Diya (pov)

I keep looking at the direction... where that woman disappeared off. Who is she? Why did she react like this? I mean all his family members are still standing here.... Shocked but still here. I get a heavy feeling inside me. I try to ignore it and I am shaken off from my thoughts, when an older woman, with beautiful features similar to Nawaab, takes my hand and caresses my palms... "Beta, you are welcome in our family.. I am Nawaaz's mother ,Begum Shaheena, for others and now mother for you too. she smiles, a genuine warm smile. Mother?.... she is Nawaab's Ma Sa..... Ma Sa... I blink away my tears, I miss my Ma Sa.

"Beta... are you ok?" she asks, maybe she sees my hidden emotions, afterall she is a mother herself. I nod.. "Oh you both must be tired... why are we standing here and talking!" she pulls me along with her and I look around. The King, Badshaah is not seen, he did not come to welcome his own son? Maybe he is busy... afterall he is the ruler of the biggest kingdom of Hindustan. I look at Nawaab, whose eyes also seem to search for someone... with hope... and then he looks down, maybe disappointed, I don't know... I cant see his face clearly as I am walking away with his mother. I see him raising his head with a smirk on his face... and turning to talk to Wajid. That's the last I saw him.... As I am being taken, dragged away with the other ladies into a big hall.

"this is where we, ladies enjoy our time." Begum ji says. I look around.... This hall is beautiful. filled with paintings.... This room is definitely going to be my favourite. Begum ji holds my hand and introduces me to every woman present in the room. I don't talk to them.. but bow my head in respect. I get to know that, the Badshah has quite a number of wives... but they all are cordial with each other. How? How can they even think of sharing their husband with someone else?

"welcome to our palace, and our family... umm" I hear a voice behind me. I turn around to thank the person and introduce myself.... And I see the same woman who stormed away when Nawaab introduced me as his wife. She is smiling now..... but it seems forced, not genuine like others... it is definitely not a welcoming smile. Still I smile back trying to break the ice... "I am Diya." She looks me up and down.. scrutinizing me with her eyes. I am suddenly feeling conscious of myself. "Diya... I am Rukhsaar....." she smirks "Begum of Shehzaade Nawaazuddin" she announces with pride.

Suddenly everything loses color, every painting in the room..seem colourless. I now understand the sinking feeling I felt earlier.... I was afraid to lose the only color of my life.... Lose the only person who brought warmth to my cold, .... The only person I considered mine after losing my family.... Is not mine.

I look down.... Trying my best to hide my face, which I am sure looks pale. "don't worry.. I will not eat you up for stealing.... Oops! marrying my husband." She says and starts laughing at her own joke... and her daasis just laugh along, for her sake. I understand those fake laughs.

"Enough Rukhsaar! Diya is new to the family, let's not create unnecessary drama on her very first day here... and for that matter don't create problems for her ever." Begum Ma Sa, as I call her in my mind, warns her. "And you all!" she shouts at Rukhsaar's personal daasis "she is royalty, wife of Nawaaz! Respect her!!!"

Rukhsaar just scoffs, "Ammi jaan... you are shouting at me for her!! For a girl who literally just stepped inside the palace few seconds ago!!! For what??? A joke?" she questions Begum Ma sa. She is not wrong through. I am a commoner, I am new to royalty, I just entered their lives out of nowhere..... disturbed everything. They are fighting because of me.. I should stop this. "Begum Sahiba.... I think Rukhsaar Ji was just teasing me... I don't think she had any bad intensions." I force a smile to show them that her statement didn't effect me. Rukhsaar looks at me for a second, then turns and leaves.

I exhale a deep sigh... I didn't want to be a problem for others... one by one everyone exits the hall, leaving me and Begum Ma Sa alone. "Beta.. you don't have to pretend anymore, everyone is gone... and you definitely can't hide your emotions.. not from me." she smiles a little with that motherly gaze of hers. She doesn't even know me... " I know you must be thinking why am I being so nice to you... and fighting for a girl who I have known for few minutes, isn't it?" she narrates my thoughts in words.

