INSEPARABLE II

XXIII

~~

Dearest Prem,

As you may have heard, I battle a sickness that takes away from me more and more of my heath and memory with each new day. As death inevitably approaches my doorstep, I find it imperative that I reveal to you, before it is too late, a burdening secret concealed within me. I have been hauling it's crippling weight for five long years now, but the time has come, that it gets revealed to not just you, but the Kingdom, the world. I speak of your beloved son...Zorawar Singh Sandhu Dhaliwal.

Contrary to what you and my darling Noor have been deceived into believing, Zorawar is alive, healthy, and breathtakingly beautiful. He has been brought up like a Prince under my very supervision by Noor's most loyal, Rajjo. He has your charm and Noor's wit. Her curiosity and your courage. Your kindness, and my lovely Noor's generosity. When you will see him, your world will change forever and he will become a piece of your heart just as he has become mine from the day I set my eyes on him.

You must be wondering how any of this possible and I shall explain.  It began on the day you faced a rogue attack from the enemy at the Dark Hill fighting the battle that caused us the Prince and the King's life and left you unconscious for four days. As your connection with Noor would have it, she fought Dara with every ounce of her life force that day and killed him before slipping into a four day period of unconsciousness herself. In those four days, our world turned upside down and the fate of the Kingdom changed forever. Upon killing the Prince and injuring you to a near death state, the father and brother of Dara Jarrakh at the war front were more hopeful than ever of conquering the prosperous Doab. Between the time they wreaked this havoc on the war front and the news of Dara's death reaching them, they had already placed orders with the General and the cavalry set up to serve as backup for Dara to march onto the Capital as Doab was now without a King or an heir.

While Noor laid in a coma, her week old baby boy became a target to the man I had once personally played a role in banishing from Basher, her second cousin, Darshan. Darshan had arrived at the footsteps of the palace in the Capital begging to be taken in during the attack on the kingdom. He had placed his forehead to the ground before Noor's feet and asked her for forgiveness, pleading to be given a chance to serve the kingdom when it needs men to protect it the most. Noor took him in. He fought alongside Noor in the battle against Dara. But when Noor slipped into unconsciousness, his true nature came out and his greed for the Basheri throne unsurfaced. He thought Noor would die from those injuries and if her heir is misplaced, Basher would put him, a recently declared war hero, on it's throne. So on the third night of Noor's coma, he took off with your precious baby boy with the intention of deserting him in the dead of the night. Fortunately, I never did trust him and had him watched at all times from the day he had arrived. That night, my spies informed me of every step he took outside of the palace and I sent a group of soldiers right behind him to safely bring back my grand nephew and arrest him on the spot.

Destiny, however, had other things in plan. The Queen received word of the King and the Prince's demise and I got word from our border spies of the enemy's second march up to our Capital. The throne was empty and the enemy was once again headed for our doorstep. We thought of putting Gulab on the throne but the news of her husband's death shocked her so deeply that she stopped speaking all together. To our horror, her trauma turned her mute and as you can see for yourself till today, the girl hasn't said a word. We quickly realized she could not rule. The next in line after the Prince was Sher but his sickness had worsened to the point that we were told he only has a couple weeks left to live. Then...our only hope was Noor. We prayed to the lord almighty to bless us with her health and when Dogri, the oracle from the shrine, said she would live and rule, we chose her. The Queen and I sat in the courtroom and decided Noor would have to marry Sher when she wakes up.

When the men arrived with Darshan and Zorawar, I had them execute Darshan before my eyes and took Zorawar to the Queen. We knew Sher's family would never accept the marriage proposal for Noor if they knew she comes with the child of another man, who would sit on the throne after her. So with the heaviest of hearts, the Queen and I decided to let our dear Noor and the world think that her baby boy had been killed during the seize between the guards and Darshan and that she no longer has a child. We knew Noor would insist on seeing her baby so we burned a hut near the palace and said both Darshan and her baby had been killed in it and that there was nothing left to see.

Noor was hysterical in the days that came. She had lost all interest to life and the only thing that seemed to arise any emotion in her was the news that came from the war front about you. You were awake but you were not going to make it, they said. Noor ran out into the courtyard that night and screamed her heart out at the gods. She warned the stars and moon alike that if anything happens to you, she would tear down the very fabric of the sky and the universe would face her wrath. Despite her state, we had the audacity to propose Sher to her. She set on fire the entire chambers in which the talks occurred and walked out. The following day we received news of your health worsening still. That afternoon Noor sat with Dogri and we don't know what Dogri said to her but by that evening, Noor agreed to marry Sher.

We got them married the very next day. Did a coronation the same evening and declared Sher the King with Noor as Queen to succeed him should anything happen to him. A couple days later, as news of the new King and Queen spread, the morale of the enemy trembled. You recovered on the war front and eventually began preparations to enter the battlefield again. As Noor recovered, so did the men who stood with her the first time around. You eventually avenged the Prince and the King, killing both the Jarrakhs at the warfront. The General from Dara's backup finally turned back knowing they had lost the war when the news of all three of the Jarrakh leaders being killed spread.

As for my beloved Zorawar, I knew he needed someone who had served his mother with all her love and loyalty to look after him so I shared this secret with none other than Rajjo. She instantly resigned from Noor with the excuse that her family was marrying her off into a man from Mand and came to live in my palace. I gave a Zorawar a wing of his own with 8 chambers and 4 gardens, 50 servants and the best teachers and guides this continent has to offer. I know that all of these things, and in fact the entire world, put at his feet cannot make up for the absence of his parents. But, my child, I want you to know that I left no stone unturned in giving him the lifestyle you two would have provided for him.

I know it is lowly and selfish of me, after revealing all that I did, to ask for forgiveness but I cannot take this face to God before at least trying. So I ask you, to forgive me, our former Queen, and this Kingdom, for forcing this sacrifice onto you and your innocent baby boy. Forgive us, my sweet child.

Your helpless aunt,

Sahiba Kaur Brar

~~