Part 52 Another Twist
"He is not my friend but HUSBAND," Khushi said.
Not only Shashi and Garima but also RudraPratap were shocked hearing that.
"Husband? What are you saying, Khushi?" Garima asked restlessly.
"Yes, Amma, we loved each other and got married"
"What have you done, Khushi? Rudra uncle said he died... What does that mean? He would die soon... Why did you go to the Mauriyan Empire and marry a man who doesn't belong to our era?" Garima questioned nervously.
"Amma, he won't die... Until I'm with him" Khushi said confidently.
"Khushi, stop your movie dialogues," Garima said annoyingly.
"It's not a movie dialogue but reality"
"What do you mean?"
"Yes, I agree he was supposed to die at the bank of river Yamuna but I saved him"
"What do you mean, beta? How it is possible?" Rudra Pratap asked.
"Yes, I saw an archer aiming at him. I pushed Prince Aparajith away and saved him from the poisoned arrow"
"That means, you have created a parallel universe because according to the actual event, he died," Rudra said unbelievably.
"Yes... I have created a parallel universe by saving him from the arrow. Now, I have to be with him. If I leave his era, I can't say what will happen to him"
"Why are you bother about him, Khushi?" Garima asked.
"He is my husband, Amma. After you and Babuji, he is the one who loves me truly. He started loving me even before he got to know about his fate. He won't live without me... And I can't even think of leaving him" Khushi said firmly.
Shashi and Garima looked at her shockingly.
"How could you live in the era where there is no technology? How could you live in the place which was completely strange? You used to be in the comfort zone, Khushi. Without any facility, how could you live?"
"I got used to be comfortable with him, Amma. I was there in the past few days. I never felt bad for not having Technology because that is the real life Amma. Technology is nothing. We can live without that too. There is no technology but flawless love. His love for me is true Amma. He and his parents are celebrating me like anything. What else do I need?"
"Won't you be with us? Don't you want us?" Garima asked choking.
"In this three years, after you died, I was all alone Amma. I roamed around India not because I'm bored but to forget I'm an orphan. He was the one who wiped the thought of orphan from my mind and made me comfortable in his kingdom. Being a prince, he never showed his superiority to me but treated me equally, as if I'm a princess. Hearing my story, he wanted me to punish the killer of my parents and helped me to do that. Now, he saved you too. Without him, I could not have saved you, Amma. I will be happy because you are alive. It's enough for me. Please understand. I can't leave him"
Garima looked at Shashi helplessly.
"I'm happy in his kingdom, Babuji. His parents accepted me wholeheartedly. They are thinking I'm a foreigner. They don't even know I'm a time traveler"
Shashi looked at Arnav who was in deep thought. He gestured to Garima to look at him.
"He is trying to understand our conversion I suppose. He is not only a husband of our daughter but a Prince. We should respect him. Khushi married him because we died. She made the decision of Marrying him because we were not with her. We can't blame her"
Garima gulped down. Shashi came to Arnav and joined his hands. To concentrate on Shashi, Arnav kept his sword on the chair in which Shashi was being tide a few minutes ago.
"Thank you for saving my daughter"
Arnav looked at Khushi.
"He is thanking you for saving me," Khushi said in prakrit language.
"Oh, yeah, he doesn't know Hindi. Thank you for saving my daughter" Shashi said in prakrid.
Arnav didn't wonder. If Khushi could talk prakrit then Shashi would also have known the language.
"I didn't save Khushi but Khushi saved my life" Arnav smiled.
"I can't believe you married Prince Aparajit. I and your grandfather saw him dying in front of our eyes. I never expected he would come again alive" Rudra Pratap smiled.
"Arnav, he is my grandfather's friend Rudra Pratap. He met you when they traveled to the Mauryan empire and saw you dying at the bank of river Yamuna by a poison arrow"
"Is it?"
