Devika :
FOR MOMENTS he stood in silence before lying back on the bed with his book.
For moments I sat in silence, letting the words that I had heard sink in.
"You loved Anamika a lot?", I asked.
He glanced at me, removing the book.
"I appreciate silence while reading.", He stated coldly.
"You loved her a lot, didn't you?", I asked, now finally glancing at him.
He exhaled sharply, shutting his book loudly.
"I think I made myself clear, Devika Leela Kanwar.", He stated coldly keeping the book on the side table.
I drew in a deep breath, and lay back on the bed, right beside him.
He turned his back towards me, almost at a hands distance.
For moments there was an awkward silence and then I heard him,
"Aviram Raghuvanshi?"
"Hmm..", he said irritably.
"I am sorry about Nayantara today.", I said.
I was not thinking anymore. The words just seemed to roll out.
The sympathy seemed to overwhelm me. I felt pity for the so called beast.
He immediately turned towards me.
I turned my head to look at him.
"You don't have to apologise. Not an ounce. I know she crossed the line.", He said simply.
I heaved a sigh.
Should I tell him? Holding a thing as that back seemed to get difficult with every passing moment.
"You were around when she was born?", I asked turning towards him.
The lights of the room, flickered for a moment. And then went off.
A power cut.
The golden sunlight flooded in, the sun was setting outside. The window was right behind me, the sunlight fell on his face. His dark brown eyes didn't seem bothered by it. He simply looked at me.
Unreadable.
And then he looked away. At the window behind me.
"Of course.", He whispered.
"Must be a beautiful experience.", I said softly.
Somehow my voice trembled at the last word.
His lips curved into a soft smile. The man was so undeniably handsome. Even with that moustache and ever so arrogant face, he was handsome.
My heart skipped a beat as I looked at him.
"Beautiful is an understatement.", He whispered, as if in a daze. A beautiful day dream.
"I was so nervous. I was just twenty back then. Child marriage and all.", He said sitting up, like an excited child.
I sat up too.
"But the moment I held her..", he looked down at his hands, as if reminiscing the scene.
"It was magic.. you won't believe the feeling.. I was just a kid.. and now, I was abruptly an adult. Anamika.. she too was so young.. but..", he exhaled.
A tear slid down his eye.
The right eye.
A tear of joy.
"We were so excited.. I mean I was.. I was so nervous that I did not hold Nayan first.. Vinay. He's my step brother.. he held her first. He insisted on it, because I was this trembling mess."
He insisted because he was the father, Mr. Raghuvanshi.
"Then I held her. Nayantara was such a beautiful child. She looked so much like her mother.", He whispered.
I looked down as I brushed a tear off my left eye.
"I.. I know she hates me now.. but one day.. one day she will realise how much I love her..", he said more to himself than me.
"I know.. she will..", he added again.
"She will.", I said, finally looking up.
He looked at me, straight into my eyes.
And for moments, our eyes locked.
And for the first time, I saw him.
The Prince behind the Beast.
A man longing for his daughter's love, the man who loved his wife so much that he never realised she had an illicit affair with his own step brother.
The man who suffers in the solace he so loves. The scars on his fingers were proof of it.
He married me against my will, caged me in his palace,
And yet, I found myself wishing he set himself free of his caged longing.
•
Aviram :
Her soft hazel brown eyes seemed to hold something else today.
They did not have hate, neither did they hold stubbornness.
I slowly zoned out, back to my dark reality.
Yet, I did not wish to break our eye lock.
I found myself longing for her to read me. To know who I was, and why I was the way I was.
To be an open book to atleast one person.
Was I fishing for sympathy? For approval?
Maybe I was.
Why? I did not know.
She looked away, brushing off tears.
I drew in a deep breath, brushing off mine.
"I am sorry.", She mumbled getting off the bed.
I drew in a deep breath.
She walked down to her suitcase, unpacking it.
"Yes, I loved Anamika a lot.", I replied to her question.
She paused.
"Why do you think she was suffocated?", She asked simply.
I heaved a sigh.
"Probably the shackles of being a Queen. Back then I was the crown prince. She did not appreciate my intervention in the matters of politics.. she said that I was wasting money in building more employment. She hated being the queen, she liked to be my wife.", I said sighing.
"Huh!", Devika said softly.
I looked at her with a raised brow.
Devika did not look back as she unpacked her suitcase.
"Had she liked being your wife, she would have stayed.", She stated coldly pulling out a saree.
"So was I the beast of a cold palace to her too?"
I asked the question that I had asked myself ever since she left.
The answer to myself had always been a yes.
Devika looked at me.
I noticed the flare in her eyes. The same that she had held the day she had placed the sword at my neck.
But today it seemed protective.
Not destructive.
"Of course not.", She said sharply, throwing her saree on the bed.
"You were not the beast.", She said looking me in the eye, as if protecting me from myself,
"She made you the beast."
"You are defending me?", I asked, taken aback.
The arrogant gloss off my voice.
She took a step towards the bed.
"You were not the beast. She made you one.", She said picking her saree, tearing her eyes off mine.
As if holding secrets I would read.
I watched her walk down to the bathroom. Suddenly the lights came back. She walked into the bathroom and banged the door shut.
I somehow felt like she was going through an inner turmoil.
The reason.
I needed to know.
•••
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