Indian Queen Of Roman Crown (completed)

Chapter 14

        After the little encounter with her sister- in- laws , Ritha came back to feed Justus and the scene ahead caused a grin to spread on her lips. Her husband was trying to make Justus eat but the little boy was adamant to wait for Ritha. 'Her husband' this adjective sounded so foreign to Ritha because till now, they didn't even have a civil conversation so friendship or some sort of cordial bond was out of question.

Undeniably, he was a very attractive man but his attitude was something which Ritha could not stand . She pondered over the promise which she made to her father in law which was to support her husband and she was determined to fulfil it keeping aside their differences.

  When Augustus saw Ritha standing and thinking about something, he could not stop admiring her beauty and maturity. He was amazed to see her acceptane to be Justus's mother instantly without asking even a single question . He saw the loving look in her eyes for Justus and was proud the way she stood for him. This lady's behaviour was out of his mind's dimension as she was very unpredictable to him.

  Though he was not interested in anyone after Valentina's death, he was used to compliments coming from ladies. He had women lined up for marriage but he or his father never approved of anyone .He was beyond shocked the day his father asked Ritha to marry him.

      The thing which surprised him the most was that he never caught Ritha blushing, admiring or secretly glancing at him because women were affected by his presence. Thie 'yellow fabric' was always in angry mood with him but very loving towards Justus. 

     He removed these thoughts from his mind because more serious matters demanded his attention at the present moment . He cleared his throat which caught Ritha's attention . Justus instantly brightened up and went in Ritha's arms .She just nodded at Augustus and fondly took little boy from Augustus's hand. Augustus too had to look at his army so he returned Ritha's nod ,kissed his son's forehead and took his leave from there.

      Ritha was smiling and laughing looking at little Justus. She felt an inner satisfaction seeping in her heart which was very new to her. After eating from his mother's hand, little Justus's attention drifted to Ritha's pendant and he started juggling it .
 
      A gust of memories hit Rithambara looking at the pendant which she received from her father  at the age of five . She had faint memories of that day in her mind as it was for the first time when she picked up the sword and went for training with her brothers. Though she was a little child, she took great interest in all the commotion happening around her and tried to imitate Shauryaveer's action. She was a bit hesitant as she had the fear of getting cuts but still she tried. Maharaj was still proud of her and gave his pendant to Ritha and said, "dear Ritha, never be scared. Our fear is our biggest enemy. Today the fear of getting small cuts is stopping you from learning sword fighting which will protect you from bigger wounds ."

This little advice by her father became the principal of Ritha's life. She never hesitated to try something new from the fear of failure . Once again, life has put forward a new challenge for her in form of marriage.

Being married to a complete stranger who had a child from his previous marriage was little disturbing for Ritha. To be precised, she wasn't even prepared for marriage but here she even became a mother within a day. She didn't know much about husband wife relation or love because it was something which never caught her interest.

         The pendant which Maharaj gave her had the incarnation of Lord Shiva on it and was something very close to Ritha's heart but when she saw her heart smiling and giggling in her arms , she took out her pendant and tied it around Justus's neck.

Justus stopped laughing when he saw Ritha tie the fascinating thing around his neck and with curiosity looked at his mother . Ritha smiled at her and said in a very emotional tone, " May Lord Shiva protect you from all the evil eyes , my son. "

Again some motion behind Ritha caught her attention but this time she played smart and inspite of turning back, she lifted one of the silver plates from table which worked as a mirror .

     Ritha keenly observed the spectator who had it's face covered with a scarf just leaving  it's eyes to be visible. Ritha's attention drifted to the spectator's hand because apart from eyes, only the hands were visible which were holding the wall . She came to a conclusion that this hands belonged to a woman as it was slim. It was useless to go behind  her as she would disappear again so Ritha just smirked. She raised her fingers and did 'I'm watching your every move' action by directly glaring in her eyes.

  As soon as the intruder saw Ritha doing that motion, she disappeared leaving behind Ritha with tons of questions. She decided to discuss it with Cato.

                Suddenly, Justus laughed and shouted  startling Ritha , "uncle Marcus! Look! God sent my Ma back.  She scolded  Romeo when he was mean to me and she is also feeding me. " Justus couldn't contain his happiness after seeing his uncle and wanted to share all the details with him.

Ritha heard a manly laugh. Keeping down the silver plate, she looked up to see a man with same blue eyes as prince Augustus. He curtly nodded at her and introduced himself , "Your highness! In this temporary world, I go with the name Marcus . Well to be more accurate, prince Marcus, the youngest son of King Atticus and brother of your husband. Father told me about you . Pardon me, I was not able to welcome you in the palace as I had my music practice. By the way, could you please tell me your name again. I have a bit if trouble in pronouncing it. "

Ritha just smiled at his way of introduction and politely spoke ,"in this temporary world, I go with the name Ritha. Well , to be more accurate, Rithambara, daughter of Maharaj Vikram Singh Rajput and wife of your brother ."

  Marcus laughed heartily and said, "well, my lady, you are very witty and beautiful. Best for my brother and this little boy over here. You have my approval to marry my  brother Augustus tomorrow . "

  Ritha grinned and said, "thank you Marcus. I'm so humbled that you gave your approval to marry my husband."