Uday Singh halted at a short distance from the suite and turned to look at Nandini. "How did this happen? How did you find her all of a sudden?" he asked, bewildered.

Sumer Singh and Kadambari too stared at her with burning curiosity.

Wringing her hands, Nandini quietly said, "I wanted to buy – something. So we stopped at a handicrafts exhibition on the way. I thought I might find something nice there..."

Then she proceeded to give a rapid, awkward summary of the incident with the lost child and Sakshi, and then tried to offer a detailed description of the astonishing and intensely moving events that had followed, ending with their departure from the exhibition grounds.

She wanted to sound composed and logical but her eyes welled up and voice quivered as she spoke about Priyamvada.  And the narration was coloured with her own disbelief at the uncanny manner in which events had transpired.

Everyone remained silent until she had completed the shocking tale, though Kadambari gasped at some points. And the suffocating quiet went on for some time as they gazed at her incredulously.

Then Kadambari whispered, "It happened because of you. He found her because of you."

Nandini saw an uneasy awe in Kadambari's eyes, and hot anger spiked through her.

"It was a coincidence, Choti maa," she corrected determinedly. "I didn't have anything to do with it."

"What was on the cloth?" Uday Singh asked, intrigued. "Did you bring it back?"

Nandini nodded, then ruefully said, "It's in the handbag, but I left it in the car."

"We'll ask the guards to bring the bag," Kadambari said, continuing to look at her strangely.

Nandini suddenly recalled her promise to Sakshi and worriedly said, "I'd told Sakshi aunty I would call her up once we reached the palace, and my phone is in the bag too."

"You don't have to talk to anyone," Uday Singh comforted her. "Sumer will do it."

"Yes, Nandini, I will talk to her," Sumer Singh confirmed. "You don't have to worry about anything now. We'll take care of everything."

Nandini smiled tremulously at the elders as a humongous amount of pressure lifted from her chest.

She'd been befuddled and stressed during the journey to the palace, and now she felt profoundly grateful for being back under their shelter. And her age couldn't be used as an excuse for her uselessness. Though Prithvi was only a year older, he would have known exactly what to do if their positions had been reversed.

Uday Singh looked concernedly at the distracted girl in front of him. She seemed dazed and confused, and nearly as shaken as Prithvi. But he was not worried about his great-nephew. Prithvi was extraordinarily tough. He needed time to regroup and tackle the new situation, but the lad would bounce back in no time. Nandini, though, was different. They needed to take care of her.

Uday Singh exchanged a concerned glance with Sumer Singh, and then addressed Nandini.

Nandini came out of her reverie and looked blankly at the elderly man.

"Let's go and wait in that hall," Uday Singh suggested kindly, indicating a room that was close to Priyamvada's suite. "You can have tea and rest awhile."

"I'm fine, grandpa," Nandini replied diffidently. "Would it be okay if I wait outside the room?"

Uday Singh smiled encouragingly. "Of course you can. Sumer, get the guards to place chairs for her and both of you as well near the door."

"I don't need a chair," Nandini said hastily. "I'll sit on the floor if needed."

"You most certainly will not," Uday Singh said resolutely. "Sumer, arrange the chairs. I'll be in the hall. Let me know if anything...changes."

***************************

In the next half an hour, Nandini was in the midst of buzzing activity that began with the arrival of the handbag.

The first thing she did was to give Sakshi's phone number to Sumer Singh, who moved to a distance to have the conversation. Then she had handed the embroidered cloth to Kadambari, who was ensconced in the chair next to hers. The chubby woman scrutinised it from every angle and even held it up in the sunlight to presumably check for invisible writing.

The gift she'd bought at the exhibition was lying in the bag, but she'd felt uncomfortable with the idea of giving it to Kadambari at this solemn time. Deciding to present it later, she didn't demur when Kadambari asked her to give the bag, which contained her purse and phone, to a maid for depositing it in her room on the first floor.

In the meantime, Sumer Singh returned with the information that Priyamvada would apparently wake up within the next hour and a half and that a car would be sent soon to the exhibition to pick up Sakshi and bring her to the palace.

