Kaleidoscope

Summary : God help her, she doesn't want to be fascinated by him.

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Their morning begins with an argument, over a cup of tea no less.

"Bloody hell woman!" Veer greets her in the morning. "Whatever did you do with my liquor cabinet?"

Amrit blinks at him, frozen mid movement of wringing water out of her washed hair. Veer has developed this annoying habit of barging inside her room if she ever forgets to lock the door between.

Amrit shakes her head at him and ignores him in favour of marking her forehead with a bindi. It is all distracting work when you have a ranging bull reflected just over your shoulder in the mirror.

"Chaabi dho Amrit," Veer demands, not in any particular friendly approach.

"Haan dungi na, zaroor dungi - if you sit and drink a cup of tea with me first." She tells him, proceeding to wear her bangles one by one. They tinkle against each other and Amrit steals a look at Veer.

"I don't drink tea in the morning."

"Oh that's very sad," she turns to him with a sweet smile. "Aap ko chaabi chahiye na. Toh chaai peena parenga." She proceeds to sit on the low table and pour measured cups of tea. It had been brought in earlier, upon Amrit's request.

"Like you make me have dinner with you everyday I've decided that we shall have tea every morning too, Kuwar sahab." She raises her cup to him in a mock salute, watching him over the rim of her cup as she raises it to her lips. "Aaiye bethiye. Kadhe kyun hai aap?" Her eyes dance in challenge and Veer clenches his fist.

"You will live to regret this -" he fums.

"Filhaal chaai peelaun?" Amrit asks him amused. "How much sugar do you take?"

"No sugar."

"Um hmm, do you want milk or...?"

"Just get over with it already!"

It's so easy to rail him that Amrit has to bite back a smile. She pours a good measure of spiced tea and hands him the cup. Veer's eyes takes the measure of her room as he sips unwillingly.

"Yaheen chupaya hai na - chaabi?"

Amrit shrugs.

"Even if you find the key, who knows if you will find liquor inside it or not?"

"You better hope I will -"

Whatever her fate was to be if he does not, Amrit did not find out that particular morning as instead they were disturbed by a panting, frantic Katham Singh.

He comes to a staggering halt at the threshold to her room, barely holding himself. Even as he bows Amrit could see the stains of hastily wiped tears. Katham Singh was such a childish man, with his heart always ruling over his brain. Following her gaze Veer looked at him over his shoulder.

"What happened?" He asks.

"Chote hukum," Katham Singh says, breathless. "Megha, Megha has fallen into a hunting pit."

Veer's cup rattles in its soucer. He sets it down carelessly.

"Your uncle had taken her out last night despite my pleading not to ride her in the dark and now he - Chote hukum he is going to shoot Megha!"

"Unki ye Majaal!" Veer mutters under his breath as he stands up.

Amrit follows him, failing to catch up with his long strides.
She'd never seen Veer in such a state of distress that he radiated raw malice. It is a scary sight, the way every inch of his person is wound tight like a coiled spring ready to spring, all canons fixed upon chachaji.

Megha it turns out is a black mare, graceful and older. It had fallen rather cruelly and Amrit flinches at the sight. The mare is frothing at its mouth, eyes rolling in pain. It has surely broken a leg, and despite its continuous attempts failed to pick itself up. And that heartless man, who had ridden it to its doom now stood safely at the higher ground with his rifle aimed at the poor animal.

For one horrifying moment Amrit believes Veer would commit murder. He is surely furious enough to. Chachaji is oblivious to their arrival, too occupied with taking aim that he doesn't notice Veer until he had stepped around and grabbed the long barrel of the gun, raising it in the air that the shot is fired to the sky.

A startled scream is torn from Amrit as she watches. A moment's delay would have killed Veer. What was he thinking - stepping in front of a gun like that!

"Veer!" Chacha's mouth twitches. "Have you lost your mind?"

"What are you doing Chacha sahab?" He says instead. "What are you doing with my horse?"

"Oh well," he looks uncomfortable. "I was going to put the poor old thing out of its misery. Thadpa thadpa kar marre isse toh achcha hai ke -"

"Thadpa thadpa ke marre- aaj marre ya kal, iss ka faisla hum karenge. How dare you touch her? Let along ride and hurt her? How dare you!"

His hands fist on his uncle's collar and his voice drops into a hiss.

"Megha humare hai. Usse haat laga kar toh dikhaiye."

"You are forgetting whom you are talking to Veer. I was trying to ease its passing. If you are so possessive about it do it yourself." Chachaji huffed. "Or better yet," he smirked. "Save it. By all means I'm outta here!"

Raising his hands in mock surrender the man steps back and throwing dark looks at all of them walks away.

Amrit watches him go with vengeance. While an animal suffered for his foolishness the man who deserved to be punished walked away unscathed. She clenches her fist trying to rein in her anger. Megha makes a heart wrenching neigh when her eyes find Veer. Veer had dropped to his knees, watching her struggle and failure to rise. She neighs again, pleading, trying to reach her master.

"What are you waiting for, get the boards - she needs them to get out." He frowns at the men surrounding the pit.

