Chapter 4
Ramsingh was driving the car for the last three hours while Ranvijay was in the passenger seat with his eyes closed, to anyone else he would look relaxed and calm but he was fighting a battle with himself and his beliefs.
"Tell me Ramsingh, did you know about them as well?" Ranvijay asked, his eyes still closed.
"Ji Hukum (Yes, sir)” Ramsingh answered.
Ranvijay Chuckled at the irony of the situation. "Only I was left alone, am I that bad Ramsingh that Babsa (Father) didn't trust me enough to tell me about his marriage?"
Ram Singh was silent for a minute. He could feel Ranvijay’s anger at the situation."It was not late Hukum's decision, Hukum, Rani Hukum (Queen) asks for this promise and you know a Rathore never breaks his promise," Ramsingh replied making Ranvijay chuckle again.
“Right, A rathore never breaks his promise,” He couldn't hide the sarcastic tone making Ramsingh pursed his lips. “Maafi chahu Hukum, Par aap koni jano, Bade Hukum ne kin halat me ye byah kariyo, (I apologise sir, but you are not aware of the circumstances in which our deceased sir agreed to this marriage.)”
Ever so slowly, Ranvijay opened his eyes and fixed them on Ramsingh. “You know it, right? Then tell me about those circumstances, Ramsingh.”
Ramsingh nodded. “Jaise aap chaho, Hukum, (As you wish sir)” He said and recited the whole story behind Jaya and Udayveer’s marriage to Ranvijay.
.
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"Enough! Don't forget you all are sitting in front of your king, Rana Udayveer Singh Rathore. How dare you say something like this about me,” Rana Udayveer Singh Rathore lashed out at the Five Heads of the Village.
They all glanced at each other, none of them wanted to speak the words but the Sarpanch (Head of the village government) gathered his courage and spoke: "Hukum(sir), that girl's brother and sister-in-law are greedy people. They made this an issue of village reputation and the village women have seen you both together in that room. People are angry they are talking bad about the girl's reputation."
Rana Udayveer Singh Rathore stood up abruptly "I will talk to that girl's family myself," He said and walked out of the palace in the village.
"Ramsingh, take me to the village to that girl's house," Rana Udayveer Singh Rathore ordered his most trusted man.
Ramsingh nodded and opened the door of the car for Rana Udayveer Singh Rathore. It took them half an hour to reach the girl's house.
Ramsingh looked at the scene outside his car, it looked as if the whole village was gathered outside that girl's house.
"Hukum (sir), I don't think it's safe to go out, at this moment."
Rana ( king) Udayveer Singh Rathore glanced outside the car window, he was shocked to see more than 100 people there.
"What is happening here?" He whispered and stepped out of the car without bothering about the royal etiquette that the driver must open the door for him.
When he walked further near the house he saw that a woman was mercilessly beating Jaya with a stick and she was crying begging the woman to not hit her as she did nothing wrong.
"I did nothing, Bhabhisa(Sister-in-law), please don't hit me," Jaya cried, running her hands on her elbows where her sister-in-law was beating her.
"Shameless girl, she lost her virtue to the king of Pranathgarh, she ruined our reputation. He is king, what does it matter to him but now what will happen to us? No one will marry a characterless girl like you. I have tolerated you enough in my house. Get out from here, I have no place in my home for a shameless girl like you."
"Bhaisa(brother), please say something!" Jaya begged her brother who looked down, "Get out, I too have a daughter Jaya. I don't want her to be like you."
She cried, "Bhaisa, Where will I go?"
Her sister-in-law whacked her again, "go to hell for all I care," She threw all her belongings outside. Jaya cried, begged but her brother and sister-in-law didn't fudge.
"She is doing right, who wants A characterless girl in the village. They are just throwing her out. I would have killed her," someone said among the people. That one voice became the voice of almost everyone in that crowd.