The satin cloth passed hands from a mystified Kadambari to an equally baffled Sumer Singh. He then took it to Uday Singh, who joined the clueless club.

Nandini felt unaffected by the mystery. She'd realised that the stitches were similar to the ones on the cloth they had found in the temple, but Prithvi had seen something else too. However, she couldn't – and didn't want to - devote any energy to the question.

Her mind was wholly occupied by agonising concern for Prithvi. The image of him sitting on the road, shattered and consumed by guilt and self-loathing, was engraved on her mind.

She would give anything to see him return to his usual mocking self...

***************************

Seated near his mother's feet, Prithvi glanced fleetingly at the outside world through the large windows. Grey clouds had taken over the heavens and forks of lightning were streaking across the dark background.

His gaze shifted back to his mother.

He'd weathered multiple storms in the past hour, and had felt uprooted and disoriented. With his mind oscillating between the past and present, he had paced across the room restlessly, recalling important as well as worthless incidents with equal intensity.

Life had pampered him with plenty of unforeseen strikes right from infancy, but the charm of unexpected happiness had deigned to come his way only months ago. However, this unbelievable twist was one he had not anticipated even on the most optimistic days.

But the absolute quietness had helped. The shock that had numbed his mental faculties had subsided gradually. Although it had taken gruelling effort, he had compelled himself to confront reality and think coherently.

Thoughts and emotions that had galloped out of control had been reined in again. A portion of his mind remained embroiled in a dark fog, but the disentangling of feelings would have to be kept aside. Responsibilities awaited..

Now the biggest priority in his life was to look after his mother and bring her back to normalcy. And he would protect her...and her happiness with his life from this day forth...

***************************

Prithvi stepped out of the room and then stopped on seeing Nandini jumping up to her feet.

"How long have you been sitting here?" he asked, astonished and touched.

"Not very long," Nandini lied industriously. "Sumer uncle and Choti maa were also waiting with me. Then two girls came in search of Choti maa and she had to go to the kitchen with them. And Sumer uncle left two minutes back for some work. Both of them said they will come back soon," she assured him anxiously. "And Uday grandpa is sitting in that nearby hall. He -"

"Could you do something for me?" Prithvi interrupted.

"Of course," she said eagerly.

"Take a deep breath and calm down," he said dryly.

She smiled sheepishly, then asked, "How is she?"

"Still asleep," he muttered, then vaguely said, "I need to speak to Baba."

"I'll bring him back," she offered swiftly, turning to rush off

"Then I'll have to go in search of you," Prithvi said gravely, faint amusement in his eyes. "It's alright, I'll call him up."

The unpredicted second of teasing delighted Nandini. He could rag her mercilessly till the end of days if she didn't have to see him in a dispirited state again...

"Baba, I want a doctor to see her for a routine check-up," Prithvi murmured into the phone. "Nothing's wrong. I just want to know if she's...okay. And could you ask Choti maa to bring some food for her? In case she's hungry when she wakes up. And she also needs new clothes. Could you ask the manager to – yeah, the best available stuff. Choti maa can choose. But tell her not to buy any white clothes. Sakshi? Oh right...that woman," he said absently, and then listened for a minute. "Fine, let me know once she's here."

Nandini gazed at him tenderly as he spoke on the phone. She could see him as he'd been as a child...trying to take care of his mother and doing everything he could to keep her healthy and comfortable. And his comment about white clothes had struck a painful chord. She'd hated seeing her mother in white sarees after her father's demise...

When he cut the call, she kept a hand on his arm and softly said, "I'll be right here if you need anything."

Prithvi responded by grasping her arm and propelling her into the room, closing the door behind them. She halted midway through the sitting room, and looked at him searchingly when he turned around.

"How are you feeling?" Nandini asked tentatively.

"I...don't know," he admitted.

She closed the gap between them and embraced him. He hugged her back fiercely. Lifting his face from her shoulder with soft hands, she kissed his cheek lovingly and then enveloped him in a hug again.

