Chapter 11

Chapter 11

            Everyone talk about nikaah between jodha and jalal, all want to witness the precious event because this is the first time a hindu woman legally wedding to mughal’s royalty and that to a shehenshah, everywoman in harem want to see these rajkumari jodha who success marrying shehenshah e hindustan without must to convert to islam and they wonder why their shehenshah accept his new begum with her stil being hindu, selima come to jodha’s room and help moti and reva to dress her up and selima want to make jodha very beautiful in these nikaah ceremony, selima gifted jodha a very beautiful green choli and lehenga with gold embroidery, selima intentionally not telling jodha why she pick green color, selima look at beautiful jodha and she smile thinking that lots woman here will feel totally jealous with her beauty and she want to see pinaz begum reaction, she always claim that she is the most beautiful woman in harem now she will about to see what beauty is, with happy selima put the last touch on jodha’s face make beauty more appealing.

“ wow you are very beautiful jodha begum “ praise selima

Jodha smile with shy “ oooh thank you selima begum “ reply jodha “ and thank you for being friendly with me when everyone seems like don’t want to know me “ she add

Selima smile with understanding “ don’t worry jodha begum they will like you soon or later . . . “

Jodha nod “ I hope soo “ said jodha

“ good . . now come it’s time of nikaah ceremony “ reply selima, then selima with moti and reva take jodha to nikaah take place and she see jalal already there, his face cover by veil of flowers and between them there is veil so they can’t look at each other and all ladies wearing veil and close their half face including selima while jodha close her face with her dupatta, moti and reva help jodha to sit on a chair, then jodha listening some people start to do pray and she look everyone close their eyes and pray too, jodha really excited to see everyone pray, then nikaah ceremony start, for jodha who never witness nikaah ceremony feel amaze with all the process, while jalal through his flower veil can see jodha look so exciting and curios, even from this distance he can see her eyes, her doe beautiful eyes are very expressive, and he can’t deny that those eyes are the most beautiful eyes he ever seen, after nikaah ceremony done there will be a grand celebration. jodha and jalal come together and then they sit together, ruqaiya begum and pinaz begum feel very jealous looking at jodha and jalal, ruqaiya watching her shehehnshah marry with other woman, she feel a slight of pain and that is weird for her since she’s been witnessing jalal marry to another woman soo many times but she never feel like this, and she watch how jalal couple times steal a glance to jodha and that is something that jalal very rare to do but ruqaiya will think that it just his excitement for his new begum and he will get boring soon and will find another beautiful woman, while pinaz begum hears people whisperings that it turn out she is not the most beautiful woman in harem because now jodha take that title, and pinaz looking at jodha with jealously but she think no matter what she is still shehehshah favorite begum and that’s enough for her right now because it’s not easy to become shehenshah favorite begum.

Jodha very enjoying the celebration and when she watch the dances without her realize her foot make a move little bit following the music and jalal see that, then one older man announce that shehenshah with his new begum will feed each other, jalal smirk and then he take one sweets and feed jodha, jodha eat that sweets from his hands and she look at jalal who watching her with a naughty smile, then it’s time for jodha to feed him and when jodha take the sweets to his mouth jalal eat it all and intentionally she capture jodha’s finger, jodha looking at him with disgust look but jalal chuckled, then the grand celebration continue, bhagwan das and man singh watching all the ceremony with excitement too, sharifuddin watching all the ceremony with boiling inside but he got a plan to kill jalal, he know that maham anga and adham planning something and he will take advantage from that, he already prepare a very expert man in archery to kill jalal, he really feel jealous for jalal, adham and maham anga feel angry too they must witnessing this shamefull event but maham anga and adham have something to humiliate jodha and her family.

“ shehenshah we all are soo lucky to have amer in our side now “ said maham anga, atgah and abdul looking at each other with suspicious because they know maham anga hate jodha and her family.

Jalal smile witl proud “ yes maham anga . . . and we mughal very lucky to have them in our side . . they are very great warrior and loyal “ said jalal and he nod to bhagwan das and man singh as he praising them and they are just smile.

“ we all have heard about bhagwan das greatness and I wonder to try his skill if you give permission shehenshah I want to ask bhagwan das to have one match sword fighting with me “ said adham make everyone surprise.

Jalal understand adham passion to taste bhagwan das skill in sword fighting but it’s not his decision “ well I will let bhagwan das decide if he want to accept your challenge “ said jalal

Jodha and bhagwan das looking at each other, they know that adham khan planning comething and beside bhagwan das wound from war hasn’t heal one hundred percent “ well adham khan I would like to accept your challenge if my wound already heal but It still in recovery so I’m afraid I must decline this challenge “ reply bhagwan das

“ ahhh too bad you can’t fight so everyone can see how great you are “ said adham while he chuckled

“ if you want to know the strength of amer warrior and skill you can try to have match with my son man singh . . . I don’t mean me to make my self sound arrogant but I’ve seen how you fight in battlefield and your skill are still far away from mine “ reply bhagwan das, jalal laugh with happy, he always like honesty from amer people and that is very rare quality that jalal hard to find here in mughal sultanat.

