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...
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Chapter 12
~1816 (contd..)
"Radhika.. I want to know something." Yudhishthira spoke. "Tell me what exactly happened on the day of Naani sa's death. I know you explained previously, but back then you were in grief and whatever you said was all in bits and pieces. Please tell me again."
Wiping her tears, Radhika said, "Naani sa saw something at the pond from the terrace. She asked the guards to check it out. But guards said there was nothing. She didn't believe them and decided to see it for herself. While she was walking out, I joined her after understanding her concern. She said she saw a strange shadow, some smoke, and someone laughing. She also said that she saw what looked like blood on the grass by the pond. Nothing made sense. It all felt too fishy, so we went to check what happened."
Yudhisthira didn't know this part. Radhika had only told him what happened after they had reached the spot, that too with emotions and pain. He had decided to ask her some other time and today, they had no more of that time left.
"What happened after that?" Mohan probed.
"Just like the soldiers said, there was nothing. No smoke, no shadow, no blood. But.. I heard something while Naani sa was checking the water in the pond."
"What did you hear?" Yudhisthira asked.
"Someone whispering my name from distance, it was like an echo. Strange thing is, only I could hear it. I asked the guards but they said they couldn't hear anything. The whisper came from the forest side, so I just turned around and tried to walk in the direction of the sound. That's when I heard Naani sa asking us to get inside, she seemed agitated. Ignoring the whisper, I agreed to her request. I was about to follow her inside when she got scared seeing me."
"Seeing you?" Yudhisthira asked.
"Yes. The moment I turned to go along with her, she screamed looking at me. I thought there must be something in my face or in my hair.. or..."
There was a silence as Radhika recalled the moment. She still didn't know why Naani sa screamed. What had scared her?
"Or.. there must have been something behind you," Mohan spoke his mind out loud. "To others from a distance, it might have seemed as she was scared of you." Yudhisthira pointed out. Radhika exhaled, that's a possibility she hadn't considered.
Radhika nodded, "I.. didn't think of it.. And then, Naani sa kept walking back as if someone was dragging her from behind. I tried to stop her, but my legs wouldn't move. I felt as though they were chained.. But there was no chain.. I tried hard to speak but, my voice.. It came out as a hoarse whisper. Even I couldn't understand what I was saying. I stretched my hand out to hold her, but I just couldn't move! And then... Naani sa's body caught fire out of nowhere.... I watched her burn to death." Radhika sat down on the bench feeling the pain all over again. A year had passed, yet the grief was still fresh.
