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: Tumhe humse mohabbat karne ki ijazat nahi hai.
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After so many years he is reminded of that nestling. Bile rises to his throat at the thought.
The boys had stoned the nest down, in the woods that lined the Shrighar grounds. It was such a pointless cruelty. Papa Sahab had caned them all, not caring if his step son was included in the mix.
"Aap raja banenge Veer," he remembers the man's bitter words. "Inn sab ke rakshak banenge. They are your responsibility, not tools for your pleasure. Agar koi aap ko apna zindagi sonp de, aur aap unhe bacha na paye toh aisa paap lagenge kabhi koi praishchit nahi honga."
They had tried to save it, that fragile ball of down - feathers. He remembers keeping it in a fur lined box, under a mild light bulb for warmth.
It didn't eat. It didn't fight for life. It had kept looking at him with such sorrowfully bright eyes. Veer had failed that tiny life, unknowingly, unthinkingly.
He remembers keeping it clasped in his hands trying to warm it, trying to make amends for a mistake that had turned into a sin. He remembers how it had gone still.
Kuwar Veer Pratap Singh never went on hunting trips. Nobody knew why, for he was a pretty accomplished shooter, their estates were full of game. But the memory of that one nestling never allowed him to hunt again, that one sin still made his stomach churn.
Amrit had looked at him with similar eyes. Her eyes were beautiful, her eyes were trusting and unknowingly somehow he had betrayed that trust.
Apni poori zindagi de di, she had once said.
And indeed she had given him everything, body and soul, every right over her life. And still he had failed her. She had wanted to leave. She was afraid. He had failed to protect her.
Veer has not moved yet. They sit on the floor, leaning against the counter. Amrit is curled against him, her head heavy on his heart, her breathing deep and slow. Veer held her to him, with an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Fingers of his other hand were entwined with hers.
They will take her. He knows that now. Either she would learn to hate him, or her adamant desire to love him will end her.
He will lose her one way or the other. The cursed thing that he was, the monster that deserved no happiness, a girl like Amrit could never be his. He had ruined her.
Oh God, what has he done!
Someone opens the door on the side. The footsteps hardly make a sound.
"Chote hukum?"
He doesn't move. It's Shravan Singh, his shadow falls over Veer as he walks in.
