Rishte

Summary: woh ishq hi kya jiss mein aag na ho
Jismein jal ke rakh na ho!

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Veer stands up, slipping away from Farida's consoling touch.

"Bohut chahte hai hum Amrit ko. Unki hifasat humare zimmedaari hai. All these incidents have convinced me that she will be safe if and only if Nalini Devi is dealt with."

The breath Farida draws in is loud. Usman clenches his fist.

"Aap koi galat kaam nahi karenge Veer," it is Usman who speaks. "I will not see Mahendra's heir ruining himself. You will not hurt her. You will not even think about it."

"Ma hai woh humari," Veer smiles bitterly. "Itne bhi jaanvar nahi hai hum. Bass hum unhe harana chahte hai, ghirana chahte hai. I want her to fail and fall in such magnitude that she may never rise to power again. Ma sahab, Chandra Singh  Rathod and Naradh Sha. All three of them."

He comes to kneel before Farida now, taking her hands in his.

"It all lies in your hands now. Humein iss maqsat mein sirf aap kamiyaab kar sakthi hai. Sirf aap ki jeet se yeh sab ho sakthe hai."

"Apne ma se muh mod longe?"

Farida asks slowly, her eyes teary.

"Unhone kab ka muh mod liya. Sahi maine mein humare kabhi koi tha hi nahi. Ab ek Amrit hai, hum usse khona nahi chahte."

"Arre wah! Are you declaring your loyalty like a knight of old times Veer Bhaijaan?"

Rukzaar comes through the double doors, pushing in a trolley of tea and associated snacks.

Veer stands up, wiping at his eyes. With Rukzaar's arrival the tension dissipates and everyone masks their earlier demeanour with smiles towards her.

"Hum naraz hai aap se," Rukzaar informs Veer. "Ek toh shaadi Karli. Humein bhulaya bhi nahi. Phir babhijaan se milwaya bhi nahi. Ab aaye ho, ek baar bhi humari kyaal taq nahi aayi? Ab kya hum kudh jaayen aur unse mil lein?"

"Mil lo," Veer nods. He takes a neatly folded shawl that is kept aside on a chair and hands it to Rukzaar. "Give her this. It's rather cold tonight."

"Arre, Dulhe miyaan ji, kabootar nahi hoon aap ki. Kudh jaa kar de dein apne mohabbat ki pegaam."

Veer pulls her ear with all warm brotherly affection.

"Ja rahi ho ke nahi?"

"Chhodiye, chhodiye! Jaa rahein. Jaa rahein!"

Veer pats her on the head.
"Aapki bohut yaad aarahi thi, Rukzaar," his words are warm and genuine. "Kaano ko kuch zaada hi aaraam mil jaati hai, jab aap aas paas nahi hoti toh."

"Arre! Khala dekhiye na! Humari qadar hi nahi hai kissi ko!" Rukzaar protests and Farida laughs.

"Don't tease her Veer. Aap ko bohut yaad kar thi thi."

"Haan! I even brought wedding presents. Aap ko nahi dene wali. Sab bhabijaan ke liye hai."

"Haan. Bhabijaan ko bhi aap se ek rasm karwani hai. Chooriyaan uttarne ki. Not right now. Sometime in the future. Sister in law is supposed to do that."

Rukzaar's eyes start to fill and Veer shakes his head at her.

"Jaaiye, mil lijiye Babhi jaan se. I didn't say anything worth crying over."

Rukzaar gives him a sideways hug on whim.

"Shukriyaan bhaijaan. Aap ne humein bohut izzat di."

His throat tightens. Things between his brother and him might never heal, the yearning he had for Prem, he might carry it to his grave for Prem had not grown up to be the person he was as a boy.

But perhaps lord has offered him so much instead, in bonds he had collected over the time. In Usman and Farida. In Anwar and Rukzaar, even the two brats Hedar and Omar. And most preciously in Amrit.

Veer's heart fills with fondness for them all, with need to protect them all, this mismatched family that he had made for himself.

"Bass! Bass! Ab jaaiye."

*

Amrit is woken up by gentle hands tucking a blanket around her.

The owner of those hands comes with hair smelling of freshly crushed henna, and eyes of the same deep colour of well etched mehendi. She smiles rather apologetically.

