"Have you seen this girl? She was here last night?” 

“No?” 

“You? Have you seen her before?” 

“Ok alright!”

 Nabeel asked about the portrait from every villager he came across. He left the palace early in the morning to the village where he came, along with Prince Jalal last night. 

The prince asked him to look for the girl from here, according to him the girl must be a resident of this village or nearby places. 
The sun came up his head, hours passed by in futile. It was already noon. Neither had he found the girl nor had he any information about her. 

Hungry by the mid day he decided to take a small break before resuming his work. 
He looked around for a shaded place and finally found one. Keeping aside his small bag, which had food and water, he washed his hands first and then opened his Bag. The aroma of shahi biryani with roasted chicken and lamb curry waffled across his nostrils.

A good meal after a long tiring day, what can be better than that, after finishing his food he urged to have a good nap too but unfortunately he can't. He has to dig this girl as quickly as possible; the prince was serious about her after all. 

He kept the empty vessels back into the bag and grabbed the scroll, he kept aside.

Who is she? He thought about the same million times. She was not some beauty the second prince will fall for, to say the truth she was very ordinary with that messy hair of hers, even the lowest maid in the palace was hundred times better and presentable than her, then why is the prince so much interested in finding her.

By the passing minutes, he too found himself intrigued.

“Get up Nabeel, you have to find her as soon as possible.” Up on his feet he started his search again wishing to get at least some information about her by the end of the day.

                    ~☆~☆~☆~

Imperial Harem, begum sakeena's chamber

The walls of the tall, magnificent, luxurious hall were elegantly painted with hues of crimson and gold with rich Persian carpets gracing the floors of the warmly lit room. Huge crystal chandelier dangling from the ceiling enhanced the grandeur of the splendid chamber while a pleasant fragrance from incense in jeweled censers filled the entire room. 

 Thin muslin curtains hanging from the pelmets billowed in the breeze through the large windows while the glorious sun peeked at the restless woman seated on a divan. 

"He said he will come today, he didn’t change his mind, right?" Begum Sakeena asked her daughter for the zillionth time. 

"Ammijaan, he will come; How many times do I have to say that?" Irritated by her impatient mother, Princess Razia replied. She was already irked by how her day started with symptoms of cold, topping it her personal maid fell sick too, she was the only person who does her hair the way she wants but this other maid totally messed it. she rushed to her mother with her messily braided hair but was being ignored completely. 

"Amijaan, can't you help me with my hair?" She huffed and tried braiding her hair herself while seriously looking at her mother who was constantly staring at the entrance. 

She sighed annoyed with her mother's actions when the arrival of second prince Jalal was made. 

The overjoyed mother stood up instantly and allowed the guards to let him in.

The spark in her eyes as soon as she saw her son could not be missed. 

"Jalal," she lovingly called his name and reached to him. 

"Adaab Ammijaan" He greeted his queen mother respectfully while her eyes glittered with tears of joy and peace. 

Her eyes then involuntarily scanned him from top to bottom followed by a comment "don't you take care of yourself, up there?"
 
Princess Razia rolled her eyes as she saw the mother and son duo, can't they see her?

"Why is it so hard to see you Jalal, didn't you think of your mother even once" she complained, for she missed him a lot. Although she knew, it was better for him to stay away, far away from the palace, he would be safe that way yet she couldn't help but miss her child.

"I am sorry Ammijaan but...." Prince Jalal knew how much his mother Sakeena loved him, didn't he miss her too yet he stayed away, for he felt at peace away from palace, reasons obvious to him.

"It’s ok, but now that you are here, promise me that you will visit at least once a day, will you do that?" Begum Sakeena knew he will not be here for a long time, and can leave anytime. She wanted to make the best use of the days, when he will be around.
 
"I will try my best Ammijaan." he replied, she did not change a bit he thought. 

"Anyone there?” 

A maid came in hearing Begum Sakeena's voice.

"Get the tabeez."

The maid left and came back with a silver box and handed it to begum Sakeena.

