Bewitched

Chapter four

Hi,

I confess before you go further, this is an interim chapter. Pritvi doesn't appear here so no interactions of him and Myra. But of cause it is necessary to establish some other key characters that we will need along the way.

I sincerely hope you will enjoy.

CHAPTER FOUR

Broken Princes

The day you walked in, I knew why storms are named after people...

He was stuck in her head as if an old tune that she had picked up passing by. A memory, at the same time a souvenir of a time gone by. To Sanaya Mishra, Sushant Raj Maurya was that part of childhood which she could never really leave behind. No matter how many times he broke her heart or how many speeches of moving on she gave herself.

It was an odd thing, she couldn't forget him even when there was nothing to forget about. No promises, no strings, if there had been it was a sense of belonging that he had snatched from her even without meaning to. It was a terrible thing, when the man who held so much power over you knew nothing of his position. It was a terrible thing, when you can never bury the remains of your love and move on. Sushant was, but a part of her world, Sanaya couldn't cut herself off from Mauryas just because she wanted to run away from pain. They were the only family she had since she was a ten year old.

These days she had taken to wear a stone mask whenever she stepped inside the Maurya Manor, and tried to minimize the time she had to spent in there for whatever reason. Sanaya checked the time on her mobile display for the tenth time in that fifteen minutes as she supervised the arrangements they were making in Saket’s room.

Kaki mom wanted him home. She was right in declaring that there was no care in that hospital which they couldn't provide for Saket at their home. Then there was the secret mission she entrusted to her. Kaki mom believed Priv hasn't really bought the story about Myra being Saket’s girlfriend. No matter how much she hated it, it was Sanaya’s job to rid his room of any evidence that supported Priv’s theory before Priv himself came snooping around.

She had taken a moment to agree to this. Sanaya really wondered if she could ask Kaki mom the real question burning in her head. Finally, knowing from personal experience that pain was better addressed than compressed she had spoken out loud.

“Kaki mom, did Saket...did he really tried to...kill himself?”

Sanaya was prone to handling the scandals of Maurya family from time to time. It was the legacy Anuradha had passed on to her. But she could not bury a skeleton she herself did not know the identity of. She was a curious being and she was aware of the rather dark period of Saket’s life which both of them would rather not address.

Saket was undisputedly the Apple of Anuradha’s eye. He was the youngest and the least bothered with the huge empire he was entitled to. He had detached himself from those affairs in the early years, making a name for himself in the field of abstract arts, catching the eye of certain art dealers and gallery owners in his late teens. Saket was a breath of fresh air amidst them. A handsome boy with a grin plastered on his face all the time...until she had walked in and out of his life.

Sanaya wondered whether Mauryas were unlucky in love. She was yet to see one who had found the bliss all those fairy tales promised at the outset. Since then, Saket had never mended. Although Kaki mom didn't answer her question and had just sighed squeezing her hand, Sanaya knew they both dared to voice that thought. It was a fear they both shared. A storm they both knew was coming. Both of them knew it was only a matter if time before Saket lost the battle to his demons. He was after all a sensitive boy. Regret was painted all over Kaki mom’s eyes. She had been too involved in the cold war between Pritvi and Sushant to watch over her pet, leaving Saket to struggle through the storm himself. Sanaya wished Kaki mom would get a chance to make amends, stitch back the torn tapestry of her family.