The moment they crossed the threshold into the quiet sanctuary of their private suite, Devika's focus immediately drifted straight to the mahogany desk where the administrative files had been stacked the previous night. Behind her back, Rajveer casually reached out with a fluid, silent motion, closing the double doors and turning the brass lock.
"Are? File to humne yahin rakhi thi," she said absentmindedly, her fingers shuffling through the dense stacks of leather-bound state ledgers, completely oblivious to her husband's plans.
"Haan, kal raat to yahin thi jab Vikram le ke gaya tha. Pata nhi Kahan gyi?" he murmured smoothly, closing the distance between them with slow, silent strides until his towering frame was casting a complete shadow over her back.
Before she could calculate the loophole in his statement or turn around to face him fully, Rajveer leaned down, ducked his head straight toward her cheek, pressing his own crimson-painted skin firmly against hers to transfer the color.
Devika froze instantly, her breath catching sharply in her throat, her eyes widening in absolute, unadulterated shock. Before her brain could even process the electrifying warmth of his skin against hers, Rajveer smoothly shifted his head, rubbing his other painted cheek against her remaining clean one.
"Hume bhi challenge dena mehenga padta hai!" he whispered raspy and low against her ear, his eyes overflowing with a dark, captivated victory as he stepped back to admire his masterpiece.
Devika stared at him, her face a portrait of stunned, breathless, yet extremely happy disbelief. Her cheeks were now perfectly flushed with his red color.
"Teri to—" she murmured under her breath, a brilliant, dangerous smirk bursting across her lips.
Without a single millisecond of hesitation, she marched directly towards him. Her hand skillfully slid into the deep utility pocket of her white anarkali suit, her fingers instantly grabbing a hidden fistful of dry color from it. Rajveer's jaw dropped a fraction, utterly stunned by her terrifying, always-ready weapon habit—the girl literally carried a tactical supply of gulaal in her pockets.
He immediately ducked his head with a breathless laugh as she lunged forward, her fingers attempting to aggressively smear the pink powder across his jaw. Devika grinned wildly, her silver anklets jingling a furious rhythm against the floorboards as she launched an all-out, close-quarters counterattack against her King.
---
With their chaotic colour play picking up speed, it soon came to a moment where Rajveer had to use his sheer physical advantage. He lunged forward and firmly grabbed both of her slender wrists, pinning them securely against the cold sandstone wall behind her to halt her relentless counterattack.
Devika continued to smile wildly up at him, her body squirming as she tried to cut out from his iron hold. But her movements slowly ground to a complete halt as the playful adrenaline faded, replaced by the heavy, sudden realization of just how close they were standing.
Her white anarkali suit was flush against his kurta, and the space between them vanished entirely. In the quiet sanctuary of the locked room, they could both distinctly hear the rapid, hammering rhythm of each other's heartbeats.
They stood completely captivated in the stillness of the moment, the air thick with unspoken gravity.
Slowly, Rajveer's dark eyes drifted down to her rosy lips, then back up to her face, silently questioning her for permission.
Devika didn't look away. She gave it to him completely with her big, round eyes, which were currently busy adoring every single sharp, painted line of his handsome face.
He gently, breathlessly ducked his head down to her lips. Devika's long eyelashes fluttered shut as she leaned into his solid warmth. Their noses brushed softly in the dark shadows, their breaths mingling, and—
RING! RING! RING!
The sharp, digital blare of his stupid phone violently sliced through the romance, shattering the spell in a single fraction of a second.
Devika's eyes snapped open immediately. She couldn't help but burst into a loud, melodic giggle at the ultimate, tragic moment-crasher, playfully ducking her flushed face straight into his broad shoulder to hide her laughter.
Rajveer didn't let her go; his arms naturally shifted around her frame, his long fingers beginning to absentmindedly rub her dark hair. However, his face was a portrait of pure, unadulterated fury as he cut his eyes down to the vibrating device on the desk.
He gave his phone a dark, icy gaze, silently delivering a lethal death threat to both the electronic instrument and the absolute idiot who had dared to dial his number at this exact second.
It was his Baba Sa, calling them downstairs.
---
The moment they finally cleared the final delegate from their suffocating official schedule, the King and Queen of Jodhpur didn't wasted a single fraction of a second. They dropped their formal royal postures, slipped away from Dadi Sa's radar, and bolted out toward the sprawling, sunlit back gardens.
