Acceptance Is Treachery

Chapter 13

Once Ram had returned to the room, he was yawning and rubbing his eyes simultaneously.

"Are you tired?" Nazia mumbled to herself, not wanting to speak up.

Ram looked at Nazia and he walked to her. Nazia played with her fingers as she refused to look at Ram's sculpted face. Ram sat next to Nazia and held her hands.

"I'm very sorry for everything, Nazia. I honestly hope you forgive me for everything." Ram looked at Nazia's fingers which looked tiny in his grasp.

Nazia's fingers slipped out of his again.

This time when she was conscious.

"It will take time, King." Nazia mumbled looking up at Ram meeting his eyes for a split second.

Ram nodded and adjusted the pillows on the bed for Nazia. Carefully he covered her with a silk blanket.

Ram patted Nazia's shoulder at a constant pace, making sure she could sleep soundly.

In a few minutes, Ram noticed that Nazia began snoring, realising that she was asleep Ram felt at ease. Ram proceeded to give a quick kiss at the top of Nazia's forehead.

However, he stopped himself. He knew that now, Nazia did not reciprocate his feelings and that it would be a sin to kiss a lady that didn't love him back.

It was against his morals.

Ram stayed awake the entire night looking at his wife. Monitoring her every movement- from the number of times she exhales in a minute to her toss and turns.

Ram found Nazia intriguing and interesting.

A sudden gust of wind provided an extreme drop in the temperature of the resting chamber. The small, thin body hairs on his arms and chest were stiff and standing.

Ram wanted to make sure that Nazia felt comfortable in her slumber. With the aid of a small oil lamp that flickered every now and then, Ram proceeded to a wooden chest that was unlocked in the corner of his room.

Ram rummaged through the wooden chest to look for a woollen blanket, for Nazia.

That's when Ram noticed something.

Ram noticed his red and gold uttariya.

Ram realised that he hadn't seen it for a year.

Ram made a mental note to ask Hadija about it in the morning.

Ram then took a blanket and covered Nazia with it, making sure that she felt warm even when she was sleeping.

Ram sat on a stool beside the bed. He began thinking about the uttariya.

Slowly he began descending into thoughts of Nazia. The clumsy, boisterous girl he met in Faizabad who converted into a demure beauty on their wedding day.

He was thankful that he met her, for sure. 

However, he would be even more thankful if she forgave him.