Kagaz

Chapter 17

I pace around the span of my room. Outside the house is chilling. The mid January air whisping around. The palace is warm. Too warm. You cannot wear the same clothes in and out of the palace. One is too cold and the other will break a sweat on you in seconds. It's much like me. My heart at this point feels too cold. The chills down my spine are proof of it. And my brain is burning up with the idea of ruining Nirmal Singh's life.

My dress whirls behind me everytime I turn. I am impatient. I challenged Nirmal Singh a week ago, but I don't have a plan. He won't lose, for the ministers do nothing but kiss his ass. They think he is one of them. Idiots, don't know he will bite them the second he finds them not necessary anymore.

Politics is a shrewd game. I wanted power for my ambitions. But now it's not just about winning. It's about defeating Nirmal Singh. He loves power and money more than anything. And I want to snatch that away from him. I have to live every single day, knowing my daughter is dead. He will live every single day after losing everything to me as well. He won't have power or money, and without those two, nobody will kiss his shoes enough for him to stand back up against me.

I don't want Nirmal Singh dead. I want him destroyed.

But I cannot do that without a plan. Without knowing how to take him down. My shoulders slump. I should've thought of this before I challenged the fucker. But oh well. I turn around to take another one of these never ending rounds but stop short. My husband is sitting in a chair with chess board set infront of him. "Care for a game, princess?"

I gape at him. "I have to take down ministers. I don't have time to play." He ignores everything I said and gestures towards the seat infront of him. I huff but settle down in the chair. Might as well play a game. My stupid musings at the moment aren't of any help anyway.

"Do you know why I like chess so much?" I shake my head. He never talked of it. "Because it is strikingly similar to real life."

I frown and he smiles. This is him in his primal. My father would chop a man's head off and then think of anything. My husband is different. He would observe, learn, visualize and then attack.

"You see princess, in chess, the king is the most important. If you kill the king, the game ends. But the power the king has, is... honestly nothing. He can only take one step in any direction. So if you look closely, the king is pretty powerless." His point gets across like a ray of sunshine. It's hope.

"So the main fighters in the chess, are the others. It doesn't look like they have power but they do. They're the ones that hold the king's fate in their hands."

"And then there is the queen. The most powerful among them all. She walks wherever she wants, however she wants." He moves his queen ahead and kills my knight.

"So, if you have the knights, the bishops, the rooks and the pawns in your grip, you can defeat the king, since the queen is already out of the game." With that he kills my queen.

This man is the love of my life. He literally solved all my problems. The king is Nirmal Singh. He has been flying this high because he has the support of all the others ministers. If they pull back, he has nothing. His queen, the person that held power was Mahendra Shrivastava. And he is dead. I just simply need to find a way which makes the ministers vote for me and not him.

I've been thinking of throwing him out of this election all this time but really watching him lose will be more satisfying than anything. I look at my husband who looks at me with a little smirk. "You are a horrible man, my prince." His smirk widens.

"Now that you've helped me this much, why don't you tell me the whole thing?" I know he has planned everything. He doesn't do half ass jobs.

"To hunt his soldiers, you need to be aware of yours. Politics is a dirty game princess. You've come this far, all prim and proper but it's time you dirty your hands." I raise an eyebrow. I didn't want to, but apparently you can't be all clean in the powerplay.

"What do you suggest?"

"You have a man in your life, who just for the sheer enjoyment keeps note of everyone else's life. He can give you dirt on the ministers. And you can mix that dirt in their food, serve it to them, and ask if they want to side with you or choke on that shit."

Why can't he talk like a normal person is out of my understanding but I get it. I need to blackmail the ministers to side with me and if they don't, then I'll have to ruin their lives. Since they've ruined so many more.

But a man in my life, who keeps tab on people for enjoyment? Who is that? And like a truck, it hits me. For his own purposes, call it work or enjoyment, there is a man who likes other people's misery.

Dad.

Ofcourse. These two apparently don't like each other but find each other impressive enough to do their bidding. I'll have to call dad in a bit. For now, I look at my husband again. His brain is sharper than any blade that is ever made. He just makes me realize what a right thing I did by marrying him. "I love you Kabir." I don't say it much but I couldn't keep it in today. His name is a luxurious touch to my words. We don't call each other by the name often either. It's just for moments like these. Where it's just us, with each other, and nothing clouding our minds. The intimacy of it all makes it special. He simply looks at me from a few seconds before his lips part and a sigh escapes him. "I love you too, Aarohi."

The world stills for a while. Atleast mine does. I've wanted to hear that from him for years. But I never waited much for it. Since he didn't think he will ever fall in love. But I know better. He doesn't lie. Not in such means. Other than that, his profession is build up on it. But today, here, he didn't buy me flowers or do some extremely grand gesture, he just told me he loves me and it's better than anything I could've ever imagined.

I get up from my chair to go to him. He has pushed his own chair away from the chess table and I sit down in his lap. His hand rubs my thigh. The slit in my dress making it easy for him to trail it upwards. I look into his eyes, ones that shine with love. I am glad to have him in my life. He is a support system I didn't know I needed. I graze his lips with mine. My fingers run over his sharp jaw. The kiss is soft. We're trying to pour our love into it. And we succeed. It's perfect.

I pull away when I hear my phone ring. It's my father. It's like I summoned him or something. Satan. I pick it up and hear his voice. We share pleasantries but I soon get to the point.

"Dad, remember, how you collected dirt on people's lives  when you were bored?" He hums. Amusement evident. "How would you feel about entertaining yourself with some hot gossip about the ministers in the king's cabinet?"

My father chuckles over the phone and my husband laughs beside me. "Consider it done Aarohi. Now you've finally dived into the real politics. I am there for you whenever you need me. Always remember that."

"I know dad. I love you."

"I love you too beta. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to treat myself with some hot minister gossip." I laugh off his reply before cutting the call.

If things go as planned, I'll enjoy watching Nirmal Singh destroyed.

                            □▪︎□▪︎□

It ain't politics if your hands are all clean.

Kabir is my ideal man. One that I'll never find in the real world.

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