She stood there infront of him, her hands grasping the axe with death's grip. Her blood fell on the ground, trickling in drops but she was oblivious to all of it even as her eyes thundered with rage and filled up with agony. The moment he had declared he would rather die, it felt as if strong waves of the ocean varying in their nature had hit her at the same instant. Shock at his statement, fear at his apparent beheading, hurt that he had felt death better than marrying somebody like her, guilt that they were in this because of her, dread at what would happen to Malini Didi and his family when they come to know about his death and lastly, outrage at being punished when he was innocent - she felt all of it in a single moment.
When the men had moved towards him with that axe, she had felt her heart still. Nothing had struck her at that moment except that she couldn't let this happen. And so, without a single thought, she had reached infront of him and grabbed the axe aimed his way. The axe had cut through her soft flesh but nothing had mattered to her. Neither the pain nor the shocked gasps. Nothing, absolutely nothing had mattered except protecting him. And that's what she did.
"Ay Imlie, what the hell are you doing? Have you gone mad?" one of the villagers asked.
"I haven't gone mad Kaki. You all have! How can you punish an innocent person for no fault of his based on a mere rule which was made for a different purpose altogether in the first place?" she asked.
"Your Dadda only has made this rule right? By not valuing it and deeming it wrong, you are calling your Dadda wrong! That means she's going against her own Dadda just for a so-called friend who's a man from the city" the lady taunted with a smirk.
Imlie went blank at the statement. All her reasoning, fierceness - everything deserted her at the present moment. She stood completely still. Her tears found their way out and they began to flow freely down her cheeks. She felt defeated. Everything had finally taken a toll on her. She felt physically weak due to her rising fever which was the outcome of getting drenched in the rain. With fever came a lot of weakness. Plus she hadn't had anything to eat so she had no energy left. A mountainous load of emotions bursting on her did not help either, weakening her further. And now she had no strength left. She turned a bit and glanced at him. And that's when she got her answer.
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He had been a mute witness to all that was happening, mainly because he was too much in shock. He had seen her like this earlier as well when she caught the flying axe hurled at Satyakam. But today, it was different. His heart had stilled when he saw her clutching that axe with a tight grip, blood trickling down but then it was only for a moment. Because the very next moment, he masked it with annoyance.
Why was she doing this? Why was she fighting for his life? Why?
He dint know and before he could figure out, he saw her turning towards him. One look into her eyes and his heart dropped. Defeat, pure defeat floated in them while disappointment, resentment and hurt floated in his! Unknown to him, his eyes conveyed all of what he was feeling and that was what made her utter the next few words she did.
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"If marrying Babusaheb will spare his life, then I'm ready for this marriage" she said in a defeated tone.
His eyes widened in shock.
"What the hell? Why did she say that? Is she mad? Doesn't she know I'm committed to someone else? She knows everything! How can she agree? And when I'm ready to die, what's the need to do this?" he thought, anger building up within him.
And anger was and is the biggest enemy of judgement. His mind too failed to judge the situation properly. He glared at her back, cursing himself for meeting her and her for forcing this on them.
What he dint realise was Imlie had seen what he wasn't seeing. She had seen what he felt in his eyes. She had thought about Malini Didi and his family and what would pass on them when they would discover his death. And so, she had announced this so that she would get some time before the marriage and she could provide him with a phone to call someone from the city to get some help. That way she would save his life and also stop this disaster from happening. She hoped he would understand why she was said that. If only she knew, he hadn't!
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Malini felt a strange unease within her which made her feel a lot restless. But before she could think about it, the loud shouts reached her room and she sat on the bed holding her head.
Could they not fight at least for one day? Hurt, anger and irritation hit her at the same time. Grabbing the balm from her bedside, she rubbed it on her forehead, trying to get some relief from her headache.
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A customary wish was what they got from each member. It wasn't fake but it did not have the warmth in it either. They received it with smiles because they were now habituated to it.
Nidhi turned to move towards her room to take her phone which she had forgotten there only to dash against Rupali. Annoyed, Rupali began reprimanding her without considering that it was her marriage anniversary today. Infact, she was more bitter than usual, taking out her grief at her failed marriage on her in the form of bitter words. Tears filled her eyes even as she ran to her room, trying to hold them back.
The family reprimanded Rupali for behaving like that with Nidhi but all she did was walk away after taunting them.
The elders shook their heads and moved towards their rooms. It only added to their personal miseries to see their family this way. But they had nothing to do or feel about it except regret. If only they understood that hanging onto their pasts, they were being ignorant towards their present!
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Hey all,
Thanks for giving love towards this story. This means lot considering when I started it, I had no expectations of it getting reads and votes.
I know this isn't such a good chapter. But ya, hope it's read worthy hehe.
Love,
Pratyusha
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Lakeerein - Ties That Bind Us
Fanfiction------ Can Be Read As General Fiction ------ One night. One event. Lives of two people altered completely. When Aditya Kumar Tripathi, Chief Executive Reporter at Bhaskar times stepped into Pagdandiya and met Imlie, he did not know how his life woul...
