secrets woven in moonlight

chapter 1

(Mehndi hai rachnewaali, haathon mein gehri laali
Kahe sakhiyaan, ab kaliyaanHaathon mein khilnewaali hainTere mann ko, jeevan koNayi khushiyaan milnewaali hai) - 2

ishita sits quietly, letting the mehendi imprint on both of her hands. her eyes look as dead as of a corpse whose eyes would have been left wide open before taking its last breath. the lifelessness would only fade away for tears to creep in, that she would barely let escape from her moistening eyelids. no one had to look to closely to be able to see that, but her decked up appearance might have slightly contributed in making it hard to notice. 

she was the embodiment of a beautiful bride, with a perfectly lined eyeliner, ending with a sharp wing at the corner of her eye, boldly black. her face looked fair in sharp contrast, as her lips were the perfect pink. she looked as pretty as someone could when they are on the verge of tears. 

                                                               ***

the room was perfectly decorated with flowers, the bed was graced with the bride sitting on the bed with her head down shyly, waiting for the groom, decked in jewellery, and a simple, light pink bridal gown. 

the door opened, making her look up, eager for the wait to end. oddly, there wasn't much excitement in her eyes, but more so agitation, an unexplainable anxiety penetrating through her eyes. 

the groom entered the room, he didn't bother to get a glance of the bride, before he shut the door close. he walked to the bed in small, unwilling steps, he was dressed in a simple sherwani, that seemed to have been brought more abruptly, looking a bit ill-fitted. 

"kavin..." she spoke out immediately in a jitter as he sat just slightly away from her, not even facing her. 

"purvi, tumhe kuch bolne ki zaroorat nahi hai...yeh shaadi, yeh maine kar toh li hai par, shayad kabhi isse maan na pao...toh mujhse zyada umeed mat karna." stated kavin bluntly, his eyes looked morose, dried from some tears he probably shed before coming in, his voice still remained low from that. 

purvi only swallowed a lump down her throat, looking away in despair, hiding her tears that were seemingly too eager to flow right down. 

                                                                          ***

the water was running down ferociously from the tap, he splashed cold drops of it on his face, rubbing his face vigorously, before he looked into the bathroom mirror, staring back at his reflection. his eyes revealed nothing but anger, agony and guilt all over them. he was quick to leave the bathroom after closing the tap and wiping his face. 

he shut down the bathroom door behind him, only to reveal it to be attached to a bedroom. a bed was right in front of him, on which lay a baby girl asleep, barely 6 months old, wrapped around a pink colored sheet. he looked at her with adoration, as a smile crept up on his face lightly. 

before he realised, the door to his room had opened, as a woman entered with a polite smile, making his smile fade away instantly as he looked at her. she walked inside the room in slow, prancing steps. 

"haldi itni jaldi pochli?" she questioned in a whispering tone, sounding a bit shocked, as he only gave her a death stare. 

"lagwa li, yeh bahaut nahi tha...." he responded dryly, before walking to the bed and sitting next to the baby girl, turning his attention to her. 

"dekho dushyant, tumhe main abhi bhala bahaut buri lag rahi hoon, par baad mein tumhe pata chalega ki main kyun sahi thi..." she stated calmly, keeping her volume low, as dushyant gave her a glare again. 

"abhi toh aap bas isse uthane ki taiyaari kar rahi hai neend se, didi." stated dushyant bluntly, clearly he didn't want to have this conversation in the first place, and she realised it, shaking her head as she left the room.

he felt the door shut behind him as she left, as he closed his eyes for a second, facepalming himself, something eating him away inside, as he let it trouble him. 

                                                                ***