“What’s so funny?” Anika asked when the sounds of giggles made her look up.

The two teenage girls continued to giggle.

Anika was in the yard planting medicinal herbs. Meena and Sonu were her usual helpers during the yard work. She had grown rather fond of them in the past few days.

Anika smiled. “Tell me so I can join you girls.”

Their giggles broke into laughter as they pointed towards the top of the building.

“Huh?” Anika looked up, and immediately her eyes fell on the tall figure leaning against the balcony wall looking down at them. She felt an unexpected zing pass through her, when their eyes met. The man stared at her for a long moment before gesturing her to go up to him.

She was almost tempted to shake her head no, but she knew that would only lead him to come down to her and drag her upstairs. It would only piss him off more.

“You two stay put and finish up. I will be right back.” She dusted her hands and stood up to leave.

When she reached the room, she took a deep breath before entering into the lion’s den.

“Close the door,” the man said quietly. His back was facing her as he was taking something out of the safe. Despite spending a lot of time in the room, she hadn’t realized there was a safe within. She closed the door and turned back towards him. She froze when his eyes were on her muddy shoes.

“Umm… I was working in the yard… ” she explained unnecessarily even though he had seen her from the balcony.

He held a large velvet rectangular box in his hands giving her his usual expressionless look. “Wear this to the temple next week.”

Carefully, she took the box from his hands and opened it. She gasped looking at the beautiful necklace. She wasn’t a jewelry person, but the intricate carving and the precious stones embedded within took her breath away.

She recalled reading in Devasena’s journal about the custom of exchanging gifts on the twenty-first day of the wedding, and then also the ceremony they needed to perform at the temple.

Abhimanyu Singham had custom ordered a breathtaking necklace for his wife, and in return, Devasena had gifted him a jeweled hunting knife.

Anika recalled how excited Devasena had felt on that day.

“Thank you,” Anika said softly. “But I don’t have anything to give to you.”

A surprised look passed on the man's stern face for a moment. “I guess I’ll survive,” he said tonelessly.

Anika compressed her lips to avoid snapping at him. What was she thinking? She had been reading Devasena’s journals so much that sometimes she mixed up their worlds. Unlike Abhimanyu Singham who was a fierce yet loving husband, Abhay Singham was just a bullying ass. She had been trying to keep out of his way the entire week, but all she got from him were sneers and more threats thrown into the mix.

“I need you to behave at the temple. I want you to convince everyone this marriage has been consummated, and we are actively working on conceiving an heir. If anyone thinks otherwise, I might have to make it real. Do you understand?”

She hated the thinly veiled threat and bit her lip from stopping herself from lashing out at him.

“Well?” he demanded.

“Yes!” she snapped, unable to keep quiet anymore.

She expected him to say something nasty to frighten her, but surprisingly, his eyes looked amused. “I think I like this version of you better.”

After saying those cryptic words, he strode out of the room. Moments later, she heard him barking out orders.

Once his voice completely faded away, she carefully placed the jewelry box on a chest within the closet, and returned to the yard work.

 

*****

 

Over the next few hours, she continued planting the herbs based on Arundhati Singham’s book. When she was finishing up the last of the plantings, she noticed a lot of buzz outside the house where people were gesturing and talking frantically.

“What’s happening?” she asked, looking at some of the tense faces.

“They lit a fire to the warehouse and destroyed most of the grains.” An older woman looked devastated.

“Who lit the fire?”

“Those rabid dogs! The Senanis.”

Anika’s heart jumped when she heard that name. Devasena was a Senani who was married to a Singham. Why were the Singham’s and Senanis at war?

“Will the farmer’s families suffer because of this?” Anika knew the area already suffered from drought. To have something as precious as grains destroyed would be truly devastating.

“No. Abhay always makes sure that farmers and their families don’t suffer. But we all worked so hard, and Abhay had also put in his sweat to grow the drought-resistant crop. It took just a few minutes for the Senanis to destroy the fruits of our hard work.”

“I’m sorry,” Anika said softly, meaning it. “Let me know if I can help in any way.”

The old woman looked at her with a sad smile. “You are kind. You remind me so much of Arundhati. She was also a very kind-hearted woman. Everyone adored her.”

Anika was curious, but she stopped herself from asking more. She recalled Abhay Singham’s reaction when she had inquired about his mother the last time.

Soon it was dark. Anika went up to her room after dinner. She hadn’t been able to spend much time in the library that day due to the yard work. She headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower, but as soon as she stepped into the bathroom, her eyes fell on the large bathtub.

All the minor aches she had acquired due to the yard work that day seemed to twinge at the same time. Sighing, she decided to run a bath knowing the man wasn’t going to be back anytime soon. She sprinkled the bath salts into the water, stripped off her clothes, and stepped into the bath.

She groaned as she stepped into the warm water that soothed her sore muscles. The sweet smell of the lavender in the salts transported her to a happy place. She rested her neck against the rounded edge of the tub, and slid lower into the water. Her eyes rolled shut as she relaxed her mind and body.

Moments later, a loud crash stripped her of the brief peace, and she opened her eyes to find Abhay Singham standing at the doorway.

The sight in front of her, made her shrink and recoil in horror. The obvious stains of dried blood were splattered all over his face and clothes.

She tried hard not to scream in fear.

He began to remove his clothes. When he was completely naked, he walked into the shower.

She lay still in the bathtub trying not to give away her presence. But her trembling caused ripples in the water.

His head was bent down as he let the steaming hot water spray on top of him.  She couldn’t see him clearly through the mist, but she could feel the palpable anger and tension radiating from his body.

“Fuck!” he growled out loud followed by his fist banging onto the glass wall of the shower. He banged it several times making it vibrate with loud sounds threatening to shatter it.

Each time, his hand connected to the glass, she jumped.

Finally, he stopped banging, and all she could hear was the heavy breathing. She quivered, unable to move, her mind frozen with fear.

Just a few hours ago, she thought he was almost human, but now all she saw was a violent monster which brought her crashing back to the reality. Her fear and insecurity choked her while she felt the strong urge to hide underwater as he continued washing away the blood next to her.

After several moments, he stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips.

Just before he was about to leave the bathroom, he turned and looked straight into her eyes.

She thought she would almost pass out with fear, but he turned back and strode out of the bathroom, making her break into relieved sobs.