I look at her shocked... how? How did she read my thoughts? " I know you are a good person, good for my son and this family" she nods her head with a small smile on her face. "how ?" is the only thing I muster myself to ask... she giggles... yes indeed she giggles like a small child and then comes close to me, raises her hand and caresses my hair. "You can call it my Motherly instincts. I feel that you have been sent for my son, for his betterment." She smiles fondly at me. The soft look in her eyes remind me of my Ma Sa...

" Begum Ma Sa thank you for such warm welcome to this family" I just speak my heart out without realizing that I just called her Begum Ma Sa... so openly, what I have been calling her in my mind only. Her eyes enlarge and her smile widens, "Did you just call me Begum Ma Sa?!" I think I offended her.. so I try to take it back " I am sorry Begum ji, that was a stupid mistake.. which I will never repeat again."

"Diya.. I hereby order you as the Queen of this sultanate, to call me Begum Ma Sa only" she orders me in a very funny way, which makes me laugh out. I nod in between of my laugh. I notice her looking at me adoringly "keep smiling and laughing beta.. don't worry about anything else" she once again caresses my cheeks. it feels good to have a motherly figure near you..... I am genuinely happy to have bonded with Begum Ma Sa so quickly.

I am finally back in my room here, which again is a magnificent room, with a different interior... more of a Mughal touch. It feels different... like I don't belong here, even though it is my room, it doesn't feel personal to me. I was just noticing all the small differences in our cultures though the décor, when I hear him behind me "how are you adjusting here? I heard Rukhsaar and you have become best friends." He mocks with his smirk intact on his face.

"I didn't know you were that interested in ladies talk" I speak my mind out loud unintensionally. My reply shocks both of us. He definitely didn't expect me to answer back.

"well well, I see you have become quite bold" he walks towards me like a tiger slowly advancing towards his prey. I gulp and walk backwards trying to escape him.

"I had to.... Become bold, to survive your wife's taunts" I don't know where all this is coming from! I am suddenly irritated and angry at him, at Rukhsaar... his wife. But I cannot control my tongue in anger. He looks at me, amused by my glare and what I just said. "ohh, is it? Rukhsaar is not that bad." He says and I am stuck.. between him and the wall, with nowhere to escape. Did he come here, to praise his wife?

"Then why did you marry me?" I whisper, now again feeling like I came in between them. He clearly likes her...... maybe loves her. That thought alone makes me want to run away... far away from him, from his stare. I turn my head away but that only makes him cage me, leaning more into my body, and he holds my chin and turns my head towards him, forcing my eyes to meet his intense stare.

"I married you to give meaning to your pathetic life which was sold to me by your previous bastard of a husband" he grits his teeth and his hold on my chin is just as painful as his words.... They hurt because they are true. I have heard the famous saying 'truth hurts' and now I am experiencing that first hand. But I didn't expect it to be this painful.... I guess it hurts more, coming from him. I don't know why I still have expectations from people.... from him.

"I had no choice... you had a choice, I begged you to kill me, if you had done that, you would not have married me!!! Your wife, the love of your life... would not have been hurt, and she wouldn't give me looks like she wants to kill me." I murmer, looking straight into his kohled eyes. My own words stab my heart, 'love of his life', Begum Ma Sa told me that Rukhsaar and Nawaaz were childhood friends... which means she has been in his life since a long time.

He bursts out laughing.... Like I just said something hilarious. I am confused seeing him holding his stomach and laughing sooo loudly. Once he stops, he once again comes close to me and leans into me with a smirk. "Angel... that was a good joke, I had a good laugh" he appreciates me genuinely.. confusing me more. "oh was it not .. a joke?" he questions looking at my face.

