After seeing her health condition, Jalal decided not to send her back to her chamber even though he was feeling defeated against his heart and his mind was clearly warning him not to give standing to this arrogant princess.

"I will take care of Queen Jodha for tonight; you may leave," Jalal stated to Hakima in a dark tone as if words were forced to come out of his mouth.

"As you wish, your majesty, Shabba Kher (Good Night)" she walked out of the chamber.

"I am going back to my chamber; I don't want any favor from you." Jodha retorted while squinting her eyes at him

Without responding to her, he just gazed at her blankly with a deadly stare.

After seeing his intimidating gaze at her at first, she got terrified, but soon she recovered herself and masked her fear. She swiftly got up from the bed with a courageous attitude, as if his scary gaze had no impact on her. She began to walk out of the chamber without uttering a single word. Still, due to the feebleness from fasting, she instantly felt dizzy again. Her vision began to fade, and she thought she was losing her stability and was about to fall on the floor, but at the last second, Jalal again caught her in time and carried her to bed in his arms like his precious possession. A deep line of stress smeared through his forehead, but he soon felt relieved when she opened her eyes. His eyes began to dance with humor seeing her embarrassing expression. He smirked at her playfully while putting her on the bed gently.

"Queen Jodha, I think you deliberately fall in front of me, so I carry you in my arms. Do you crave my touch? He asked her mockingly with a grin on his face.

She gazed at him embarrassed, little blush smeared through her face. While looking at his captivating chuckle, she deeply exhaled and thought, 'Why is he so alluring and attractive? His intoxicating aroma can make anyone crazy for him; why can't I take my eyes off of him? I have never felt like this for any other man before. When he held me near his chest, my heart stopped beating. His personality is so magnetic that anyone can get charmed by enthralling piercing brown eyes. He is so sharp, a quick thinker, and a manipulative player, how quickly he played in the function and fed the sweet to Queen Rukaiya without anyone knowing the real reason behind it. With his one-act, he showed everyone how he doesn't value me. At the same time, he pleased his favorite queen as well. He is a true player. When people surround him, his eyes only speak, and he hardly utters an unnecessary word, but when he speaks, everyone follows him blindly. He is brilliant in conversation; when we met first, he even made me a fool and found out my true identity, even I got charmed by him in our first meeting. Suddenly she realized what she was thinking; she quickly closed her eyes in frustration. 'Oh, Krishna!!! What is happening to me??? Why do I think about this heartless beast? And I have no other option left than spending the night with him in his chamber; I don't want to fall again in his arms.'

Jalal saw her helplessness on her face while she was deeply lost in thoughts.

"Today, my new queen will sleep in my chamber for the first time." Jalal teasingly said

"My unfortunate destiny Shahenshah... POOR ME, I will have to bear the torture of staying with you for the night." Jodha narrows her eyes at him.

Jalal gazed at her blankly, but his lips had a hint of a smirk, seeing her frustrated and irritated. He was enjoying bantering her.

Jalal slowly walked towards her and sat next to her on the bed, then sarcastically he asked, "My poor unfortunate, brainless, arrogant and stupid queen, I am asking you for the last time, do you want to eat something?"

Jodha's jaw clenched while gritting her teeth; she replied, "First of all, I am not brainless, and second you are the one who is asking me brainless and stupid questions. You know very well that I am fasting, but you are still asking me to eat food. Your majesty, just for your knowledge, people don't eat when they fast, so I will not eat anything till I do prayer tomorrow morning, so don't ask me again a stupid question."

The way she snapped back at him with pulping anger, Jalal smirked instead of getting annoyed at her. He scornfully looked at her and replied, "Thank you for the information, your demand is granted my poor queen" then he called his maid and ordered to bring a shahi meal.

Jodha got more aggravated after seeing his dominating attitude and thought even after denying he is still ordering food for me. Fumingly, she said in a thick tone, "I-said-I-don't-want-to-eat-food, did you understand when I said it the first time, or are you..."

Jalal scornfully replied, "Queen Jodha, you are self-centered; you think about yourself only all the time. It seems like your parents have not taught you how to be respectful and caring towards your husband. You took vows in front of holy fire that you will obey me and fulfill my need. Don't you know your husband has not eaten dinner yet? I have ordered food for myself, and I am not brainless that I will keep hitting my head on a rock?

