When Aastha met Veer, she knew they had a connection.
However, the connection would be from two centuries ago, she never could have imagined.
A love story that remained unfulfilled, broken by evil, and destroyed to ashes - whose reference hide...
"I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen." - Little Women
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Chapter 5
Aastha never knew what's beyond time, beyond life, or even what's hiding behind the core of a human mind. But at that moment, reading through the tale of Rudragarh, she could see it. The game the human mind plays - memories. What she had always discarded as exaggerated imagination of her mind because of her obsession with history, turned out to be memories.
Even the memories didn't play it right by her. It didn't come to her all at once, which left her feeling confused and disoriented. She was seeing the memories in a two-way street. As if, Aastha was standing in a bygone era, watching the events unfold. Why the out-of-body experience if it was indeed her memories?
Little did she know that it was the only way her subconscious mind could protect her. Aastha was never ready to accept the identity of her previous birth. The memories weren't just the reminder of a life that was ended centuries ago, it was also a time bomb of trauma, that she had gone through. The trauma, which her present-day mind, body, and soul refused to accept. This very refusal was her subconscious mind's ploy to keep her safe, unfortunately, the safety mechanism had left Aastha in shambles.
***
Around 230 years ago, circa 1790
As soon as Yuvraj Ratan Rajveer Singh took over the throne of Malavar state, Rajkumari Leelavati stepped into his life. While the marriage was fixed by his dear mother, Ratan fell head over heels with Leelavati's beauty and charm. Perhaps that's why he didn't pay much heed when his mother rejected Rajkumari Shivaranjani's proposal that came from the south of India.
When Leelavati bore his son, he was ecstatic. But his happiness was only short-lived. Leelavati soon fell ill, her body turning fragile while her skin deteriorated. The beauty she once radiated disappeared and the woman who was staring at him from her death bed didn't look like the 20-year old that she was. Leelavati looked extremely old as if someone had sucked all her blood, youth, and her life out of her body. "Marry my sister, Meenavati. She is the only one I can trust who would raise our son with unconditional mother's love." She begged her husband during her last moments.
Keeping up with the promise to his wife, Raja Ratan married Meenavati who not only became a great mother to his son, Yudhisthira but also became an extremely caring and loving wife to him. Over time, she became his friend, confidante, and a support system without whom Raja Ratan found himself incomplete.
It was time to rejoice again as the heavens had blessed their family once more; Meenavati was pregnant. Not wanting to see her have the same fate as his first wife, Raja Ratan left no stone unturned in summoning the best doctors in Rajputana to ensure the safe delivery. Ratan didn't want to take any chances that could affect his wife and during the course of her pregnancy, he had amped up the security and sought various handmaidens experienced in nursing pregnant women.