I shake my head in denial... he laughs again "if it was not a joke, then you seriously are a joke to believe that I love anyone, let alone Rukhsaar. Angel.. I don't do love" he caresses my hair softly and I like to believe, affectionately. His words... and his actions are contrasting. I look at his hand caressing my hair, then at his smirking face. Has this man not loved anyone, or anything in his life? Surely he loves his family??

"why do you believe that you don't love anyone? Not even your family?" i ask ... like we are friends or something. We are husband- wife but truthfully we are not better than strangers. So why all of a sudden we are talking like this.... Like we get each other, like we are emotionally close.... As close as he is physically to me at this moment.

He stills his hands on my hair, and after a second of contemplation, he speaks " Family is Blood, Not Love" he shrugs like whatever he said has been instilled in him. Like he believes that to be a fact. "anyways, so as I was saying, Rukhsaar is my wife, but I don't love her" he says and continues caressing my hair. I don't understand this man... he seems to be simple, aggressive warrior with not much complications in life..... but he is the most complicated man I have ever seen.

I am now too curious, and comfortable, to not continue this talk. This is the first time we are talking like normal humans. Not like a King and a commoner... not like a captor and his prisoner. This seems more of a husband- wife conversation... maybe even lovers.....

"Have you ever loved any girl before?" I hesitate and ask. Not sure If he will answer or not. His smirk widens, almost like a wild smile. "tch tch Angel, I am busy conquering the world, Love is for weak people."

His hand slowly slides from my hair to my cheeks, softly caressing them, with his rough calloused hands... it is the first time I am noticing these small details... his calloused hands are the proof of his belief, his hard work, his fights... which mean more to him than any person in this world. I am finally understanding somethings.

I lean into his touch, into his hands like a kitten. I hold his hands on my cheeks and look straight into his eyes, his smirk disappears and his face becomes blank, intense. Our eyelock is broken by a announcement by the Daasis standing on my door, announcing the entry of Rukhsaar Begum, but she storms inside before the completion of the announcement. And stops abruptly looking at us. I know what we look like... two lovers. Her eyes are filled with rage...

I try to push him away as I don't have anywhere to move. But he just doesn't move, not even a centimeter... after all my pushing. He is still holding my cheeks and caging me between him and the wall. He turns his head in her direction. "aaa Rukh! What are you doing here at this time!?" he talks to her like best friends. He even has a nickname for her. I look down, unable to watch their bonding. He forces my face up and smirks "Me and Diya were just having a talk" his words are directed towards her but he is staring at my face.

"Nawaaz! I went to your room, you were not there... your guards told me you were heading to Diya's room so I came here" she raises her voice, maybe she thinks we are too lost in each other to hear her. "Goodness. I am standing here only Rukhsaar, no need to shout! I can hear you perfectly." Nawaaz finally removes his hand from my face and turns towards her. And suddenly I am missing his closeness, his proximity. I wanted him to move when she entered first, but now I want her to leave my room.. she managed to move him away from me with all her shouting.

"Nawaaz you were supposed to come to MY room today!!" she whines like a stubborn child and then suddenly changes her demeanor to a vixen "It has been long since we have talked and you know.. did other things too, it has been months since you went away to seize rule over all those stupid, small kingdoms for our empire."

Nawaaz just smirks looking at her, then turns his head towards me... "You should sleep Angel," he walks away after saying that. Rukhsaar looks at me in disgust... but she smirks with pleasure when she sees my eyes filled with tears... my pale face, the things she said to him playing in my head. The way she said it.... with full rights.. will I ever have that??

The way he left me... on her one call.... The way he walked away on her one request. Will I ever have that? Maybe not.... Because maybe what he said is true... he doesn't do love, and I cannot have these rights, this bonding with him like her, who is his best friend since childhood, his first wife with all rights...... I cannot have these without Love.

The longest chapter babies!!! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and did not get bored...

Sorry for the delay... but i would like to confess that I don't draft my chapters. I post the chapter as soon as I finish writing it. I serve them hot!! ;)

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