"Begum Ruqqayah!" Jodha shouted for the umpteenth time. They had played together for a while but a few minutes ago when they were resting under the shade of a tree, she had dozed off and on waking up she couldn't find Ruqqayah.

"Goodness, where must-have she went?" Jodha thought keeping her hand on her head as little beads of sweat started forming on her head. She leaned on a tree to catch her breath. Ruqqayah looked at her and smiled childishly. She had hidden behind two trees that were holding each other as friends. She loved hiding and making people find her since she was a kid. Under the harem's stress and since she had been married, within the suffocating walls of the fort, her childhood was long dead but thanks to Jodha it re-emerged.

"I am not going to come out very soon Jodha. You have to find me. And when you do, I am going to scold you for calling me Begum when I clearly asked you not to!" she giggled to herself.

Jodha turned around and walked out of the forest assuming Ruqqayah to be around the lake. Ruqqayah looked up to see Jodha gone and stilled for a moment. She got scared easily and the fact that she was alone in the forest was creeping her out. She prayed to Allah for her safety while Jodha kept mumbling another prayer to Lord Krishna for her safety.

Jodha kept walking. After about an hour, she decided to take a rest. She simply lay down beside the lake. Her chin was resting on her knees as she tried to stop herself from breaking down. She had to find Ruqqayah and she couldn't be crying now.

"This is the height of everything," Jalal shouted as Hoshiyar shivered in front of him. Neela gulped and would have fainted had it not been for Hoshiyar's support.

"Majesty.... we are extremely sorry but..."

"Where have they gone?"

"They didn't tell us," Neela answered in a frightened voice while Hoshiyar signalled her not to.

"I am going to find them and then I am going to have you two killed!" He roared as he stormed out of his room. Neela fainted fearing her death while Hoshiyar kept shivering.

Jalal was really furious this time. He couldn't tolerate it anymore. Jodha had always been out of control but now even Ruqqayah was following her steps. And how could they be going out together? They didn't even want to see each other and now they were fleeing out together. Or was all this a pretence to run away without getting noticed?

He had many questions running through his mind when he bumped into Maham Anga.

"Jalal, khushamadeed! Where are you heading in such a hurry?"

"Aadab, Badi Ammi, I don't have time right now. Excuse me."

Jalal walked past her as she kept looking, bewildered. Did he just ignore her? This was new. What like she had been away for four months and he changed so much that he didn't even come and greet her in the morning after returning?

"I hope everything is under control Jalal. But don't worry, if someone is trying to take away my position, I'll throw them away as soon as possible!" She smirked before leaving.

"Take out the horses and inform Atga Sahib that I need him to accompany me right now. No one else must know about this."

"Your Majesty." The soldier bowed and left to perform the work he was assigned.

"I swear I am going to punish you, queens, in a way you will never dare to step out again without my permission." He thought to himself as the caravan was prepared.

"Take two empty palanquins."

"Your Majesty." The guards couldn't guess what was wrong but they sensed that the atmosphere was very tensed so they just did as told.

"Your Majesty, you called for me?" Atga Khan asked as soon as he arrived.

"Yes, I need you to accompany me."

"Apologies Your Majesty, but may I ask why?"

"Ruqqayah and Jodha have..."

"I understand. Can I advise you something?"

"Sure. Sure, Atga Sahib!"

"Don't scold them once you find them..."

"How, what, what are you talking about?!"

"Young women don't like restrictions." Jalal nodded while Atga Khan smiled and asked the other soldiers to prepare the entourage.

"Will she come out or what? She has been crying there for just, I can't tolerate this anymore." Ruqqayah thought to herself. She lost her patience and stormed out of the forest as she walked towards Jodha. She was about to reach her when she was grabbed by the arm and swirled around. She collided with Jalal's chest. She looked up and on seeing his furious eyes, her anger was gone. She trembled like a little kid.

"What are you doing Ruqqayah?"

"Jal...Jalal, I.... I don't.... I just...."

"WILL YOU SPEAK UP?" He shouted. Jodha who had been crying stood up and turned around to see Ruqqayah trembling and Jalal looking furiously at her. She had no idea what to do. She could control Jalal but that would make Ruqqayah think she plotted all this to make her feel inferior. On the other hand, if she wouldn't save her, she would think that she left her and ran away. She had no choice, so she left it all to God and decided to do what she thought would be best at the moment.

"Jalal.... I.... just wanted to have a little walk and..."

"Couldn't you ask for my permission? Have I ever said no?"

"Jalal, I just wanted to..." They looked around as they heard a weird noise. Atga Khan ran towards Jalal all armed to protect him in case there was an attempt on his life. The soldiers accompanied him too.

"Your.... Your Majesty, Begum Jodha, she fell into the lake!" One of the soldiers said as he neared the lake. Jalal ran to the lake and without a moment's thought, jumped in and took Jodha out. Jodha had pretended not to be able to swim to avoid the situation in any way possible. Ruqqayah, who was shivering by now, fell down as she saw Jodha. She thought it was her mistake that Jodha fell and she started crying. Jalal didn't know what to do. One of his queens was unconscious and the other kept trembling and weeping.

"Bring the palanquins." He asked the soldiers.