The sweetness and warmth in the action infused a wealth of contentment in him, and he mulled idly that the smallest splash of her love could act as the most potent tonic for his spirits...

They broke apart after a few minutes. He grasped her hand and they headed together to the room where his mother was asleep. They walked to the compact couch that faced the bed and sat down.

"She's in front of me...and I still can't believe it," Prithvi said quietly after a short interval of silence. "It feels unreal."

Nandini looked at him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Believe it...you've found her," she smiled.

He glanced at her warmly. "No, you found her. You're the reason I saw the rag in the temple...went to the exhibition...saw the other cloth..."

"I had nothing to do with it. All of that was just a coincidence," she said exasperatedly, feeling genuinely disturbed. And eager to change the topic, she asked, "How did you know that the cloth belonged to your mother?"

"It wasn't difficult," Prithvi shrugged. "The stitches were identical to the ones we'd seen on the other cloth. And the figures she'd embroidered had a vague resemblance to the images on her family's coat of arms - a lion, a swan and a handful of stars. And she'd also used the same colours. But the fact remains...you're the one who found her," he circled back solemnly to a subject that was evidently a sore point with her.

"Prithvi, stop saying that," she implored.

"Don't be flattered. I'm not giving you a compliment," he clarified earnestly. "I'm saying something is particularly weird about you. You're like one of those clue-giving ghosts in horror movies," he offered by way of example.

"What?" she squeaked.

"In fact, you're the weirdest human I know at the moment, and that's an impressive achievement for you, considering the sort of the people I know," he pondered. Then he doubtfully enquired, "You are human, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am," she said indignantly. "There's nothing wrong with me."

"I'm sure that line is printed on the doormat in front of the creepy green underground cave that is your real home," he brooded.

With a protesting chuckle, she landed a mock punch on his arm.

He grinned mischievously, but the smile dimmed immediately and he looked at his mother.

"She's the luckiest mother in the world to have a son like you," Nandini said gently.

Prithvi looked at his interlinked hands and didn't reply.

She was reaching out to clasp his hands when they heard a faint tap.

"I'll see who it is," Nandini said swiftly, rising from the sofa and hurrying to the other room to open the door.

Three nervous maids rolled trays of food and drink into the room.

Impressed with the array of items, Nandini asked them, "How did you prepare all this food so soon?"

"Most of it was ready half an hour ago," the oldest maid replied diffidently. "We only had to prepare tea and black coffee," she added, indicating the tray with gleaming steel flasks, milk, sugar and cups.

Nandini thanked them smilingly as they left but halted in the midst of shutting the door. Sumer Singh was approaching the room with a worried look. He seemed relieved on spotting her and hastened to the door.

"Uncle, what's wrong?" she asked apprehensively.

"Oh everything's fine," he assured her, and then took a second to contemplate. Apparently deciding upon something, he said, "I think Kadambariji could use your help. Could you come with me?"

"Oh yes, uncle," Nandini said instantly. "I'll let Prithvi know and be right back."

When she went back to the bedroom, Prithvi glanced up at her. She walked to him and knelt on the floor.

"Choti maa wants me to help her with something," she whispered to him.

He inclined his head in understanding.

Nandini hopefully asked, "She has sent black coffee and sandwiches for you. Should I bring -"

"No, I don't want anything," he murmured.

She sighed and rose.

"You don't have to knock when you return," he muttered, looking at the floor.

"Okay," Nandini smiled. She tousled his hair and then left the room.

Prithvi got up and walked to the bed to look at his mother's thin face. Thoughts that had become peaceful briefly were re-entering the battlefield.

The lifting of the emotional fog had given his mind the leeway to resume the determinedly calm analysis that had begun in Shamli post Rajyavardhan's visit. And it could do so more freely now since the sceptic in him that had refused to believe his mother was alive was silenced permanently.

While the likelihood that his mother had left with no intention to return was still painfully present, the possibility of foul play had haunted him. And despite the jeering accusations of his conscience that he was seeking ways to absolve himself of any responsibility, he had given it a fair amount of thought. If foul play had been involved, it was easy to restrict the list of culprits to two or three. And on the basis of the information he had gained in Shamli, he'd shortened the list further.

