Page 38 of Twisted Sins

She paced the tent, feeling angry, terrified and restless. Uma and Rumi had escorted her to bath earlier that morning and set her breakfast before leaving. And when she tried to join them outside, they refused by saying they had instructions not to allow her outside the tent except for bodily needs.

The demon was punishing her by making her cage even smaller.

Bloody savage!

She wanted to know more. Especially why the Kabali clan people thought her marriage to the demon would help Singoor.

But Uma remained quiet when she tried to ask her anything except for the basic things.

The sounds outside the tent alerted her to someone’s presence.

Is the demon back?

Her heart thudded hard for a moment until she realized it couldn’t be the demon. He didn’t make any sound, and he hadn’t returned before sunrise in the past five days.

The tent’s entrance rug was pushed aside, and Uma and Rumi entered inside, along with a few more women. They were holding woven baskets covered with colorful cloths. When the baskets were placed on the low tables, Nandini’s heart jerked seeing the Thakvar clan colors and the attacking tiger insignia.

The women left the tent except for Uma.

“These are from your family,” Uma said hesitantly. “To give their blessings to the new bride.”

Her heart jerked listening to the word blessings.

There’s no way my family would bless the union between me and the demon.

“How did these get here?” she asked Uma.

She couldn’t imagine that her family knew where she was and they didn’t come to her rescue.

“They were sent through the Aghoris who brought them through the holy lands and to the north Singoor.”

Nandini didn’t know who the Aghoris were, but she assumed and hoped her brothers had them followed.

“I’ll be back with your lunch in a while,” said Uma.

As soon as Uma left, Nandini went to one of the baskets and pulled away the cloth covering the top. Her eyes prickled with tears seeing the dark purple grapes.

They were the concord grapes that were found exclusively in northern California, where the home where she grew up was situated. Her mother knew they were her favorite fruit. Seeing the grapes gave her hope. It meant that her family would go to any lengths for her happiness.

“I miss you, Ma,” she whispered, taking a bite of a sweet, juicy grape.

She opened the rest of the baskets and saw that they contained more of her favorite food, especially the traditional Thakvar desserts and savory delicacies that her mother often sent to her university dorm.

But what had her absolute attention was the red-colored velvet jewelry box. She opened it and saw a gold bracelet with a folded piece of paper.

She reached for the paper, fighting back tears after seeing her mother's familiar handwriting.

My dear Chitti,

We miss you very much and can’t wait to see you soon.

You are now a Singoor bride, and you have the duty to bring peace to the region. It is important that you follow the rituals of the land.

Respect the Kabali clan and culture, however different they are from you, and however hostile at first. It is important that you embrace the sands of Singoor to find peace to grow a sense of home…

For a moment, her mind went absolutely blank with shock that her family accepted the marriage between her and the demon. She crumpled the letter and wanted to scream in agony.

But with trembling fingers, she read the rest of the letter.

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