Conflagration

Chapter 35: Incandescent

Author's Note: One of the reasons I found the plot of Imlie offensive in the beginning is  that Imlie believed because some rituals were followed she was "married" to Aditya in the eyes of God. If Aditya had taken the time to disabuse Imlie of that notion in a gentle and understanding way the plot of the story would have had much more potential and also sent a strong message. I have tried to present an alternate view on that scene here but with Aryan.

Location : Shekhawat Residence

Time: 2 days after returning from Pagdandiya

Narmada closed the door to Imlie's room, her brow creased with worry and defeat. Once again Imlie had returned her dinner, uneaten. She had tried her best inducements and threats to get the poor girl to have food but she had just stared at her with so much sorrow in her eyes that in the end Narmada didn't have the heart to force feed her. She had gently run her hand over Imlie's head and asked her to get some rest and left the room, battling her own despair. How could such an sweet and innocent child face such tribulations in her life, she wondered. Why were the Gods turning a blind eye to her suffering? 

Two days ago, Meethiji and Narmada had been shocked at the state in which Aryan, Imlie, Arpi and Arvind had returned from Pagdandiya. Arpi had burst into tears, hugging her mother while Arvind had offered a wan smile, the bruises on his face a testament to a calamity. Aryan was rigid, his face barely giving away any emotion as he excused himself immediately on the pretext of work. It was Imlie however that had immediately caught Narmada's attention. The petite girl looked lost, as if her body was here but her mind was miles away. The wide streak of vermillion in her hair and the mangalsutra dangling haphazardly from her neck had shocked both the mothers to no end.

Imlie had stared fixedly ahead not responding to Meethiji's exclamations or questions. Alarmed Narmada had demanded answers from Arpi who had haltingly described the happenings in Pagdandiya breaking down as she had explained how Aryan and Imlie had been forced to marry. Narmada had only been aware of the odd ringing in her ears after that, as if all the sounds around her had ceased to exist. Her gaze trained on the expression less Imlie, she had run her hand absently over Arpi's head in a soothing gesture, her mind racing with the ramifications of what had happened. She had been vaguely aware of Meethiji embracing Imlie, tears streaming down her face as she had apologized for sending them to Pagdandiya but Imlie had not said a word. Like a lost child she allowed Meethi to lead her to their room, her eyes briefly connecting with Arpita and Narmada before she hastily lowered them. 

The emotion she had seen in those beautiful eyes for that brief second of time had kept Narmada awake well into the night the past two days. It looked like remorse but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why Imlie should feel remorse. What was worse was no one seemed to know how to help Imlie come out of the shell she had retreated into. The child basically stayed in her room, eating sparingly when someone forced her and refusing to talk, staring mutely at anyone who attempted to converse with her. Even Arvind had tried to cajole Imlie but to no avail.

There was only one option left and Narmada prayed to Kanhaji that it would work before picking up the phone and calling Aru.

Aryan Singh Rathore stared at the police reports from Pagdandiya. The Sarpanch and his cronies were being held without bail and the case against them was being transferred to the fast track court on his express orders. He wanted them behind bars for the rest of their life and was doing everything in his power to make sure it happened. Closing his eyes he leaned back in his chair unable to let go of the guilt that plagued him. He had been so close to loosing his family and been powerless to do anything . Unable to look anyone in the eye, he had excused himself as soon as they had gotten home and gone back to the police station to work day and night to make the case airtight so that the criminals would face the full force of justice.