Rise of the Devil - Part 8

 

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Chapter 8



Khushi’s POV


Buaji saw me coming out from the Devil’s room and it’s my duty now to ensure she doesn’t misunderstand.

“Buaji please listen to me” I follow Buaji in her bedroom where she wants to lock herself and shut me out which I don’t let her do.

“How many times have I asked you to stay away from him?” She finally shouts and then realizes anyone can hear us. She shuts the door behind me and turns me around.

“I don’t know why you had been there neither I want to know but its high time you realize one thing Khushi. If you want to live happily, you have to stay away from him” 

I still don’t understand why Buaji wants me to stay away from the only man whom my father thinks can protect me by his life? But I don’t let argue over that topic. I have to tell Buaji what I am going through at this moment.


“I don’t want to marry Samrat Gujral”


As if she heard something totally unbelievable, Buaji stares at me confused.

“You don’t want to marry him?” she repeats. “But you are the one who chose him”

“That was a mistake. I thought doing so will..” I pause to swallow the fear which rise in my throat.

“Doing so will what?” Buaji shakes me hard.

“I thought doing so will force the Devil to help me escape” I shut my eyes.

She takes a minute to absorb what I just confronted.

“Escape? You want to run away from this place?”

“I have to Buaji” I nod. “I will go mad if I stay here amidst these people”

“And you will die if you leave this place”

“Maybe I will. But at least I will have no remorse that I never tried to fight for my freedom?”

“What freedom?” Buaji snaps. “Do you even know how bad the outside world is? Only staying independently is not going to give you your share of happiness Khushi. What will you do escaping this place?”

“I am graduated. I can find a decent job for myself. Then date a handsome guy, get married.. Have children.. That’s life Buaji.. That’s the life I have dreamed of”


Buaji keeps staring at me bewildered.


“Dreams” There’s sarcasm in her voice. “Women born or married to such dark families have no rights to see such dreams Khushi. The early you learn this truth, the sooner you can start to adjust. I am not very fond of the Gujrals either but you have made a choice and your father has given them his word. Now its too late”

“It’s not” I argue. “The marriage is tomorrow. I can still run away”

“If you want more bloodshed in this Place, happily run away from here” she shouts again. “What do you think the Gujrals will do if they get to know their would-be bride eloped? They will join hands with your father’s enemies and no one can protect this empire then”


I had never thought of that. The consequences of me running away seems scary and dangerous to my father’s life. God!! What should I do? Buaji strides to me and cups my face. There is no softness in her touch anymore. I know she is angry on me and no longer trusts my future actions.

“You have given a word to marry Samrat Gujral, now respect that and let this marriage happen. I will pray that you get your share of happiness from Samrat in future and stay happy with him, just the way you have dreamed of”

Is she blessing me or warning me? I don’t reply to her yet but when I reach the door to leave for my room, I stop and turn back to her.

“I don’t think the Devil will let me marry Samrat. This time, for some reason, he and I are on the same page. I might still give up fighting, to save my father’s life and his kingdom. But who will stop the Devil, Buaji?”


Fear washes Buaji’s face but I don’t wait to give more explanation. I might have to re-think on my plans. I don’t want my father’s enemies or Gujrals to hurt my father neither I wish to marry Samrat which means I might have to walk to the marriage altar tomorrow and wait for God to show me the right path. But amidst all this, I still wonder what would the Devil do? Will he silently watch me get married to Samrat or is he going to play another round of kidnapping and ensure Samrat never shows up for the marriage tomorrow?


***************

The Wedding day has finally come and I am sitting on the bed, all decked up as a bride in a Maroon Lehenga and my mother’s jewelry. I might not be an over religious woman but I still strongly believe the almighty will shower blessings on me and help me come out of this situation. The door knocks and my father gets inside. This is the first time I am seeing him in an ethnic attire. The off-white sherwani looks great on his skin and the pink turban on his head suits him too. He looks like a typical father who is nervous on his daughter’s wedding. I smile back at him recalling if I have decided not to elope this place, it’s because of him. To save his life.

