The Other Half

6. Test

"Mahamaya?" Viraj asked as he entered their room, looking tired. He had taken a lot of time to think about these things and realized that he had to go through with it, no matter what. However, he did not want to do that. He knew it was just a test and most probably, nothing would happen to her but he still did not want to take any chance with it. What if any of his men seriously harmed her during the test? What if she gets permanent wounds? He himself knew that a fight could go wrong in any second and even though his men won't be using guns but he was still worried. 

Mahamaya stiffened. He almost never called her by her full name. It was always Maya this, Maya that. So, what was the matter?

Viraj approached her and held her cheeks in his hands, looking into her eyes, almost squishing the soft fair cheeks as he bent forward and kissed her forehead, hugging her tight, leaving her puzzled as he said, swaying softly, as if rocking both of them, "I love you a lot, you know that, right?"

Mahamaya slowly nodded her head, still confused as she asked him, "Yes, I know but what happened to you so suddenly?"

Viraj wanted to tell her, to tell her what was going on in his mind, the struggle he was facing but he could not. His uncle's words kept echoing in his ears. He had to test her if he wanted to entrust the training and safety of the women and kids of his gang, no matter what. He gave her a comforting smile and said softly, "Nothing, nothing to worry about."

Mahamaya took his hand and intertwined their fingers as she told Viraj in her soft melodious voice, "You can share anything you want with me. You know that, right?"

Viraj smiled and nodded but when he made no attempt to say anything else, she hugged him and said with a soft smile on her pink lips, "Whenever you are ready, my cute Patidev."

Viraj could not help but chuckle as he nodded and she said cheerfully, "So, I had taken today as a day off from this entire prostitution thingy. Seeing their conditions every single day was messing with my mind. Therefore, you get the privilege to enjoy my cooking, because I was getting bored. The dinner is made by me today."

Viraj frowned as he asked, taking her hands in his and kissing them, "Really? For so many people? Did your soft hands not hurt when you were cutting so many vegetables?"

Mahamaya blushed as she said shyly, "No, the maids did most of the work. I just added the spices and all."

Viraj smiled and pulled her closer, clutching her both hands in between his, holding her wrists in between them as he said with a smile, "Oh, if that so, I would love to taste my wife's cooking."

Mahamaya blushed again, before her face turned serious as she told him, "And while I was out buying groceries, a few men had attacked me. I handed them to Vijay before I started cooking. I hope you don't mind me calling him. I did not want to disturb you in case you were busy."

To say Viraj was surprised would be an understatement. Getting serious himself, not expecting this, he asked her, "How many men are we talking about? And your safety is the most important thing in the world for me. I can never be too busy if it comes down to your life."

Mahamaya shrugged and replied, "I could not count. They were more than ten. However, thank you so much for saying that. I will remember that from next time. If Tara was with me today, I might have needed more help but since I was by myself, I did not have much problem. Yes, the security almost wanted to give the people away to the police but it was hard to convince them not to."

To say that Viraj was appalled was an understatement. He sat down on their bed and asked again, "So, you are saying that you single handedly fought with more than ten people and brought them here to hand them over to Vijay? Why didn't Vijay tell me?"

Mahamaya frowned and corrected him, "No, I just fought with them. I tried my best not to kill them but I am not sure. My bangle helped me a lot, and also my tactics, my training and all. I then called Vijay and then he came with men to carry the bodies away."

Viraj's eyebrows furrowed as he muttered, "Even I myself cannot take down ten people alone. How did you do this? You don't have those muscles, no abs or anything, how could you?"

Mahamaya smiled as she replied, "Aho, agility, sharpness, quick decision making and techniques matter much more than muscle and strength in fights. We are descendants of the Chhatrapati himself, of course we of all people should know that planning and techniques matter more than strength and numbers."

Viraj was left surprised as he frowned and nodded. He did not even have to test her. Somehow, fate itself had tested her and she had succeeded with flying colours. Who was he to test her? With a smile, he asked her, "Would you do me a favour?"

Mahamaya frowned and answered, "What favour? We are married. That makes us friends, partners for an entire lifetime. You don't have to ask for favours from me of all people. I am not a stranger."

Viraj smiled and said, "Okay, then will you train the women of this household for fighting?"

Mahamaya's frown smoothened out as a smile took over her lips as she said softly, "Of course I would. I will just need training with guns but that's it. I can teach them other weapons and most importantly, to make weapons out of anything in the surrounding. I used an odhni, a flower pot, and my usual bangle as weapons today."

Viraj smiled and asked her, taking her hands in his, "Did they have guns?"

Mahamaya shook her head no as she answered, "No, just knives." 

Viraj smiled and mumbled a quiet thank God under his breath, before he got up and muttered, "Now I will go and find Vijay, know why he forgot to tell me such an important thing. Meanwhile, you can rest up after working so much today. After I am done conversing with him, how about we have dinner together?"

Mahamaya smiled and nodded, laying down on the bed a little, stretching her body a little, yawning as Viraj smiled and left...

Glossary:

Patidev: Husband

Aho: Husband

Chhatrapati: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a King born in the 1600s, founder of the Maratha Empire, known for his guerilla tactics but if you want to learn about any other Kingdom for guerilla tactics, you might want to study the Ahom Empire too.

Odhni: Dupatta, she was wearing a saree but she used a dupatta or a scarf from the store she had gone to