Ears of Walls

Summary: In mein humare jaan basthe hai. Guard him with your life.
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The wind is loud in their ears, rising over the rumble of the jeep. Shravan Singh casts a look at the silent Dulhan Rani, who had her hands clasped and tucked under her chin.

"Are you cold - Dulhan Rani?" He asks her, concerned for her comfort.

"Ji nahi Kaka," she replies and offers him a wobbly smile. "You are as old as my father, you don't have to call me Dulhan Rani all the time. Aap agar mujhe beti bhulaye toh main bhura nahi maanungi."

"Aap Daulathabadh ki daulat hai," Shravan Singh explains kindly. "Aur hum Shrighar ke ek sewak. Aap ne humein kaka bulakar bohut maan bhadai humare. Aap ko Dulhan Rani bulakar aap ki kuch izzat hum bhi kar lein."

Watching how she bit into her trembling lip, he continues.

"He is alright. Nawabzade Anwar is with him. Between the two of them, they are a force to be reckoned with."

And he smiles meeting her agitated eyes.

"When you were unconscious Chote hukum bhi issi tarah betaab the. Bhikhare hue the. Aap ki dard unse dekha nahi jaata."

"Phir bhi dard de dete hai," Amrit mutters.

"Unhe pyaar karna nahi aata," Shravan Singh says slowly. "Na kudh se, na kissi aur se. Darta hai, jaise sab unke apne chale gaye, aapko bhi kismat doorr na kar de. Aap ki dard ka wajai nahi banna chahta iss liye door jaa raha hai. Don't let him go - Dulhan Rani.

"Veer baba se raha nahi jaayenga. Yeh jo akela pan hai, kha jaati hai logon ko. Yeh jo nafrat hoti hai apno ki, dheere dheere mar deti hai, zeher ki tarah. Agar aap chali gayi toh mar jaayenge Veer baba, old grudges of this place will suffocate him."

He sighs loudly, his jaw working furiously to contain an onslaught of emotions.

"I knew him from the day he was born. Rana sahab had placed him in these unworthy hands. My wife was the one who nursed him. He is my son as much as anyone's.

"Aise kudh se harta hua nahi dekh sakthe hum. Hum Shrighar se bande hue hai. Aur Shrighar apne kuwar se. Aur woh aap se."

And he tells her everything that Amrit needs to know to get a clear picture.

He tells her what he was forbidden from telling Veer, for he thinks skirting around the word given to the late king, his Rana sahab never forbade him from talking to Dulhan Rani.

*

Shrighar 1924,

The joy of a heir being born is peeling away. The shouts of congratulations, laughs and excitement spread around the palace, from the moment every one had walked out.

The sun filters through canopies drenched in the night's rain and peeps through the carved windows. In distance they could hear the news being exchanged, praises voiced aloud.

"Chaand sa chehera hai!"

"Bilkul Rana sahab pe gaya hai -! Itna kubsoorat hai ke maano suraj kudh Shrighar aagaya!"

Mahendra sighs, the warm weight in his arms shifts. The unnamed baby has the bright eyes of his mother and looks up at him through them. He looks intelligent, curious and oddly familiar. His heart brims with protectiveness for this tender life.

His son, a life he had made together with her.

The baby tries to snuggle up against him, bidden by some natural instinct, seeking for warmth.

Mahendra's throat tightens.

"Nalini," he speaks rather softly.

She hasn't moved for a while now. Sitting with her back to him, looking out of the closed window.

"Apne bete ko nahi dekhongi?"

The urge to scream at her he swallows with effort. For once, just once if she holds the child, if she looks at him, this rigid resentment would melt. Motherhood would soften her broken edges, if nothing else could.

"Nahi!" Her voice rises sharp and hysterical. "Le jaiye, le jaiye yahaan se! Aap ka beta hai woh, aap ka ansh hai, aap ka waris hai. Hum par lagaya Hua aap ka mohor hai. Humein nahi dekhni!"

She covers her face with her hands and starts to sob.

"Humein nahi dekhni! Kabhi nahi dekhni!"

As her voice rises, growing shrill with each word she throws at him. The baby, startled and disturbed begins to cry. Instinctively Mahendra tucks him closer. That tiny wrinkled face is flushed red with a temper. Despite himself, his situation, that impossible indifference of his wife Mahendra feels a chuckle building inside him. Oh, this young man had a temper on him; just like his mother.

He glances at Nalini, thinking if it is wise to comment upon that. Perhaps, some soft corner of her heart exists?

"He is hungry - I think," he says cautiously. "Nalini are you not going to -"

"Aap maharaj hai, hire a wet nurse."

"Nalini!"

God help him, even his patience has a limit. She does not move. There isn't a trace of regret upon her taut frame.

Mahendra watches her for a moment, allowing her one last moment to return.