“You look like your mother today” he says kissing my forehead and admires my face. “If she had been alive, she would have dressed you up and given her blessings too. You won’t believe the day you were born, she had started worrying of your marriage”


A faint smile touches my lips. I wish Mom was alive. She would have definitely read my heart and stopped this wedding from happening.


“What’s bothering you?” Dad asks, as if silently reading my pain.


This is my only chance. To tell him I don’t wish to proceed with the wedding. But will he understand?

“Dad, I..” I show some courage to speak up but the door knocks again and this time its one of his men. I have seen this man mostly with the Devil.

“What is it?” Dad shouts at him. “Can’t you see I am talking to my daughter?”

“Devil wants to speak to you” the man informs.

“Now?” Dad looks annoyed. “The Gujrals are already here and the Mahurat is up”

“He says its urgent” the man adds.

I squirm in my place thinking what can that urgent matter be? Has devil found any clues against the Gujrals which can make my father stop this wedding? Or is this just a distraction to give me time to elope? If it’s the latter, then he doesn’t know I am no longer thinking on those lines.


“Tell him our talks can wait” Dad snaps. “I will speak to him after the marriage”


I am not happy with that neither the man who had come to call my father.

“Sir, please” he insists, surprising me a bit. He might be Devil’s man but my father is Devil’s Boss. If he says anything, they have to abide by it.

“Dad, he is right. Maybe the Devil wants to speak something urgent and..”

“It’s your wedding today. What else can be more important to me than you?”


Dad is in no mood to listen. Buaji is back in the room too now.

“Panditji is calling the bride down” she mentions and reaches my side to take me along.

My heart flutters realizing all the doors of my escape are closed now. Buaji didn’t leave my sight since today morning as if she wanted to ensure that I don’t elope. Least did she know I had changed my decision already after speaking to her last night and my only hopes was the Devil. But I don’t see any action from his end so far. I think I was rooting for the wrong person. He is never going to lose his honesty towards my father even for saving me. But a part of me still hopes he does something.

Dad and Buaji both lead me down to the canopy where Samrat is sitting with his family, waiting for me. As soon as we reach there, Devil blocks our way. He is dressed like usual- black jeans and a White Shirt neatly tucked in with a grey waist coat over it which holds his gun.

“Arnav?” Dad’s threatening tone might be the first ever I have heard for Devil. Otherwise, he is always passive towards his best man. “What is going on?”

“We need to speak”

Dad sighs in disbelief.

“Later. You know how important this marriage is for me”

Dad tries to take me to the Canopy again but Devil blocks our way again.

“We need to speak NOW” he shouts.

There is nothing normal in Devil’s tone. I can sense he is infuriated and trying his best to control his anger. What I am offended about is the way he is treating my father before our guests. The Gujrals stand up forcing my father’s guards and Devil’s security to become more vigilant.


“What is going on Shashiji?” Samrat’s father Umesh Gujaral asks. “Why is he delaying this marriage? And how can he talk to you like that?”

Before my father could respond, Arnav turns to Umesh Gujral and points his finger at her mockingly.

“YOU!! Stay out of this”

This is enough to raise an alert for the Gujral guards.

“Umeshji please” Dad tries to control the situation. “Ignore his tone. Let me speak to him first and then we can start the rituals”

“No” Samrat reaches me. “You are giving your bodyguard more importance over us? What’s wrong with you Shashi Uncle? Have you lost your mind?”

That’s it. Arnav clutches Samrat’s collar pulling him with force.


“One more disrespectful word against him and I will bury you at the same place you are standing right now”

Every single Gujral guard raise their guns on Devil for his actions and all of Gupta guards whom Devil has been training and controlling so far, in turn point their guns on them. If someone doesn’t act sober and back off, my marriage canopy is going to be a war zone.

“Arnav, stop it” Dad pulls Devil forcing him to leave Samrat’s collar.

“You raised your hand on me?” Samrat scowls. “Do you even know who I am?”

