Unveiled

Summary: what kind of a man are you?
The kind you should keep your aashiq away from.

◇◇◇

Instead of their room Veer takes her down an unfamiliar set of steps. Before Amrit started complaining once more, her nose catches the wafting scent of spices and oil.

Kitchen.

Veer had brought her straight to the kitchen.

Veiled women stirring at some large pot scatter as they enter, giggling under their breath. The head cook drops his large wooden spoon.

"Chote hukum," he manages. "Aap yahaan?"

Veer drops Amrit unceremoniously into one of the low benches lining the kitchen walls. There is a huge basket of carrots beside her that he moves to make place for himself.

"Bhai aap ke bahu rani se aur intezaar nahi ho raha," he tells them. "Give her something to eat, we'll be out of your hair."

The head cook smiles indulgently at Amrit.

"What will you have bahu Rani? We are having Italian menu tonight, it shall take a while. But anything you want will be made for you? Bathaiye aap ko kya chahiye? Salad? Paratha? Sandwiches?"

"Ek cup chai banadijiye," Amrit says awkwardly.

"Haan chai. Inki mann pasandh chai. Peete reheti ho subha se shaam thak." Veer scrunches his nose. "No more tea will be given to you." He declares.

One of the women laughs.

"Chote hukum, aap inn par bhi hukum chalate ho?" She asks, all the while her hands never stop. They keep kneading a dough making the task look deceptively easy.

"Haan. Lagta hai, Kaveri kaki inn par bhi hukum chalana parenga."

Veer tells her watching Amrit from the corner of his eyes.

"Yeh Kaveri Kaki hai. Katham Singh ke chachi hai par ma jaisi hai." He adds to Amrit's benefit.

"Aur kabhi kabhi humari bhi." He doesn't look at her, but she hears him all the same. Hears the longing in those words too, unintentionally.

"Ganigama, bahu Rani." Kaveri bows her head. "I've seen you without pallu for the first time. Bohut sundar ho aap. Chaand ka tukada ho jaise."

"Tukada kiyun? Chaand hi toh hai, Chote hukum biha ke le aate warna?" Another woman teases.

"Ab bhi dekho kaise unki najar nahi hatt thi bahu Rani se." The women dissolve into peals of laughter and Amrit ducks her head, drawing lines in the floor with her toes.

It feels strange to be teased about something non existent. She wonders what these women would say if they knew the reality of Amrit's marriage behind closed doors.

You'll be finished. Ma sahab tumhe kahin ka nahi chorenge...

She recalls Veer's words from before. It sounded so much like a threat.

But then, Veer wasn't threatening her. He was warning her. Telling her what was at stake.

Amrit swallows.

She had to keep her distance from Randheer. She had no choice. She couldn't allow Randheer to be used as a pawn in that cruel woman's agenda. Randheer himself wouldn't be able to bear it if he was used to ruin her. No she couldn't - she -

Her thoughts scatter when Veer takes her hand in his. It is only then that Amrit notices she had clenched her fist so tight that her nails had dug into her palm. Slowly, deliberately Veer unfolds her fingers.

"Eat," he says.

Kaveri brings them what surprisingly looks like gobi parata, with generous amounts of yoghurt and butter. Amrit sighs in pleasure. It is too much to hope for a respite from the dinner training but now that Veer himself was releasing her, Amrit wasn't foolish enough to look the gift horse in mouth.

The kitchen staff leaves them to eat, which they do in silence. They might be keeping eye on them but the silence and distance are comfortable enough. Amrit doesn't feel burdened by the presence of these people like she feels at the dining table proper.

She takes a few bites and then looks at Veer, he is munching his own food contemplatively. Amrit couldn't hold her curiosity any longer.

"How did you find out?" She asks. "About Rani Ma -" her voice trails off as Veer looks up.

He polishes his plate in a very ungentlemanly manner and licks his fingers.

"Humne patha karwaya."

"Why?"

"That day at the kuldevi pooja she asked us if we were really married." He clicks his tongue. "That didn't sound right. And she keeps sending people to our rooms, keeps barging in herself. Something didn't seem to fit. I asked that friend of yours - Noor, she managed to find one of the men who brought you."

"And he told you this?"

"I have ways to make people talk." Looking at his eyes, the sinister promise that flickers there Amrit doesn't doubt his word.

"Is he alive?"

Veer bursts laughing over the glass of water.

"Ajeeb mazak karleti ho aap biwi sahab," he says and his smile vanishes. He sets the glass down. "Eat. That is none of your concern."

"What kind of a man are you Kuwar Sahab?" Amrit wonders aloud.

This switching between darkness and light was too rapid for her to keep track of. At least one thing, Amrit wanted not to be confused about. Was he a good man? Or was he devil in human skin - she had no idea.

"The kind you should keep your aashiq away from," Veer replies.

He digs into her untouched paratha and breaks off a piece, which he proceeds to bring to her mouth. "Don't forget what I told you to do - biwi sahab. Hum jitna pyaar karte hai usse kahi zada nafrat kar sakte hai. Humse gaddari karne ke sapno mein bhi matt sochiyenga. Uss ki nateeja aap sehe nahi payengi."

Amrit swallows.

He talks with such deliberate sweetness. This Veer, the terrible one, lies beneath several layers of ice. His tone is soft, words polite but he leaves her no room for second thoughts - he means every word that he says.

"Open your mouth," he says then, nudging at her lips with that morsel of food. "Shabash!"

"Why did you choose me Kuwar sahab?" Amrit asks suddenly. "Apart from using my circumstances to your benefit, why me? I'm sure there are several other women who has worse circumstances. Who will perhaps like to play your fiddle more willingly. Why me?"

"Kissi ki yaad aati hai tumhe dekh kar."

"Who - Anaita?" She takes the name she had heard only in whispers around them. The girl who had rejected him.

Veer smiles and shakes his head.

"Nalini devi."

With that he stands up, makes her stand up as well. His hands remain on her shoulders and he mutters the rest of his words in her ears.

"Haven't you heard? What people hates the most is the uncorrupted version of themselves."

**