The car pulled in front of the palace and Iti got down as the guard opened the door for her.

She turned as she didn't see Shiv getting out of it.

"Aap nhi aayenge ander?"Iti asked and he shook his head in denial at that.

"Hamari ek zaruri meeting h,aap jaiye ander"Shiv said and she nodded and went inside as he too left towards his office.

As she entered inside she saw Nanisa Hukum and Gauravi in the living room which was a lil odd as it was a working day and they were at home.

But she shrugged the thought away and went and touched Nanisa Hukum's feet.

"Kesi h aap?ghar pr sab kese h?"Nanisa Hukum asked as Iti sat beside her.

"Sab acche h Nanisa Hukum"Iti said with a small smile which was reciprocated.

Gauravi gave a big hug to Iti making her smile.

"Ab thoda acha lagega hame,acha hua aap aa gayi,Veer bhi chale gaye aur bhaisa toh kaam mein hi busy rehte h aajkal,hum bht bore ho rahe the yaha pr"Gauravi said.

"Pratap kaha h Iti?aapke saath nhi aaye?"Nanisa Hukum asked.

"Ji,woh office gaye h,unki koi important meeting thi Nanisa Hukum"Iti said and Nanisa Hukum nodded at that.

"Hum apne kamre mein jaa rahe h aaram krne,Iti aap bhi jaakr aaram kr lijiye abhi abhi aayi h aap"Nanisa Hukum said as she got up and Iti too got up and nodded at her words.

"Jaiye bhabhisa aap aaram kr lijiye hum bhi kuch kaam kr lete h tab tak"Gauravi too said and Iti nodded and went towards their chamber.

She won't lie,she had missed the palace a lil bit.Their room as she had got used to it in the past month.

She entered inside and saw the room neat and tidy, everything properly kept at it's place.

She went and took a fresh pair of simple salwar kameez to change into as she didn't wanted to wear a saree.

Once she was done changing she decided to go to the library,she had missed it the most.

A smile appeared on her face as she went inside the library,she searched through the shelves to find a nice book to binge read for time being.

She saw a lot of books on Rajput's, offcourse it was a Rajput royal family,they will have books about the same.

She closed her eyes and feathered her fingers against the spine of the books kept in the shelf and stopped and then looked at the book.

The Rajputs of Rajputana-A Mediaeval Tale

As she read the title of the book she settled down on the cosy couch with the book in her lap.

Here starts her readathon!

2 hours later,

Iti was too engrossed in the book to even realise what time had passed.

"Ranisa,Ranimaa aapko lunch ke liye bula rahi h"A house help said and Iti nodded at her without looking up from the book.

She would just complete this page and then go for lunch.

But that never happened,as she was done with that page,she went on another,then another,then another and then continued reading.

"Bhabhisa"Gauravi called her and Iti stared at the door and saw her standing there.

"Ji"Iti replied.

"Nanisa Hukum bht gussa kr rahi h,aap jaldi se lunch ke liye aaiye"Gauravi said and Iti hit her forehead with her palm.

She did remember the house help asking her to come for lunch and she was about to go but then her mind was too deep into the conspiracies and warfare of mediaeval Rajput family to think about lunch.

"Hamara dhyan hi nhi raha!ab kya kare hum?"Iti asked as she was sure she was going to get scolded by Nanisa Hukum because she hadn't went for lunch even when she had asked for her.

"Yeh sab baadmein sochiyega abhi ke liye neeche chaliye isse pehle unhe ahe gussa aaye"Gauravi said and Iti nodded and made her way out of the library with Gauravi.

"Bas sorry bol dijiyega, zyada daant nhi padegi aapko phir"Gauravi adviced her and Iti nodded at it.

Offcourse she was going to apologise.

What was the need to drowning herself into this bookish world everytime she reads a book?

Why can't she keep a track of what's happening around her when she is reading?

"N..Nanisa Hukum h...hame maaf kr.. dijiye,hamare dimag se nikal gaya tha,hu..hum aane hi wale the lunch ke liye neeche"Iti blabbered while stuttering in between as soon as they reached the dining table and saw Nanisa Hukum already seated on her head chair.

Nanisa Hukum stared at her from top to bottom and Iti bit her lips nervously.

She was gone today!

"Aapko history mein interest h?"Nanisa Hukum's question caught her off-guard and also left her confused.

"Wo..woh...ji.....matlab nhi hum woh sirf...

"Bht acchi kitab chuni h aapne"Nanisa Hukum said and Iti then realised that the book she was reading was still in her hand.

"Ji bohot hi acchi h,humne bhi abhi abhi hi padhni shuru ki h,pr itni interesting aur knowledgeable h ki hum khud ko rok hi nhi paaye isse band krne se,aaj sham tak khatam kr denge hum isse phir aapko bhi batayenge ki iss book mein kya kya h......

Iti immediately stopped her blabbering as she realised what she was doing.

She was definitely going to get scolded now.

Why would Nanisa Hukum want to hear about the book she was reading?

She immediately closed it and approached the elderly lady.

"Hum aage se time pr aayenge lunch ke liye Nanisa Hukum,hame maaf kr dijiye"Iti said but Nanisa Hukum didn't scolded her for that.

Instead Nanisa Hukum chuckled making Iti's eyes widen in surprise which she immediately turned to the ground.

"Bethiye aur khana shuru kijiye"Nanisa Hukum said and Iti nodded and immediately sat down keeping the book aside.

