Love and Redemption

Chapter 55

“Why life is so terrible?”, Nandini thought as she shrieked and her vision blurred with tears. The wife of a royal member of Rathore clan was sitting on floor leaning near a wall by the door of her lavish bed chambers.

The seventeen year old girl was truly tired of listening to her mother-in-law’s disgraceful comments every day. She was traumatized by her husband’s anger and his deceitful ways.

It was early in the morning and the sun was about to rise in the sky but her life was completely dark, she thought as she slightly banged her head on the opulent wall of the palace. Her grief and agony was hidden in the shadows of deceiving royalty of Vikrant Singh Rathore, her disgusting husband.

She remembered last night when her husband had knocked at her bed chambers. After she had opened the door, she was appalled at the disapproving sight of her wasted husband who slurred in his speech. Vikrant was badly drunk and drowned in alcohol.

She had scrunched her nose at the smell of alcohol but before she could have closed the doors right on his face as she had wanted, Vikrant had said, “Nandini…. Nandini… O! Dear Nandini…. I am sorry to have cheated on you… but I swear she was not as good as you…. You are the best, Nandini…. You are the best wife…. Dear Nandini”

Nandini was utterly disgusted as she remembered the offensive words of her husband. She flinched at the thoughts of Vikrant’s infidelity. She had expected her husband to be loyal but Vikrant was anything but faithful to her. She remembered after saying those sickening words, Vikrant had went away from her bed chambers.

Nandini could not forgot the incident of last night and her sleep had vanished since then. The slurring voice of Vikrant confessing his philandering ways of sleeping around with different women after their marriage was ringing in her ears.

It had been a month to her wedding and she had observed her husband was usually out at night. On the pretext of meeting a plethora of tribal merchants and village headmen to promote trade in various tribal villages along with encouraging new agricultural practices; Vikrant Singh Rathore was usually out at night. Now Nandini had realized, Vikrant visited some brothels.

Nandini was curious to know the reason behind Vikrant helping the tribals. She had understood in one month of her marriage that a deceitful man like Vikrant could never be good to others until and unless he had some ulterior motive. She was inquisitive to solve this mystery.

She remembered her conversation with Vikrant on the riverside on the day she had taken an oath to make sure that her husband would be devoid of the thing he desired the most. She reminisced that Vikrant had said that she was a key to all his treasures. She wondered what his treasures were.

Nandini was hurt beyond repair. Her heart was wounded and her agony was inexpressible. She knew her life was terribly ruined but she wanted revenge. She wanted Vikrant to feel the same intensity of pain he had given to her.

She wanted to know what was running in his disgusting mind but she was helpless as her horrible husband never shared anything with her. She had observed that Vikrant often talked to his father regularly behind the closed doors. She was sure that they talked about their treacherous plans. She wanted to know about their guileful ideas and make sure they would remain unsuccessful. According to her, that was the best way to break the non-existent pride of her husband.

With newly found determination, Nandini wiped her tears and got up from the floor. Straightening her clothes, she took a relaxing bath. The sweet aroma of sandalwood paste and bathing oil extracted from jasmine could not soothe her nerves. The turmoil inside her was indeed, unfathomable.

Nandini let out all her sorrows as she shrieked in agony inside the bathing chambers. Wearing a magenta colored subtle silk skirt with a matching blouse that was made up of soft silk and embroidered with golden threads, she decided to walk out of the palace.