"Chote hukum she can't stand -"

Veer's frown deepens.

"What do you think I'm going to do here?" He roars at Katham Singh, before jumping into the pit himself. Both Amrit and Katham Singh make noises of protest. Megha gives an agitated yep, shying away from his touch. She could very well injure him in the trance of her own pain. Veer doesn't seem to care. Instead he reaches and strokes her mane, combing out grains of sands from that impressive black hair.

He is so gentle that Amrit feels her throat tightening. Veer presses the side of his face against the mare's pulsing neck.

"Nothing will happen to you. Hum hai na. Hum hai. Kuch nahi honga," he mutters.

Katham Singh and others return with planks that they lower to the pit. Megha neighs in protest and another stable hand joins Veer in aiding her to get out.

The sun is punishingly hot overhead, cut off only by the thin branches of the woodland. By the time they brings the mare out all the men are sweaty and covered in dust. Despite all their efforts Megha collapses the moment she's back on the high ground. Veer follows her and the stable hand examines the injured hind leg.

"Broken," he shakes his bowed head. "Considering her age, an injury like this would limp her forever even if she's to heal."

"That doesn't matter," Veer snaps at him. "I will tend to her myself, bring me the oils."

"Hukum will you set back the bone? Do you know how to -"

"Rajnawab do I look like a fool to you? Humare sabar ka imtehaan mat lo and do as you are told! Patha nahi kahaan se aate ho tum sab- you can't stop these blasted things from happening and then you can't remedy the situation either. You get paid on time though don't you?"

The man gets so thoroughly admonished that when he returns he doesn't dare to approach Veer. Instead he offers the box that he brings to Amrit with pleading eyes.

Veer doesn't pay attention to her. Instead he opens the box and picks out what he deems to be needed. Amrit watches him work, silent, focused.

This again is a different Veer. One that she hadn't seen before. He stops from time to time to pat the mare, to talk to it with a reassuring tone that it seems to respond to. After a while he looks at her.

"How good are you with horses?" He asks. Amrit is startled.

"Not much. I can't ride."

"We will remedy that one of these days. Can you distract her?"

"Veer - I don't think that's a very good idea," she says hesitantly, not daring to approach the frothing animal any closer. Reaching out Veer grabs her hand.

"Come here!" He pulls her to sit beside him, staring right into those pain hazed eyes of the mare. Those eyes roll, their whites showing - the mare makes a sound and Amrit shivers. Ignoring her, Veer brings her hand that he held to the mare's mane. Together, they stroke the glossy hair now warmed in the sun. Amrit swallows.

Veer's grip on her is strange, his hand large and calloused, yet oddly fitting around her small one. Even long after he had removed his hand, she feels the heat of his palm on the back of her hand.

"There," he says. "Pet her like that. See, she's looking at you. Humari biwi sahab hai Megha, todi darr thi hai tumse. Inne darrana matt hmm?" He says patting the mare. "Bolo kuch," he says to Amrit, who swallows drily again.

"You'll be alright soon Megha," she says haltingly. Feeling it difficult to form words with her suddenly papery tongue. "It's nothing you see in a minute you'll -"

The mare jerks, a loud neigh tears from its wide frothing mouth.

Amrit jumps, stumbles and falls against Veer with a yelp of her own. Belatedly and begrudgingly she thinks that it's all his fault. If he was going to set the bone he should have told her - at least warned her.

He smells like horse, and herbs of the oil in his hands. His sun warmed eyes are tones of earthly brown. Veer steadies her with one oily hand, patting her shoulder awkwardly.

"Shabash!" He says, both to the mare and the woman. Amrit exhales shakingly.

"You are cruel Kuwar sahab, bohut bohut bure ho aap."

Megha adds her own neigh of assent to that. Veer ignores both of them and instead busies himself with cleaning Megha's frothing mouth. He shakes out a blanket and covers the mare with it before patting it again.

"My late father gave her to me," he adds in a softer tone, fingers combing through that glossy mane.

"She's old now, you can't ride her as fast as you could then." Megha licks his hand with a rough swipe of her tongue.

To her surprise Amrit catches the sight of a tear that hangs from his down turned lashes. "There," he says. "Good as new! You are going to get up tomorrow, aren't you girl?"

The mare nudges him with her nose and he chuckles.

"She's saying thank you," Amrit says thickly, unable to help herself.

She wishes he's not as unpredictable as a kaleidoscope or as fascinating. God help her, she did not want to be fascinated with him. God help her, she did not want to be sitting here with her back getting warmed by the sun, dusty, oily and pulse still pounding in her ears, overwhelmed by her own feelings. God help her, she mutters a little prayer and then pretends to herself it is for Megha's benefit.

"Chote hukum? Bahu rani?" A voice calls them from the general direction of the palace. "Rani Sahiba ne yaad kiya. Her new press secretary is joining today, she wishes that the entire family greets him together."

Veer sighs, makes a face and stands up before holding a hand for her to take.

"Challo," he says. Amrit begrudgingly places her hand in his and he pulls her up to her feet. He looks amused. "Kabutarkana awaits."

**