"Hamare Pratap ko books aur reading dono se hi nafrat h"Nanisa Hukum said and Iti just nodded her head at that because now she knew why he felt that way about it.

"Chaliye,kam se kam koi toh library use krta h"Nanisa Hukum said and Iti stared at her for a min but then again looked down at her plate.

______________________________

The door of the chamber opened and Shiv entered inside,dead tired with the day and hungry too.

Iti stared up from the book she was reading and finally sighed in relief when she saw him.

It was late at midnight and he was still not back from work,she had called him but he had texted back instead stating he would be late and asked them all to have dinner without him.

"Aap soyi nhi abhi tak?"Shiv asked as he sat on the diwan and took off his shoes and socks and sighed in relief as his feet felt free,he removed his blazer too and kept it on the diwan.

"Nhi....aap ko bht derr ho gayi aaj"Iti stated and he nodded his head at that as he loosened his tie and removed it as well.

He just wanted a nice warm shower,a nice warm meal and sleep in the warm blankets.

"Aapne khana khaya?"Shiv asked and Iti nodded her head at that.

He was glad,he didn't liked the ladies of his family waiting for him, earlier his Nanisa Hukum used to wait for him and he would ask her not to do it so that's why he had already informed Iti that he would late and so they all should eat and sleep.

"Aapne khaya?"Iti asked but he shook his head making her frown.

It was almost 1:30am in the midnight and he still did not had his dinner.

Why?

"Aap freshen up ho jaiye hum aapke liye khana lekr aate h"Iti said but Shiv shook his head in denial at that stating he would ask the kitchen staff.

"Sab so rahe honge Shiv,hum kr lete h,unhe faltu mein kyu disturb krna"Iti said as she got up from the bed and went out of the room.

As Shiv arrived in the room after a warm bath,he saw Iti sitting on the couch and a plate kept on the table.He sat beside her and took the plate because he was really hungry.

He didn't speak anything while he ate and though Iti wanted to say something to him she didn't because he seemed very tired and so she didn't wanted to trouble him now.

He deserved a nice dinner and good sleep.

"Yeh kya h?"Shiv asked as he stared at a small bowl kept in his plate.

"Yeh hamari mumma ne diya tha,isse pinni kehte h,hamare ghar pe winters mein bht banta h yeh"Iti said and Shiv nodded and ate it and he liked it.

He completed his dinner and washed his hands till then Iti went and kept the plate in the kitchen even though Shiv had asked her not to do it.

Till the time she was back in the room Shiv was already on the bed,inside the blanket fast asleep.

She sat on her side of bed and stared at him as he slept.

He must be tired.

She decided to sleep now as it was late.She kept the book on the bedside table and got into the blanket after turning off the bedside lamp.

She closed her eyes and tried to sleep but couldn't fall asleep.

She tried a lot but sleep was far away for her.

Her eyes went to Shiv who was sleeping so peacefully.

A part of her was jealous seeing him sleeping so peacefully,she also wanted to sleep now!

She started to think about random things so that she could fall asleep but it didn't worked.

She counted backwards,still no sleep.

She even chanted the holy mantra her dadi had taught her thinking that if she chants it continuously she would fall asleep but still no sleep!

Frustrated she closed her eyes and let her mind rewind the recent happenings in her life.

Shiv

That was the most recent,drastic change in her life.She was married,to a man she never knew existed.

She turned on her right side staring at the outline of his face which was visible due to the small light that was coming from the gap in the curtains.

Her mind took her to last night's happenings.

How even when the two were having a silent fight,he held her when she was terrified of the thunder sounds.

It was as if he knew what he was doing.

He handled her so well,just like her parents do,talking to her, saying sweet things to her, distracting her, holding her close in their warm embrace, letting her fall asleep as they gently caress her.

He did the exact same thing his parents would have done have they been present with her in that moment.

How did he do that?

She felt safe and secured in his embrace,it wasn't awkward for her at all,it felt right and it felt good.

Suddenly she was craving to be in his embrace.

She was craving for him to hold her the same way he held her yesterday night.

Why such sudden craving she doesn't know?

But she wanted to be in his arms like yesterday.

Maybe then she can fall asleep?

Anyways Iti was a big cuddler.She liked hugging the person next to her tightly while she sleeps.She sometimes used to sleep with her parents when she would be frightened of the thundering sounds or simply if she wished to and she would hug her mumma tightly in her embrace.

Other times she hugs her teddy bear while she sleeps.

Now when she had cuddled him yesterday night she had a good sleep.

She wanted to sleep like she did yesterday,a nice,warm, comfortable sleep.

She didn't even had her teddy bear with her with whom she could cuddle.

She stared at his face and saw his eyes closed as his chest rose and fell in rhythm, meaning he was having a deep sleep.

She can just hug him and sleep,right?

He won't even know,he was in deep sleep!

Iti moved a lil closer to him and slowly tried to put her hand around his torso to see if he wakes up.

She waited for a moment.

When she found no movement,she moved a lil more closer and slowly side hugged him.

He still made no movement.

Still it didn't give her the same feel as yesterday.

She moved a lil more closer.

Still she didn't felt the same.

She got up and sighed.

What should she do?

A smile appeared on her lips.

She took his left arm and spread it and then kept her head over it,laying beside him she side hugged him keeping her arm around his torso and then taking his left arm and wrapping it arou

nd herself,she pulled the blanket over the two of them and then sighed in relief.

Now this felt a lot better.

She waited to see if his sleep was disturbed or he woke up,but he didn't.

So she closed her eyes and let sleep take her in its embrace.