INSEPARABLE II

L

It was just after his court session that Prem made his way into Dogri's chambers. Noor's memory was back but there were too many questions he had for Dogri. Some regarding the past, others regarding the possibilities of the future, he was determined to ask every one of them today.

"I was expecting you, boy!" Dogri acknowledged as Prem entered her chambers. He almost choked from the smoke of the hazardously high number of incenses burning next to her.

"I've noticed you favor Noor over me." Prem remarked settling into the cushion across her.

Dogri smirked. "And what would make you assume that?" She asked in rough voice.

"I don't know...maybe because I'm just a 'boy' and she's a 'warrior' according to your greeting this morning." Prem replied.

"She's earned her place...boy." Dogri intentionally reiterated the last word.

Prem shrugged, "well, I guess it's my loss you didn't accompany us to the battle field and only got to witness Noor in action."

"Get to the point, child. I have things to do." Dogri snapped at him.

Prem sighed. He knew there was no point in twisting his words, so he cut to the chase. "What did you say to Noor that she agreed to marry Sher? I know the narrative out there is that she did it to save the Kingdom. But I know Noor, she would've found another way to accomplish that. She would never willing associate her name with another man, even if the entirety of creation was at stake."

"You know her! You know her inside out." Dogri's manic laughter from the day before returned and she threw her head back. "She may love the kingdom but that love pales in comparison to the absolute obsession she carries in her heart for you."

Prem watched her bring the round of laughter to an end and subconsciously leaned forward in anticipation of her answer when she faced him again. "So what did you say to her that night?"

"What did I say to her?" Dogri repeated dramatically. "What did I say to her?"

Prem sighed patiently.

"I only told her what was written in her stars!" Dogri exclaimed before leaning forward and continuing in a lowered tone. "She came to me asking about you."

Prem nodded eagerly, "yes, and..."

Dogri eyed him for a moment, "broken oaths have consequences, son."

Prem's mind worked overtime in trying to decode Dogri's words. "The oath Noor took on my life when she swore to never speak to me again?"

Dogri's lips surrendered to a smirk. "That one. If you remember the oath, then you must remember the day she broke it as well."

"I begged her to break it for months. It was only during the final days of the war preparations that she finally gave in and spoke to me." Prem replied.

"And that changed your destiny forever! You did not take it seriously and she broke it thinking some prayer will undo it. How childish!" Dogri yelled. "So you both faced the consequences."

"You're saying my near-death state during the war was because Noor broke a silly oath?" Prem let out a laugh.

"Do not ridicule me, boy!" Dogri snapped at him. "Explain to me how else a warrior of your caliber gets taken down in a rouge attack by some regular soldiers of the opposing army."

Prem did not have an answer for her. He had stayed up nights wondering the same. It was as if there was some out worldly force was working against him and Prince Udam that day.

"When Noor came to me, you had been unconscious for four days and your health was deteriorating with every passing minute. You were dying!" Dogri's eyes scanned Prem's helplessly curious face. "She asked me what would become of you. I looked into her chart and told her what I saw..."

"What did you see?" Prem questioned.

"Death!" Dogri threw up her hands. "I told her you were dying just as it was written and she wreaked havoc."

"As expected." Prem said to himself.

"She said she would burn the fabric of the sky if anything happened to you." Dogri spread her hands above her head describing Noor's state. "I told her it was inevitable. There is a dead husband in her stars and there is nothing and no one that can change it. She asked if it meant she would die too. I looked back into her chart and explained there was rule of the highest kind written for her. She was not going anywhere, I told her. Impossible! She yelled at me." Dogri's hands moved with the action in her story and her voice raised and dipped accordingly.

Rendered speechless by the details, Prem continued to listen.

"If Prem dies, I die along with him! She declared. And if I live, then Prem will have to live!" Dogri repeated Noor's words enthusiastically. "If the universe demands a dead husband, I will give it a dead husband! But nothing can happen to Prem as long as I breathe! The next thing I know, she agreed to marry the deeply ill Sher Singh Randhawa." Dogri explained. "And somehow your condition started rapidly improving."

Prem thought someone had sucked the air out of his lungs. He had known the reason behind Noor's decision to marry Sher would have been an unfathomably compelling one but no part of him was prepared for what Dogri revealed.

Noticing Prem's condition, Dogri threw her head back one more time and let out a hearty laugh. "Her insanity for you is so limitless that she married another man in the love she has for you!"

Prem stared at her dumbfounded. He didn't know what to say or how to react. He knew it would take his mind some time alone to come to terms with the information revealed by Dogri. Somehow managing to push his racing thoughts and emotions aside, he chose to move onto the most pressing matter on his mind.

"I... was wondering," he hesitated, "if..."

"Say it, boy." Dogri smiled at him.

Prem took in a deep inhale. "I was wondering if...there is still a chance for Noor and I to...come together again?"

Dogri did not immediately respond. She simply looked at him holding his breath for her answer. "Nothing is impossible..." She said at last.

Prem let out a sigh of relief before worry lines formed on his forehead again. "But then there's...Chand. Even if we somehow convince the court that Noor should be with me, what am I going to do with Chand?"

"You've got a lot on your mind." Dogri told him. "Let things take their course. What's written will manifest. You should ease the burden on your shoulders. Take a walk this evening to free your mind."

Prem gave her a look. "Never a straight answer, huh?"

"I said...take a walk this evening." Dogri repeated firmly. "When the lower end of the setting sun touches the top of the western gates, take a walk in the rose garden."

Surprised by the unusually detailed instruction on how and when to take a walk, Prem eyed her for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Alright."

"Good." Dogri nodded. "Now get lost. I'm busy."

Prem raised an eyebrow. "If you weren't you, they'd execute you for speaking to the Chief of Kurral like that."

"And if you weren't you, you'd be long dead." Dogri countered flawlessly in a sarcastic smile.

"Right..." Prem shook his head knowing he called that one on himself. Rising to his feet, "I will see you tomorrow," he said in a final greeting and walked out of her chambers.