"Yes, that was when you saved my grandfather from a tiger and became a friend with them. My grandfather was with you for three days at the time"
"Oh, that means your grandfather met me just like you met me"
"Yes, I and my grandfather traveled to the same era and to the same place coincidently. When my grandfather came to the Mauryan Empire, he saw you dying but when I came to the Mauryan Empire, I saved you and created a parallel universe... "
Cutting her,
"And changed my fate... Right? "
Khushi nodded yes.
"My grandfather came back to our era with Rudra Pratap uncle. At that time, Rudra uncle's daughter gave birth to a boy baby. The baby had a beetle-like mole on his upper arm, just like you have. My grandfather became excited and named the child Aparajith"
"Oh..."
Khushi saw the confusion on Arnav's face. The clarity he always carried on his face was missing. She did not know what was disturbing him. Maybe, he would think her parents would not send her back to the Mauryan Empire with him.
"I can't believe whatever happening here is true," said Rudrapratap with a smile.
All of them looked at him as he talked in the Prakriti language.
"You know what Khushi, when we were in the Mauryan Empire with Prince Aparajith, Rishi was so impressed by him. He felt bad that he could not be born in that era and be with him. If Prince Aparajith had not died, your grandfather would not have returned back to this era. He liked Prince Aparajith to that extent. You won't believe it if I say what your grandfather wished for..."
"What?"
"He said if he had a daughter, he would take her to the Mauriyan empire and get her married to him... " Rudra laughed and the others surprised.
"The way he rotated his sword attracted Rishi very much," he said while lifting Arnav's sword from the chair but he could not do it easily. He did that only after putting in a lot of effort.
"Have you lifted it ever? "He asked Khushi.
She nodded no smilingly.
"I bet you can't"
"Is it? Is that that heavy?" asked Shashi smilingly and surprisingly.
"Try it" he gave the sword to Shashi.
He took it from Rudra and struggled to stand as he didn't expect it would be heavier than he thought.
"My God... It's unimaginably heavy" Shashi chuckled.
"I have never seen such a sword in any museum. What our government has in the museums is nothing in front of this" Said Rudra.
Khushi smiled proudly and looked at Arnav who was looking at Rudra with confusion.
"What happened Arnav? why are you looking disturbed?" asked Khushi.
"Arnav? What name it is?" Asked Rudra.
"It's his birth name... only his parents and friends call him with that name. People are not familiar with the name"
"Don't their parents get upset with you for calling him by his name?" Asked Shashi
"No Babuji they are thinking I am a foreigner. They don't force me to follow their culture and Customs. So I am free to call him anything"
"What about him? He is a prince. Doesn't he feel awkward? Calling a husband by his name was the biggest crime in those days. How does he allow you? "
"He is the one who wants me to call him by his name. He doesn't like me to call him Prince"
The trio wondered. Was Arnav such a progressive thinker in the era? It was more than enough for them to understand what kind of understanding Arnav and Khushi had.
"But what Prince Aparajith is thinking so deeply?" asked Rudra.
Arnav looked at him and asked,
"What about your grandson? Where is he? What is he doing?"
Everyone smiled.
"Though he is not talented as you he is so brave like you," Rudra Pratap said.
"I have doubt," Arnav said.
"What doubt?"
"Khushi said her parents were found shot dead in the Lonely bungalow. Now, you are also here with them. If you are with them, Nayak should have killed you too. Then why didn't police find your body in this bungalow?" Asked Arnav.
Khushi who didn't think of it in the excitement of meeting her lost parents also got her sense. She looked at Rudra Pratap expecting him to answer.
"Nayak would have disposed of my body somewhere else"
"No, when I met Nayak in 2023, he said you are alive and you are the main suspect in my parent's murder"
"He would have told that to divert you," he said shrugging his shoulder and looking at Arnav's sword that was in Shashi's hand.
Arnav took a step to take it from Shashi's hand. In no time Rudra Pratap pushed Shashi. Arnav's sword fell down on the ground a little aloof.
Khushi, Shashi, and Garima looked at Rudra Pratap shockingly whereas Arnav looked at him sharply.
More to their shock, Rudra Pratap removed a revolver from his back. He pointed it at Arnav.
To be continued...