"Maaf kijiye aap ko uttha ne ki irada bilkul bhi nahi thi!" She takes off her hands almost immediately, like a guilty child.

"Hayee, kitni kubsoorat aankein hai aapki. Tabhi toh Veer bhai doobe doobe se rehete hai!"

Amrit blinks slowly, as Rukzaar plops down beside her, still talking. Her words wash over Amrit in an incoherent tide.

"Who are you?" Finally Amrit manages to insert a question edgewise.

"Rukzaar! With a 'Z' mind you. It took me three years to get the school people to write my name properly. You see Ammie ki naam Zara thi, toh Abbu chahte the ke humari naam mein unki naam judh jaaye, so -" she makes a little shrug.

"I'm under Begam Sahiba's care. Yahaan sab humein apni samajh the hai. Aur hum une. Aap bhi samajh lijiye, aur ijazat de dijiye ke hum aap ko babhi bhulayen?"

"Even if you call me Amrit I wouldn't mind," Amrit tells her, warming up to the genuineness in the girl's eyes. "I think we are of the same age. Kuwar sahab bata rahein the."

"Hayee," Rukzaar claps a hand on her heart. "Matlab mohabbat ki baaton se fursat bhi milgayi joh humari bhi baatein hui? And you still call him Kuwar sahab?"

Amrit shrugs, trying and failing to mask her heart break.

"Aap ki bhaiya bhi Ajeeb hai," she says then. "Pal mein badal jaate hai, anjaan ban jaate hai. Kaise bhulaye samajh nahi aati."

For a moment Rukzaar says nothing. The silence after her torrent of a speech feels like the peace after rainfall. Amrit draws in a breath, ashamed of herself for spoiling the happy girl's mood.

"Leave it. Dil par matt lijiye, main yun hi bol rahi thi."

"Aap se bohut pyaar katra hai woh," Rukzaar tells her.

"Phir nazrein churata kiyun hai?"

"Amrit... Amrit bhula sakthi hoon na? Kabhi kabhi log, iss liye nazrein chura lethe hai kyun ke woh apne aankon mein jhalakne wale mohabbat ko dikhane se dar te hai."

"Jab mohabbat kar sakte hai toh dikhane mein kya jaata hai?"

Rukzaar shrugs.

"Darte hai. Ke mohabbat dikh jaaye, toh koi cheen na lei. Kissi ki nazar na lage. Jin logo ko thanhayi ki aadat pad chuki unhe aksar yeh kauf reheta hai."

Amrit meets her eye, rendered speechless.

"Yakeen kijiye humari, yeh baat humse behetar yahaan koi nahi jaanta."

She expels a sigh and the sparkle returns to her eyes.

"Aur rahi baat aap ke miyaan ki, humein bhi bataiye kaunsi saza dene ki soch rahi hai aap? Dil bhi churale aur nazrein bhi, yeh toh badi zulm hogayi aap ke saat..."

Prompted by the hope and cheer in her tone Amrit smiles slowly. Of cause, she wouldn't let her marriage fall into despair so quickly, if Veer wishes to be fought and won over, she was ready to conquer him ever so thoroughly.

"Haan. Ab aag bhi lagaye aur kudh na jhale, aisa toh main hone nahi doongi!"

Rukzaar's smile is full of wicked mischief.

"Yeh hui na baat! Woh ishq hi kya jiss mein aag na ho, woh ishq hi kya jiss mein aag na ho, jismein jhal ke rakh na ho!"

*

Uday finds Amrit in that unfamiliar kitchen. She moves around the staff exchanging a word here and there.

Neither party particularly bothered with the presence of the other. It is rather early for breakfast, and the head chef isoverseeing the preparation of the day's ingredients. Meanwhile Amrit is kneading flour.

"Amru?"

She jerks at the sound of his voice, then turns. There's a smudge of flour on her cheek. Uday reaches and dusts it off.

"Tu ne baat bhi nahi ki, kee hogaya Amru?"

"Aap parata khayenge?" She asks instead. "Go sit over there, I'll bring some."

As promised she returns in a moment, with two smoking paratas in a plate. There is something different about her. Something that Uday could not pin point.

