Parivara: Story of a Family

21 : Farewell

The next morning, Divya stayed in bed late. It was almost lunchtime when her maids came in with her clothes for the day and checked to see if she wanted them to dress her. Divya reluctantly nodded and slowly climbed out of her bed. She walked over to the maids by her vanity and they quickly removed her nightclothes and dressed her in a red anarkali (dress). Divya sat at her vanity to put on her jewelry and allow one of the maids to comb out her hair.

As this went on, two more maids came into the room, one with hands full of boxes of more jewelry and the other holding Divya's dupattas (shawls/scarves). As they came into the room, Divya heard them whisper excitedly to each other, but she only caught a few words. "Yes, today... right now, actually... to go to the new province... no, the king isn't going... Rakesh sir..."

"What are you whispering about?" Divya asked, turning around to look at them. The maids immediately stopped talking, and one of them swiftly answered.

"Sorry, your majesty, we were just discussing how exciting it was for your father to be helping the new province nearby. He's sending his right-hand man today to control the situation there."

"Right-hand man?" Divya was mostly just repeating because she couldn't believe her ears. She already knew the answer, even before the maid said, "Rakesh sir."

"And he's leaving today?"

"Well, yes, your majesty. The situation has become urgent there. Your father told Rakesh sir to go straight away."

"Situation? What do you mean?" Now Divya was confused, and a little scared.

"The new province... it's been having issues with civil war. Your father, his majesty, is sending his man to try to put an end to it. He's taking an army with him."

"Right now?" Divya asked, standing up with urgency. Rakesh was practically going to war, and she hadn't even talked to him. She had to see him. "Quick, dress me. Hurry!"

Divya was quickly dressed and she ran out of her chambers, sprinting to the horse stables as quickly as possible. She felt as if time was running against her. Her footsteps felt too slow, as if no matter how fast she went she wouldn't reach in time.

After what felt like an eternity, Divya stopped in front of the doors to the stables. She stood there, panting heavily and staring at the large, brown doors. She had been fighting to get here, but now she didn't know what to do. What should she say? What would he say? She took one last, final breath and opened the doors.

Rakesh was standing in the center of the stables, tightening a strap on his horse's saddle. He looked up when she opened the doors, but he didn't say anything. They kept eye contact as she walked calmly into the room, not blinking.

Divya came to a stop in front of Rakesh, leaving ample space between them. They kept eye contact, not saying a word for a long minute, both of them visibly breathing heavily but quietly. Finally, Divya said very simply, "You're leaving."

"Yes," Rakesh replied, his eyes never leaving hers. "I wanted to come see you, but I wasn't sure if you'd be alright with that. Last night... you left the party early, and when I came by your room, all the doors and windows were bolted and it seemed dark. Are you alright?"

"I--" Divya didn't know how to continue. She swallowed and said, "I wanted to be alone."

"Is everything alright?" Rakesh asked again. He seemed worried, but Rakesh knew Divya too well. He could tell something was wrong, but she needed to say it herself. He didn't step closer to her, but she could tell he wanted to, and it brought tears to her eyes to think about it.

"No," Divya decided to be honest. Rakesh struggled even harder not to take her in his arms because he could tell it would only make her feel worse.

"Divya," he whispered, his voice like a soft caress against her skin, "tell me."

She could see tears in his eyes as well, and she had to close her own and take a few breaths to compose herself. She opened her eyes again, meeting his, and told him, "Rakesh, whatever was between us has to come to an end."

He stood before her, stunned into silence. She could see the many emotions flashing through his eyes as he felt each one. Confusion. Uncertainty. Surprise. Anger. Sorrow.

"What we have... it can't continue." She said again. She didn't know if it was to tell him, or to tell herself, for she couldn't quite believe it either. "It's become too dangerous for us... the consequences are too great."

"Why? What's changed?" His voice was unrevealing, but his eyes were red with emotion.

"I can't tell you," she said, taking a deep breath. "It's safer for you the less you know."

"Is it Abhay? Is he threatening you?" Now his voice cracked a little with anger, the emotion too much to contain. "Does he know about us?"

"Abhay is the least of our concerns," Divya answered.

"So someone else, then?" Rakesh asked, finally placing his hands on her shoulders so she would look at him straight. "Tell me, and we can get through this together. We don't have to stop anything."

Divya took one more deep breath and stepped back, out of his hold. "We do have to stop. I'm sorry."

Rakesh's eyes blinked quickly to stop any tears from falling. He took deep breaths, unsure what to do. His sorrow was slowly going away, becoming replaced by the anger in the pit of his stomach. "I'm leaving," he said, unsure what else to say. "To fight."

"I know." She replied quietly. "That's why I wanted to talk to you before you left. I wanted to say goodbye and tell you to please be careful."

"Why?" He choked out. "It doesn't matter anymore if I die. I'm already dead, and you killed me."

His words pierced Divya's heart, but she tried to remain calm. "Don't say that."

"Why shouldn't I? That's how I feel. You've let me down before, and it nearly killed me. This time I thought it was different, I thought our love was finally getting it's second chance. But you've gone and finished the job this time. Now I am completely dead inside. I have nothing to live for."

Divya took a shaky breath and stepped forward. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, breathing in his scent one more time. "Please don't say that. Please fight and survive. Maybe our love wasn't meant to be in this lifetime. Maybe our third chance will come in the next lifetime."

Rakesh's voice was cold as he said against her cheek, "When these two chances have already killed me, what more do I have left to give a third chance? If this is the end in this lifetime, then it is the end for all lifetimes."

With that, he stepped out of her embrace and climbed onto his horse's back. Without looking at her or saying anything more, he rode out and away.