"Today she crossed the line of society, what if another woman follows in her footsteps. No! We can't allow that to happen. Throw her out of the village,” A man from the crowd said.
Everyone was in favour of this, Jaya cried and begged for mercy but no one listened. She fell to the feet of her sister-in-law, "Bhabisa please, don't do this."
Jaya's sister-in-law was about to hit her again when Rana Udayveer Singh Rathore grasped her hand.
Everyone in the crowd looked down, Jaya gasped seeing The king of Pranathgarh Estate there.
"Enough! How dare you treat her like this? And what are you all doing? This girl is as pure as she was before last night,” He told the people gathered there.
Jaya left the sob she was holding. Her sister-in-law looked at her with pure hatred, she joined her hands in front of Udayveer Singh Rathore.
"I apologise for speaking in this manner, Hukum, you are our king but that doesn't give you the right to dishonour…" she was saying, Rana Udayveer Singh Rathore stopped her from continuing the phrase.
"Hold your tongue right there, Woman! Don't forget who is standing in front of you." Udayveer Singh Rathore said authoritatively, "And who are you to question her virtue or honour. Jaya just took care of me last night, I had a fever and she helped me. She is human too, she fell asleep while she was putting cold water straps on my head."
Rana Udayveer Singh Rathore told everyone what exactly happened last night but seeing the faces of the crowd he could say no one believed him.
"In the same bed, Hukum?" One of the women asked from the crowd.
At that time, the five heads of the village arrived there, "Hukum, can we talk please?" the Sarpanch asked, bowing their heads in front of him.
Rana Udayveer Singh Rathore wanted to snap at them but he nodded, "Ramsingh, see that no one would touch Jaya." He ordered and walked with the five heads of the Village.
"You are the heads of this village, handle the matter. What kind of thinking do these people have?" Udayveer questioned the political head of the village.
"Hukum, if you allow us to talk freely?"
Udayveer nodded at them, "speak."
"Hukum, the girl's reputation is ruined in the eyes of society. Even if we forced the people to accept her like before, no one would do that in reality. She will be the victim of everyone's taunts here. Her sister-in-law already treats her badly and now after this…" Sarpanch said. "We have a solution to this hukum."
Udayveer Singh Rathore frowned "what kind of solution?" He asked.
"Marry the girl, Hukum." Udayveer's eyes flashed. His body jerked in anger "Do you even know what you are saying?"
"This is the only solution, Hukum. You know the girl is naive. She would not be able to live alone…"
Rana Udayveer Singh Rathore closed his eyes. He only loved his deceased wife who died in childbirth. It had been seventeen years since his wife died. He had a fifteen-year-old son. How could he even think about marrying a girl half his age? He was Thirty-nine years old and the girl was merely twenty-one.
No, he couldn't even think about it, "No! If they don't want to keep the girl in their house then she could live in Pranathgarh Mahal ( palace). I will provide her with a job and there no one will question her."
"But her reputation will be ruined here forever, Hukum. She would be known as the black spot in this Village. Please think about it!"
Udayveer Singh Rathore turned his eyes at the crying woman and closed his eyes. He never thought life would throw such kind of situation in front of him.
Whenever he came to the Village, he hired the local villagers to work there so that they would be employed. Jaya was the cook among them, he knew how naive she was. He knew she would not be able to live on her own. but still how could he marry her. Even small things like salt in the curry troubled her and this was something she would not be able to handle on her own.
He gulped the raging tension in his mind and body. The girl needed his name to gain her reputation in this village. "I will marry her."
That's how Rana Udayveer Singh Rathore married Jaya. The girl who was naive for the royal world. She didn't know anything about royal life, getting out of the village scared her. She was uneducated but of a pure heart.
When Udayveer Singh married her she thought of him as no less than a God. Udayveer Singh Rathore didn't want his son to know about him getting married again. He needed time to tell his son Ranvijay about Jaya.
