NOOR

2. NIGHT

The walk to the palace was silent. But Jaswant liked it. The Shahenshah was a calm person, someone who could possibly handle his sister.

" Is the heat always a problem Rajkumar?" The Shahenshah asked.

"Well today is one of the driest days of the year. Our Kingdom is close to the desert, so it suffers more than the others. But we have our ways to survive it"

" The shawl I bought works well" The Shahenshah smiled, as Jaswant acknowledged the fact. He was wrapped in a similar shawl, just a bit more expensive one.

"Sorry to ask Sir" Jaswant interrupted the calm, "but I hope my sister didn't speak of anything... irrational or immature-"

"She said she has seven brothers. And that the King is her oldest brother and not her father" The Shahenshah laughed. "To be completely honest, I didn't know it either"

"Ah yes, Jagdish Bhai-sa always acts like our father, so everyone just goes with the misinformation. Plus he is too old and too busy to act childish with us, so I guess its fitting"

" What about the other brothers? Are they much older too?"

" We are all actually twins except our oldest Bhai-sa. After him, we had Balwant and Bajrang Bhai-sa, they are both in their 30s. Few years later, Maa-sa gave birth to Hari Bhai-sa and Gopal Bhai-sa. In the same year, because one of our uncles died, his lone son was adopted by us. He is named Gajendra. Then again five years later, Jyoti and I were born. I am older though, by a few minutes" Jaswant beamed making Shahenshah chuckle.

" Such a big family, no wonder your sister doesn't want to marry"

"Ah.. she said so?" Jaswant's smile dropped, " I did tell her to not force herself but she was adamant. She thinks I am not marrying because of the vow I took as a child, but that's not at all true. However, I feel that if she marries the Shahenshah, she would be happy "

"Do you really? Why?" The Shahenshah couldn't believe that a Rajput held such good thoughts about him. " Hindu Kings don't quite like me- I mean the Shahenshah"

Jaswant smiled at the little slip up. He was happy that his observations were right. But he still went along the act. " We aren't really the true royal Rajputs . We were handed down this Kingdom by the actual King when his lineage died. Our grandfather was the advisor of the King. A lot of people thought that our grandfather had killed the King to gain power, but slowly they warmed up to his rule. None of us know the truth, whether he killed the King or not. But we all just try to do what's best for the Kingdom. Similarly, making an alliance with the Mughals seems to be the best way to not let a war destroy our peace"

The Shahenshah nodded, and the rest of the walk was awkwardly silent. Just a day ago he wished to wage a war instead of a marriage alliance, and now the thought made him feel guilty. He made a mental note to ask for forgiveness in his prayers , and hoped that no such devious thoughts pops up in his mind again, especially regarding this Kingdom.

"Can I call you Shahenshah now that you've entered our palace?" Jaswant joked, making the Shahenshah laugh too. The two were close in age, and he had always liked people who genuinely didn't hate or fear him.

The ministers arrived, the court was set and the Shahenshah left to get dressed adequately. But what he wanted most was to see the look on the Rajkumari's face when she would realise that he was the person she would marry.

He had always loved to surprise people. With his first begum Rukaiya, he had been playful his whole life. But wars and death forced him to push aside his childish side for a long time, and it affected him greatly.

His first begum, she would always tell him how she loved him and he knew it was the truth. But as he grew up, he realised that even her presence felt a bit weak, as she wasn't there when he needed her. For some reason, people always tried to keep him apart from his wives, as emotions were said to make him weak. Rukaiya too steeled herself, to his absence, and gradually to his indifference.