Wherever You Stray, I Follow (Kunwar Pratap/Ajabde [PrAja])

22//~the villagers~

edited.

OUTFIT:

Ajabde waited it out that fateful morning. She didn't leave the safety of her small house at all in hopes that the village people would just forget about the little incident.

But by the afternoon, they had run out of water since she hadn't filled up that morning. They needed to go refill their pots from the well. Patta wasn't at home and besides, he wouldn't be able to do it alone and Ajabde wouldn't let Kaki do such a physically straining task at this age so alas she had to be the one to go fetch water.

Her stomach twisted into a tight knot as she walked out of the door. What was this nervousness she was feeling? Surely all the people who had witnessed the incident would have forgotten about it by now.

Right?

She sighed. Deep down she knew this was just wishful thinking. They lived in a small village where everyone knew everyone and there were rarely any new things to talk about so every time something minutely interesting happened, the word spread faster than fire.

She would know, Ajabde was the subject on two separate occasions. One was the time she had gotten caught sneaking around by the village school (education was strictly boys only) and the other was when she had finally said yes to getting married to Kartikey. She could only guess how people were going to react now.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't even realize that she had already reached the well and spotted Karitkey's mother there with a few other ladies. She offered them all a small smile not really in the mood to make a proper conversation like she usually would.

They all scoffed at her and made a face as if she smelled like cow dung.

Ajabde pushed down the tiny bit of anger that had risen within her and lowered the bucket into the well.

"Tum aur tumhara parivaar ab iss kuwe se paani nahi bhar sakte ho," Kartikey's mother said.

Ajabde was taken aback at the attitude of her future mother-in-law. And that too NEAR future mother-in-law.

"Aisa-aisa kisne kaha Kaki. Hum issi kuwe se pani bharte hain," Ajabde replied genuinely a little confused.

"Humne. Iss gaon ki mukhiyaan ne kaha," she said. "Tum jaisi besharam ladki aur unka parivaar, humare iss pavitra kuwe se paani nahi bhar sakta,"

"Yeh jaal na aapka hain na mera. Is par sabka saman adhikaar hain," Ajabde argued back feigning the boldness she wasn't particularly feeling.

"Jiva to dekho. Abhi bhi sir jhukake baat karne ki tameez nahi hain," another lady added.

"Aapki jaankari ke liye: Maine aisa koi kariye nahi kiya jiske karan mujhe sir jhuka ke baat karni pade," Ajabde replied. It was easier to back-talk this woman she had no relation with.

"Eh ladki! Pura gaon jaanta hain ki Bhavjiraj ke sang moo kala karwake aiyi ho. Ab yeh dhong aur yeh jawab koi nahi sunega. Are tumhari vidhwa kaki pe taras khake gaon se balishkar nahi kiya. Anyatha-"