Now he was prepared for the truth in every form. It was undoubtedly going be painful to hear, but even at its worst, it wouldn't be as harrowing as the doubts that had persecuted him all these years...

***************************

As Nandini shut the suite's door delicately, Sumer Singh unhappily said, "I was not honest with you, Nandini."

Taken aback, she turned to look at him.

"Kadambariji did not ask for you," he said guiltily. "I used her name because I was in a quandary and I wasn't sure about the right course of action. You see...the strange old man we'd met at the temple on Prithvi's birthday – do you remember him?"

Nandini's throat felt parched, so she responded with a nod.

"He's waiting at the main doors of the palace," Sumer Singh said tensely.

***************************

Priyamvada opened her eyes feebly. She was still groggy and disoriented, but something had nudged her back into awareness. It was a deep male voice that was whispering some words again and again. She concentrated to hear them clearly.

"Thank you...thank you..."

She looked fuzzily at her husband. He was sitting by her side, holding her hand in both of his. His warm forehead was pressed against her fingers...

She hoarsely said, "Adi..."

Adityaraj glanced up, revealing the shimmering moisture in his eyes.

Shock ran through Priyamvada. Her husband was a man who faced the harshest problems in life with unshakeable composure and self-control. Even in hard situations involving his family, she had never seen tears in his eyes till this moment. She looked at the cradle near the bed. It was empty.

Had something gone wrong?

In the delivery room, they had beamingly shown her a black-haired pink creature that was bawling lustily. She had wanted to hold it and had held out her arms, but then everything had grown dim. Now her heart clenched with instinctive terror.

Priyamvada fearfully muttered, "Our baby?"

"He's fine," Adityaraj swiftly assured her in a soft voice, realising that the moisture in his eyes had deceived her.

With a moan of relief, she closed her eyes and relaxed.

Adityaraj caught his wife's pale face with adoring hands and gazed at her with intense tenderness and loving concern. "He's more than fine. He's beautiful, healthy....perfect," he whispered with a catch in his voice.

A joyous smile spread slowly on Priyamvada's exquisite face. She raised a hand to caress his face, and murmured, "He has to be. I told you - half you, half me."

He grinned at her then....the mesmeric smile that never failed to create ripples in her heart.

She smiled back and then tried to sit up. He asked her to wait and used a small lever to raise the head of the bed. Then he put his arms around her and adjusted the pillows behind her back. Once she was comfortable, he leaned to kiss her softly on the lips. Looking at her worshipfully, he huskily said, "I don't know how to thank you."

She blushed with happiness.

Despite wanting the baby badly, it was anxiety about her wellbeing that had dictated his thoughts and actions from the start. He had repeatedly ordered the doctors that if there was any danger to her, they must not hesitate to choose her over the child. She, on the other hand, had been determined to give him the child even if she lost her life.

There was a knock on the door. Adityaraj nodded at Haimavati, and the smiling woman entered the room

Immobilised with emotion, Priyamvada stared at the bundle in Haimavati's arms and held out her arms automatically.

Haimavati placed the bundle cautiously in her arms, respectfully murmuring instructions on the right way to hold the baby. Then she congratulated the parents deferentially and conferred loving blessings on the child.

"Can we remove this cloth...or loosen it?" Priyamvada asked Haimavati nervously.

She could have done it herself but the piercing angst she'd endured after the fall in the sixth month had returned forcefully. Fear was an emotion that she rarely experienced, but her nerves had gone to pieces in the previous few seconds. What if she did something wrong and hurt the baby...

Haimavati obeyed immediately and freed the baby's arms and feet.

"You can leave now, Dai maa," Priyamvada said, hypnotised by the tiny human being in her arms

Haimavati bowed and left.

Adityaraj sat next to his wife and put his arm protectively around her.

Filled with a heavenly joy and wonder, Priyamvada looked at her squirming baby and caressed an extremely soft cheek. Her eyes brimmed with tears even as a smile of ecstatic love and pride dawned on her face.