"I went to Ajmer shareef last month, to pray for your safety, may allah bless you Jalal" she tied the holy thread around his arm and kissed his forehead softly. 

"Now that your son is back and you have met him, can you please do something to my hair?" Razia started with her drama again.

"Idiot," Prince Jalal chuckled at her antics while begum Sakeena chided her lovingly, asking her to come near she did her hair, just like she wanted and asked her to arrange something to eat. 

It was after a long time that her son came, how can the mother send her son away without having anything? Also she can steal some more time with him this way.

The trio ate, laughed and talked for a long-long time. 

                ~☆~☆~☆~☆~☆~

Laid on dry grass with her eyes closed, drenched in her own sweat Madhu trembled in fear while unconscious. The events of that horrible night reeled in her subconscious mind.

She was forcefully brought to subedaar Akram's manor, and was imprisoned in a dark room for many days. Like an innocent lamb waiting for sacrifice she huddled in a corner anticipating something worst coming her way in the forthcoming days and it did came, sooner than expected. The day she dreaded about the most.

 Her naive mind spun wildly as the door creaked open, Subedaar Akram came in fully drunk, his lop sided smile as soon as he saw her, terrified her.
 
The fleeting memories of him killing her entire family right in front of her eyes freaked her, she wanted to run far away from him but she was trapped with no escape at all.

Her body cringed as she saw him staring at her body, her hands reached up to her bosom in reflex. His forward approach made her retreat stumbling back, she hated to show any weakness in front of him but his creepy gaze made her shrink back.

He tottered up to her and grabbed her in his arms "Tonight, you’ll be in heaven!" he whispered into her ears shamelessly while trying to touch her rosy lips, scaring her wits.

She turned her head in disgust to avoid his touch.

"Get rid of those damn clothes, I want to see you bare" he slurred pushing her back. 

"Don't test my patience.” he shouted and hastily threw his overcoat on the ground and started removing his jama revealing his upper body to her. 

Shocked to the core, she closed her eyes, what else was she supposed to do? Her mind was already blocked to come up with any ideas. 

"Leave me, let me go,"

She cried as her last attempt but all her pleas were ignored. 

"You should have agreed when I asked you nicely, you brought this upon yourself." he forcefully buried her under his weight while she tried to push him back with all her might and scratched his body with her nails to get the beast off from her body. 

The pain was killing his pleasure, he held her hands tight, and his eyes were red partly due to the intoxication partly due to anger.
 
"Damn you little thing!” he screamed as she bore her teeth deep into his shoulder. He winced in pain while she took the opportunity to get up from the bed and scurried to the corner.

"You think you can escape?” Her feeble actions were doing nothing but vexing him more. 

Petrified with him getting closer to her, she looked around and found a porcelain flower vase, she broke it in haste and took the sharp pointed piece, "don’t come near me, else I will kill myself.”

He didn’t budge, he has heard many such threats before.

 "This rejection, is it because you want to stay pure for your fiancé?" An evil smile crept on his lips as he inched forth. Well, the sadistic pleasure was akin to satisfaction as her face paled. 
 
"Your father was smart", he stopped marching further and sat on a wooden chair nearby, he was amused that how Madhu's father secretly sent a message before dying to her to-be-in laws to help her and that so called to-be-husband was coming too to save her.

He was till now unaware of her marriage agreement with another man otherwise he would have swiped his family too, but that can be done now too.

The cruel subedaar waited for Madhu's fiancé so that he can kill him right in front of Madhu's eyes and then savor her but that fiancé was taking pretty much time and subedaar Akram was running impatient. 

"For you I’m ready to leave him alive, will you then willingly submit yourself to me?" He offered an option pouring the wine from the vessel into glass kept on the small table.
"Don’t you dare touch him", she thundered, her entire family already killed by this monster she cannot afford to lose anyone else. 

“Feisty, eh?”

From a weak feeble person she became bold ferocious girl all of a sudden. 

Slowly, he went near the corner where she stood still trembling. He wrapped her waist tight and brought her body close to him with a jerk, going down he brought his lips closer to her ears.