They moved with stealthy, practiced precision toward the secret, overgrown corner of the palace grounds—a secluded grove surrounded by ancient sandstone arches where the younger sibling brigade had set up their primary base of operations.
The distant, chaotic echoes of roaring laughter, splashing water, and high-powered pichkaris guided them straight to the target area.
Spotting a heavy industrial water pipe connected to the main garden valve nearby, Devika threw a wicked smirk at Rajveer. Without an ounce of hesitation, she lunged forward, grabbed the massive brass wheel, and twisted it completely open, setting the water pipe on absolute, terrifying full force.
WHOOSH!
A massive, roaring torrent of cold water blasted straight into the center of the grove, instantly blind-siding the unsuspecting sibling brigade. Jai, who had been lazily reloading a water balloon, was violently knocked off his feet by the sudden deluge, while Avani and Sugandha screamed in sheer, ecstatic panic as the high-pressure spray completely drenched them from head to toe.
The brothers and sisters frantically blinked away the water, spun around to find the invisible attacker, and froze.
Standing behind the nozzle was their chaotic Queen, howling with boundless, bubbly laughter, while their strict, towering Maharaj stood right beside her, his hands tucked casually in his pockets, his handsome face splitting into a broad, breathless, and incredibly proud smirk at his wife's ambush.
"BHAIYA!!! BHABHI!!!" Jai bellowed at the top of his lungs, his voice bursting with pure, unadulterated ecstasy as his face lit up.
The entire sibling brigade instantly jumped in absolute happiness, celebrating the magnificent fact that their boring, disciplined rulers had finally broken protocol to join the madness. But the celebration lasted for a single millisecond before their battle reflexes kicked back online.
"POKEMONS, ATTACK!!!" Vikram roared, signaling the counter-strike.
The brothers and sisters mobilized in a flash, coming at the couple with an unstoppable, full-force onslaught of colors. Harsh and Vikram aggressively snatched up massive, overflowing buckets of bright indigo water, sprinting across the grass to launch the liquid straight over Rajveer's white cotton kurta, while Jai, Avani, Tara, and Sugandha dove onto the ammunition mats, scooping up giant fistfuls of loose magenta and emerald green powder.
"Itni jurrat!" Devika squealed happily, dropping the pipe as Jai ruthlessly lunged forward, forcefully smearing a thick, wet paste of green gulaal completely across her flushed cheeks and into her braided ponytail.
Rajveer didn't stand back like a frozen monarch. The concrete walls of his introverted persona were entirely obliterated under the bright March sun. With a booming, rich laugh that tore straight from his chest, he stepped directly into the flying cloud of crimson dust, his arms reaching down to scoop up a massive bucket of yellow turmeric water to retaliate against his younger brothers.
The secret garden erupted into a chaotic, beautiful war zone of flying powders, splashing water, and breathless, roaring giggles—the heavy royal burdens of the past months completely melting away under the absolute warmth of their shared family fire.
---
The next morning at the grand dining table, the silence of the royal breakfast hall was instantly shattered by an absolute, uncontrollable explosion of laughter.
Jai and Sugandha had just appeared at the threshold, and the sight of them was nothing short of a spectacular comedic disaster. Sugandha's entire left cheek was stained a deep, blazing crimson, while Jai looked even worse—both of his cheeks were completely covered in a thick, uniform mask of bright red color that made him look like a theatrical clown.
The duo marched into the room, fiercely glaring at Devika, who was sitting comfortably in her chair, completely serving as the ruthless criminal behind this masterpiece. Devika was laughing mercilessly, her shoulders violently shaking as she leaned back, totally enjoying the absolute fruits of her labor.
This was the special formula she had meticulously prepared back on Holi morning. She had mixed an organic paint that was so incredibly stubborn it would flatly refuse to leave its mark on human skin for almost two days, no matter how hard a person scrubbed with soap and warm water.
Jai slammed his chair back and sat down with a dramatic, heavy huff, crossing his arms aggressively as he leveled his sister-in-law with a deeply betrayed look. "Yeh bilkul na-insaafi hai, Bhabhi! Hum college student hain, kal hume college jaana hai! Is bandar jaisi shakal ke saath hum kaise jayenge, bataiye?!"
Sugandha, frantically rubbing her crimson cheek with a damp napkin to zero effect, whimpered in mock-sorrow. "Aur humne to aapka kuch bigada bhi nahi tha, Bhabhi! Harsh bhaisa ko maarna chahiye tha aapko!"
