A television was playing in the background.

Wait, there was no television in the room.

It had been only a week since Anika arrived at the Singham Estate, but it felt more like eons. Over the week, she had become used to the bedroom suite. Even though the original building was probably built hundreds of years ago, the interiors kept up with the modern times. At least, the master bedroom suite appeared to have been updated in the recent times. The suite had a dedicated area for each function, giving her some space even when he was around.

She opened her eyes as slits, and saw the man at his work desk with his headphones on. He appeared to be very involved in the telephone conversation. He didn’t bother turning towards her, when she got off the bed and walked right past him to the bathroom. She had found the phone call out of the ordinary, because for a change he was talking in long sentences. She had heard him speak on the phone, during the nights, with only single word or curt orders.

She could hear him from the bathroom as he spoke in deep tones in what appeared to be a British accent. His language was fluent, and his tone was well modulated.

Had he taught himself the language by listening to some videos and by reading the books she had found in his room? Or maybe he had a British tutor brought in.

Stepping closer to the bathroom door, she tried to follow his conversation. It was a business conversation, and his voice held obvious authority. She stood close to the door, unable to contain her curiosity.

He seemed to be talking about an agricultural process. Her ears perked up when she heard a few familiar terms. He was speaking about a prototype product he had planted.

A few minutes into the conversation, she felt guilty for eavesdropping, but a moment later she brushed it off. This was for her survival and possibly her family’s survival, too.

She couldn’t believe he kept her trapped in this room for more than a week. Each time he left for the day, she had to stop herself from getting out of the room.

The strong push from the other side of the door brought her out of her thoughts. She almost fell on the bathroom floor when it opened suddenly. She stumbled but held the edge of a countertop on time. She shrunk away from him.

“What are you doing?” he asked with a frown.

Her mind went blank, and she didn’t know how to answer that question. “I-I…”

He waited for her answer with an impatient look. And looking at his scowling face, she felt even more nervous, and cowered over the counter.

“What is wrong with you?” he asked in disgust. “Why are you hiding inside the suite all day? There is a rumor floating around with the Prajapatis that I might have murdered you on our first night.”

Her legs trembled when she heard the word murder. “B-but you told me I had to stay here in the room.”

His frown deepened. “When?”

“On the first night.”

He stilled, and then shook his head briefly. “I have no time for this. Get out of the room and do whatever the hell you want within reason.”

Her heart leaped, and she nodded her head. She slowly stood straight, calculating the path to escape from the bathroom without touching him.

He stared at her for a few more moments, his eyes scanning her body like he was contemplating his next move. She caught her breath waiting for him to do something—like pounce on her or grab her. But he didn’t do any of those things. With another look of disgust, he turned away from her and went towards the exercise area.

She began to hear the loud punching noises where he beat the crap out of a punching bag.

             

*****

 

Zipping through the shower, Anika pulled out a semi-traditional tunic and leggings for her first outing. Her mind was preoccupied with hundreds of thoughts bombarding her at the same time.

Who else lived in the house?

The only relative of his seemed to be his brother.

But there were a lot of other people who had waited for them outside the main door of the Singham house on the wedding day.

Was there at least one person out there who would help me?

She recalled overhearing a conversation the man had on the phone, with his brother. The man was asking his brother to go back to the city. It wasn’t clear why the brother wanted to stay, even though the man had wanted him to leave immediately.

Gathering up the courage she could muster, she opened the bedroom door to step outside. The only time she had wandered around the Singham Mansion was after the wedding. Now, she didn’t know where to go first.

Just as she was about to close the door, her eyes fell on the finished breakfast that sat on the small dining table within the suite. She stepped back inside to gather the dishes, and carried them on the tray, on her way out.

A long breath didn’t help, but she took her first step towards relative freedom.

She was on the top level of the house. A circular corridor led to the stairs. She walked to the railing and looked up to see the source of light. There was a magnificent oil painting on the skylight that was large enough to illuminate the entire interior of the house.

She slowly looked down and saw a couple of men stationed at the bottom of the staircase. Were they guarding her so she couldn’t escape? If only they knew that running away wasn’t an option for her. Her aunt wouldn’t think twice before harming her family the moment she found out.