 “Your fiancé will be killed soon, I will kill him with my own hands," he whispered nibbling in his nose in her neck.
“I gave you an option but you lost it.”
 
“No! Never." She screamed in rage while tears rolled down simultaneously, his words horrified her, utterly humiliated by his actions she decided to kill him, obviously killing him would not only spare her from misery but also save others life.

She was lost in her thoughts when he held her choli with one hand and it got torn from the side. She didn’t even try to hide her dignity now as she made up her mind.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she drew the sword from his waistband and attacked him, the beast in human skin but unfortunately, she was not a skilled person, her attack was not up to the mark. 
 
The metal tore his skin from stomach but the extent of damage was prevented as he held the sword’s edge.

He clutched the wound in pain while she took the opportunity to run away. 

She didn’t knew why and where she should run to but she did as far as she can dodging the dozing guards.
 
"Catch her!" she heard him screaming behind but she jumped down the palace wall, luckily, there was a small lake beneath and she was not sure if she should be grateful or curse this co incidence.
 
She was on run for two days and was sure that was a curse as she was caught in the end by the imperial guards and the rest is history.
                  ~☆~☆~☆~

“Jagat!” She screamed his name terrified and jerked up. She opened her eyes instantly and found herself in very different environment.

"Are you alright?" An old woman reached up to her to which she shrunk back.
 
"Don’t worry you are safe here." The woman tried to put her at ease.

"Who are you?" Madhu looked around.
How did I end up here with her? She wondered when the old woman smiled affectionately as if reading her thoughts.
 
 "I found you unconscious while I went to the forest in search of wood; you were badly hurt and needed treatment immediately so I brought you to my home with the help of my neighbors. What happened to you beta, were you attacked by goons?"  It was quite common in villages to be attacked by goons for money.

Madhu kept mum, it was better that way. 
The old woman noticed the terror on her face and decided not to push her further.

"Ah! I am such a fool, you might be hungry right, I don’t have much to offer but I am preparing khichdi for myself, will that do for you?” 

Obviously, Madhu was hungry but right now, what mattered to her was to reach a safe place, the place where Jodha asked her to reach.

“Maaji, I am not hungry, thank you for helping me. I will be grateful to you for my entire life." She said in her weak voice. 
As the old woman said, she picked her up from the forest, obviously, this place wouldn’t be far from the forest which means she was not safe here, she should hurry and reach to her people.
 
"Maaji, do you know the way to sikhri?"  She asked the old woman, she was running out of time, she knew Jagat was with Jodha, he actually came to save her. She was scared, what if subedaar Akram or his men caught him. She has closely known subedaar Akram now; he is cruel and can go to any extent. The mere thoughts of him terrified her.

 She wished to see her beloved soon, just to make sure he is safe. She will force him to leave the country, as this was not safe anymore, if only she could meet him soon. The dream to live with him as his wife was already lost on her. 

"Of course beta, but I would suggest you to eat something first, you were unconscious the entire night and had high fever. Your fever reduced only this morning. You can go if you want to but before eat something so that you can have some energy."
 
The old woman was right, indeed she was weak and no strength at all to say the truth but she cannot rest, not until she meets her fiancé.

Although she wanted to leave but the old woman insisted. She did not have a heart to deny the kind woman repeatedly.
Madhumati quickly had it and got up to leave but fell back on the ground.
 
Her head swayed with the weakness. The old woman asked her to rest for a while before leaving. 

Madhumati reluctantly lay back on the bed, her body didn’t support even if she wanted to leave.

She sighed deeply, as her eyes closed after a full meal. 
                  
                    ~☆~☆~☆~

Burial Ground

Badshah zaffar covered his nose with a piece of cloth; the smell coming from decaying bodies was horrible.
 
The royal figure was not supposed to be at places like this but the matter was serious, he had to personally. Imperial guards were attacked out of nowhere and were killed so brutally and many were injured badly fighting for their life.

It not only hit his pride but also agonized him. 

