Mishka - The gift of Love

14|| The Conspiracy

Mishka's POV:

I heard every single word that Hukum said to me before going to sleep. He thought I was sleeping but I was awake enough to hear him pouring his heart out, telling me that he felt bad for hurting me.  I wanted to turn around and tell him that I was not angry with him but at the same time I didn't want to make him regret saying those words as well. 

He was so close that I could feel his breath on my skin sending a tingling sensation throughout my body. I was facing opposite direction to him but due to his closeness I could smell his cologne. I shamelessly took a deep breath and intoxicating my system with his manly scent perfectly blending in with the woody, citrusy and spicey composition of the cologne. 

At some point during the night he might have either moved closer to me or pulled me closer to his chest because when I woke up I was caged into his strong muscular arms with my back almost glued to his chest. 

I tried to stir a little to make myself free from his hold but his grip on me got even tighter. After few more uneventful struggles I finally managed to free myself from his hold only to find my Duppata tucked under his body making it almost impossible for me to get it out without waking him up. Hence I decided to leave it there and went into the Hamam (bathing chamber) to freshen up and go for the sword practice as I promised Aditya Devarji. 

I got changed into my new outfight which was obviously not like a men's wear but rather a like a female warrior stitched beautifully to make me look graceful and brave at the same time. It was a beautiful silk Attire inspired by the 'Urdubegis', the trained female warriors. 

Though those women were the guards to the mughal harems (secluded chambers of kings and queens), they were the bravest and strongest group of women as well. Armed with bows and arrows they were all the time ready to just jump into a fight. 

I would have never learnt so much about them without the help of my fellow traveller friend Aariz Sheikh, who not only taught me how to read and write Urdu but also enriched my knowledge with various cultures of the kingdoms he had visited. He was like a walking manual to every single kingdom, threat but a very knowledgable threat though. The insides he knew about Mughals were fantastic, he even asked me to come visit Multan, the village from where he came from. 

I was surprised that we knew so much less about them but I guess it goes both ways, they might not know much about us as well. But thanks to Aariz I got to learn some of their cultures, limited but rich ones. 

After wrapping my head completely with the duppata I hid my half face with the loose end. Before I walked out of the chamber I found Hukum missing. Thinking that he might have went to freshen up himself I made my way towards the 'Akhara' (the fight practice area). 

"Bhabhi Maa, Pranam" Aditya Devarji said before bowing his head a little with respect. I still used to get surprised by the respect these Rathore men give to me. Since I was a kid I was loved by only one man, my Baapu sa. I never got respect from Step-Brothers let alone love. But watching these men even stronger than my brothers, bowing with respect for the women of Aryagarh was fascinating and surprising for me at the same time. 

"Pranam, Devarji" I bowed to him as well since I was younger than him by age even though by position I was the elder one. 

"Are you ready to lose this fight?" Devarji asked before playfully wingling his eyebrows and giving me a toothy grin making me chuckle a little. 

"Haarenge to aap, uss din agar apke Bhaisa beechmain na aye hote to apko to hum hara hi chuke the!" 

"The one whose gonna lose is you, if that day your Bhaisa wouldn't have interferred I would have defeated you!" I said before smiling and his face almost turned pink with embarrasment. 

"Alright. alright let's not discuss what happened in the past and focus on today's practice." he said before covering his face with the extend fabric of his turban. 

We both flung our swords in the air striking each others sword with force. Since it was early dawn the noise of metal clinking echoed in the training ground. As the clash of steel echoed again and again, there was an unspoken formation of rythym that we fell into. 

He would run all across the training grounds, hiding behind the pillars, and trying his everything to make my sword fall on the ground first which would eventually make him the winner. We shared laughter on many instances, making this practice session not only a form of physical exercise but also it felt like a creation of bond between us. It was like I got a big brother to laugh and practice with which I've been craving for so long. 

We continued practicing for almost like half an hour before he hid behind a wall only to suddenly emerge and strike. I gracefully twirled evading his strike. "This won't work on me Devarji, I've a very good reflex." I said before chuckling a little and striking his sword with mine. 

Finding an opportunate moment I executed a well-timed maneuver, disarming him with a swift twist. The clatter of his sword hitting the ground was a temporary punctuation in our lively exchange. I didn't realise that I was jumping with happiness until I heard Hukum's voice coming from the masked man standing infront of me, who was supposed to be Devarji. 

I gulped a little before reaching out to uncover his face only to find the man being none other than Hukum with a slight smirk on his face.

"H-how is it possible? It was Aditya Devarji and now you? I... I did see him being the one fighting me!" I blabbered in surprise but even more confused only to watch Devarji coming out from behind the same wall with a smile. 

"It was totally Bhaisa's plan to do the switch! He was so upset that you refused to practice with him that he begged me to do this." he said before Hukum slapped his shoulders to keep his mouth shut. 

"So you two conspired behind my back? Huh?" I asked in a serious tone though I myself found it funny imagining Hukum begging Devarji to let him have a sword practice with me. 

"Um... well he's lying I just.... Never mind!" Hukum said before handing the sword in Devarji's hands and walking away from the ground. 

"He has always been a soar loser" Devarji said laughing but I was scared that he might not have found it nice to lose and would react angryly towards me. 

After few moments I asked for a leave and went straight to the chamber in hopes of finding Hukum in there but unfortunately the chamber was empty. Losing the hopes of him coming back anytime soon I went inside to freshen up a little and change into my usual attire, silk saree. 

"Where are you Hukum?" I muttered under my breath before walking outside the chamber again in the hopes of spotting him somewhere. "I hope he doesn't get angry on this" I prayed a little before getting into my daily activities of managing the households of the kingdom. 

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