Page 243 of Rudra Nandani: The Saga of Control And Seduction

But slowly, it passed.

Rudra took care of me the whole time. I could see the subtle guilt in his eyes, but I felt none. I was proud of what we shared, happy that I had given him something no one else could.

He didn’t touch me again for the next fifteen days, but the days we spent together were peaceful, filled with love. In the day, for the world, we were Ranaji and Ranisa, but in the night, we were Rudra-Nandani, two people who burned for each other, who were the fuel and fire for one another, who were each other’s world.

Things in the kingdom began to settle, and peace treaties were gradually established.

I tried to talk to him about his Maasimaa, and after four months, he finally told me.

“What happened to her?” I asked, my curiosity growing.

He looked at me, irritated.“You don’t want to know, Nandani,”

“I do,” I insisted.

He exhaled in frustration and lay back on the couch, his head resting in my lap. His fingers intertwined with mine over his chest. The size of the couch made him look cramped, and his legs hung off the edge.

He closed his eyes for a moment before speaking,“She killed herself,”

I froze, shocked.“What?”

He opened his eyes, looking at me with pain.“It was ugly,”

I was stunned.“What do you mean?” I asked.

He inhaled deeply, his gaze lowering to somewhere beyond me, and then he began.

“The one who opened the doors to the ninth chamber for Surgami Dev Singh was her. She ran away after that, and it took a month for our soldiers to find her. When they did, they brought her to me. I tried to make her see the gravity of what she’d done. She wouldn’t listen. She said that you were the reason I changed. She hated you and even me. I wanted to forgive her. After all, she was like a second mother to me. But she asked me to choose between her and you. It tore me apart, Nandani. I never wanted to be in that position. But I chose you. I chose my future. I chose our life together,”

He paused, his gaze distant.“I know it was selfish. I felt guilty for abandoning my past, but the moment I came back from that river, I was a different man. I couldn’t live in two worlds anymore. I was ready to forgive her, but she couldn’t let go of her hate for you. And for me. She never forgave me, and I had no choice but to keep her under watch. Three months ago... she killed herself,”

“And you didn’t even tell me,” I said, anger bubbling in me.

He sighed and sat up, his posture tired.“Because the fire wasn’t yours to handle,” he said quietly. I felt a tight knot in my chest.

“But I didn’t want her dead. Yes, it was my burden, but I could have talked to her. She was important to you. She was someone in my life, too, even if only as a negative figure. Still, she meant something,” I said, my voice soft but laced with anger.

He stared at me, his frustration thickening the air between us.“What could you have said to her? She made me choose between you and her. She wasn’t sorry for a damn thing she did. She flooded our minds with hate. She ruined the lives of three kids,” hespat, his words heavy with resentment.

I clenched my fists, trying to control my rising anger.“The hate she built was the very fire that forged you, Rudra. It made you who you are today. God knows where you'd be if she hadn’t given you that reason to live,”

“I didn’t want that reason!” he thundered, standing up abruptly.“I never wanted that fire. If I’d known my father was such a bastard, I would’ve killed myself before becoming the man I am. I didn’t want that life, not the struggles, but the title. I didn’t want that hate. If I could, I would’ve erased it all, disappeared, and never been known as the son of Surya Dev Singh,”

His voice trembled with raw pain, but I pushed forward.“But she deserved something better from you, Rudra. Despite everything, she raised you. She fought for you and your brothers. And you, you just let her die like that, alone,”

He glared at me.“And now you’re taking her side?”

“No,” I snapped,“I’m taking the side of a woman who gave her everything to you. A woman who, yes, made mistakes, but who raised you and protected you, sleeping with, god knows, how many men. Who fought for your survival, for all of you,” my voice cracked as I spoke.

His nostrils flared as he stepped closer.“She played with my life, of three innocent kids’lives, using them for twenty years. We were just a pawn, even so, I was ready to give her everything,” His words were sharp, cutting through the air.

“You should’ve told me, Rudra,” I said, my voice quieter but filled with intensity.

“No,” he retorted sharply,“This was my battle to fight. She messed with my life, and I had to make a choice. I couldn’t let anyone else in,”

“And I am your damn wife, Rudra! Not just a wife, but the Queen of this kingdom. You think I didn’t need to know?” My voice rose, a battle of wills escalating between us.

His expression hardened.“Yes, you are the queen, but this was mine to handle. You’ve always hated her, so why act like you care now?”

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