She had his sister's face, her kind eyes, her walk - but at the same time she was not the Amrit he had come to know from all those years together. She sat in front of him, rather rigidly and folded her arms. Uday stares at the plate in front of him.

"Amru - uss din joh hua," he begins. "Teri kasam, we did not know. If we did, we wouldn't have left you. We would have - we would have -"

"There is nothing you could have done." Amrit speaks rather calmly. "The world we know and this world we've been thrown into are very different Veerji. Yahaan log waise nahi hai jaise dhikte hai. Har koi, kissi aur ke saat sauda karta hai. Unka faida hai toh hass ke baat karta hai."

"Amru," Uday sounds concerned. "Is everything alright between -"

"Nahi," Amrit bites out. "Teek nahi hai kuch bhi. Aur iss mein galati na unki hai. Na meri. Do pal sukoon se rehene nahi dete yeh log! They have turned everything into a game. Everyone into a pawn and every action into a move. They use me against him the same way they used you against me."

"Par, kyun nahi kar rahe woh tuj par bharosa - tu toh -"

"Aap ne kiya?" The resentment bleeds into her tone. "When I was telling you to trust Veer, trust Anwar - did you believe me? Instead you trusted Randheer's word. You kept things from me. Your mistrust in my own judgement made you a pawn in someone else's game."

The look she gives Uday makes the older man wither.

"You thought Rani Ma was helping you did you not? Aur aap ne yeh mujhe batana zaroori nahi samjha."

"Amru, how could we have known? She promised Noor freedom. She talked so much of empowerment! The whole nation believes her!"

"The whole nation is blind then!"

Amrit's voice rises and then not wanting to draw the attention of the kitchen staff she lowers her tone.

"No one here will tell you anything because they care about Veer. And Veer won't say a word because he cares about me. And I - I cared so much about you that I choose you over my husband! Issi baat ke wajaise ab unhe lagta hai ke agar aap dono mein se kissi ek ko Chun na pade main unhe chhod dungi!"

"Amru -"

"Aap galat the Veerji! Aap jiss Insaan pe vishwaas kiya woh Insaan galat the. Mujhe barbaad karna chahate the woh log. Through me they wanted to hurt Veer! Uss din shayad kismat saat na deti, main Kahi mar jaati kissi ko pata nahi chalta. Even if you did not go and stayed back - what happened? Did you get to me? No, you don't even know what they did with me! Where the woman whole nation trusts made her goons take me?

"Aap ko pata hai, agar Veer uss din mujh par bharosa na karte, mujhe doond na leithe, mera kya hota? And the man you trust, you were urging me to trust - he knew everything! Still he has the gale to call my husband the monster. Next time, next time anybody uses that word in my vicinity- mujhe kudh nahi patha main kya kar jaaungi!"

"Amrit!" Vashma had just arrived. Her eyes are wide as she stares at her friend and sister in law.

"Do not talk to him like that. He is your brother! I will not stand down while you insult my husband so."

"But I did," Amrit tells her bitterly. "You kept insulting my husband and I did swallow it all. You doubted him - you doubted me - you doubted my good sense, my character, my marriage! Aap dono se sach saha nahi jaata aur main toh chup chap sab Sunti rahi!"

"Woh alag baat hai Amrit. Circumstances made us -"

"Don't call Randheer circumstances. Aur Vashma tum, tum ne toh haalaton se ladne ki seekh di thi mujhe. You told me to learn how to use people with power. But instead you got caught in Rani Ma's game yourself? Anwar bhai sahab par shaq karti rahi unse nafrat karti rahi jab ki koi aur tumhe iztemaal kar rahi thi!"

"We stayed behind for you!" Vashma retorts. "We stayed and got caught. We could have left you to fate and gone our merry way. We didn't! We -"

"She knew you wouldn't. And while I know it was your good intentions that kept you from going - what did it cause other than you two becoming bargaining chips for her dirty game?"

"Amrit -"

"Did you realize that because of this entire episode Veer might very well have to let go of his birthright? He is ready to do that, ready to leave it all for me - for justice to you two! That's the only result of you staying behind. I'm not disregarding your kindness, I am grateful. But you must learn the way of this world, for that you must admit your ignorance first."