There were a few other people on the second floor, cleaning and polishing the marble floors. A few of them were moving around, holding things in their hands. She continued walking down the stairs tentatively smiling at every person she saw. They were all looking at her, but none of them returned her smile.

Keeping her back straight, she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Which way to the kitchen?” she asked one of the men, her voice wobbling only slightly.

One of the men reached out to take the tray of dishes from her, but she shook her head. “I’ll take it. The kitchen?”

“Seventh door to the right.” The man pointed in the general direction.

She walked along the corridor, drawing glances from people passing by.

What if no one here ever likes me enough to help me?

Her nervousness came back, and her palms started to get sweaty, making her worried about dropping the tray before she made it to the kitchen.

She stepped into a large room, where over a dozen women were working. They were cutting, prepping the food, and even cooking on several burners of multiple stoves. Anika recognized the woman who usually brought her food up to the bedroom.

When the women noticed her presence, no one uttered a word, filling the air with a tense silence. Fighting the instincts to run out of the room, Anika braced herself and kept walking.

Her steps resounded in the over-sized kitchen. Slowly she placed the tray on a granite counter, before turning to look at the woman who brought her food each day.

Anika smiled tentatively. “Thank you for bringing my meals to the room. I don’t need them brought in anymore. I’ll join everyone else.”

The tense silence was getting thicker, and she didn’t know why everyone looked at her with cold, hostile faces.

What had she done to anger them?

Finally, a woman spoke. She came closer and gave a sweeping derisive look. “Look who decided to finally step out of her room!”

Anika smiled uncomfortably, not knowing what to say. How was she supposed to tell them that she wasn’t staying in her room by choice? That would only make her sound like a liar. Based on what the man had said to her that morning, she realized she might have misunderstood his words.

She cleared her throat. “I’m just here to see if I can help in any way.”

“You think you can take over the house, and rule all of us, just because you are married to Abhay?” the woman hissed.

Anika was taken aback by the sudden unwarranted attack. “I just wanted to drop off the dishes and meet the people here,” she answered quietly.

“Don’t pretend. You are still a Prajapati woman. Abhay had to marry you for his people!”

Anika frowned trying to process her words.

“Don’t try to pretend as though you know nothing! You can’t fool us. We know how the Prajapatis are, and you are definitely one of them.” The woman spat out the words.

Anika wanted to shout back at the woman, telling her that she didn't know anything about what went on between the Prajapatis and Singhams. But she held herself back because she was here to make allies, not enemies.

However, everyone looked as though they couldn’t wait to see her suffer or just die.

“I just wanted to meet everyone in the house,” she reiterated to their hostile faces.

“Don’t try to fool us with your harmless demeanor. We know what the Prajapatis are capable of!” The woman’s voice held a lot of anger and also traces of hurt.

Anika knew she wasn’t going to magically change people’s attitude towards her. So she didn’t waste her time or energy trying to make them understand that she was not out to harm them in any way.

Her shoulders stooped in defeat as she walked out from the kitchen. She went towards the main door, determined to find someone outside, who was ready to speak to her in a friendly tone.

The woman who had been shouting at her followed her out of the kitchen. “Where do you think you are going? How dare you move about like it’s your own home?”

"I just wanted to see outside."

"The Singham Mansion is not your home. It does not belong to a Prajapati!"

“This is her home. She is a Singham now.” The deep, chilling voice that interrupted them, made Anika freeze. It sounded so much like Abhay Singham’s voice, but she didn’t have to turn to know it wasn’t him. She had spent too much time over the past week staying inside her luxurious prison, simply listening to him while she closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

“Dev… I was just… her family is the reason…” The woman’s voice trailed off.

“Do you have any idea what Abhay would do if he found out you are talking about the families and the feud?”

Anika slowly turned to look. The man who spoke was Dev Singham. She had seen him on the day of her wedding, and also heard him speak the night when she had eavesdropped on the conversation between him and his brother.

The woman kept arguing, refusing to give up. “You know why Abhay married her, Dev! But she is acting as though she is a cherished bride and not our enemy. She is trying to take over this house and all of us. She might even spy on us to give information to Prajapati. They'll attack and murder us in our homes—”

“Malini, one more word, and it won’t be Abhay who’ll kill you.I will.” Dev’s voice, although dead calm, held a lot of menace. Instead of being scared of Dev as she did with his older brother, Anika found his defense of her encouraging. Could Dev be an ally?