Aditya was right. Their son was flawless. The big black eyes that were looking at her intently...the sweet rosy mouth...the silken black hair on his small head....the reddish, round cheeks...the tiny fingers and toes...

Every bit of the baby was entrancingly perfect.

He was so tiny...so helpless...wholly dependent on her for survival

Swept by tidal wave of love and protectiveness, she kissed her son's forehead and cheeks.

She looked at her husband with overflowing eyes. His eyes too were damp again.

"Can I hold him?" Adityaraj requested.

Priyamvada heard the unusual tension in his tone and knew he was thinking of Indrajit. "You're going to be holding him more often than me. So, it's right that your practice begins now," she teased affectionately, and rejoiced on seeing her husband's face light up.

She handed the infant very carefully to his eager arms.

Adityaraj stared at his beautiful son whom he already loved more than life itself. He kissed the baby's forehead and tenderly murmured, "Prithviraj."

The newborn stopped wriggling and looked at him

"I will protect you always, and as long as I'm alive, no sorrow will cast its shadow on you," he whispered to his infant son.

The baby listened to him attentively, as if it could understand the promise being made.

"Everything you want will be yours," Adityaraj swore. "The whole world will be yours one day..."

***************************

Suspended in the mystifying space between sleep and wakefulness, Priyamvada was conscious of intense and conflicting emotions throbbing inside her as her mind cruelly stopped the replay of one of the most glorious hours of her life.

Now an indescribable joy was mingled with an intolerable anguish. An astounding miracle had taken place, and it had put life back into her, but it had also laid bare a devastating reality.

Prithvi was alive.

The knowledge seeped through layers of consciousness, steadily cutting through the shields of disbelief and denial. And little by little, in the midst of the joyous, noisy pandemonium in her head, the intricate array of wheels in her mind began to turn again...

A calm, insistent voice was saying something. Yes, she had to explain immediately. She had to tell Prithvi why she had left...and why she had not returned. He had to know that she had not turned her back on him and left him to fend for himself all these years. If he believed otherwise, he would hate her. And then her son would leave her behind and she would never see him again.

Priyamvada opened her eyes with difficultly and scanned the nearby area blearily, fighting the huge weight on her lids.

She was lying on a huge bed in a tolerably nice room. An elaborate arched doorway at one end of the wall seemed to lead to another room. It was an unknown place, and yet, vaguely familiar. It was also empty.

As terror chilled her heart, Priyamvada sat up jerkily with a choked sob. Where was her son? Had she dreamt up his appearance? If it had been a hallucination, she would end her life today...

"Prithvi," she shouted croakily and then waited in agony.

Barely two seconds had passed when a young man strode into the room...only to freeze instantly on seeing her.

Prithvi gazed at his mother in shock. He had gone to the sitting room to answer a phone call when he had heard her call out his name.

She was awake... and she was looking at him.

Priyamvada let out a cry of delirious happiness and relief. Maddened with emotion, she pushed away the coverlet and got down from the bed. Using all her strength to maintain her balance, she tottered to her son with wobbly footsteps.

Feeling unable to move, Prithvi watched his mother lurched towards him with the unsteadiness of a small child learning to walk.

Priyamvada stopped in front of her son, tears gushing out of her eyes with force.

Swaying slightly, she touched her son's face with the same indescribable awe with which she had caressed his cheek on the day of his birth. Underneath her thin fingers, the rough skin on his jaw felt as supple and delicate as that of the newborn she had held.

"Prithviraj," she whispered in wonder.

Feeling oddly stricken, Prithvi gazed at his mother wordlessly. He felt as though he had landed in the unreal, fantastical world of a wistful childhood dream. A world in which his mother had returned from the dead and was looking at him with joyful affection...

Priyamvada drew his head down to press dry, cracked lips against his forehead, and the simple act shattered something in her heart. She started to weep again and wobbled on the spot.

Not trusting himself to speak, Prithvi caught her silently. She clutched her son and cried. He held her lightly, and then helped her walk back to the bed and sit down. Then he sat next to his sobbing mother and cradled her in the same quiet, gentle way that she'd held him when he was a child.

