In a bid to save the man she loves, Amrit ends up making a deal with the uncompromising Kuwar Veer Pratap Singh. Bound by mutual weaknesses and wounds they hide from the world the two goes from unwilling pretenders to unlikely allies. Sometimes, it...
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Summary: Things around them are falling apart and they are falling into place.
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Gone were the Chaar kadam, her soft curls press against his shoulder. He'd never seen her so close without a frown marring her brow or the look of condescending pity coloring her eyes.
Veer swallows and tries to tear his eyes from her face.
One of her sandles slips from her feet and falls as he carries her up the stairs. One of the servants had picked it up, but Veer does not stop for him to reach them. He wants to put her down as soon as possible. And looking at her condition it is apparent that she wouldn't need her sandles anytime soon.
The partition door to her room is unlocked and he carries her in. The room smells like her; deceptively sweet with the scent of crushed Jasmin and faint traces of sandalwood. It makes his head reel, with memories of his childhood before he became a persona non grata for his mother and bringing a fresh - burning bout of longing.
He wants to throttle that thought. He will not associate his mother with this woman. No - nothing about them is similar. Except perhaps that scent of crushed jasmin.
He places her on her bed, glad to be rid of the proximity. The hand he kept behind her head to support her neck comes off stained with blood. For a beat or two Veer stares at his hand in horror. Hands trembling he removes the earring. It comes off bloodied, staining his hand further.
Oh he knows who is responsible for this. He knows her penchant to draw blood of her enemies well enough.
It feels like a reminder of sorts. His hand fists around the offending piece of jewellery and he throws it away. Trying to even his breathing, trying but failing to keep those memories at bay.
Veer knows from experience that only actions will keep away those thoughts. So instead he moves to clean her wounds, wash away the blood that had caked on her earlobes and neck. There are angry lines left behind by the choker piece which cut into her throat. He wipes along them with a wet cloth. All the while haunted by ghosts of yore.
Amrit shivers when the damp cloth touches her raw skin. Tips of his fingers brush against her throat and Veer realises she is running a mild fever. Behind their lids her eyes move and she mutters something incoherent.
"Oh what's wrong with her now?"
His mother has the gale to stride in unannounced again. There is a crooked half smile on her lips, the kind that she thinks doesn't appear on her face for the world to see.
"Will your wife create scenes where you fail to now Veer? Am I supposed to answer the press on her behalf now? Kaha se dhoond liya apne jaisa hi ek aur-"
