Page 160 of The Royal Beast & His Queen

After a few hours, he got up, freshened, and then woke Isha up. After she freshened up, Abhyansh, Isha, and Ranveer reached Rajput Palace early in the morning. Isha walked in to see a hall full of people and she could spot many of her father's loyalists and followers in the bunch. She saw Rajmata, Pratap, Avyan & Amruta, Nandini and her husband, her cousin Anuj, Ragini and her parents, Vikram and Aryan standing there. Aryan rushed to Isha as soon as he spotted her. Vikram pulled him aside and signaled Isha to walk inside.

Abhyansh held Isha's palm calming her nerves. He took her forward and Ranveer followed behind. Everyone greeted her, she was surprised they were here so early in the morning.

They reached the center of the Rajput Palace where the huge portraits of her parents were arranged and garlanded. Isha so wanted to cry but she held her tears. Ragini walked up to Ranveer and held his palm calming his emotions.

"Maharaj... Can we start with the Vidhi (procedure) now ?", The Ranawat Kulguru asked, what surprised Isha was the presence of priests who belonged to the Rajput clan as well, after her parents' and grandmother's death, they were misplaced here and there afraid of Kailash Rajput.

Abhyansh looked at Isha who looked confused at all the arrangements, and Abhyansh signaled the 'Kulguru' to get all the things detailed to Isha which he asked his assistant to do.

The priest explained Isha that they gathered water from 11 sacred rivers, Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Godavari, Narmada, Kaveri, Sindhu, Sarayu, Tapti, Krishna & Brahmaputra to conduct the rituals of Isha's parents. The similar rituals of their 'Tarpana' (Shraad) will be conducted in all the 10 sacred places in the country for them to attain 'Moksha'.

"10 sacred places ?", Isha asked in confusion... It's difficult to cover all those 10 places from north to south, east to west, she didn't understand how her husband managed.

"Yes Rani sa, after we complete the 'Vidhi'(ceremony) here, similar procedures will be conducted in all the Dasha punysthal(10 scared places) namely Gaya, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Haridwar, Rameshwaram, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Nashik, Gokarna, and Pushkar", the priest said

He also told Isha that Abhyansh arranged for the remains from the day's ceremony will be sent to be immersed in rivers at all these sacred places completing the rituals as Isha and Ranveer couldn't go to all the places themselves at this point. He also told how the poor Brahmins all over the country are given 3 things in 'daan'(charity) which according to 'Hindu Mythology' helps in attaining peace for the dead souls. Those are Bhoodan(giving away of land), Suvrandaan(Giving away gold), and Go daan(giving away of a cow). All these are conducted for Amar and Pallavi Rajput.

"This moment, you are pregnant, so I have arranged for this, but I promise you, from next year, we'll offer the 'Vidhi' for your parents in all these places personally, one place a year", he said

Isha didn't know how to react... She was overwhelmingly grateful is an understatement. If she thought this was it, then she was in for a big surprise.

After the basic ceremonies, many people went away and only family remained.

"Maharaj... We'll start with the main rituals in half an hour", their kulguru said and Abhyansh nodded.

Abhyansh asked someone to bring juice for Isha, while she looked at 'Kulguru' to know if she was allowed to have. Because,as far as she knew she and her brother were not supposed to have anything till the 'Vidhi' ends, which is later in the evening.

"You can have, Ranisa... As your better half, Maharaj is observing the fast for your parents, so you don't have to", the Kulguru said and Isha looked shocked at the revelation. Her husband is doing all this for her parents? When he still believed her father was the reason for this destruction? She didn't understand him...

"But...", Isha started, but Abhyansh soon cut her off by asking her to have her juice which she did reluctantly. He later whispered in her ear that he also changed the 'Janeyu' this morning, so she didn't have to worry about anything and this came as another shock to her. The men who do 'Karma' of his parents or someone who is equal to his parents like in-laws or Paternal uncle-aunt are supposed to change their 'Janeyu' before sitting for the ceremony. It's a huge thing and Isha didn't expect her husband to do it for her parents but he did.

