Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
A week, then a fortnight passed after Suniti and Rob’s unexpected pronouncement.
Suniti saw her husband when he returned to the palace after spending a full day at work.
They spent each night making love, falling asleep for a few hours before they rose and repeated the routine.
She filled her day with planning her wedding.
Once calm returned to the Singh household, the urgency to hold the Brahma lessened.
Her parents were far more supportive than she ever imagined.
They watched every moment Rob was in their presence.
He was kind to the servants, and attentive to Chandra and Surat.
But they were most reassured when they caught moments between the newlyweds that the couple believed were private.
It was the way he greeted her in the evening.
The way he listened attentively to details about a wedding he didn’t understand.
He asked insightful questions that showed Chandra he accepted their customs. Rob’s attentiveness reassured Surat.
The young man was that way, even when he believed no one watched.
But it was Theo and Vinita who watched the newlyweds and her parents.
They wished for any opportunity that they might stage their indecencies.
Sarla and Will seemed in less of a hurry, but that was because her father admitted he hadn’t begun any negotiations for Sarla’s marriage.
Vinita slipped away whenever she could to see Theo.
He hurried through his duties, ensuring he was always waiting outside the palace walls.
He knew Sarla and Suniti made excuses when anyone searched for Vinita or asked about her.
She was sleeping late, taking a nap, walking through the gardens.
Anything that distracted her parents. They believed her sulking about her impending nuptials to the Jodhpur prince.
“I barely made it away from camp tonight, Nita. We can’t sneak around much longer. Someone will catch us, and I’m likely to wind up castrated rather than married to you. I don’t agree with you leaving your home without guards either, even during the day.”
“I know, but what else can we do?”
Neither had an answer to the question they asked every day.
Darkness had fallen by the time Vinita slipped away.
They held hands at night, unworried that anyone would see.
They didn’t venture far from the palace, only far enough for privacy.
They sat together and shared stories about their childhoods and what they wished for their future together.
“Nita, I received a response to my missive. They’ll allow me to remain here indefinitely.
My leadership alongside Will’s and Rob’s has pleased my superiors.
But I must go back to England when my father dies.
I cannot abandon my obligations. As is, every missive from my parents bemoans me being away. ”
“Should we visit?”
“Are you willing to go to England so soon?”
“Would you travel without me?”
“Absolutely not, Nita. I do not want to be apart from you that long. I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here when I’m not convinced your father will accept our marriage.”
“You wouldn’t return to England and stay? Won’t your parents expect you to marry someone of their choosing?”
“Yes, to the second, but I will only stay if you are with me. And since I’m not traveling without you, then you have nothing to fear.
Once you are my wife, Nita, you will be for life.
There is no putting you aside for a supposedly real marriage.
Our marriage will be real regardless of what anyone thinks.
I wish to have a family with you, have you as my partner in everything.
Sweetling, you are my equal. I want your opinions and your guidance.
I respect them. I—” Theo stepped closer to Vinita, so they could see one another clearly beneath the moonlight.
He took her hands in his. “I love you, Nita. I can’t stomach the idea of drawing another breath without you knowing. ”
“I love you too.”
Theo wrapped his arms around her waist and brought his mouth to hers.
They’d held hands and stood with their arms around one another.
They’d kissed one another’s cheeks. But they hadn’t shared a passionate kiss.
It ignited into an inferno the moment it began.
Theo’s hands slid to her backside, squeezing the amble flesh.
He lifted her off her feet, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He shifted further into the shadows, pressing her back against the palace’s surrounding wall.
“I will not make love to you until you’re my wife. I care not what type of ceremony we share, as long we are married first.”
“Marrying your whore?”
Theo lowered Vinita to the ground and spun around, his broad frame hiding her from the intruders’ view. Five Company men stood before them, knives drawn.
“Give us a turn. I hear her sister’s a good rut. She and Courtenay are at it the moment they see each other. Let’s find out if this sister is just as fine.”
“You know what happened to the last man who touched my woman.”
A shiver of pleasure ran along Vinita’s spine at the most inopportune moment.
But she enjoyed the assertiveness and possessiveness in Theo’s voice.
He’d done nothing to make her think he would prevent her from doing the things she wished or would force her to dress a particular way, speak and think a particular way.
But it was the second time she’d faced a threat, and it was the second time he’d made it clear she was untouchable.
“There’s five of us this time, and only one of you.”
“There will be no lashings first. This is your only warning that you should return to camp. This will be neither forgiven nor forgotten, but I won’t kill you.”
“We will kill you.” The five men rushed forward.
Theo brandished knives from each side of his belt.
He hurled one into the man’s throat, who threatened them.
Blood spirted in every direction from the ruptured artery.
The man behind him received a blade through his eye, imbedding deep into his brain.
Theo pulled his sword from its sheath at his waist. The last three men hurtled toward him.
He slashed his sword across the first man’s throat as he grabbed him and spun, using his victim as a shield.
He hacked off the fourth man’s sword arm before driving his weapon through the man’s heart.
He discarded the dead man he’d held against him.
The fifth man tried to tackle him. Theo’s fist plowed into the attacker’s face, making him crumple to the ground.
“Vinita, go back to the palace. Do not come out until I come for you in the morning. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Theo. What’re you going to do?”
“Do not ask questions you don’t want the answer to. But be assured, no one will ever make the mistake of insulting you again. Nor will they approach you and think they may take what is mine.”
“Please be careful, Theo. I don’t want to lose you now that we’ve just found each other.”
“I will come to you in the morning. Which window is yours?”
“The one above the jasmine bush.”
“I love you, sweetling.”
“I love you, darling.”
Theo wished to kiss her again, but he wouldn’t go near her with the blood that covered him. He watched her hurry through the gate before he dragged the surviving perpetrator back to the camp.
“Abbington!”
Will rushed from his tent, his eyes widening at Theo’s appearance and the unconscious man he dragged.
“There are four bodies outside the palace that need burying. They believed they could insult Vinita and threaten to rape her. No man will make that mistake again.”
Will watched Theo make his way to the center of camp before he dispatched men to retrieve the dead bodies and dispose of them.
“Lest there be any doubt that the Maharaja’s daughters are not to be touched, not to be threatened, see what awaits you.
” Theo’s voice carried as he dumped the man before him.
He grabbed a bucket of water and poured it over the final attacker.
“You stand accused of threatening the life of a royal princess and a superior officer in the East India Company. How do you plea?”
“Sod off.”
Theo’s grin told the observers he’d hoped for that type of response.
For the next fifteen minutes, he ensured the man endured his punishment.
Nothing he did pushed the bounds of humanity, but one strike after another came from his fists, his feet, his knives, and finally his sword. He left the man drawn and quartered.
“She’s mine.”
Theo walked away, accepting the toiletries and clean clothes Will held.
He bathed in the river before returning to the palace.
It was nearly dawn by the time he finished.
He scaled the wall and crept to the window beneath the jasmine bush.
He hoisted himself inside. The sight that greeted him made him forget what he’d just done, why he’d done it.
But when Vinita reached for him, he knew he would never hesitate to defend her and their children from anyone foolish enough to look at her askance.
He’d returned to the calm man he’d been before the attack, prepared to introduce his future bride to the pleasures of the flesh.
Some that she whispered seeing in books would have to wait until they wed. However, they would begin that night.