A crescent shaped moon donned the night sky, it was early days of approaching winter, the cool breeze made Meera shudder, she made a mental note to always carry her shawl.
The dinner table was set as per usual, six chairs, tall candle stands, a long spread of food. Meera had been sitting in the same chair next to Ammi Be since her first meal, however today she slid into the chair next to Haider subconsciously.
Ammi Be, Noor and Haider being the only three on the table had taken note of this new arrangement.
Ammi Be smiled wide, Noor caught her brothers eyes and winked at Haider making him roll his eyes but deep down he was happy with the new seating too.
"Ammi can we not start ? I'm hungry." Noor pouted, the four of them had been waiting at the table for Zulekha and Tahir.
"Tahir." Meera thought, "Could he be with Kanika ? But I had refrained then from seeing each other."
"Tahir will join us, I sent him Bilal Ashraf our treasurer to get the books, I need to have a look at them." Haider said, his words reassuring Meera.
"Assalam Walekum everyone I'm starving." Zulekha sing-songed the moment stepping into the picture.
Zulekha at this point noticed Meera sitting next to Haider where she had been sitting since the past few weeks.
"Meera ? Aren't you encroaching my seat." Zulekha said.
At this moment Meera really realised that she wasn't in her usual chair.
"Oh, oh ! I'm so sorry I didn't realise I - I'm sorry." She said getting up from the chair, to hop into the next one.
She pushed the chair to move but Haider's hand caught hers before she could move.
"Sit down." He said looking at her.
"I am not in my chai-."
"Yes you are. Everything in this palace belongs to you, so you are in your chair." He smiled at her. "I'm sure Zulekha wouldn't be upset over a chair, now would you Zulekha?" Haider said looking at Zulekha.
She gave a tight lipped smile and said, "No of course not Hadi, I'm not here just to have my claim on a chair." She looked at Meera. Meera understood the undertone of her words but remained silent.
"Thank God you are here !" Noor exclaimed. "If you would have delayed for five minutes, Nikkah ke pehle he tumhari mang faut ho jati."
"Noor please." Meera exclaimed, she didn't want Noor to even joke about her death.
"Relax Meera Bi, I'm joking." Noor giggled.
"Meera is right Mahnoor, you shouldn't even joke about such things." Ammi Be chimed in.
"I believe we should start now." Haider said snubbing the topic.
The dinner to others was just like they had any other day, however Tahir and Meera could sense the tension radiating from each other.
Tahir refuses to look up the entire dinner and remained silent, Meera played with the food on her plate, thinking of ways in which she could tackle the situation wisely so that there would be no causality.
"Why aren't you eating ?" Haider asked in whisper.
She looked at him, the candle light hit this features perfectly, creating shadows which made him look more handsome if that was possible, the brown specks in his green eyes became more prominent in the yellow glow, Meera had never met someone so perfectly sculptured.
"I'm not hungry." She whispered back.
"Well you'll have to eat anyway, I'm not allowing you to skip your meal." He said leaning back on his chair.
"I'm not hungry." She whined like a 5 year old child.
Their conversation had now caught the attention of rest of the occupants of the table.
"Not in the mood to listen, finish your food." He said sternly making Noor chuckle.
"You too Noori."
After a hearty meal everyone got up from their seats to bid farewell.
Ammi be and Noor had retired to their chamber, Haider and Meera where heading up to the harem too when Zulekha called out from behind.
"Where do you think you are going ?" She said. "You promised to be with me tonight."
"Can we not do it tomorrow?" He asked with a sigh.
"Tonight. Right now. Let's go." She said.
"I'll see you in your room, I'll walk Meera to her chamber and come to you."
The conversations transpiring between the two had made Meera very uncomfortable, she kept shuffling on her feet and played with the hem of her dupatta .
"You are my property for tonight, I'm sure Tahir won't mind dropping her to her room."
"Tahir will you walk Meera upstairs?" Haider asked and Tahir nodded.
"It's okay Tahir Bhai I can show myself up I'm familiar with the route now." Meera said with a small smile which didn't quite reach her eyes, the thought of Zulekha and Haider spending the night together had somehow made her heart heavy.
She knew they were to be married, she also knew that as a king, Haider was free to spend the night with anyone in the harem but the unsettling feeling wouldn't let her be.
"Tahir take her to her room." Haider said just as he was pulled away by Zulekha in the other direction.
Meera walked towards her side in the harem, this day had been too overwhelming, she had too many thoughts running through her mind, she desperately needed a break from everything.
Tahir fell into step with her. "She's making a family portrait for Noor, she needs to paint Hadi's face." Tahir said, he has seen her unsettled eyes following her husband and his cousin.
The rest of the journey up was however silent.
Tahir had walked Meera to her door, the same door he was subtly thrown out of today.
Tahir knew he had to talk to Meera, he knew it was time for damage control.
"Can I talk to you Meera ?" He asked as they stood on the terrace outside her quarter.
Meera nodded, she knew the elephant in the room had to be addressed.
"I love her Meera, I do." Tahir said monotonously. "I've never felt so deeply for someone, I love her since the moment I first saw her standing outside your palanquin, and she fell in love too, it wasn't something we had control over." He sighed.
"But I'm also aware of my duties towards Haider and this kingdom, and I'm letting go of my love just because I'm under Haider's debt and I need to pay him back."
Meera felt her heart become heavy, she didn't not want this, for neither of her friend.
"Tahir Bhai, I don't doubt your love neither do I doubt Kanika's nor Noor's." Meera said softly.
"Lekin kabhi kabhi jab hum khudgarz ho kar apni khushiyo ke liye dusro ki mohabatt aur sukoon ko apne pairo talay rondh dete hai toh unki aah humpar haye bann kar lagti hai." She walked towards her door and stepped inside.
"Aap behtar jante hai Tahir bhai aapko kya karna hai." She said and closed the door behind her.
(But sometimes we forget our duty, we keep our happiness above others peace, and sometimes we walk over their love and their happiness to get to ours. You know better Tahir Bhai, what path you should take from here.)
AN: Good readers vote ;p
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The Two Kingdoms (Completed)
Romance•Completed• *Read only if you can accept the grey shade of life* The Kazi was called in, a few prayers were read in a tongue unknown to her and then she agreed to being his wife with just two words, three time for a life time. Two people, A Rajput...