Buaji clutches my arm in fear and I am not sure whom is she scared of? For me or the Devil? I am equally tensed but I grip her hand and try to console her. There is pin drop silence around us but I can sense it. This silence wont be for long. Something big is going to happen tonight. I don’t understand where does Devil gets this courage from to challenge my father at times. He knows my father is on the Gujral’s side and even then Arnav didn’t leave a chance today to insult the groom, Samrat Gujral so badly before all the guests.

“Samrat, its okay. I.. I will speak to him” Dad keeps coming between the two to end this fight.

“No Uncle. He has insulted me. I will kill him..” Samrat shouts.


Now I choke. Kill? What the hell is happening here? Devil’s sarcastic laugh fills the air around which surprises even my father.

“YOU will Kill me? YOU?” Arnav mocks. “Look behind you and your petty guards Samrat Gujral. They have guns pointed on their heads. Who do you think is having the upper hand here?”

Samrat goes silent realizing that was right. Each of the Gupta guards had pointed guns on the Gujrals, on their friends, families and their security team.

“So I give you one last piece of advice” Devil adds. “Take the Baraat back. This marriage isn’t happening”

“What?” Samrat and his father Umesh shouts together. “Shashiji what is happening?”

I am suddenly so proud of the Devil that he could stand for me.

“What is wrong with you Arnav?” Dad intervenes. “Do you even know what you are talking?”


Arnav nods sternly and then speaks up.

“Khushi doesn’t want to marry him. Ask her” he states forcing my father to look at me.

“Is that true?”

I bite my lip in fear. This is my only opportunity to stand up for myself and support Devil’s words.

“That’s right Dad” I reply. “I don’t want to marry Samrat. In fact, I never wanted to marry him. I was doing this to..”

“You never wanted to marry?” Samrat interrupts me, very displeased with my statement and his tone proves that. “All these days whatever was happening between the families was a joke to you?”

I am speechless but this is all my fault and I have to accept my mistake and apologize.

“I am sorry Samrat. I have other plans from my life. I don’t think our visions and choices match. I am sorry to waste your time and insult your family but...”

Suddenly, Samrat raises his hand and is about to hit my face. I shut my eyes in the fear of that slap but the next instant, I feel a push as if someone just stood between me and Samrat. When I open my eyes, I see Devil standing between us and he has caught Samrat’s hand. The guards are going insane. A few of Devil’s guards are just waiting for his instructions to shoot. My dad is equally angered by Samrat’s actions.

“Don’t make this mistake ever again Samrat Gujral. Khushi has apologized enough and she isn’t doing that anymore” Devil growls. “Thank your stars I am still letting you and your family go away from Chandra Mahal without any harm. If you don’t leave now, the consequences would be bad”

Samrat shrugs his arm and steps back.


“You are taking enmity from the Gujrals for the wrong reasons. Who the hell are you to warn me that? What is your relationship with Khushi that you are risking your own life for her?”

Samrat’s questions are valid and each and every pair of eyes from the dark world of my father is witnessing this scene with unknown dread. I stare at Devil, waiting to hear his reply and the next instant, before anyone could even think what his actions would be, Devil picks some Sindoor from the plate and fills my Maang (forehead partition), scaring, shocking, surprising everyone around. I feel my heart sinking. Buaji gasps in shock and my father almost stumbles behind. But I am unable to make any movement. Did he just do that? Before all these people? How? I am frightened by the glare that he gives me before turning to Samrat Gujral and his family to reply.


“She is my wife now and I AM THE DEVIL KING.. ARNAV SINGH RAIZADA” 

King? DEVIL KING? What kind of designation is that? The moment he utters this line, everyone present in the room, including friends, family and the guards from both Gujral and Gupta side, bow their heads before him.. before ARNAV… WHAT THE HELL!! Why did he call himself Arnav Singh Raizada? Isn’t he Arnav Malik? I recall faintly one of my friends telling me years ago about this term.. DEVIL KING… Which meant the Head of the family who started this Dark World… from where this dark world originated. ARNAV is THAT Devil King?



To be Continued.

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