Delicate - A Rikara Tale (Completed!)

Nine - True Colours

A/N :

1. This might be the last update for a long time (like 2 weeks or so) so it's extra long with extra Rikara and their many shades.

2. I felt really bad leaving the story on a cliffhanger last time, especially with the way it could be interpreted. So here's a chapter that should answer questions. It took me a long time to write and I wrote it as  a part of my break time.

3. Thank you for all the votes and comments and your wishes! I will be studying hard ! Do comment and vote on this chapter as well.

Gauri felt his grip on the back of her thighs, hard and cold. Like metal. She could not see anything because of the way her long her hair covered her face and her tears blurred her vision. The uncertainty only served to increase her fear.

The unwelcome memories assaulted her like a torrential storm, like raindrops falling hard and fast on her unprepared mind. The horrors of her past merged with the uncertain present and Gauri could not tell whose hands were on her body- Kali Thakur's lustful ones or her husband's unpredictable ones. She squirmed as much as she was capable with the strong grip, convinced that screaming would displease her captor. That would not do. A displeased Kali Thakur meant that her mother's life would be in danger and Gauri would die before she let anything hurt her mother again. But submitting to whatever the Thakur wanted might kill her dignity before it killed her in the literal sense.

Gauri could not help the tears nor the shiver that ran down her spine. She closed her eyes and prayed to Shankarji to protect her. She was tired and powerless and did Shankarji not come to the rescue of his devotees? She had never let her faith falter. Surely her God would save her somehow from Kali Thakur's twisted intentions?

The hold on her loosened and she felt herself being lowered. Her back hit something soft and warm. Gauri opened her eyes in panic and looked around. She was on a bed. Her senses screamed at her to run as fast as she could and save herself. She didn't have her phone on her, nor was there anyone in sight who could hear her scream. She whimpered and found that she could not move an inch. Her head was against the soft pile of pillows and an imposing figure was leaning over her. Gauri's heart hammered in her chest when she felt a cold hand on her cheek. Panic took over her again and she could not fight the desperation anymore.

"I am sorry. You married me, you own me, I am sorry for speaking to you like this. Don't hurt me. I won't run...please don't chain me up Kali Thakur..." Gauri's hands were folded, begging mercy. Her eyes were closed and tears ran down her cheeks.

"Gauri. Gauri...Gauri can you hear me dammit?" Om gently patted her cheek, trying to get her to look at him and to remember who he was.

At first, he had been furious at her for not looking at him when they were in the hall. When she had looked at him, her eyes looked haunted, as if she was looking at him but not seeing him. Her body shook and her hands had trembled. She had looked like she was about to faint in fear and he had acted on impulse, carried her to the bedroom and placed her on the bed so that if she fainted she would not hurt herself. He may not like her or trust her but he was no sadist and did not like to see people in pain. His actions had been polite, almost dispassionate.

But then, she had called him Kali and blabbered about ownership. The fragments of what he had seen came together, a mosaic of madness and mayhem could be his wife's past

Reality hit him like a punch to the gut, like a cold dunk in the swimming pool at midnight. Omkara wanted to run and read the file and confirm the truth for himself. But leaving Gauri alone in this state she was in was dangerous for her. He could almost feel her despair and her sense of helplessness cover him, like a familiar, smothering blanket in summer. He had been there and experienced for himself what it meant like to have nothing but pain and terror be your reality. His misadventure with the drugs and his near brush with death along with the memory of seeing his mother aflame sent warning signals down his entire body. Desperate people did desperate things and he could not have Gauri go down the same path. It had damaged him, damaged his mom and he could not let it happen to another person. But the way that Gauri tried to squirm and the way that she sobbed like her heart was breaking made Omkara think she was broken in her own way, a way that he had not anticipated.