“ what he said is right adham . . you should practice a lot . . and I think a match between you and man singh are worth to watch . . don’t you think ? “ ask jalal, maham anga feel shy how bhagwan das and jalal turn back the table and now it’s adham who got challenge.

“ me against man singh ? I know we all saw him in battlefield but he is just a kid and I doubt his skill will match mine so if I win it will very shameful because I win against a kid “ said adham

“ oooouuhh do not underestimate other adham . . now you will see man singh skill . . now we will watch adham khan and man singh sword fighting but I don’t want one of you injure in this match “ jalal warn them, man singh just smile and he look at his buasa and jodha nod.

“ wow shehenshah it feels like a match between amer and mughal sultanat “ said ruqaiya

“ ahh yes you are right ruqaiya begum . .. “ reply jalal “ adham khan . . man singh please prepare your self we will wait for you in arena “ said jalal, then he leave and selima give sign jodha to follow him and jodha nod, hamida watch jodha and selima communication without words and she got feeling that jodha might be nice woman but she will see because there are too much begum who looks very nice at first but change into hungry power like ruqaiya begum, hamida always feel sorry for ruqaiya who change like this, she is very sweet and shy at first but as time goes by she become rough, cruel and cold , she is too obsessed with power and ready to do anything to keep her power.

Man singh and adham khan enter arena which already fill with a lot people, everyone yell for adham khan and give him support since it’s a match sword fighting between mughal and amer, and they are soo sure that adham will win since his opponent  just a kid, jodha and bhagwan das watching man singh with relax there is no worry or concern on their face and jalal notice that, he must give them applause for they calmness meanwhile he see maham anga look soo worry for her son then jalal smile, adham and man singh bend their body to give respect to jalal and jalal nod, then jalal give sign that the match begin.

The moment adham attacking man singh and he can avoiding his attack then in very quick counter attack make everyone silent, they can’t believe what they just see, this kid can figth very well, abdul and atgah watching man singh with interesting, his technique and skill are amazing and that too he is still very young yet he already this good, it’s look like her become one with his sword and seems like inseparable, no matter how powerfull adham attack but man singh never loose grip on his sword.

“ jodha begum . . . man singh really amazing . . . how can in such a young age he can fight that good ? “ ask selima, jalal, hamida and ruqaiya can hear selima question

“ well in amer parents always train their kids since they are little kids and keep train them soo hard . . and that’s why man singh can be this good beside he had an amazing guru “ said jodha

Jalal feel interesting to know who is this guru because he recognize that all jodha, bhagwan das and man singh have similairity in their style of fighting “ may I know who is this guru jodha begum ? “ ask jalal

“ a great warrior . . he is unknown to common people but to every great warrior in amer they will know him “ reply jodha while she look at jalal, jalal think that probably this mysterious guru is the one who help jodha and man singh rescued bhagwan das, he can’t see his face because he cover his face but how the way he kill his soldiers with easy and manage to runaway make him feel that he is the great warrior that jodha talk about.

“ hmmm I see “ said jalal then he watch again the match, he can see that adham had hard time to defend himself from man singh attack, jalal know man singh skill since he practiced with him once and with sad he must said that adham skill are below man singh  and he already can see the outcome from this match.

“ wah maham anga . . . adham will defeated by that young man, you must confess that man singh have a better skill and technique, this is what happen if adham never practice and only care bout woman and woman . . now a mere kid from amer can beat him “ said sharifuddin

“ I trust adham will win this match sharifuddin “ said maham anga with confident

Sharifuddin chuckled “ in your dream maham anga . . you will see that man singh with beat him “ and sharifuddin ready to give his man a sign to kill jalal

“ you’ll see sharifuddin . . you’ll see “ reply maham anga

Meanwhile ruqaiya already feel boring with this match and she want to be with jalal, she is missing to be with him “ jalal . . is this match still long ? it’s kinda of boring . . I want to spend time with you “ said ruqaiya

“ after this match we will spend time together ruqaiya . . now keep quite and watch the match “ reply jalal without leave his eyes from arena, ruqaiya feel reject and she is angry with him, then they hear a screams when adham fall on the ground then he take some sand and throw it to  man singh face and make man singh eyes hurt by it.

“ that is cheating “ shout abdul and maham anda looking at him with angry, there is no expression on jalal’s face and when he see jodha and bhagwan das they still look calm, if man singh is his family he will feel worry for him.

“ bhagwan das you don’t feel worry for your son ? “ ask jalal

Bhagwan das looking at jodha and then he smile “ I believe in man singh skill and ability otherwise I wont let him fight eventhough you are the one who ask him to fight “ said bhagwan das

“ hmm I see your point “ reply jalal, then jalal watch the most amazing thing ever that man singh close his eyes and he still can avoid adham attack and even counter attack him, then suddenly there is an arrow shoot right to man singh.