Priyamvada controlled herself after several minutes. She raised her head and grasped her son's pale face with clawed fingers. "Have they been giving you food?" she asked wildly. "And – and toys and good clothes? Does father still beat you? Don't worry. I won't let him do that again," she promised with feverish eagerness. "I'm here now. We'll leave from here. We will leave... I'll work. I'll earn. I'll take care of you."

A painful lump blocked Prithvi's throat, but he somehow muttered, "Okay, maa. We'll leave soon. But you should rest now."

Priyamvada shook her head groggily, struggling to clear her mind and keep her eyes open. She couldn't let sleep overcome her before sharing the truth with her child. He had to be told the truth right away.

She began to blabber agitatedly, stumbling over words and repeating sentences obsessively. "I have to tell you – It was his fault. Not mine. I didn't know you were alive," she said pleadingly. "I was going to return but – but he lied to me. He told me you had died the day I left – and -"

"Who?" Prithvi asked quietly, though he was fairly certain he knew the answer.

"Harsh – Harshvardhan," she decried bitterly. "He lied...he said you were dead. He wanted the title and wealth for himself and his son. Harsh is to blame to everything," she whispered frantically. "I left because of him. He told me Aditya was alive. And that he would help me meet your father. That's why I left. I thought – I thought I would find Adi...and we would be a family again."

Jaw clenched rigidly, Prithvi listened to his mother as searing rage and grief swilled inside him with toxic ferocity.

"But it was all just a trap. Harsh betrayed me. Those people who helped him - they told me to wait...then Harsh came to see me...told me he'd been misled by someone. Adi was no more. And then he said you were dead too," she recollected in agony, shivering at the memory of the second most painful day of her life. "He told me that father had beaten you until you - after that...I don't remember what happened," she mumbled, eyes closing despite her vehement efforts. "Harsh - fault. Question him...he'll tell you..."

Then she disjointedly whispered, "Adi won't be angry with me now. You're alive...he's happy...he loves you so much..."

The murmurs turned unintelligible, and Priyamvada drifted back to sleep.

Prithvi remained stock-still for a long time, then he roused himself ruthlessly. He eased his mother onto the bed, adjusting the pillow under her head with great gentleness.

He had turned to lift the coverlet when he saw Nandini standing under the archway, muted horror and shock on her colourless face

.

***************************

Nandini was distantly conscious of an excruciating ache in her heart and the feeling that her limbs had turned into wood.

She'd already been troubled and preoccupied while returning to the suite. Then she'd heard Priyamvada's sobs and had barged into the room unthinkingly...

Priyamvada's anxious questions had been shocking and unspeakably painful to hear. They were a grief-stricken mother's questions to the small child she had left behind years ago, not to the young man in front of her. And Nandini had not recovered from their crushing impact when the traumatic explanations had come forth.

Harshvardhan was the culprit. Priyamvada's older brother. Prithvi's maternal uncle. Rajeshwari's father.

She had cursed the man viciously for humiliating and injuring her father, Nandini remembered dully. And now they had learnt that he was responsible for the immeasurable pain endured by Prithvi and his mother for thirteen years. He had ripped apart the lives of his own sister and nephew and forced them to face innumerable sorrows and hardships. Just to fulfil his greed...

Nandini's very soul shrank at the thought.

She looked helplessly at Prithvi's strained features and clouded gaze

His back had been to her while Priyamvada had been speaking, but she had not needed to study his features to sense the noiseless, painful explosion that had taken place within him.

***************************

Prithvi's first reaction on seeing her was relief.

It was a relief so intense that his mind was instantly yanked free from the deeply disturbing impression that he had wandered unknowingly into an unreal and grotesque universe. The ground was solid beneath his feet again, and his thoughts regained their lucid and natural flow. It was a repeat of the experience he'd had at the exhibition.

She had become a powerful anchor to reality for him, he thought distantly while gazing at the beautiful face that was moist with tears for him. And this day had shown him the full extent of his dependence on her for emotional stability. As his mind began to race at its usual speed, major insights made themselves clear for him within seconds. And one of them pointed to a decision so hateful that he shut it out for the moment...