"Amru sahi kehe rahi hai Vashma," Uday says slowly. "She is right. We played into Rani ma's hands. We didn't know who had connections with whom. Who had what intentions. We didn't know that Rana Chandra Singh Rathod who moved those brothel people where hand in glove with Nalini Devi.

"We didn't know that while she promised to protect us, help us, get us away - she herself was half the reason for our troubles. Amru sahi hai, yeh humari duniya nahi hai. Na tum yahaan rehena seekhi ho na main."

Amrit stops him when he tries to fold his hands before her. Her eyes brim.

"Veerji aap aisa Matt kijiye," she mutters. "I did not mean to hurt you. I'm hurt myself that I could no longer keep it inside me."

Uday brushes a hand over her head.

"Tune koi galati nahi ki. Siblings are there to share your heart. I have not been a good brother lately. I have neglected to see what was right in front of my eyes. I have mistrusted and insulted good people. You deserve an apology. I deserve a punishment."

Amrit doesn't say anything. It might hurt Uday, but the knowledge that they had made her brother play a part in her possible ruination makes Amrit burn.

Had Uday listened to her, had he allowed Veer to help him - none if them would have fallen into this endless spiral of trouble.

"I've already forgiven you Veerji," she tells him slowly. "And I hope the circumstances will forgive us all too. And forgive me for saying this, saying it now when I think the time is not ideal but i think it's better to come clean.

"Mana Maine Veer ke saat ek sauda kiyi thi. I wanted to use his power to get to my goal. It is true. Par jiss tarah unhone woh sauda nibhayi, meri saat diya, meri hifazat ki, kissine aaj taq koi rishta bhi nahi nibhayi mujhse. Jaisa koi apne ne na kiya ho itna kuch kiya hai unhone, aur jeet liya mujhe. Agar aap dono mein se ek ko chunn ni padthi, ek ko chhod ni padthi, maaf kijiye, main unhe nahi chhod pathi. Haan, agar aap ko kuch ho jaata toh main kudh ko kabhi maaf nahi karti par agar unhe kuch hojaata, woh mujhse door ho jaata, main jee nahi paathi. Patha nahi kaise unhone yeh sochliya ke main unhe qurbaan kar dungi. Unke bina rehe sakungi. Galat hai woh. Aur yeh galati ka main unhe ehesaas dila kar rahungi.

"I have promised myself this. That I will not let my marriage fail due to his fears or mine, or for the sake of anyone else. I am very happy for you two, don't think otherwise. But my heart is elsewhere. I cannot bring myself to be truly happy unless I put what has gone wrong in my marriage to right. I have resolved this to myself.

" Jab taq meri kushi mujhe wapas apna nahi leti, main kudh ko kushi ka koi mauka nahi doongi. Na aapse milungi, na Vashma se. Nor will I get involved in your matters. Because while I want to put everything right in your life, you have each other - you don't need me. You can solve your own problems. You don't need any angels to do that.

"Issi liye maaf kar dijiye mujhe, ab iss behen ko aazaad kar dijiye, kyun ki mujhe ab kissi ki patni banna hai aur mere pati ko meri zaroorat hai. Main nahi rahungi toh unka yahaan koi nahi honga."

It dawns Uday slowly, achingly. Amrit was cutting her ties with him, if not completely, but surely, they would be distanced from now forth.

He had known this was coming, they had caused her some damage that she might never forget. Their stupidity was irreversible. But it still hurt. It hurt how the mistakes had piled up and distrust had been sown that Amrit and him could no longer see eye to eye.

None of their love was lost, instead bitterness had made it hurtful to love. Distance might heal them, with distractions of their own lives.

Time might bring them closer again. He could only hope. He could only pray.

In that moment he hated Randheer truly, for every word he had spoken in defense of Rani Sahiba and against Amrit. Every word that had taken him away from his sister.

"Maaf kar dijiye."

With that Amrit quickly bends and touches his feet, briefly and barely that he doesn't get a chance to hold her back as he always does. Then she is gone without another look at him.

**
Chapter 4 of the #5for25Party!!
This is actually a continuation of the chapter from before. So it might have been a bit boring.

Sometimes to prioritise some relationships you have to put others with conflicting interests to the back burner. At least Amrit seems to think so.
What do you think? Do let me know your thoughts. Thanks for reading! Please vote if you liked the chapter!