Till Fate Tie Us Together...

Chapter 21 : Monster

A/N: Comment. And read the ending authors note. IMPORTANT.

          The boy cried harder as he couldn't get down from the tree. "Brother? Help me, please..." He wailed.

       His twin brother just chuckled and watched him with an amusing smile.

      "What is happening here?" Came in the boys' elder sister. Looking at her brother on the tree, she understood. "Jump down. I'll catch you." She said. The boy hesitated. "Come on, don't fret. I will catch you." She said again.

    The boy jumped and she moved back, letting him fall to the ground. She looked at the other twin and smiled, "And that's why, you should never take someone else's things." She said and the boy standing beside her nodded.

****

Ada woke up the next morning feeling upset. She was sure, that wasn't how she was supposed to feel. But when she had pried her eyes open in the morning and her mind had adjusted to being awake, a gloom settled on her chest, the part where her heart was. She adjusted the covers around her torso and sat upright, her partner in last night's endeavour was absent. That struck a chord in her, well, she hadn't expected him to stay but his absence was something she hadn't expected too.

As she came back from her bath, she saw maids. She frowned. Too many of them. They were carrying platters and platters of dresses. She looked at her simple garb, they were nothing like what she was wearing. They were silk, lined with embroidery in golden thread, studded with pearls and diamonds. The jewellery was enough to dress 20 maidens. All intricate and highly in vogue.

A maid stood in front of her, extending a platter with a silver tumblr. Ada arched her brow, "What is it?" She asked, eying the brownish concoction inside the tumblr.

"It's a medicine for ensuring a male child, it is Vàlidà Begum's order that you drink this every morning, in empty stomach."

       She swallowed the liquid in a gulp. She didn't want to get on Valida Begum's bad side, again. She refused to wear the garments and accessories her mother-in-law had sent. And she stepped out. Asking a maid about Jellal's whereabouts, she proceeded to walk towards his chambers.

       The maids looked skittish, almost as if...She slammed the doors open and her husband still lay asleep. Picking up an askew chalice, she smelled it. She threw it as hard as she could, it clattered loudly, but still didn't wake him up. He was drunk. Again.

         She hadn't expected this. Something that was burdening to her, now was suffocating. She doubted, if he would even remember what happened last night. He won't. She knew he won't. She backed away, trying to leave the room and her feet hit a scroll. She picked it up and read it,

      To,
             Emperor Salim...

    She rolled the scroll up again. It was a letter addressed to Salim. How had it come here? She wondered. She clutched the letter in one hand and with the other, she raised her skirt and made a path towards his chambers.

As soon as she was announced, she entered and saw him walking towards the other side of the table. He placed both his hands spread on the edges and looked at her. Ada had braced herself for fire and hate. There was no way, he wouldn't've known what happened last night. But his calm demeanour shocked her. Infact, his juniper eyes were veiled. There was something he was hiding.

"What is it, Ada Begum?" He asked in all seriousness.

"Oh? This letter..." She placed the scroll on the table. His eyes darted to the scroll and back towards her. "It was in Jellal's chambers, for some reason."