A few minutes of silence followed.

Jodha was so irritated, and Jalal kept sneering while staring at her without a blink; his constant penetrating stare made her more annoyed.

Even he didn't know why, but he enjoyed teasing her. No one dared to speak to him this way ever, not even Rukaiya. He was enjoying this new relation of hatred. Every queen of his was contradictory to Jodha; they could die to see his one smile, all of them always tried to please him in different ways, but Jodha didn't care; she didn't even care of his status of Shahenshah and his power. It was clear she didn't want to be a special queen of his. Without any fear of the consequences, she defied and uttered what she felt.

Jodha was thinking, how shameless he is, he will eat in front of me, he doesn't even care I have not eaten anything for four days, and the smell of food will create a desire for food. This heartless is telling me that I am selfish.

Jodha irritably asked in a crabby tone, "Are you going to eat in front of me?"

Jalal playfully replied, "No...My poor queen... I will not eat in front of you, but I will sit next to you and eat."

Hearing this, Jodha got frustrated and said, "Don't you even dare to call me poor once again; otherwise, you will see what I can do to you. I have not seen anyone more shameless than you."

He inhaled sharply, raised his eyebrow, and in a sarcastic tone replied, "My poor queen, Oh... I am so scared; I called you poor, what will happen to me now?? And shameless... I very well know that no one can be shameless like me."

Jodha shuddered to see his scary fuming look. Even though he promised her he will not touch her without her permission, his dark gaze shook her, but still, his dark and angry stare gave a shiver in her entire body. She decided not to argue with him, so she kept quiet.

After a few minutes of deep stillness, Jalal asked in a deadly silent tone, "Jodha, aren't you scared of me? Do you know how many states I own? How many kings have surrendered under me? People wait for months to meet with me. Do you know who I am?"

Jodha trembled to see his deadly calmness in his eyes; it was too frightening. Her hands were shivering, which was noticed by him immediately; she drew her legs closer to her and hugged her knees tightly. Immediately her brain shouted silently, 'Oh hell... Yes, you are too scary and creepy, just being around you is so threatening; your sharp, angry eyes give me tremors to my core. I know how you control and command people. I am very well aware that you too powerful, probably the most powerful person in entire Hindustan, but I am also a fearless princess, and I will not bend down out fear and show my fear or weakness to you.'

She inhaled deeply and composed herself, then replied while mirroring his deadly sound, "Shahenshah, am I scared of you? NO!!! I only get scared of people who I respect. I am scared of my father, brother, mother, and Amer because they all love me, but I am not scared of you because I have no desire to live. I want you to punish me and kill me. I cannot kill myself; otherwise, you will punish my Amer, and you left me no choice but to live. You have gotten a puppet from Amer to play. If you punish me to death, I will be rather relieved than scared."

Her words were too strong on his newborn heart, which was affecting him reversely. Her stubborn and bold attitude was making her more desirable. He grinned, seeing a little petite figure shaking out of fear, but how she composed herself and masked her fear in her tone was amusing to him.

"Let's see Queen Jodha how long you can stay without fear in this palace." He warned her while staring at her darkly.

Her rosy lips were shivering, which was still slightly swollen due to his assault. The desire began to pull inside to crush her shivering mouth and take the life out of her trembling lips. He was continually drooling over her beauty; soon, his eyes turned dark with full of lust. While looking at her, he said to himself; I knew Jodha, you do not fear me and do not care about my status or power and do not desire to be a special queen.

His unbreakable, piercing, lustful gaze made her very uncomfortable. She annoyingly stated, "Stop staring at me like an owl; otherwise, your monstrous filthy eyes will come out, you will go blind forever."

Her innocent comparison and annoyed gaze were too amusing for him; he began to laugh out loudly, innocently like a little child. Suddenly her anger and fear disappeared, and she got mesmerized by his glorious smile while how naive he looks when he smiles. Jalal noticed her losing in his gaze; he felt the first time longing in her innocent eyes for him.