Devika wiped a tear of pure joy from the corner of her big, round eyes, her brilliant, dimpled smirk widening as she casually picked up a piece of toast. "Are, to humne tum dono ko alag-alag thodi na ranga tha? Humne to Jai ko ranga tha, aur tum shaam ko uske kandhe par sir rakh ke so gyi... to rang apne aap transfer ho gaya! Isme humari kya galti, sweetie?!"
---
The heavy evening shadows stretched long and grim across the grand sandstone hall, painting the ancient pillars in shades of dark amber. Rajveer sat at the massive mahogany table, adjusting his gold cuffs while systematically verifying a mountain of state revenue documents with Baba Sa. The atmosphere was deceptively tranquil, the rhythmic scratching of fountain pens on parchment forming a steady, comforting hum.
Then, the world shattered.
The heavy double doors of the upper chambers flew open, slamming against the stone wall with a terrifying, hollow bang that echoed violently through the entire palace. Before Rajveer could even look up, Vikram's panicked voice roared from the gallery staircase, stripped completely of his usual calm composure.
"Bhabhi, do minute shanti se pehle baat to sun lijiye!"
Rajveer snapped his head toward the grand staircase, his eyes narrowing instantly.
Devika was marching down the marble steps, looking furious as hell. Her unpinned, long hair was flying aggressively around her face and shoulders, moving with the raw, untamable momentum of her fast, heavy strides.
Vikram was scrambling down right behind her, his hands extended into the air, desperately attempting to construct a physical barrier to block her path.
"Bhabhi, please!" he called out again, his chest heaving.
"Chup ho ja yaar!" Devika scolded viciously, refusing to break her stride or look back at him for a single fraction of a second. She marched past the landing, her jaw locked into a deadly line as she headed straight toward the front iron gates of the palace.
"Ek minute, kya ho raha hai yahan?" Rajveer demanded, his imposing frame standing up from his chair in a single, fluid motion.
Vikram practically threw himself down the final steps, skidding to a halt near his older brother. His face was a sheet of pure white, his lips trembling as he leaned in and whispered,
"Dada sa!"
"Kya?!" Rajveer exclaimed, a cold, dangerous fury spiking in his chest. He drove a lethal, murderous glare into his younger brother, silently demanding how could he spill the beans so fast.
He didn't wait for Vikram's response. He lunged across the hall, intercepting Devika just two feet away from the exit, his fingers snapping out to firmly lock around her wrist.
The exact millisecond his grip closed, Devika violently yanked her arm back, her knuckles turning white as she tried to wrench herself free without looking at him.
"Baat suniye pehle, Devika!" Rajveer said, his deep voice dropping into a stern, authoritative frequency.
"Kya sune?" She finally snapped her head up, forcing her gaze to look straight into his eyes.
Rajveer's breath hitched. He realized she was angry—profoundly, terrifyingly angry. Her big, round eyes were burning with a raw, agonizing fire, completely stripped of her usual bubbly warmth.
"Kuch nahi sunna hume! Jisse sunna hai uske paas ja rahe hain hum. Haath chhoriye humara!" she hissed out, her voice cutting through the hall like a razor blade.
"Devika. Hua kya hai, beta?" Baba Sa's voice boomed from across the room, carrying the unyielding weight of the old guard.
Devika turned her blazing eyes toward the wheelchair, her fingers curling into tight fists. "Poch lijiye apne beton se! Itni badi baat aise koi chhupata hai?!" she said, her voice trembling with an underlying, heartbroken sense of betrayal.
"Kya baat hai, Rajveer? Vikram?" Baba Sa asked, his sharp gaze shifting between his two eldest sons.
Rajveer and Vikram exchanged a thoroughly helpless, cornered look.
"Vo... Baba Sa..." Rajveer hesitated, his voice thick as his mind completely failed to calculate a safe exit strategy.
"Hum batayen?" Devika interjected sharply. She forcefully wrenched her wrist out of his grip, stepping back to cross her arms over her chest. "Dada Sa ki death nahi hui thi, Baba Sa. Murder hua tha!" Her voice cracked violently on the last word, the raw, suppressed grief of losing her new family's anchor tearing at her throat, but she ruthlessly gritted her teeth, controlling her breathing in an instant.
"Kya?!"
A collective, horrified gasp echoed from the upper railings. It wasn't just Baba Sa who sat frozen; the prying ears of the entire palace brigade—Maa Sa, Nandini, Jai, Harsh, Avani, and Sugandha—had rushed to the corridors, staring down at the scene in absolute, unadulterated disbelief.
