gone forever.
Desperately searching for a way out, he shifted his gaze from Parvati's neck to her face and was surprised to find a smile on it. A smile that extended to her eyes. A smile he didn't understand, but knew well. That smile meant only one thing, the wheels in her brain were turning. She was about to do something. Only what?
'Major saab,' she called his attention, not that she needed it. 'I love you.'
Just as the words soaked through him, he cried out 'NO!' in fear of her sacrificing herself, just as she closed her eyes and with all her might elbowed Tejawat in the ribs, making him stagger back and drop the dagger, thereby releasing her from his prison. Having managed to free herself, she ran towards Rudra's shocked visage and open arms, as Aman ran towards Tejawat to ground him before he could grab Parvati again. Tejawat's men who had been encircling them all now closed in but before they could even think about commencing the fight again, BSD soldiers had surrounded them, outnumbering them in guns and men.
Rudra bound his arms tightly around Parvati's petite frame, as she wound her arms around his back, pressing him towards her. 'I'm so sorry Major saab, you were right I should have never come out, I put you all in danger-
'Ssh. It's ok. We're all ok. Ssh.' He squeezed her further towards him. Wanting to revel in the feeling that she was safe: alive and in his arms.
'That was very brave you Parvati.' V. K. Singh's voice brought an end to their embrace and they stepped out of each other cocoon, but Rudra hovered over her still, not wanting there to be any sort of distance between the two.
'I wasn't the brave one Singh Sir. Major saab was. To stay in control even with me at Thakur sa's mercy. His strength gave me strength. To do what was right. Thank you for guiding me from the door.' She added.
'Guiding you?' Rudra asked in confusion.
'I spied Singh Sir at the door, while you and Thakur sa were talking. He told me how to get out of Tejawat's prison. So I grabbed yours and everyone else's attention, thereby hitting Thakur sa without him realizing and freeing myself from him.' She beemed, glad to have righted her wrong, of coming out from her cabinet in the first place, while Rudra stared at her in awe.
'Sir.' Aman came back into the workshop, recalling the three out their conversation and making them realize that the moments ago full room, was now completely empty. 'Tejawat's men are cuffed and in the van, while Tejawat is cuffed in the jeep, with four guards standing on him, waiting for you to come.'
'Hunh. Oh, but you wanted to cuff him. I'm sorry Major saab, my mistake le- Parvati began her apology again when Rudra silenced her by placing his finger on her lips.
'You and your safety are more important to me then cuffing Tejawat personally. I would take the relief of having you in my arms and knowing you were safe over cuffing Tejawat or any criminal any day. And so what if I didn't cuff him personally, he got caught by my brave wife and cuffed by my supremely talented second-in-command. So it's a win-win.' Rudra praised, making Parvati smile brightly at him.
'Spoken like a true Major, Rudra.' V. K. Singh praised, as he motioned them all to follow him out.
Once Aman and V. K. Singh left the room, Rudra turned awkwardly towards Parvati. The question from the morning now between them:with Tejawat now caught, would Parvati return home? 'Paaro...' he began. What was he supposed to say? How was he supposed to make her stay? Make her see that her bholenaath wouldn't be angry if she stayed with her husband, instead of leaving him.
'Let's go home Major saab.' She said softly, as she slid her hand inside his. He looked from their locked hand to her smiling face.
'Paaro?'
'Yes?'
'Not that I'm complaining, but...what about your vow? I thought you said you wouldn't break it.' He gulped, hating himself for bringing it up in case it meant that she left him.
'I'm not breaking it.' She responded simply, making him stare at her in bewilderment. 'I vowed to fulfill your wish Major saab. At that time I believed your wish was for me to leave you, but you in not so many words told me a while ago that, that was never your wish. Not then and not today. So when that wasn't your wish I do not have to complete it. I will complete my vow by completing your wish is, which is for me to stay. Yes?' she asked just to be sure.
'Yes. Yes. Yes.' He answered thrice. Each time his voice raising a notch in excitement. Paaro was coming home with him. She was not going to leave him. Ever.
'Then let's go home.' She grinned, making her whole face and his heart light up in its halo.
The End
*****
A video mix on this short story :)
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