"Stop staring at me like an owl; otherwise, your monstrous filthy eyes will come out, you will go blind forever." He snapped back at her

She realized he had caught her gazing at her. She could not hold herself either and began to laugh with him. Both of them were laughing together for the first time.

Jalal sat on the couch, relaxing while waiting for his food to arrive.

All of a sudden, he asked with genuine care, "Queen Jodha, why are you fighting with Lord Krishna and punishing yourself to punish him?"

Jodha replied as if she complaining to him, "So you tell me Shahenshah, what else should I do?? I have prayed and worshipped Krishna since I was a kid. I talked to him for hours and hours, shared everything with him, my dreams about my future husband, my life, my wishes, and saw what he did, what he let happen to me?? Now I am punishing Kanah for giving me a husband who is a womanizer, who has more than 5000 women in his harem. I am punishing him for giving me a cruel husband who doesn't even respect other religions, who doesn't even know the meaning of love or marriage, who tried to force on his wedded wife, who feels proud to be called a heartless man. Who killed thousands of innocent solider to attain my soulless body" She paused and gazed at him bitterly. "Anyway, this is between Krishna and me, and you have nothing to do with this. I have always believed that everything happens for good and to wish of Krishna, but for the first time in my life, I don't feel everything happens to me for good." She was bitter, but her tone was not to hurt Jalal, but she cursed her destiny more.

Jalal looked at her innocent, sad face and thought, how simply she said what she felt about him, it was hurtful to hear it, but it's the truth, how purely and easily she showed me the mirror.

It was true that he treated women poorly; every time he won states, he demanded to gift women for his harem. He never respected other religions, and he indeed felt proud to be called a cruel, heartless warrior. He knew everything, but hearing from her was still painful for him. His dead heart winced in pain for the first time. Her bluntness was pounding on his heart, his anger was slowly starting to boil up to take revenge from her, but her innocent purity was repeatedly defeating his rage, and her pain started to wound his stony heart. He couldn't face her for long, so he closed his eyes and rested his head on the couch.

Soon the guard came inside to inform food has arrived, which snapped both of them from their thoughts. Jalal permitted to serve food.

Maids entered with lots of different dishes. The entire room got filled with the aroma of delicious food. Maids served Jalal's plate, and then they left. Jalal was very hungry as he didn't have the opportunity to eat the entire day properly. He began to eat quietly but then realized that Jodha did not eat anything for four days. He suddenly stopped eating in the middle and called the maid and told her to take the food back.

Jodha perceived that Jalal suddenly stopped eating food and sent it back, so she confusingly asked, "Shahenshah, you did not like the food??)

Jalal quickly replied, "No food was delicious, but I don't want anyone to keep a bad eye on my food and make me sick; you know how badly black cats' eyes affect humans??" he smirked oddly at her.

"Do I look like a black cat to you??"

Jalal mysteriously chuckled

"I don't want to talk to you anymore, and I am going to sleep now." She pouted annoyingly, petulantly. She started taking off her jewelry, and then she untied her long hair.

Jalal was staring at her the entire time and relishing a glimpse of her beauty.

"I am exhausted due to the long journey; I am going to sleep too." he got up and took his pillow and lie down on the corner of the same bed.

Jodha suddenly realized he was sleeping next to her; she quickly got up from the bed and said, "You can't sleep on the same bed with me."

"Why not?" Jalal dryly asked

"Because I am saying so, we can't sleep on the same bed," Jodha replied nervously.

Jalal crossly questioned her with his luminous angry eyes. "So you don't have trust in me, you still think that I will take advantage of you and force on you even after promising you??"

Seeing his angry, hurtful eyes, she got frightened a little and replied calmly, "It's not like that; I know you will keep your promise, but how can we sleep in the same bed, that close?? What if you lose your control??"

Jalal's eyes gleamed with humor, then playfully he asked, "Ohhh!!! It seems like you don't trust yourself, Queen Jodha??"

"I don't have any problem, sleep on the same bed, but don't you dare to come anywhere near my side." Jodha petulantly replied

Jalal smiled at his little victory.

Jodha went to sleep within a flick. Jalal watched her impeccable beauty. Few strands of her hair fell on her face; Jalal quietly moved those strands of hair from her face and gazed at her beautiful face till he fell asleep.

