Chapter 29-Bring My Wife Home
Vinaya woke in her room.
Vikram was sitting beside the bed.
She looked at him.
Then away.
That tiny movement hurt more than anger.
"You fainted."
No response.
"The physician says you are exhausted."
Nothing.
"You have barely eaten."
Still nothing.
Vikram looked down.
He had no idea how to speak to her anymore.
Perhaps he never had.
"I want to take you home."
Her eyes moved toward him.
"Home?"
"Krishnagiri."
A long silence.
"That is not my home."
The words were quiet.
He deserved them.
"Yes."
He swallowed.
"I know."
Vinaya looked toward the window.
"I want to stay here."
Vikram's chest tightened.
Because Ganga had lived here.
He understood.
"Then stay."
She looked surprised.
Vikram continued.
"As long as you need."
He wanted her in Krishnagiri.
Close enough that he could see her.
Protect her.
Perhaps selfishly reassure himself that she was still breathing.
But he had taken enough choices from her.
"I will not order you again."
Vinaya looked away.
Two days later, she told him she would return.
Not because he asked.
Because Lakshmidevi had arrived.
The Queen held Vinaya for nearly an hour.
And when she eventually whispered, "Come home with me," Vinaya cried for the first time since Ganga died.
Before they left Devagarh, Vikram walked through Ganga's nursery.
He should not have.
He knew that immediately.
A tiny blanket lay folded across the cot.
There were painted animals on the wall.
Small clothes in a chest.
A cup.
Shoes.
So impossibly small.
Vikram picked one up.
His entire palm nearly covered it.
He pressed it against his mouth.
"I am sorry."
The room did not answer.
It never would.
He placed the shoe back exactly where he found it.
Then returned to Vinaya.
"Ready?"
She looked past him toward the nursery.
"No."
His throat tightened.
"Neither am I."
They left anyway.
Krishnagiri prepared for their arrival.
Vikram sent instructions ahead.
The eastern apartments were not enough.
Not now.
Not after everything.
He stood before Priya's chambers the night before Vinaya arrived.
For five years, no one had changed them.
Vikram opened the doors.
He walked inside.
Jasmine.
Old books.
Priya's shawl.
Her brush.
Her portrait.
Memory.
He stood before the bed.
"I don't know how to do this."
The admission sounded strange in the empty room.
He looked at Priya's portrait.
"I thought keeping everything meant I was keeping you."
His eyes filled.
"But I wasn't."
He touched the frame.
"I was keeping everyone else out."
Vinaya.
Ganga.
His living family.
He closed his eyes.
"I loved you."
The tense caught in his throat.
He forced himself to continue.
"I love you."
Still true.
Always.
"But I cannot keep using you to hurt her."
The servants entered at his instruction.
Vikram remained while every belonging was carefully packed.
Nothing discarded.
Nothing destroyed.
Priya's dresses folded.
Her books wrapped.
Her jewelry secured.
Her hairbrush placed inside velvet.
The portrait removed last.
Vikram watched the wall become empty.
He thought it would feel like losing her again.
Instead it felt like opening a window after five years.
Painful.
Necessary.
He ordered Priya's belongings moved to a memorial room overlooking the jasmine garden.
Then he prepared the Crown Princess's chambers for Vinaya.
Her books.
Her colors.
Her belongings.
No ghosts.
When Vinaya arrived, Vikram brought her upstairs himself.
He opened the doors.
She stepped inside.
Stopped.
The room was transformed.
Bright fabrics.
Fresh flowers.
Her books from the eastern wing.
The carved shell from Samudrapuri.
Everything placed with careful attention.
Vikram watched her.
"This is yours."
Vinaya stared around the room.
For months, he had denied her this place.
Now he was offering it after the one person she wanted most was gone.
Her lips began to tremble.
Vikram stepped forward.
"Vinaya?"
She turned.
Her face crumpled.
The sound that came from her was not anger.
Not gratitude.
Pure grief.
"I don't want this."
Vikram froze.
She looked around at the beautiful chamber.
Then at him.
Tears poured down her face.
"I want Ganga."
And there was nothing in all of Krishnagiri Vikram could give her that would answer that request.