"Saloni, please stop tossing around and try to sleep, we need to wake up really early to prepare the lapsi bhog offering for the Goddess!" Anokhi chided Sanyukta who was restless, making it difficult for her to sleep in the dormitory. "Jija, why can't we sleep with them?" She pouted in the dark. "Silly girl, for the last time, this serai insists on segregation of the genders, that's why! You need to control your urge to be in your husband's arms!" She tried convincing the teenage bride who was craving her virile young husband.

"As if  you don't feel the pull for Bhaiji sa! I have heard the two of you in action, and it is always you who are quaking with ecstasy, by the sound of it!" Sanuykta giggled, making Anokhi give her a light slap. "Shameless girl, as if you are any less audible when your husband pleasures you, you barely let the poor man sleep!" Anokhi retorted in mock annoyance. "It is not just about sex, Jija. I do enjoy that very much but there is more to it, I feel so calm when he kisses me or runs his fingers through my hair. I don't want to spend a single day away from him!" Sanyukta whispered. 

"Mhari laado, we must grow accustomed to spending countless nights on our own, our husbands will have to travel constantly. And once we reach our marital home, I have to get used to the knowledge that I am a junior wife. Bade Kunwarji will have to place Vidushi baisa before me. I may get only infrequent visits in my apartment as Vidushi baisa, his Chief wife, will lie next to him in their suite practically every night. Perhaps he may come to me only when she is on her period!" Anokhi sighed, sounding fatalistic. "Jija!" Sanyukta hugged Anokhi suddenly, trying to absorb the sense of despair that came from having to share one's spouse with another.

"Vidushi baisa must be feeling more agitated than I have reason to, after all, her husband married me without her knowledge. Saloni, it is easier for me to deal with this fact than for her, she is sure to be vexed. Bade Kunwarji will have a tough time trying to placate her." Anokhi voiced her concern. "If Randhir marries another woman I'd hate both of them!" Sanyukta interjected without realising what she just said. "Exactly dear, that is how Vidushi baisa must be feeling about me! Anyway, please just sleep now, you need to be alert and fresh while offering prayers to the Goddess tomorrow." Anokhi put an end to their conversation and soon both women fell asleep.

The company woke up the next day at the crack of dawn, with the maids kindling the kitchen fires as instructed by Anokhi, toiling over the sweet lapsi bhog. They stirred the broken wheat and jaggery mixture in pure ghee in an iron cauldron till it all came together in a rich caramel coloured pudding, decorated with nuts, raisins and other dried fruit. Lapsi was a popular offering during temple visits. As it was being readied Anokhi and Sanyukta adorned themselves in their bridal finery and joined their waiting husbands to the short ride to the temple, accompanied by bearers carrying salvers of fruit, flowers and other essentials for the rituals. 

The temple, dedicated to a form of the Goddess Chamunda, was popular with both Hindus and Jains from the trader community around Jodhpur. Anokhi herself hailed from a Bania clan and she had been keen on worshipping at the shrine to seek blessings for the Shekhawat brothers and for their marital family members. An emotional Anokhi made a conditional vow known as Manauti that when Sanyukta and Randhir were blessed with their first offspring the family would travel back to the shrine to seek blessings for the newborn. Anokhi knew in her heart that her own womb would never bear fruit, she had not been destined to give birth! But she was eager to share the parenting of Parth and Randhir's children.

"Are you okay, my dear?" Parth asked Anokkhi. He knew that in her heart she longed to hold a baby in her arms. It was ironic that though Vidushi was recently blessed with a healthy girl it was unlikely that she would let Anokhi have access to the little one owing to a natural distrust for a co-wife who was hitherto unknown. "I am fine, I am just a bit overwhelmed by the sanctity of the shrine. This is actually the first temple I am visiting in years, and I hope the Goddess will absolve me of all my bad karma. I want to feel pure again, like I was in my childhood! Also I need to seek forgiveness for having invaded Vidushi Baisa's homestead without her blessings." She said, with tears in her eyes. 

"Nobody else can forgive you other than yourself. What happened to you in the past was not your fault and my marriage to you did not take place at the cost of my relation with my Chief wife. Vidushi would be prepared to receive co-wives, it is a common practice among Rajput families. And her position and privileges will not change because of your presence, so stop blaming yourself! You have asked for my brother and his wife to be blessed with child, please understand that you will have to be the nurturer to both Saloni Baisa and her babies, she is still a child herself. You must be strong Baisa, we cannot afford otherwise!" He said gently, urging her to take the matter in her stride.

"I am fully aware of my responsibility and I promise you that I will not disappoint you. Saloni and her babies will always be like my own children, I shall care for them happily! May the Goddess shower her bounty on all of us!" She sounded positive, enthusiastically distributing the blessed lapsi prasad to their company and to visitors. Parth smiled, Anokhi was such a contrast to Vidushi. Vidushi was born to rule, she would always be mistress of his household. He hoped that both Anokhi and Saloni were strong enough mentally to endure the cold shoulder treatment that the family members as well as staff were likely to exhibit toward them. Prejudice ran deep in their culture, and poor brides with no dowries were often discriminated against.

"So, what did you ask for?" Randhir asked his young wife with a warm smile. "As if I can reveal that to you, if I do my wishes will not be granted!" She replied evasively. They stopped nearby for some piping hot kachoris and sweetened milk, having skipped breakfast before their temple tour. Feeling revived, the wives showed interest in shopping for local merchandise and their men indulged their fancies. They continued on their journey homewards, stopping briefly for a light lunch and to rest the horses. It was almost night when they reached the haveli, after freshening up they had a frugal supper before going to bed.

"Take me away with you!" A teary-eyed Sanyukta tried to talk Randhir into letting her accompany him. Their bodies were entwined with each other, and they caressed the naked skin on each other's bare backs after a passionate round of lovemaking. "You know that if it was possible I'd never leave you behind. Have patience my love, I will come back for you as soon as I can. "I don't know why I get a sinking feeling about you going away from me!" She cooed in his ear. "We have experienced separation once before, you managed fine without me then!" Randhir reminded her. "But that was before we were married and allowed to sleep together. Now I am addicted to you because your love is opium for my body and soul!" She whined.

"Do you think it will be easy for me to bear staying without you? Let me tell you, I am not too keen on visiting Bhaisa's in-laws. But protocol requires me to accompany my brother, the family will take offence otherwise. Please stay well under the care of Chhoti Bhabhiji sa, she will be separated from her husband too, but she is taking it so much better than you!" He teased her. "You are so mean, I'll miss everything about you- your sight which gladdens my heart, your touch which captivates my mind and body.....your presence is sheer bliss to me." She closed her mouth over his eagerly kissing him, hoping that he could see the vacuum she was already feeling with the mere thought of being separated from him. It did not matter that he would come back to get her in just a few weeks after this.