Both of them were very tired from their long journey and all the sleepless nights. Jodha turned a few times in sleep and moved towards Jalal's side, and unknowingly her head was resting on his shoulder, and her hand landed on his chest in sleep. Her dupatta got stuck under his back. In the middle of the night, Jalal woke up feeling warmness on his chest, and soon he realized her hand was resting on his chest. He smiled, looking at her firm grip on his top in sleep. He loved this closeness. Soon he fell asleep while enjoying this closeness.

Jodha slept the entire night peacefully after so many days and woke up early in the morning feeling fully fresh. Soon she noticed she was entirely on his side of the bed. Her hand was resting on top of his chest, and her head on his shoulder and his hand was cuddling her waist. She looked at him, how innocent he looked while sleeping; when she heard his rhythmic heartbeat, she blushed heavily and quietly decided to move away from him to save herself from embarrassment. She slowly tried to put his hand on the side, but in sleep, Jalal leaned closer towards her and put his hand back on her waist. Jalal was still sleeping peacefully, but her stole (dupatta) was stuck under him awkwardly. She tried pulling her dupatta, but she accidentally fell on him, which woke him up while removing it. He instantly understood what exactly happened. Jodha was now sleeping on top of him, and for a few seconds, both got lost in each other. Their erratic heartbeats were audible to each other. Their faces were inches apart, warm breath was creating a passion in Jalal, and he was completely mesmerized by her beautiful doe-like shy eyes. Her trembling lips were creating a craving inside him to touch them. He tightened his grip and pulled her closer by her bare waist, and slowly rubbed his cheek with her cheek. Her soft skin and the sweet smell made him fanatical. His first sensual touch sent quakes inside her body; touching a man was a new experience for her. It was too tempting for this young queen who was acutely attracted towards him. It took her a few seconds to gain her lost control, she came back to her senses and tried to push him away coyly, and Jalal also snapped out of her beauty spell and came back to his senses. He tried to let Jodha free from the situation, but her dupatta was poorly stuck under him. To release her, he grabbed her and rolled over her. Now Jalal was resting on top of her, and again they got lost in each other for a few seconds. Jalal sensually whispered in her ears while inhaling the aroma of her beautiful hair, "Good Morning Queen Jodha."

She unsuccessfully tried to conceal her blush with fake anger on her face.

Both of them swiftly got up from the bed. "Didn't I tell you that we should not sleep on the same bed?" Jodha angrily said then began to murmur, "He never listens to anyone, don't know how he became Shahenshah!"

Jalal was taking pleasure in her anger. Her irritating cute face was creating humor and making her look more adorable.

"Oouchhh Aaah, my whole body is aching!!!! Queen Jodha, what have you done?? It seems like the entire night you slept on top of me." He winced teasingly

Jodha felt so flustered and embarrassed that she walked out of the room without looking at him without saying a word.

Jalal smirked, watching her going out.

Jalal called his maid and instructed her to inform him as soon as Queen Jodha finishes her prayer.

Jalal finished his routine namaz, then sword practice, and was ready for the day. It was almost time for Diwan E Khas. The maid came and informed him that Queen Jodha had finished her morning prayer.

Jalal immediately went to Jodha's chamber and instructed the maid to leave the food platter and go.

Jodha irritably asked, seeing him in her chamber early in the morning, "What happened??? Shahenshah, Have I done any crime?? I haven't eaten yet. I can go for another day without food. I am a Rajvanshi Princess; I will not die that easily."

Jalal teasingly replied, "No way, Queen Jodha, I shall not punish you anymore because my shoulders can't bear your heavy burden. My body is still aching."

Jodha squinted her eyes and replied tetchily, "Oh...I didn't know King of kings, Shahenshah E Hindustan's shoulders are so weak."

Jalal snapped back at her. "Oh... Queen Jodha, the day you want to test my shoulders, my hands, my legs, and you know what else, let me know; I will show you how strong they are!" His sharp eyes turned dark with humor and his lips curved with a hint of a smirk.

Her face immediately turned pink; she saw the wicked gleam playing in his eyes, and then she said to herself. Oh god!!! He is so intimidating.