He has always waited for this woman, bound by teachings of his family. Marriage was a thing of a lifetime. Nalini was the one for him, even if living with her is a daily war.

But for the first time, he sees her for what she is right then. Stripped off of his guilt towards her, of everything he thought he owed her, Mahendra sees what a shallow woman he has brought into his household, made mother to his son.

A woman cruel enough to push away a new born baby without a single look at him.

The baby is crying at his loudest now, demanding attention, his face turning purple as he works himself into a temper.

"Nalini -" he calls her one last time.

She doesn't move. Doesn't give any indication of having heard him. But when she speaks her voice is sarcastic.

"Now will you force me to care for him the same way you forced me to carry him? Aur kitne rishton mein humein bandne ka irada hai, maharaj ji?"

That snaps something between them, something that was already thread bare, is broken forever. Mahendra looks down at the child, watching him from eyes of that cruel woman. There are tears on his lashes now, tears that has never moistened his mother's eyes.

"Humare bete ko aap ki zaroorat nahi hai, Nalini. Baghvan se dua kijiye aap ko bhi kabhi unkhe zaroorat na ho. Kiyun ki aap ka hi ansh hai, saza bhi aap ki tarah hi denge."

Mahendra turns away from her, carrying his child clutched to his heart. He was being foolish. If nine months couldn't soften her heart towards the life she carried, one single look would change nothing.

At the door he knows his guard waits. The earlier joy in the man's eyes had diminished. Of cause their voices carried out from the room and Shravan Singh heard them.

Mahendra isn't worried. He knows that his guard did not speak of a word about his king. The man had proved his loyalty many times over and had won Mahendra's implicit trust.

Perhaps, that is what his son wanted too. Someone he could trust implicitly.

Shravan Singh looks up at his king hesitantly when Mahendra comes to a stop in front of him.

"Won't you hold your Chote hukum, Shravan?" Mahendra asks. "In mein humare jaan basthe hai. Guard him with your life."

Gently he places the baby upon the man's humble hands. Shravan Singh's hands shake as he gathers the child, his eyes begin to water.

"Humare jaan bhi chale jaaye," he vows with faltering, overwhelmed words. "Chote hukum ko kuch nahi honga."

Mahendra places a hand on his loyal servant and long standing friend's shoulder. Neither of them says a word more, but the vow was given and taken. Shravan Singh is given a new master from that day forth.

*

Amrit shudders at the implied meaning of those words. Those tempered drinks weren't meant for them. Then who were they meant for? And Prem's death is not the root cause of Rani Sahiba's resentment.

Then why? Why would a woman hate the child she herself bore and gave birth to?

Shravan Singh doesn't look at her. He has already said too much.

"Unhe yahaan se le jaiye," he says slowly. "I have failed in my promise to Rana sahab. Unke jaan ko hum bacha nahi saka. Humare hote hue, humare aankon ke saamne, Veer baba ko ek zinda lash banadiya gaya aur hum kuch nahi kar paaye. Rana sahab hote toh, humein zinda nahi chhod the."

"Kaka -"

"He wasn't an unfeeling monster before. He was such a soft, curious child. They had beaten it all out of him. That daayan they call Dai, ruined my boy! Ruined him. Isse achcha marr hi dete!

"He never laughed after that. Such a beautiful laugh he had, it used to light him up from the inside."

Amrit wipes at her face. The tears that had run unchecked come off damping her hands.

She silently vows to herself that Dai will not even touch any of her children. Burning as she is in rightful fury, Amrit isn't sure what she will end up doing if the woman even looks at any baby of hers. She could not understand how Rani Sahiba managed to bear it, let alone let it happen.

"Phir aap aagayi. Chote hukum ke andar jaan aagaya. Yahaan ke logon se saha nahi jaata unki kushi. Dekha nahi jaata. They want to push him back into those shadows. They want to ruin him just like they did with Rana sahab. Unhe le jaiye, Dulhan Rani. Unhe bacha lijiye. Humare bachche ko bacha lijiye."

"It was you who asked papa sahab to come and take him away didn't you?" Amrit asks him softly.

Shravan Singh doesn't reply, but of cause Amrit sees the truth in his eyes.

"Kaka, if his majesty was alive, he would have been very grateful to you. And I'll have you know, your Chote hukum loves you very much. You haven't let down anyone. Aap fikar matt kijiye. Mujhe meri ma baauji ne aadein adhurein rishtein rakhna nahi sikhaye, aise kaise unhe chhod de? Main kuch nahi hone dungi aapke Veer baba ko, yeh waada hai meri.

"Even if we have to leave, I won't let you fail in the promise you made to your Rana sahab. Joh Veer ka hai woh unse koi nahi cheen saktha. He will take the throne as his father had intended. He will be the kind of king that his father had envisioned. I, Amrit Veer Pratap Singh will make that happen."

**
First day of our #5for25 party! And Amrit Veer Pratap Singh opens the week with her determination.
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