Remorse and Regrets

Chapter 6

Gauravi was staring at the palace with wide eyes.

She was still scared which is evident from her tight hold on Niranjan's collar. But once she saw the huge palace, for a moment, her fear took a back seat.

"Are you a king?" she asked in awe

With a chuckle he replied,

"Not yet but I will be.Shall we go inside?"

Though she nodded, he could see the apprehension lurking behind her eyes.

"Trust me, Bachha ....no one will hurt you as long as I am there" he iterated.

The smile he was bestowed upon then would have put 100 sun's to shame.

Holding her close to his heart, Niranjan stepped over the threshold.

Call him delusional but an unknown tranquility passed through his heart.

To him....her....in this palace.... seemed meant to be.

"Ranjan"

He turned on hearing his wife's call and saw both Dhriti and Sadhavi coming down the stairs followed by Omkar.

But what he missed was the wonderstruck look on Gauravi's face.

"Who is this, Ranjan?"

Before Niranjan could explain away the question , he saw his father and Reva Ma joining them followed by his Chacha and Chachi .

Niranjan could see the question in everyone's eyes which Dhriti just voiced.

"This is Gauravi......" and then he told them how he met her.

"Niranjan, how could you just bring anybody here?" Alok asked in a raised voice on hearing his explanation.

Gauravi shuddered at the anger in his voice and curled herself further into Niranjan's hold.

Niranjan closed his eyes in exasperation. He patted her to allay her fears.

He knew his father was big on protocol and bringing anyone without prior notice is a breach of that .

But how could he make him understand that this little girl didn't feel like anyone. What he couldn't find in 5 years , this girl gave him in her 2 minute conversation.....peace.

"Father, you are scaring her"

As soon as those words left his mouth, Alok turned his attention to Gauravi.

As was the case with Niranjan, her big doe eyes, melted him to the spot. Unknowingly a smile began lurking on the corners of his lip.

Before Alok could make any comment, Niranjan continued,

"I have already contacted the authorities. I tried calling up the numbers Gauravi shared but it was not getting connected. As they are private numbers, it will take a day or two to trace them.....and she is really scared after the trauma she went through. So I brought her here"

"You did good, Ranjan"

Dhriti commented while coming near them.

"Hi....baby girl...."

Hearing Dhriti's melodious voice, Gauravi's attention was captured again.

"I am..."

"Cindrella...." Gauravi interrupted Dhriti , the admiration evident in her voice.

Her declaration was met by varying levels of amusement from the people surrounding her.

"How do you know she is Cindrella?" Taking this opportunity, Omkar jumped at the chance to talk to the cutie-pie.