The masked man

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Somewhere away from Amer:
Sharifuddin was looking at the picture painted of the most beautiful Rajkumari of this time , her name spelled JODHA. He wanted her and make her his but this Jalal , he would attack Amer and make it his, both Amer and it's Rajkumari Jodha .

A few days later:
The wedding preparation was going in full swing. But Jodha's heart was not that happy, she did like Suryaban as a friend but not in a romantic way but her heart felt a longing for him, the man she saw in the waters , the man who was her sworn enemy and whose head she had promised would be bowed in front of Maa kali , but how could her heart have a longing for such a cold and ruthless man.
"Hey Kanha, what's wrong with me , why does my heart long for him even when I don't like him"Jodha was in deep thoughts.
At that time an arrow pierced through and headed to the pillar.
War had been declared by the Mughal subedhar Sharifuddin and whatever Jodha's heart was longing for, little did she know she would get it.
War preparations:
Sujamal had joined hands with Sharifuddin and declared war against Amer. Jalal was elated this marked the beginning of his reign under the rajputs.
•The war:
Jodha bid goodbye to her brothers and wished them luck. On the battlefield, Amer were outnumbered but out of nowhere Suryaban came with his army and was able to defend them.
Sharifuddin was shocked , " Who was this man?"
He looked at Sujamal who had a hesitated look on his face.
Once they went back to their camp, Sharifuddin questioned about the mysterious man.
"I can't do this , I can't fight against him. He's my sister's fiancé, Jodha's fiancé"
Sharifuddin felt like an arrow pierced through his heart. No , Jodha can only be his, not anyone else's.
The next day, while fighting, Sujamal put Suryaban on the ground ,his sword near his neck , No he couldn't kill his sister'a fiancé but out of nowhere someone sliced Suryaban's head and he saw it was none other than Sharifuddin.
Sujamal realized that he had been betrayed and ran away, the other 3 brothers were taken as hostages and Sharifuddin sent a letter along with Suryaban's head about his demands.
The news about Suryaban's death created a gloom in Amer and Sharifuddin's demands were almost unacceptable. Sharifuddin had asked almost the whole wealth of Amer. At this point of time, Raja Bharmal could only see one solution- talking to Jalal.
Jalal on the other hand had received the news about the victory in the battle against Amer. He had heard about Sharifuddin's demands which were almost impossible to be fulfilled by Amer.
But Jalal was preoccupied by his thoughts, unknown to Sharifuddin during the battle, Jalal was there as a soldier and had seen what happened in the battle and had also seen Jodha's picture in his room. Jalal realized that Sharifuddin had a bad eye on Jodha and he wanted to kill Sharifuddin right then but controlled his anger. He knew Sharifuddin would do something bad to Jodha. But Jalal didn't know why he felt the need to keep her safe. Why?
Agra:
Mahamanga was busy planning about how to raise her position when her thoughts were disturbed by Ruqaiya.
"I have heard that Jalal has won against Amer. But why does it seem like you look unhappy Maham"
"Begum Ruqaiya , I am very happy about Jalal's victory but I feel sad that Jalal hasn't been back home since so many days"
Ruqaiya laughed , "Really Maham. Do you think I can't read your mind. You want to keep Mariam Makani away from Jalal and don't want her to influence him. Don't worry Jalal doesn't care about her and neither do I. You will definitely get more power Maham after all you are the vazir and I am waiting for the day till I become Malika-e-Hindustan. We both know that you love Jalal but definitely lesser than your son Adham and I love Jalal for his power and  royal blood. I only consider him as my friend and my husband who can't be taken by anyone. He's mine only ,even if I only love him for his power cause the day Jalal loves someone else my power is gone and day will never come . Take care Maham, who knows I may need your help" laughing Ruqaiya left.
Maham wasn't baffled anymore about Ruqaiya's attitude, everyone including Jalal knew that Ruqaiya loved him for his power and not only Ruqaiya all the various begums and concubines in his harem showered him all kind of love when in reality no one loved him except one lady, Mariam Makani, whose love Jalal never realized.
Maham had many people to remove in this game of chess lest she had known someone else would join Jalal's harem and would protect him till death.
Amer:
Sharifuddin was walking through the city and was headed to the palace. He had to see Jodha ,he couldn't wait any longer.
Jalal was tailing Sharifuddin and was wearing a mask, his suspicion was right. Sharifuddin was headed to the palace.
Jodha's Chamber:
Jodha was sitting near her Kanha . The past few days had been very hard for her. She lost a close friend, her brothers were taken as hostages, and then there was a pile of Sharifuddin's demands. She thought if Jalal knew about what Sharifuddin had done and his demands. But why was she thinking about what Jalal cared.
At that point of time she heard her window open, she saw a man with a cloth wrapped around his mouth , Jodha immediately took out her sword.
Sharifuddin was stunned by Jodha's beauty. No lady could be compared to her. He was going close to her when Jodha threw a sword at him,
"Stay away from me", Jodha said.
"Too bad, even if you run who will save you" Sharifuddin laughed and Jodha realized he was right. She wasn't in her room , she was in her Kanha's pooja room where there were no soldiers.
Sharifuddin started chasing Jodha, a gush of wind came blowing the curtains, obstructing Sharifuddin's view, Jalal seized the opportunity and took out his sword and started fighting against Sharifuddin.
Sharifuddin was shocked, who was this new man now? He had to get away from here , the man was so skilled that Sharifuddin wouldn't stand a chance against him. Sharifuddin ran away and Jalal turned around, he saw her.
Jodha was shocked by the turn of events, who was this masked man who had saved her?
When Jodha's eyes met Jalal's, she felt that she had seen them somewhere. On the other hand , Jalal was speechless looking at Jodha, Regal and elegant, he could stare at her and never get tired.
"Thank you for saving me" , Jodha bowed her head but the man just shaked his head and looked at her and said "Take care of yourself"
Jodha was taken aback a bit and Jalal didn't even know why he said that. He never felt like this with anyone else then why her?
Jodha remembered where she had seen those eyes, " Jalal , it's you right"
Jalal smiled under his mask, so she remembered his eyes and recognized who he was, he felt a weird kind of happiness he couldn't explain.
Jalal removed his mask , unmasking his face , the same face Jodha had seen in the water , the same eyes that made her heart feel weird.
There was a moment of silence, both of them were staring at each other when Jalal realized what had happened, he had to go ,
"It was nice seeing you again Rajkumari Jodha. I hope we can meet again, I will be waiting"
And just like the wind , Jalal went out of the window and she realized what had happened , what was this weird feeling, why was this happening to her, she looked at her Kanha for answers.
Jalal on the other hand , in his tent couldn't stop thinking about it either. What had happened to him, he had slept with countless woman , he had so many begums but he never really liked any of them actually. Maybe for a night or so he would like them and then he would never even look at them. For Jalal, he considered Ruqaiya as his close friend and shared everything with her but he never trusted her. The only reason he went to Ruqaiya again and again was because she listened to him as his friend. But with Jodha, it was different, he felt like he wanted to see her again and again, it gave him a strange feeling like he had a heart which was impossible. He dismissed it, no that's impossible I can't have one, but I will definitely make Jodha mine .
Hey guys hope u enjoyed it, prolly release next chapter tomorrow if time permits...

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