Page 13 of Twisted Deceit
Aadhya hugged her aunty as soon as the women around her released her. “I’m not a kid, Rajji.”
Her aunt cupped her hand on her cheek. “You will always be my baby.”
“Rajeshwari, Aadi, we have to go. The auspicious time is upon us.” It was her aunt’s husband, the only fatherly figure left in her life.
“Ready to go,” Aadi smiled and hugged her uncle.
“God bless you, Aadi.” Her uncle placed his hand over her head. “I was a bit upset you did not accept the Thakvar alliance, but I hope you understand why I pushed you.” Her uncle was convinced the Thakvars would do good for the region. For her, it wasn’t anything against the Thakvars, but she had no plans to spend the rest of her life in Singoor.
She nodded. “I know, Mama.”
He nodded and added, “I just got word that the Thakvars are also at the temple.” Aadhya’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Wow!” her aunt said. “They are indeed known for their magnanimity and kindness. I grew up with their sister, and from what I know of them, I’m not surprised they decided to attend Aadi’s wedding, although we did not accept their alliance.”
Aadhya felt the weight of a boulder on her in response to her aunt’s words. Did her aunt want her to marry the Thakvar? Was she making a mistake by fooling the one person she loved most for selfish reasons?
The questions were burning in Aadhya’s head as they rode to the Singoor temple, but she hesitated to bring them up. She could not disappoint a man who trusted her to solve their problems with a marriage contract. But was she letting down her people by choosing not to marry the Thakvar heir?
She was anxious when they reached the temple, and the vehicle stopped beside a palanquin decorated with the Kanwar clan colors. Gold, Blue, and Red. It was traditional for the Singoor brides to ride the palanquin to the wedding pavilion right in front of the deity, Lord Shiva.
“Rajji,” she said, her voice shaky as she held her aunt’s elbow. “Do-do you think I’m making a mistake by not marrying the Thakvar heir? Are you upset about me marrying a man from outside Singoor?”
Her aunt let out a laugh. “Silly girl, why would you think that? I respect the Thakvars, but not to the point where I force you to marry their heir. Now,” her aunt paused, smiling. “If you didn’t have anyone you loved, then I would have convinced you to consider the match, at least.”
Aadhya felt the guilt lift away with her aunt’s sweet words, but the part about the charade with her fake husband was still eating at her. She could hear the drums from a distance as she climbed into the palanquin. The clan men chanted the holy words as they carried her, and her mind was in turmoil.
Was it too late to end the charade? Stop the wedding in the temple?
It would be easy for her to say no to the marriage even at that point if she wanted to. The rules of the land were the woman, especially an heir, could decide not to get married at any moment but once married, they were bound for life as long as they were in Singoor. She would soon break that marriage rule of bond by leaving the land and ending the contract in a year.
She felt conflicted about everything, and just like every time, she thought of her parents. What would they have wanted for her to do?
Another weight settled over her when she realized her father would have wanted her to take the responsibility of the Kanwar clan as their heir. Relieve her aunt from the burden she carried all these years.
It was too late.
She could not go back on her word to Nakul. He trusted her to help him convince his grandmother to get treatment. She got him involved in this somewhat dangerous situation, and she could not go back at this point.
If her parents were around and didn’t have the sadness that hung over her when she visited her home, she would have been more than happy to marry the Thakvar man. But no. She needed to be away from the land and be able to visit her aunt from time to time.
She also wanted to finish her education, and marrying a Thakvar meant no way to graduate with a business administration degree. In her thoughts, she had even reasoned that she did not have it in her to be the heir and commit her time to the people of Singoor.
The Thakvar was better off marrying a woman who had grown up and was willing to be in the Singoor region.
Chapter 7
Thakvar Mansion, Singoor
It was almost time to set the next step of his plan in motion. Later that morning, he would marry Aadhya Kanwar and take over the responsibility of the Kanwar clan. It was one of the alliances needed to restore peace in the region.
The Thakvar heirs needed the marriages to happen sooner rather than later. Rishab married Gauri Bhil, and as soon as he tied the knot with the Kanwar heir, they could start commissioning the status of the Goddess.
The goddess taken away from Singoor thirty years ago must be returned to the people to bring the clans back together. Nakul was on a hunt to find the sculpture that was taken, but they didn’t want to take any chances and wait too long to find the statue.
The prominent clans first commissioned the sculpture in the past after three alliances were formed over a hundred years ago. They would follow the same process to commission the Goddess statue.
One such ritual was to take the jewelry, precious metals, black diamonds, and other rare gems to fifty-one temples of Goddess Shakti to seek her blessings to commission the new statue.