Devika let out a dry, angry chuckle, her eyes boring into her husband's rigid posture. "Itni jaldi mat chaukiye, abhi aur hai. Unhe humare baba ne maara hai."
Rajveer violently whipped his head around, shooting a second, lethal dagger of a glare straight into Vikram's chest. Vikram could only offer a miserable, apologetic shrug.
Exactly how much had this idiot managed to leak to her?!
"Devika, dekhiye, humari baat suniye!" Rajveer pleaded, taking a desperate step closer to her personal space, his hands reaching out to calm her racing pulse.
"Accha? Aur bhi kuch baaki hai?" she asked, her lips curling into a sharp, angry smirk.
"Ji, bilkul baaki hai. Aapko poori baat pata nahi. Ye sirf humara shak hai ki Maharaj Jaysingh involved hain, yakeen nahi hai!" he explained rapidly, his tone tight.
Devika rubbed her throbbing temple with one hand, rolling her big round eyes toward the high ceiling in sheer, exhausted frustration. "Ek hafte se aap logon ko ye SHAK hai ki vo involved hain humare Dada Sa ke MURDER mein, aur aapko itna bhi khayal nahi aaya ki hume batayein?!"
"Hum batane vaale the—" Rajveer tried to counter.
"Kab? Jab vo haiwaan humare poore parivaar ko maar deta, tab?!" she barked, her arms executing a wild, dramatic gesture.
"Aap bakwaas band karke pehle humari baat sunengi?!" Rajveer suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing violently off the sandstone arches. He didn't even know why he was screaming. The raw, suffocating terror of her rushing blindly into a den of wolves in Jaipur had completely obliterated his calm restraint.
"Nahi sunna hume kuch! Jo sunna hai hum us aadmi se sun lenge!" she shouted back, completely matching his volume and ignoring his scream as she spun on her heel to march back toward the iron doors.
Rajveer lunged forward again, his long, powerful arms locking around her frame to physically block her path a second time. "Ye ek sensitive case hai, Devika!"
"Isme kya sensitive hai?!" she asked, looking up at him helplessly, her voice cracking with pure emotion.
"Vo aapke baba hain, dammit!" he roared, his chest heaving violently under his crisp white shirt.
"To?! Hume ghanta farak padta hai vo humara kya lagta hai! Hume abhi sirf uski khopdi mein chaar goliyan thokni hain!" she fired back, her eyes flashing with the cold, lethal fire.
"Dekha! Isliye aapko nahi bata rahe the! Hume pata tha aap aise hi react karengi!" he yelled, his hands dropping to his sides in sheer frustration.
"To aur kya karein? Aap logon ki tarah wait karein?! Farishte aayenge, hume batayenge is so-called shak ke saath kya karna hai?!" she mocked aggressively.
"Are, chup karoge tum dono?!" Baba Sa suddenly shouted, his booming royal voice cutting through the bickering couple like a thunderclap.
The echoing silence rushed back into the grand hall. Both Rajveer and Devika froze, their chests heaving as they stared at each other, their breathing the only sound left in the room.
"Chote baccho ki tarah lad rahe hain!! Devika, upar jaake pehle thandi ho ke aao, aise gusse mein kaam nahi hota! Tum bhi, Rajveer!" the old man commanded authoritatively, his disciplinary gaze locking onto them.
"Par—" Devika tried to argue, her small fingers clenching into tight fists. But Baba Sa's unyielding look stopped her words mid-air. Without uttering another syllable, and without casting a single glance at her husband, she turned on her heel and marched back up the grand staircase. Her heels hit the marble with a furious, ringing cadence until the doors of their suite slammed shut a second time.
Rajveer stood at the base of the steps, his hands tucked rigidly into his trousers pockets as he let out a deep, bone-weary sigh. The anger had completely drained out of his system, leaving only a hollow, heavy ache.
"Rajveer!" Baba Sa called out, shifting his fierce, warning glare toward his eldest son. "Jao uske peeche. Paani peeke shaanti se baat karo. Vo gusse mein hai, maante hain, par tum bhi galat ho," his father said firmly, forcing him to face the mirror of his own choices.
Rajveer closed his eyes for a brief second, his jaw locking into a tight line as the gravity of his mistake finally hit his chest. He had completely messed up this issue instead of solving it systematically.
He should have informed her about all this beforehand, as a true partner would. At the very least, he shouldn't have screamed at her for a reaction that was entirely a normal, protective human emotion.
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