“ man singghhhhhhh “ shout jodha but bhagwan das move very fast he take a bow and arrow from one guard and in hurry shoot it and it hit the arrow that shoot to man singh, jalal stand up in angry he don’t like when people fight in arena someone play dirty trick, jodha notice one man try to run away and with anger jodha take the bow from bhagwan das and to jalal surprise she shoot the man, not to kill him just shoot his leg, jalal and others really surprise that jodha can shoot in that distance, jodha watch the man she just shoot then she notice someone at above audience shoot toward her but then she realise that his target is not her but jalal, jodha take another arrow and before too late she shoot the man chest and he cry out in pain.

“ why are you shoot that man ? “ ask jalal

“ he try to kill you “ reply jodha

Jalal looking at her with disbelief “ you are kidding right ? “ ask jalal

“ no . .that man almost shoot you if I don’t shoot him first . . at first I though he want to shoot me but he pointed his bow to you so you are his target “said jodha, abdul who listeing to their conversation move fast to catch that guy who try to kill jalal.

“ oooh ya Khuda way this always happening .. please protect shehenshah “ said hamida, abdul reach that man who want to kill jalal but when he spot abdul he eat something and abdul know that is must be poison, and when abdul reach him that man already dead, man singh and adham stop fighting since they hear jodha scream then man singh look up to jodha and bhagwan das and he feel confuse why jodha hold a bow.

“ nice shot jodha . . . and geat eyes. “ prase selima

: shehenshah seems like someone try to kill you “ warn bhagwan das

“ who is dare try to kill you shehenshah ? “ ask ruqaiya and she feel concern for jalal safety now but she too can’t believe that jodha save jalal’s wife, ruqaiya good in archery too but she doubt that she can make that shoot, ruqaiya very surprsise that jodha very good in archery.

“ don’t worry ruqaiya begum ..  this is not the first time that someone try to kill me but this is the first time that someone try to kill me inside my palace “ said jalal, then jalal looking at jodha “ you save my life “ he said

“ I guess so “ she said  and jalal just laugh

“ ok everyone since there is murder attempt to me it will better for you all to back to harem “ announce jalal and his begum start leave arena including jodha but before she back to her harem she come to man singh and check if he is ok, sharifuddin curse his bad luck because he fail to kill jalal, he can’t understand why jodha helping him and sharifuddin very shock that jodha very good in archery, jalal too very shock that jodha not only expert in sword fighting but she also exprert in archery and he can’t believe that she can shoot from that distance and hit her target, jalal wonder how many things he will know about her, but no matter how good jodha in archery and sword fighting, he still want to crush her, but now jalal must thnk who is behind his attempt murder, he will ask abdul and atgah to investigate this matter.

Jalal give order to abdul and sharifuddin to find out who try to kill him inside his own palace, while selima try to pacify hamida who look soo worry bout jalal.

“ I feel worry and concern bout jalal selima begum . . since he become shehenshah there are always attempt murder to him, as his ammijan how can I keep silent and doin nothing ? i know that jalal don’t love me like the way he love maham anga but I’m still his ammijan so when he is hurt I feel hurt too “ said hamida with sad

Selima take her hands and hold them “ I know how are you feeling ammijan, remember i have rahim . . I love him dearly eventhough he is not my son but I love him like my own son and I’m happy he will back to agra . . . believe me ammijan that one day shehehnshah will love you as his own ammijan, he will realize that you are the one who love him unconditionally and we will always pray to Allah to protect jalal and keep him safety “ she said

With teary eyes hamida looking at selima and nod “ you are right selima . .i should keep pray for jalal safety, healthy and happiness “ selima smile with happy “ and selime begum I’ve notice that you are very friendly with jodha begum . . why you act like that ? “ ask hamida witn curious

“ because she is very nice and kind ammijan, I’ve heard soo much bout her, how after she leave palace she keep helping people, teach orphan and give free medication, people in amer love her despite they didn’t know that jodha is rajkumari heer kunwari, they even call her angel of amer, and what I like the most her fearless and brave when she figth with adham khan soldiers to defend amer fort “ said selima with proud because she never met a woman soo brave and frearless like jodha “ today we’ve seen her skill and ability in archery and I’m very shock that a woman soo good in archery, ruqaiya begum too good in archery but not good as jodha begum “ she add

Hamida really surprise to hear bout jodha, this is the first time she hear about her in detail “ yes selima begum I must thank to her for saving jalal but I still need time to decide if she is really nice because too much fake people in this palace especially in harem, they all will act sweet in front of us and act different behind us “ said hamida

Selima understand her mind “ I understand ammijan but I believe you will like her because I think jodha begum is what shehenshah need, I feel that shehenshah is enough with people who always nod for everything he said, he will find his match in jodha, they are like fire and water, you’ll see ammijan that my guess is right “ reply selima, hamida just nod and hope for the best for his son, and listening about jodha from selima make hamida curious, she will ask people to watch every her move so she will know the real jodha.