A week later, they arrived to the palace and Padmavati was glad, because every day on the road made Khilji a bit more unbearable.

***

His eyes look for his wife Mehrunisa on the harem part of the palace, ignoring all the music and celebrations for welcoming him back to his home. He looks at every balcony and doesn't see the dazzling gold and red hijab she wears all the time.

He gets off of his horse and enters the palace, fastly running up the stairs to the harem, calling her name.

The maids giggle and hide as they whisper to each other how adorable Khilji is for looking for his wife, ignoring the fact that he just murdered thousands of people to get another one.

‎He enters her room without announcing, finding it empty. The curtains around her bed is drawn, windows are wide open, the wind had blown all the candles out. It's a time for prayer but she prays here, doesn't she?

‎He turns to the maids waiting at the door, asking where she is.

‎"She's not here." They say in unison.

‎"I know that, where is she?" He shouts, slightly losing his temper.

‎"We- we don't know. She just left the room and told us not to follow her." A younger maid stutters.

‎"When?"

‎"Last night."

‎Khilji runs his hand over his long hair, wanting to hang all these maids. "So you didn't see her since last night and didn't bother look for her to make sure she is okay. Are you all dumb?" He says, banging their heads together. Three girls scream in fear and pain, causing Khilji's irritation to reach its peak.

‎"She said that she's going to fast and wants to be left alone." One of the girls said, almost shouting at Khilji's face for him to release her hair.

‎"It's not even Ramadan yet!" Khilji said, releasing them. "Go find her or don't ever come to my sight."

‎They all made a shaky curtsey and went different ways, looking for Malika Mehrunisa in the huge palace.

‎He knows she might be mad at him for not listening to her but would she really leave him? Leave him and go where? Back to the lands of Turks? That would take two months at least. How could a Malika go alone, his Malika?

‎If she left last night, I can still catch her he thinks. What a perfect lie to not to be disturbed. Fasting in a hot summer day for no reason at all?

He enters his chambers and slams the doors shut, telling the guards to leave but a moment later realizes there are no guards.

‎

‎Mehrunisa comes out of the balcony with a homely look, her wavy hair is free of pins and almost reaches her hips. She is wearing a long, plain, light blue dress. She is not wearing any jewelry or her hijab, which worries Khilji.

‎She slightly bends her knees and greets him, raising her hand to her face.

‎"Welcome back to your home, Sultan."

‎He lifts her chin with his finger, taking in her beauty. Her wide, emotional eyes are sleepless. Her full lips and perfectly sculpted cheeks have lost their pink colour.

‎ ‎ Mehrunisa feels the knot in her stomach finally gets loose a bit, seeing his dark, lined eyes wandering all over her again. She inhales his scent even though he basically stinks after a long trip with no bath, but his love for her remains in his aura, not becoming difficult for Mehrunisa to find it back.

‎She lays her head on his chest. "Welcome home."

‎Khilji is surprised by her emotional mood and also relieved that she's here. "Mehrunisa." He says, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Why didn't you show up to welcome me at the hall?"

‎"I've been fasting and praying, I didn't have time for dressing up." She says with a tired but smooth voice.

So, she still doesn't know.

‎Khilji caresses Mehrunisa's hair, imitating compassion for her, knowing why she was praying so much. "It didn't work."

‎ She suddenly steps back from his touch, looking shocked. "What happened?"

‎"The castle burned down. I helped Padmavati out of fire. She owes her life to me."

She feels like collapsing to the ground, becoming one with the earth and just take Alauddin Khilji deep in. She has never been so disappointed in her life, not even when she found out his addiction of women and terrifying pleasures.

‎She loved the young, playful, charming Alauddin and believed the good in him. Everytime he seemed far away from her, she remembered how he used to climb on harem walls every night just to see her face for a few minutes, reading her poems while breathing hard. She used to tell him that there is no other man in the world who could climb this wall with bare hands and he'll be the greatest warrior India has ever seen. She was right about him being a great warrior but was she right about his capability of love? She felt like he would fight the world for her, now she feels like the world actually means nothing without him.

‎She holds on to a chair, no air left in her lungs.

‎Khilji doesn't understand why she doesn't have a problem with tons of women in his harem but Padmavati. What is she even thinking?

‎"She's nothing but a captive and a part of my harem. There is nothing wrong with it, stop worrying on my behalf."

‎"How can you say there is nothing wrong with it? She's a married royal." Says Mehrunisa, finding it difficult keeping her voice down.

‎Khilji feels ridiculous for explaining it to her but does it since she looks so worried. "I saved her life! She was already a widow when I entered the castle."

‎"You killed her husband."

‎"Yes, I did. This is how you win wars and get lands."

‎"Lands of ashes?"

‎"Don't you dare to question your Sultan, Mehru. She's nothing but a slave in this palace, I, Alauddin Khilji own her and will do anything I want with her. You may leave." Khilji says, raising his voice but kindly telling her to leave. Mehrunisa grabs a white dupatta, covering her hair and chest. She goes to the other end of his chambers and looks out of the window, which sees the corridors of harem. "Where is she now?" She asks, keeping her voice hardly calm.

‎Khilji grabs her by the arm, taking her away from the window. "What are you so worried for? Her dignity? Would you like me to take her as a second wife, since she is a former Rajput queen?"

‎Mehrunisa opens her mouth, no words coming out. She tries to set her arm free but fails. He keeps his harsh glare on her eyes, waiting for her response.

‎She glares back at him, her displeasure obvious on her face. "You are not going to touch her."

‎"What do you want me to do? Set her free and let her rebel Hindus against us? They won't have the one percent of this baseless mercy of yours. If they had the chance they would eat us alive." He yells to her face.

‎"Why didn't you let her die then? Do I look dumb to you?"

‎"I'm the Sultan!" he roars, placing his hands around Mehrunisa's neck. She doesn't even flinch.

"Don't question me. You can't question me." He whispers now, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. "I know you are smart, noble and beautiful. This is why you are going to be the mother of my children."

She looks at his eyes, not knowing what to feel. She wants to hate him, set her heart free from his love and stop praying for him, but she can't. She knows, deep inside, she's the only person he cares about.

‎She lowers her head, running low on energy as a result of 16 hours of fasting. "I want her as a maid then. I want her to be under my authority."

‎Khilji starts laughing, surprised. "Why? She probably doesn't even know how to get you dressed."

‎"I'm bored of the ones around me. They are dumb and uneducated. I want company."

‎Khilji remembers how dumb they were and agrees with her. "Okay, Malika Mehrunisa, Padmavati is your servant from now on." He says, smirking.

‎Mehrunisa leaves the room with an expressionless face, saying that she'll have iftar now that sun is about to set.

‎

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