Prithvi strolled to her and grasped her face with both hands. "I'm fine, and she will be fine too," he murmured, his thumbs caressing away the water droplets on her cheeks. Then he put an arm around her and urged her gently to the sofa in the sitting room.

Nandini yielded to the warm pressure of his hands and sat down. She waited for him to occupy the spot beside her but he turned to stride to the tray with the flasks.

When he picked up one flask and opened it, Nandini began to rise quickly. She had proven to be worthless in a lot of ways today but she could at least give him a cup of coffee.

Prithvi looked at her with a small frown-line on his forehead and signalled grimly that she should sit back down.

She obeyed meekly and then stared in surprise as he poured steaming hot tea into a cup.

Prithvi put two cubes of sugar into the tea. Then he glanced at her thoughtfully and added one more cube. Stirring the concoction with a small silver spoon, he walked to her and offered the cup.

Nandini gazed up at him in astonishment while taking the cup from his hands. He returned to the tray and poured scalding black coffee into the largest mug on the tray. Then he walked back to the sofa and sank down on her right.

She waited for him to start having the coffee and then began sipping the precious cup of tea. If it was possible to preserve the beverage forever, she would have...

Prithvi drained the cup in a few gulps and placed the cup on the short centre table. Then he leaned back and closed his eyes.

Nandini finished having the tea in the following few seconds and kept the cup next to the coffee mug. After a brief moment of indecision, she too reclined slowly. Her head came to rest on his shoulder. He put an arm around her, holding her close. They stayed unmoving till the quietness was disturbed by the buzzing of the phone in his shirt's pocket.

Sumer Singh was on the other line. Prithvi listened to him, then tiredly said, "Ask her to wait, Baba."

"What is it?" Nandini asked concernedly.

"The lady from the exhibition has arrived. They've seated her in the hall down the left corridor. Sumer Baba wanted to know if I can meet her now or if they should ask her to wait."

"You should go," she urged. "I'll stay here." He had waited for thirteen years to get answers to questions that had shadowed his life until now. She had not been able to do anything substantial for him so far, but she could ensure that he wouldn't have to wait a second longer than necessary to get all the answers he wanted.

Prithvi shook his head. "What if she wakes up? You saw her condition..."

"I can take care of her," Nandini assured soothingly, standing up. "If there's any issue, I'll come to the hall immediately to let you know or I'll call you from the landline."

He gazed at her pensively, and then reluctantly murmured, "Okay, I'll be back soon," and rose to his feet.

She walked with him to the door. At the threshold, he turned and tensely said, "If she wakes up and asks about my past, don't tell her I was thrown out of the palace after she left. And don't share anything about what happened after that."

"I know hardly anything about it myself," she said quietly.

He bent to kiss her cheek softly. "So you won't have to lie."

After he had left, Nandini strolled to the bedroom and stood near the sleeping woman. Her fingers touched Priyamvada's feet and then her own forehead. She didn't move for some time, engrossed in recollecting Priyamvada's words to Prithvi. She was feeling increasingly sorrowful for both of them...and frustrated with herself.

Nandini sighed desolately. She could have comforted Prithvi by saying something positive on the lines that he knew now for sure that his mother had not deserted him. But she'd stayed dumb and forced him to comfort her...

Priyamvada whimpered in her sleep and moved restlessly.

Alarmed, Nandini hurried to the head of the bed and stroked the grey head kindly. Priyamvada stopped stirring and her face became peaceful again.

Nandini, though, began to feel a steep rise in anxiety. And her imagination helped by creating different scenarios that would inexorably end in her being hauled over the coals.

What would she do if Priyamvada awakened in a frenzied state? Would she really be able to calm her down? And if Priyamvada woke up in a calm state, how would she explain her presence in the room?

Many dreadful possibilities were spinning in Nandini's head when Priyamvada opened her swollen eyes.

For several moments that were nightmarish for both women, they stared at each other.

