Till Life Bring Us Together... {COMPLETED}

Chapter 45

First and foremost thanks to ArpitaBiswas0  for the lovely picspam above!!!! Hope you guys enjoy.

***

"Ruh Begum! Lady Nadiya slipped and fell. She hurt herself." Ila came running to her that morning.

"What? Is she okay? Is the child okay?" She asked panicking.

"She is, your majesty. But, they suspect your hand at this."

"Ofcourse they do. Quick, bring me my quill and paper. I must write to someone. Go to the bird pen and fetch me a hawk! Make haste!" She ordered.

As soon as her stationary was ready, she began writing to Farookh. She asked him for his well being and for his advice in the matter. She copied the exact same letter and sent one by a hawk to Salim and the other by a messenger to Farookh.

She paced her chambers furiously. Surely, he wouldn't suspect her. She just needed a window of time until a reply arrived from both of them. Her mind was in utter chaos, she didn't know if someone had genuinely attacked her or if she did this to herself.

"Do you know the investigators are suspecting you?"

She shook out of her thoughts startled. She looked at him in shock. Being so deep in thoughts she didn't even know that he had come in.

"I know. Are you?" She asked him.

"Are you what?" He asked in confusion.

"Are you suspecting me?"

He looked taken aback by the question. "Should I?" His tone borderline suspicion.

"Don't answer questions with more questions, Jellal. I have got my answer anyway."

"I trust that you'd never. But, can you convince me that you're not changed? That nothing is changed between us?"

Ruh took a sharp breath. It was as if storm clouds were lingering over them for days and now they were ready to pour mercilessly. "True, I have changed. Convince me that you're not! You've changed too! Your heart changed! Your love changed! In a matter of months!"

"Are you still bashing me for Nadiya's situation? It was one night! One night!" His voice boomed around the room.

"Ahh...but you did forget me that night! All your life, all you have done is only attempt to forget me!" The Nadiya in her spoke.

"No. I tried forgetting you! And whatever happened that night was just a channel for me to forget! What did you expect me to do? You ran away! You left, with a man without so much as a letter. Do you know how many weeks I spent searching for you? How many nights I didn't sleep or how I lived?"

"And I was happy leaving like that? Suffering in that cold mountain alone. I was not vacationing there! I did what I thought was right! And after...our child..." She choked. "I wanted to come back to you! It was for your safety. I did not elope with my lover as you think. I did what I had to do. Do you know how many people are sacrificing themselves to protect you? Salim, me,Farookh, Helen, Ada! Do you?"

"I don't! I don't because no one is telling me why and what you're protecting me against! Ruh begum, aren't you hurting a man's pride here? I am the one who is supposed to protect you and you spent months on that damned mountain and other months being kidnapped by those bandits while I sat here thinking that you eloped. Do you know how disgusting I feel towards myself ? Only to come back and see that I slipped. It was I who made a mistake and I can't even look into your eyes. It's how I feel, Ruh." His voice dripped down to a whisper.