He called his brother Viren Rathore to the village from London. Even Viren was shocked when Udayveer told him about his marriage.
"What are you saying, Hukum? Ranvijay will never accept it. You know him, Hukum. He would never…"
Udayveer raised his hand, "But he needed to know, Viren. I have no other option left. Jaya is my wife now and she has the right to live in Pranathgrh Palace."
Viren Rathore didn't know what to say. He knew his nephew very well, how strongly he was attached to his mother. "Ranvijay will not accept it. He felt proud that you had no one in your life after Sharda Bhabhisa (sister-in-law.) But if you want to tell him, do it in London after spending some time with You have to handle this carefully."
Udayveer sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, he squeezed his eyes tightly, "I don't want Ranvijay to think anything bad about Jaya."
Viren only nodded, "I hope you didn't make the same mistake I did, five years Ago, Bhaisa ( brother)."
Udayveer glanced at his brother, "You can get out of this relationship, Viren. Our Father is dead now. There is no need to hold the promise. I don't care about anything except for your happiness."
Viren Rathore chuckled, , I can't run away from my responsibilities even if I have to suffer hell. Now I have nothing left except for my child."
Udayveer patted his brother's hand. He understands his brother’s hand he understands his emotions.
"Ranvijay wants to concentrate on his studies right now. He will be back in holidays but I'll try to talk to him," Viren looked at his brother "Till then see if you have not made the same mistake as me. At the end of the day, We don't want to hurt Ranvijay."
On the other hand, Jaya listened to what Udayveer and Viren Rathore were saying. She felt ashamed of herself that because of her, Udayveer Singh was tense. She decided that she would talk to her husband about the issue.
Udayveer was in his office in the Palace when Jaya knocked on the door.
Udayveer was looking at the Audit reports of his hotels around the world when someone knocked on his door, removing his specs, he looked up and frowned when he saw Jaya standing outside. She was wearing the same clothes she used to wear before marrying him but now she had vermilion on her hairline and a Nuptial chain around her neck.
"Enter."
Jaya entered the room and joined both her hands in front of Udayveer. They had been married for about two months now but still, she was as untouched as she was before marriage.
"You need something, Jaya?"
She nodded, "Yes, Hukum(Sir). As your wife, I want something from you."
Udayveer frowned at her words, "You can ask me anything you want, Jaya."
Jaya gulped, "Please don't tell Kunwar Ji (prince) about our marriage. I don't want any kind of problem between you two. You saved my reputation, You did enough for me. I am no one, Hukum. There is no need to tell Ranvijay kunwarsa (prince) about us."
Udayveer looked at Jaya in wonder. He couldn't believe that the girl was real. In these two months of marriage, she had not asked for a single penny from him. Never questioned him. When he tried to give her money she gasped as if he was doing some sin. She kept some two thousand rupees and returned the Ninety-eight thousand rupee, saying she didn't need that much money.
With every day he spent with her, he thanked God that he married her. The girl was that gullible that she would not be able to live in this society after that horrific incident.
He still loves his first wife, no one could take her place in his life but Jaya has made a special place in his heart. That night Udayveer Singh Rathore gave her the right of a wife.
Jaya gave herself to her husband willingly and with love. The day she married Udayveer, she fell for him. The way he saved her, she lost her heart to him. Today she felt complete as a wife.
Udayveer tried to tell Ranvijay about Jaya but Every time, she stopped him. It was after five months of their marriage, Jaya told Udayveer that she was pregnant.
Udayveer was on cloud nine, that day he didn't hear anything from Jaya and brought her to his palace in Pranathgarh.
Udayveer's sister and brother knew about Jaya. Swarna was shocked when she met Jaya. The girl didn't even know the meaning of wrong. She was so naive that in today's world people would consider her as a fool.
Udayveer was happy that finally, his whole family would live under one roof. He wanted to tell Ranvijay about Jaya from the past five months and today the day had finally arrived. But destiny had something else in mind.