Malini was watching Dev with a sulky yet scared look. She threw another look of hatred towards Anika before walking away.

“Thank you, Dev.” Anika smiled tentatively, not knowing what to expect from Dev Singham.

Dev’s expression changed instantly. From the cold menace, his face transformed to a friendly one with an easy smile. “Don’t worry about what Malini says. It’ll take time for our people to get used to you.”

They are not my people.

“It’s okay, I understand,” she said, even though she had no clue why the people in the Singham household were angry.

“You will understand them slowly, Anika, but make sure you don’t tolerate disrespect from any of them. Let Abhay or me know if anyone speaks to you in that tone again.”

Her heart thumped as she heard those words. Dev sounded like a logical person who understood people and respected them. He really could be her ticket to freedom.

“Are you going out?” she asked. She saw he was wearing a business suit. It looked odd against the various antiques and also the tall intricate carvings of the Singham house. No not house… mansion.

Dev smiled. “Yes. I’m heading back to the city. Boss’s orders.”

“Boss?”

He laughed. “At least he behaves like my boss most of the time. I’m sure you already discovered by now that Abhay is quite bossy.”

Anika didn’t return the smile. She couldn’t, even though she tried to force herself.

Anika didn’t find her situation amusing. She was being threatened, more or less at gunpoint by Neelambari. Each day Anika worried and feared for her family. And each night, she suffered from worry and fear for herself. She was worried she would be raped by her husband who either threw orders at her, or behaved like he was disgusted by her.

Dev looked at her face and ran his fingers through his hair. “My brother is not that bad, Anika. You’ll get used to him,” he said softly.

She nodded. “Dev… before you go. Can you tell me where is the library?”

Dev broke into another easy smile. “Wow, another bookworm! My brother was the only one in this house until now.” He laughed in amusement. “You’ll find the library on the same floor as your suite. I’ll send someone to escort you.”

“Thank you.”

“Pleasure is all mine, Anika,” he said. “And welcome to the Singham family. I guess I’ll see you in a few weeks. So take care and send out a word to me if you need anything.”

At his offer, she broke into a genuine smile.

Waving a goodbye to her, he left.

A couple of moments later, a uniformed man came towards her and escorted her to the library. She slowly walked into the library, staring at the rows and rows of books that lined the almost forty-feet-high walls.

Oh shit. How am I supposed to find the rest of the journals here?

She spent the next three hours just looking through the catalogs with the list of books. She had to find the remaining parts of the journal that she had been reading, since the previous week. It was written beautifully by a woman named Devasena, who was married to a Singham.

Devasena was a well-educated person, and she led a fascinating life. The first journal and almost three-fourths of the second one as well, contained the details of the Devasena’s girlhood adventures. Devasena was one of the outliers who was trying to make her mark in the obviously male-dominated household. Towards the end of the second journal, details about Devasena preparing to marry a man she had never met were written evocatively.

Anika could not understand why Devasena was looking forward to marrying a man she had never met, purely for the sake of family duty. Devasena had also written about how her would-be husband had a reputation for being brutal, while invoking swift justice.

Just reading about Abhimanyu Singham and his deeds was terrifying. But for some reason, Devasena had written about his brutal acts as though they were something to be proud of. The journal ended the night before Devasena and Abhimanyu’s wedding.

Anika was desperate to find the next volumes. Devasena’s situation seemed so similar to hers when it came to marrying strangers who led a violent and brutal life, yet the feelings they had towards their respective husbands was vastly different.

“Tomorrow, I will be married to Abhimanyu Singham. I feel blessed by the chance given to me to secure the prosperity of the lands for generations to come. I will stand next to the man who has been destined to me through the hundred-year-old tradition. Together we will serve and protect our people. I will be Devasena Singham tomorrow.”

Anika felt the enthusiasm and eagerness that Devasena had felt towards her marriage.

Did Devasena lead a happy life? Or was she killed shortly by her brutal husband after the marriage?

Anika badly wanted Devasena to be okay.