The palace guards were not any normal guards, they were the best soldiers recruited to safeguard him and the palace. They were all elite soldiers, well trained, and skilled enough to fight hundreds of men in a blink. One has to have some extraordinary skills to beat them down. Seeing them lying dead fretted him.
 
"What on earth is happening in the sultanate?" Who did this to them? The emperor enquired in rage. 

The chief guard who was kneeling down lowering his head all the time replied in his faint voice.

"Y-your majesty. We are still investigating.”
 
They were already dealing with rebels from Rajputs, Marathas, Bengal and others while Imperial Army was busy securing the borders from Turks for past few months, they were still recovering with the after affects of war and now this happened.  

"This investigation is still going on?" He gritted his teeth while his fists curled into tight balls. 

Being bold, aren't they? I will show them their place, the emperor thought angrily but amidst all this he still could not understand one simple thing 'what were the guards doing their in a remote village?'

"On whose command you dispatched the guards?" The emperor asked the question that stuck his head.
 
"Your majesty I..." he stammered only to hear the Emperor bellow.

"Speak up, will you?"

"Your majesty I was ordered by subedaar Akram... He asked us to arrest a runaway girl and bring back to capital. We were on our way when we were suddenly attacked by those men" the chief guard finished in one breath. 

"Damm that Akram!! who the hell is he to dispatch imperial guards for personal reason." the emperor rage moved past his limit.
 
"Call him right now." His voice echoed in the room. 

Subedaar akram was sent message immediately by the Emperor's personal eunuch, soon after the crooked man reached the place confidently and choked on his breath even before getting close to the corpses. Emperor does not look in good shape. 

 "Your majesty...you are not supposed to be at places like this, please let's leave." he said trying to catch a fresh breath.

"Don’t tell me what to do and how dare you order imperial soldiers at your will?” The Emperor thundered, he was just a subedaar, he is in no place to advice him.

“Your majesty, please pardon me... I...” he stammered unable to come up with an answer when a voice reverberated in the room.

"I will tell you your majesty."  

Empress enters the room, her face covered with a veil. The moment she was informed about emperor summoning her darling nephew she hurried to save him.

"Takhliya!” She dismissed the chief guard first.

 "Remove your jama." she ordered Akram in a very serious tone confusing the emperor. He stood there silently waiting for his answers.
 
Meanwhile Akram removes his dress revealing a fresh-bandaged wound. 

"Do you want me to treat your wounds, Akram??” The emperor asked seriously, his brows furrowed as he looked at the Empress and her nephew. He was asking something serious and instead of answering the duo were acting weird.

"Your majesty.... my maid..... she seduced me first and when I wanted to spend night with her she attempted assassination on me and ran away." He intended to explain further but the empress intervened. 

"Your majesty that's why I allowed him to take imperial soldiers and catch the girl but god knows from where the attackere came from and killed so many of our soldiers, thank god our second prince was there around else situation would have turned worse." She tried to damage control as much as she can.
 
Now this was news.

"Second prince? What was he doing there?" The emperor asked surprised but before they replied, he brushed off the matter lightly. Doesn’t he know his son who likes to wander around? Always a troublemaker. 

However, what more surprised him was the girl subedaar Akram mentioned. He turned towards the Empress.

“Begum, I think I’m capable enough to look into the Sultanate matters. Next time if I find anybody, ANYBODY, meddling into my jurisdiction they will face the consequences, understood?”

The cold warning did send a shiver down the spine of Empress. For once, she wanted to kill Akram herself for putting her in such a humiliating position in front of Emperor’s personal guards. She nodded feebly and muttered an apology for which she was dismissed rudely. Now, Akram’s turn.

"Akram," the Emperor was still left with few questions in his mind. Akram felt his legs shiver at that tone. The anger emanating the Emperor was producing such a fright in him.

"Where is the maid??"

"Your majesty..she...she escaped" Akram answered terrified. He wondered why the Emperor asked him about the maid.

"Do you think that maid is related to those attackers?” the Emperor doubted the girl, Imperial soldiers were attacked when they were bring the girl back to the capital, after which she escaped, was the attack meant to rescue her?

