Chapter 29 #2
Footsteps approached from behind. Sarita and Naina entered the courtyard together.
“She left after the mehendi discussions,” Sarita informed him.
“Did she say anything?” Abhinav asked. “Seem upset?”
Sarita shook her head. “No. Distracted, perhaps. But not upset.”
Reports came one after another. Not in the kitchen. Not in the temple gardens. Not in the guest wing. Not at the cooperative. Not in the old wing.
“The old wing,” Abhinav repeated.
Underground chambers.
“I will check it myself. There are corners in that section people miss.”
Naina stepped forward. “I’ll come with you.”
“Stay here with Maa. I can move faster alone.”
He was already moving. The corridor swallowed him as he headed toward the old wing.
Meera was not careless. Not impulsive. Had she seen something? Heard something? His thoughts moved to the contract he had sent. Could she have misunderstood? How would she even know? Even then, she would come to him first.
His pace quickened. The confidence he had shown Devendra began cracking apart inside his own head.
He pushed open the archive room. Hinges groaned. He crossed the room fast, scanning corners, looking behind ledgers and trunks.
Nothing.
He left.
The hidden courtyard came next.
For one desperate second he expected to find her there. But the courtyard stood empty. The cushions remained pressed against the wall in the same place as morning.
His hand brushed the fabric.
Memory hit hard.
Her beneath him. Breathless. Face hidden against his chest as his laughter touched her hair.
“Where are you?”
The question disappeared into silence.
He moved again. Faster now. Through the narrow corridor lined with Jali screens where moonlight had once traced her as she walked ahead.
At the far end stood the hidden entrance to the underground chamber. Invisible unless known.
Third stone from the right. Fifth row up.
He had watched her open it once and memorized the movement without realizing he was doing it.
His palm pressed against the stone.
Nothing.
He tried again. Harder. The wall did not respond.
Confusion cut sharply through the dread building inside him. It had worked before. She had opened it herself. Why would it not open now? He pushed harder. Stone scraped his palm.
Nothing.
His fist struck the wall. The impact echoed through the corridor. “Why won’t you open?”
Silence answered him. His breath came harsh as he pulled out his phone and called Devendra.
He arrived quickly. “Thakur Sa?”
“The underground chamber.” Abhinav stepped back. “It will not open.”
Devendra’s expression changed. “You know about this place?”
“Meera showed me once.” Impatience edged his voice. “Can you open it?”
Devendra stepped forward. His fingers found the stone with practiced ease. He pressed. Nothing. He frowned. Tried again. Nothing. The wall stood unmoving.
“It should open,” he murmured.
Abhinav ran a hand through his hair, forcing reason into the panic rising within him.
“It’s old stone. The mechanism must be jammed.”
Devendra did not respond. His eyes stayed on the wall.
Abhinav stepped back. “Forget it. If it does not open, she could not have gone inside.”
The logic felt obvious. Necessary. He needed it to be true.
Devendra remained where he stood. Unease settled across his face. In all his years at Anand Mahal, the hidden door had never failed.
Not for any Thakur. Not for any Thakurain. Not for him. Not even for Meera as a child pressing small hands against the stone under his watch.
The mechanism did not jam.
The thought settled cold within him.
His hands came together. No words left his mouth. Only a silent prayer offered desperately to Kul Devi.
‘Protect her. Please.’
Abhinav had already pulled out his phone again. His thumb moved through his contacts and stopped at Rajveer.
Not a friend. Not even close. A man he had just done business with. But Mewar royalty.
The call connected on the second ring.
“Abhinav,” Rajveer began, voice smooth, measured. “I trust…”
“Meera is missing.”
No preamble. No politeness.
“Two hours. Maybe more. Her phone is left behind. I need help.”
“Where was she last seen?” Rajveer sounded alert.
“Old wing of the Haveli. Yellow clothes.”
“The grounds?”
“Checked. Nothing.”
“Any reason she might have left on her own?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stay on the line.”
Abhinav heard movement. Another phone lifted. Instructions given. Names. Locations. Orders. Swift. Precise.
Rajveer returned. “I have spoken to the police commissioner. Search teams are being deployed across the city and all exit routes. My people would reach out to locals. Shopkeepers, drivers, temples.”
Relief came sharp.
“I will alert hospitals as well,” Rajveer continued, tone neutral. “Standard procedure.”
Abhinav’s grip tightened around his phone.
“I will connect you to the commissioner in fifteen minutes. Do you have a recent photo?”
“Yes.” He opened his gallery, placing the call on speaker.
“Send it now. To this number.”
A contact appeared on his screen. He forwarded Meera’s photos.
“My team will circulate it.” A pause. Softer now. “Abhinav… we will find her.”
The call ended.
Silence returned.
Abhinav stood there, phone in hand. His eyes rested on the stone wall that would not open. On Meera’s father, who stood with folded hands.
And for the first time, the thought settled fully.
His Meera had disappeared.