After half an hour, the ceremony resumed, and Abhyansh along with Isha & her brother completed the rituals and then commenced the 'Daan'. The whole day, Isha couldn't express herself, she was overwhelmingly happy about all the things, for the first time in years, she felt as if her parents might be at peace, as the man who they wanted to learn the truth, not only learned it, but also punished their perpetrators, and conducted their death anniversary rituals wholeheartedly.

"Rani sa...", Abhyansh called her, and only then did she realize she was staring at her husband unconsciously that too in front of everyone.

"Um... Sorry...", she said and resumed the charity proceedings. The weather started changing and the heavy wind started blowing up, Abhyansh asked his men to be prepared for extreme weather conditions, nonetheless, they didn't stop withthe charity which made Isha happy, she thought the procedures would be stopped due to all this.

The old Brahmins collected their 'Daan' which consisted of land papers, Gold coins, and cows. Due to the heavy wind, Abhyansh's shawl is getting displaced, but he continued with his distribution which made Isha's eyes welled up, the dedication with which he is serving the poor for her parents to reach a better place has overwhelmed her. For the first time, she is seeing her husband, her Rana sa as a son-in-law to her Ma-Baba (parents).

"DGP, Look after the arrangements for NDMA & NDRF staff properly", Abhyansh ordered coldly to which the DGP and other high cadre officers bowed and left from there. Just then an elderly man wearing a police uniform approached him, he looked like a constable, but Isha observed Abhyansh folding his hands and greeting him with a 'Namaste' which the elder man reciprocated with a bow. A small smile formed on Isha's face, her husband never respected people on their position or wealth or power, he sat at the top of all three of them, what he truly respected in an individual was loyalty, righteousness, and dignity. You just have to be these three to obtain Abhyansh Singh Ranawat's respect, which most of them are unaware of.

Looking at him, she suddenly realized how fortunate she was to have him, well, it wasn't like this was the first time she thought of it but yes, now she was overwhelmed by the feeling, the amount of love he held for her is infinite. She approached him and held his shawl while he continued with the charity.

"Why don't you go inside? I'll finish these and join you?", Abhyansh slowly asked Isha

"No, We'll go inside together", she replied with a small smile.

"The climate is getting worse, Rani sa", he said

"I'll be fine, you are just beside me...", she said and he nodded

Isha tried to hold his shawl in place, she pinned it with the extra pin she had, but still, the wind was too much for the shawl to be held by a pin. She could see his back burn which changed her smile into deep agony.

Her heart screamed at her only one thing and she knew it's time for it. Her husband has suffered enough, but not anymore.

"Rana sa...", she called and he turned to look at her, one look and he knew what was coming... Anticipation and anxiety took over him. "I forgive you", she finally whispered those words which he wanted to hear right from the beginning, but not for him... This forgiveness is for her peace, if she forgives him, only then could she let go of all those things and live a peaceful life with him. And she understood his emotions looking at the love in his eyes...

Forgiving him wasn't easy for her, not just for what he did to her but for her father mostly, because Abhyansh literally destroyed him and didn't let anyone pay final respect to him, but she understood her husband's pain, what he might have gone through when his sister was being tortured in front of his eyes when his best friend was grievously injured and took last breaths in his arms. She understood his rage, his guilt of being unable to protect them. Her husband's pain is too much and more than anything, the past can't be changed, but it could be forgiven to make the present beautiful. Isha took that step that moment when she saw him going to extreme lengths for her parents. She knew he still had complaints about her father, he was angry and upset with him for some things and she knew he would continue doing so. Yet, he let go of his hatred and did all this for her parents wholeheartedly which swelled her heart in happiness. She forgave him with all her heart, now only love remained for him, no complaints.

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