"I...I am not sure your majesty. Maybe we can find something if we catch her." he carefully said each and every word, but the more he was being careful, the more he was digging his own grave.
 
 "I want a detailed investigation about the case. They can't get away easily after assassinating so many skilled soldiers."
 
"Sure your majesty, I will take care of the rebels we even caught one of them alive, just a matter of time, he will blurt out everything soon.”

"Akram, I hope you remember your position from now onwards." 

The deadly warning made Akram take a step back. It pierced worse than the glass shards as he heard a sneer from somewhere behind.

 The emperor dismissed him with a flick of his hand, his brain was still unsettled, A maid, an attack, assasination of imperial guards, he doubted it was not simple, something big was going to happen in the coming future.
                
~☆~☆~☆~

Second prince palace

“Aahhchooo, Aahhchooo!”
 
The second was unable to focus on his sword practice. The nonstop sneezes were making him extremely annoyed.
 
 He pinched his nose to try the small trick told by his adopted mother in childhood when he saw an eunuch coming towards him.

"Your highness,"  greeting the second prince he passed the message "you have been summoned by the emperor."

"Now?" looking at his sweaty form he asked.

"Yes your highness, its urgent." the middle-aged eunuch humbly replied.

"Fine!” The second prince signaled the maid who stood prepared with a bowl of water and towel for cleaning.

The maid rushed to his side and extended her hands, prince washed his face and wiped it dry.

"Ok, let’s go." He marched forth to leave with the eunuch and instructed along.

 "Listen, inform nabeel about my visit to imperial palace. Alright?"

"Yes your highness, the maid bowed humbly.

Prince Jalal treks forward tailed by the eunuch, when he saw Nabeel coming from the other way.

"Your highness," he greets the prince and asks "Where to?"

"Glad you are back, Emperor wants to see me, now." the second prince replied.

"But why?" It was very rare. The emperor barely asks for the second prince.

"I don’t know, it can’t be something good for sure." The second prince quipped as Nabeel walked alongside.
 
"Did you find anything about the girl in the potrait?" prince Jalal questioned when the eunuch escorting fell a little a back.
  
"I am sorry, your highness, I couldn’t get any information about the girl but I have some information about those attackers." Nabeel’s frustration about not finding anything substantial about the girl was clearly visible but atleast he found a lead.

Something was better than nothing.

"Shoot it." prince Jalal had all his ears. 

"Your highness, i examined the area where imperial soldiers were attacked before coming back to the palace and" he paused to build up the curiosity before continuing "and found two different types of horse footprints."

"What do you mean?" Prince Jalal asked confused. Nabeel was quite a smart person, he very well knows that the horses used by imperial guards were one of finest breeds from imperial stable, also there's a unique symbol etched under their hooves differentiating them from other horses, yet if Nabeel was talking about the hooves it should be something interesting.

"Your highess, while closely looking at the foot prints of horses, apart from imperial horses, i found all the other horses had moon symbol under their hooves, except a few" Nabeel provided him the information he gathered.

"So?” His reaction was normal, he still couldn't catch the point.

"So there were two different groups, one to save the girl Madhumati and others to attack imperial soldiers."

"You are sure it was not just a simple rescue mission?" For the first time since the beginning Prince Jalal's focus shifted from Madhumati and her saviour.

"Seems so." 

"But how is that possible nabeel because we have clearly seen them taking the girl, didn’t we?" Nothing was summing up somehow. It was all like a big mystery to him and he wanted to solve it any cost.

"Your highness you remember I talked about the moon shaped mark on their necks you. But you didn’t see anything of that sort on the other attackers...” Jalal’s mind processed the information and concluded which Nabeel voice out.

 “It’s possible that the other people riding normal horses are not with the attackers, they were solely there to help the girl Madhumati." Nabeel speculated joining all the dots.
 
"Hmm it’s kind of possible because the first group seemed quite skilled while the others hardly could stand against him."

They talked about their secret stuff enroute the emperor's private chamber.