Blood pounded in Nandini's ears, and her stomach started to hurt. And the sense of dread intensified when Priyamvada's gaze darted around the room manically.

"Where is he? Where is my son?" Priyamvada asked hoarsely, and then turned a distraught face towards Nandini. "Did he leave? He can't - You have to bring him back. Bring him back!"

"Prithvi hasn't left," Nandini replied quickly, frightened by the unhinged glint in Priyamvada's eyes. "He's in the next room."

Breathing hard, Priyamvada glared at Nandini. "He's still here? You're not lying to me?" she demanded fiercely.

Nandini shook her head frantically. "I'm not lying. I promise...I can bring him here right now."

"Wait," Priyamvada said abruptly, seizing Nandini's arm in a vicious grip and using it to pull herself up into a sitting position. She looked at the petrified girl narrowly and whispered, "You're the girl who...brought him to me. You helped that child reunite with her family, and then you found my son for me."

Cutting hurt and dismay overrode Nandini's fears temporarily. She desperately said, "I didn't do anything. He found you without my help."

But her assertion went unheard.

"You brought him to me," Priyamvada repeated under her breath. As her reddened eyes flooded with guilt-ridden angst, she released Nandini's arm.

"I didn't abandon my son," she said fearfully, looking at Nandini imploringly. "I left that day because I thought – and I was going to return...but then I was told he had died. That is why I didn't go back. You have to believe me," she begged.

Tears stung Nandini's eyes and her heart swelled with compassion. She impulsively embraced the distressed woman.

Priyamvada cringed. She detested being touched by strangers and was on the verge of pushing off the offending arms from her shoulders when Nandini softly reassured, "I believe you. It was not your fault."

Despite her discomfort, Priyamvada was incredibly soothed by the assurance and the untarnished sincerity in it. And she could actually feel her panic diminishing slightly in the presumptuous girl's embrace. It was probably because of the lingering drowsiness. Yet, she permitted the hug to continue for some more moments, and then stuffily said, "You may release me."

Startled by the command, Nandini dropped her hands and drew back.

Priyamvada cleared her throat, and struggling not to sound desperate, shakily said, "I've told Prithvi the truth, but he may not believe me. You must help me convince him that I'm not lying. And please...please tell him he must not hate me," she whispered.

The heartrending request brought scalding tears back to Nandini's eyes. "Prithvi doesn't hate you," she said earnestly. "He loves you very much. His uncle – your brother had lied to him too. They told him you were dead. He found out only recently that you might be alive, and he has been looking for you tirelessly since that day."

Bereft of speech, Priyamvada gaped at Nandini. It was not in her nature to believe anyone without testing their trustworthiness several times. However, though she had a million more questions, she implicitly believed everything she had heard just now.

Disbelief, rage, relief and joy...she experienced a convoluted mishmash of everything simultaneously...

When she could speak again, she quietly asked, "Is my brother alive?"

Nandini bit the inside of her lower lip. The question had made her uneasy, but she felt compelled to answer it, and awkwardly said, "No, he died a few years ago."

Battling the heaviness in her eyes, Priyamvada digested the unpleasant information. The fortunate ******** had died before she'd had the chance to kill him. But she had expected it, hadn't she? After all, Harshvardhan had issued a handwritten invitation to death long ago... 

"Did he suffer?" she asked Nandini, then answered the question herself. "He must have...he must have suffered terribly."

The image of Rajyavardhan Singh came before her eyes but she thrust it aside. She didn't want to know anything about her father. She didn't care if he was dead or alive. She didn't. Only her son mattered to her now...

To conceal her disquiet, Nandini walked to the bedside stand and took abnormally long to pour out water into a glass. She offered the water to Priyamvada, who drank the cool liquid thirstily and gave back the empty glass. Then she regarded Nandini with a flicker of her natural sharpness.

She'd just had a conversation about private aspects of her life with a stranger. The shock of getting her son back had understandably addled her brains. The troubling part was that her bizarre trust in the girl was growing as her composure returned...

Priyamvada looked at the young girl curiously. "Who are you?" she asked bluntly.

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