                ~☆~☆~☆~

Imperial dungeon 

Under the dim light of oil lamps, his youthful face was vaguely visible. Tied up in heavy chains with blood dripping down from bruises he laid on the ground unconscious.

"Who is he?" one of the ignorant guards enquired in a low curious voice. He has seen many prisoners in his life who were ruthlessly tortured until they speak the truth, this prisoner went through the same, but darn he didn’t open his mouth at all.

"He is one of the rebel, who attacked and killed many imperial soldiers and dragged our lives on line too.” the other guard replied sighing deeply. 

“Really?” 

"yes!" The first guard nodded his head and added, “Not only they killed imperial soldiers but also gravely offended Subedaar Akram, we will be all dead if he doesn't open his mouth.”

"How troublesome!” The second guard looked at the prisoner who seemed to be on the verge of dying.

"We better make him blurt everything he knows before dying; else god knows what will happen to us?" The first guard voiced his fears to which the second guard simply nodded while staring at the man in late 30's who kept his mouth shut even after repeated tortures.
   
The attacker who just regained his conscious heard them talking and wondered why he was kept alive, nevertheless he knew that since he is caught he would better die alone rather than taking his fellow mates with him.

The prison guards took their positions hearing the hurried footsteps. Sweat drops formed on their foreheads unsure of the latter events. 

The tall imposing figure followed by few other men did not look at any of them; instead he walked forth and stood in front of certain prison. 

“What a thick skinned person you are, you are still tight lipped? Are you tired of your life?” His voice threatening with a slight trace of anxiousness. His anger was touching the sky now, if it was any other man standing in front he would have been killed and buried by now, but this person was precious to him as it was only he who can save his life. 

"Who are you? Where is the girl? Where did your friends hide her?" calm and composed after a moment, the soilder asked for the last time. His patience was running thin, he needed to report subedaar Akram too, but this man was being too stubborn and he was losing his control.
 
"People are suffering, only few are enjoying a good life while rests are poor and the emperor is looking for a Girl? His majesty is really something!” He sneered. The prisoner has no idea what this fellow was talking about but rattling the imperial soldier is another high. 

He knew imperial guards were having hard time and he was sort of enjoying it but sadly, it was not because of their revolts. 

"You!” Clenching his jaw the chief guard’s eyes went red and kicked hard in his stomach making him spat blood out of his mouth.
 
"You wont get anything from me, kill me when you have a chance, else you all will pay for it in the future, even that PRINCE who dared meddle with us." Clinging onto the fragile threads of his life he poked further aggravating his anger.
 
The chief guard rolled his fist into ball. His desire to kill him was increasing with each passing second. 

"That’s it!  I guess I was going easy on you, Fine let’s see for how long you will say the same thing."

He signaled the guards to bring the boiling oil.

Terror flashed in his eyes momentarily, as the prison guards stuffed his mouth with a cloth and poured the hot oil over him.
 
His muffled screams filled in the entire room as the torture continued till he fainted again.
 
                   ~☆~☆~☆~

Emperor's private chamber

The guard announces Prince Jalal's arrival and he escorted inside while nabeel waited outside.

His mouth turned bitter at the sight in front. The crown prince was sitting on his seat, calm as always. 

"Your majesty." Jalal greeted his father and receives a curt nod in reply. He then turns to greet the crown prince to which he replied warmly.

"You heard about the attackers, didn't you? What do you think about them?” The Emperor enquired without wasting any time. 

 Asking my opinion? Prince Jalal wondered surprised, the matter has to be really serious, he deduced.

"We should find the perpetrators and charge them with high treason before killing them, if you ask me your majesty."  The reply was so monotonous from Prince Jalal. 

"And what do you think, Omar?" He asked the same question.

The crown prince smiled, “Your majesty what prince Jalal said is right, and we always follow the same however we can’t be in a rush."

Omar looked at the two occupants who has the same feature of calmness descended on their face but the curiosity shone bright in their eyes.

"Your majesty, i feel that the attack was to draw our attention towards them, it can be a simple revolt or something big...... we need to be thorough in any case."

The emperor too had the same thoughts, if it was a simple revolt then it can be suppressed easily but he doubted so, the way all his elite soldiers were killed said the attackers were not ordinary, they need to be prepared just in case.
 
He remembers subedaar Akram mentioning the maid.

"Jalal, I am giving you the responsibility of investigation, since you have encountered them once, subedaar Akram will help you. You will report all the progress to Omar. And get a hold on this maid first who attempted assassination on subedaar Akram, she might be related to those attackers. She can give us a lead if we catch her.” Both the prince nodded in submission as Emperor fired his orders.

 Although Prince Jalal was sure that the maid (Madhumati) had nothing to do with the attackers and that the Emperor was mixing up two issues but still he kept quite, for it was rarest of rare that he got the case and he was quite happy about it besides he can kill two birds with a single shot. One, find the girl in the potrait, two, catch the attackers who can be dangerous if not taken care of in time.

He can now work openly on it rather than in shadows. Great!

The second prince bows his head in respect and leaves the room. Totally pumped up to solve this issue.

“Nabeel we have to carry out an investigation. Let’s meet Subedaar Akram first.” Akram is so gone. Jalal hated the man with passion.

“We’ll investigate?” Emperor handling a case to prince jalal willingly has to be something. Jalal could not help but wink at Nabeel. His gaze went towards the scroll stuck in Nabeel’s waistband. He picked it out and held it open in front.

"We.......... will meet again!!" Prince Jalal finished the conversation with a mysterious smile. 

                 ~☆~☆~☆~

Small cottage (village outskirts) 
The next day

No matter how hard she tried to push away her thoughts, they bounced back in her mind. She was just a 15 years old girl who lived a simple life with her grandfather in a very small village. 

Jodha, fearless, that was the name given by her parents who left her alone early in life. Her father died because of a fatal disease when she was a small child and her mother was forced to perform sati leaving the girl child alone in this cruel world.

  Although she had uncle and aunt, her father's younger brother and his wife and cousins (their kids ) but they were only for name sake . It was Jodha's maternal grandfather, who took her under his wing and since then he became her only family.

Her 55 yrs old grandfather was a vaid (medical practitioner) who earned his living by treating the village people. His name luckily spread around to other villages for his effective treatments and he became popular over a period.
 
Given to his extremely busy profession the old man barely had the time to spend with his grand-daughter, with no one around to teach or discipline her, she grew up playing with neighbors’ kids who were mostly boys . She gelled with them so well that playing with dolls or doing things as any normal girl is alien to her.
 
It was already morning, Jodha could not sleep the entire night thinking about Madhumati. The little girl did not manage to find their hiding spot which worried Jodha.
She remembered the day when she met Madhumati for the first time two years back.

Jodha wiped the tears flowing down her cheeks when the two young men who went out to arrange some food for them darted in screaming her name. 

They went out for an hour to know the situation in the capital and ran back in a panting breath. She rushed towards them. 
Their expressions told her they were back with bad news and she feared what it could be.  

“What happened?”
 
“M-my entire family is going to be executed after two days.” Jagat panted as he sat on the ground, totally exhausted and drained. He cursed the day Akram saw Madhu.
 
"What?" Jodha felt dizzy hearing the news.

"Why is all this happening kanha?" She cried. 

Everything was planned carefully, they knew the route imperial guards were supposed to take, of course they couldn’t battle imperial soldiers thus they decided to drug them somehow through food or water, once they reach the village. 

But before they could implement their plan the guards were surprisingly attacked by masked people. Grabbing the opportunity Jodha, Ratan and Jagat fled with Madhumati. They thought they were lucky as they did not had to do much and rescued Madhu easily. It just got messier. 

'Did that man has a hand in all this?' Jodha wondered as the picture of her captor flashed behind her closed lids.

              ******************

Ok so finally chapter is here. First of all sorry for updating late. I was not feeling well at all😔Anyways i'm feeling better now. Thank you for being patient.

Please read the chapter and let me know your views.

By the way i got 2k reads...so happy.

Thank you for all the support