Chapter 1 ~ Fire And Ashes
Sumanika
Year 1655
3 Years after the end of Aishwarya.
Suman POV
I had been dragged from the corner to the middle. My body was already lifeless and I could see that it would be actually lifeless in some time too.
The cries of his family members were screaming loud in my ear. But, there was a bigger storm erupting in myself now.
My life had always been dull but I never thought that I would have this kind of end. An end in which my contribution was almost negligible. Not a single mistake but still I would be lying over that pyre, all alive.
Only, because I took seven rounds around the holy fire with him.
Him. The person I never got to know. The one who never cared to talk to me, the one who never asked if I was well fed or not. The one who never asked if I slept well or not and the one who did not even ask me for once if I was alive or not in the last five years.
In this twenty three years of life, he never even considered me as his wife and had been living his life happily with his mistress. But, upon his death I had been called to lie and hug his dead body and let the fire embrace my skin with the intense burning flames until it melts and all of them would be able to hear my scream until I struggle to actually give up on this life. Unconsentually.
The tears were not stopping to roll down my eyes not because my husband died but because my hope had died.
This world was not contended to see me happy even for a moment. They did not care of I were eating or not, they did not care when I was working for myself but they do care about taking my life because my husband died who had not even looked at me for the last five years.
I did not know with what kind of destiny I arrived in this world.
First, born in a family who married me off at the age of sixteen to a twenty nine year old man who only cared to get between my legs and when he got bored after ruining every inch of me, left me for someone else.
And, then when I started to compromise with life and tried to focus on my life, earning for myself, he died and I had been called to mourn.
But, little did I know that I would be pushed into this pyre along with me.
I closed my eyes when I felt myself completely tied up with the heavy wood pyre of him.
Why God? Why?
Why did you make me a woman?
Why did you even give me birth?
Was I that bad?
Did I deserve all this?
I broke into the silent cries and when I heard his father taking the round around the pure with the pot on his shoulder, hollowed in middle to drop the water around and I started to scream.
“Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaassssssseeeeeeeeee, I begggggg youuuuuu. Pleaseeeeeeee, do nooottttttt do thissssss, pleaseeeee,”
My whole body shivered with the fear and I looked at him lifting the wooden fire torch in his and coming closer to the pyre.
“Pleasassseeeeee, I beg youuuu, pleaseeeee. He left me alone. I am no more his wifeeeeee. He neverrr considered me oneeeeee. Pleassseeeeeeee I am begging youuuu. Pleaaaaseeeeeeee. Leave me, pleaaaseeeeee,”
I screamed on the top of my lungs and I could recall my past before my eyes as soon he was taking his steps.
“Someonnnneeeeeeeeeeee helppppppppp, pleasseeeeeeeeeeee,”
I cried insanely.
I did not want to die. Not like this. What the hell were they even doing? What the hell was my mistake in this?
“Pleaaaaseeeeeeee, I am begging youuuu, pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, leave me pleassseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,”
My cries started to become louder but those people were seeming deaf as no one were even caring about me.
“Pleaaaseeeeee, someone helpppp, pleaseeeee, leave me,”
I broke into cries and tried to get rid of the ropes that were tied around me and I could feel my body trembling with insane fear as I looked at his father coming closer to me. With the teary eyes he forwarded the fire wood to the pyre.
“Pleaaaseeeeeeeee, I ammm begging youuuuu, pleaseeeee, do not do ittttttt,”
I closed my eyes with the fear as I felt him flaming up the bottom of the pyre.
“Pleaaaseeeeee, aaaaaaaannnnnnnnnhhhh, leave me, pleasssseeeeeeeeeeeeee, I will killl youuuuu allllllll, leave meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,”
My whole body screamed louder and I could feel my throat burning with the pain with so much of screaming.
I started coughing and my body started to feel unconsious.
“Pleaseeeeeeee, someone save meeee, pleaseeeeeee,”
My whole body turned numb when I started to feel the heat building through the bottom of the pyre. The golden memories of my life with my friend Nandani, all the moments when I were able to laugh, I were able to live freely was caging my brain.
The tears were rolling freely down my cheeks and I hiccuped and begged again.
“I am beggiinnnnngggggg you pleaseeeeee, leave meeeee. I will dooooo as youuu all sayyyyyyyyy. I will never show my face to anyoneeeeeee. Pleaseeeeee, aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,”
The slight noises of wood catching fire, the smoke erupting up in the wide clear blue sky making me shiver terribly with the fear. In a few moments, my clothes would catch fire, my flesh would start burning, my long hair would be burned, my cheeks, my eyes all would be burned until my bones would be visible and then they would surrender themselves to the mighty fire too.
“What the hell is happening here?”
Suddenly a loud voice caught my ear that sent a strong chill down my spine.
But, it was all late.
I heard the sudden chaos as the people started running and suddenly I felt a hope erupting in my heart and I screamed on the top of my lung for the very last time.
“Heeeeeelllpppppppppppppppppppppppppppp, Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,”
I started to struggle again and tried to get rid of the bondages of the ropes before the fire would come closer to me.
I looked at a young man with the naked sword running towards me amid the dense smoke surrounding me.
Behind him were a few soldiers that held my hand and started to untie me.
I broke into a thousand and thousands of cries and I could hear the protesting noises from the behind.
“You cannot do this. It will be considered a sin. She needs to die,”
“Do not do this,”
“Do not free her. Its a bad omen,”
“She is his wife... stoppppppp,”
Amid the voices I heard a familiar voice with so much authority and angst.
“Aree you alll out of your mind? Its not allowed in Suryagarh,”
I felt him touching my arm and pulling me closer to him, but my whole body felt so numb and I could feel lifeless already.
I felt him pulling me and collecting me in his arms and suddenly a whole new crowd out of no where through the trees with the sharp blades in their hands and he lifted his sword high in the air.
I opened my tearful eyes and looked at his sweaty face all covered in the slight dirt and his curly hair falling on his forehead. The slight faded mark of a cut on his cheek and his voice powerful enough to send the shiver down my spine.
“Do not you dare come closer, you bastards,”
He pulled me closer in his arms and I could not help but hide my face his chest with fear.
“Help pleaseeeee,”
My voice came out slow and I heard the faded noise of people screaming.
“This is not your Suryagarh and definitely not your business. Put her back on the pyre or you will all be laying over one by the end of the day,”
From the corner of my eyes I could see the hundreds of people belonging to our tribe standing up for their ritual against a few of us.
“But, this woman belongs to Suryagarh and this cannot happen to her,”
He screamed back and I looked at him taking his steps back.
“Leave me. They will kill you too,”
I tried to say and fisted my hand on his chest and he looked at me.
“Are you out of your mind?”
He yelled at me and I broke into cries.
What the hell as happening because of me. The noise of people running towards us and suddenly the swords clashing made me tremble with the nerve chilling fear.
There was the smell of smoke in the air, the noise of blades clashing around, the screams of people and him taking me backwards.
“You stand here,”
He said putting me slowly on the ground and I looked at his hand holding the sword for me.
“You should go back, Kunwarsa, its your wedding in six months. Do not do this for me. I am no one just a maid,”
I tried to say but fell on my knees. He stood up in front of me, holding the sword in his hand and I brought my knees close to my chest and broke into thousands of cries and hid my face down.
The noise of swords clashing intensified and I lifted my gaze a little to look at the Prince Agastya battling against a bunch of tribal people who were holding the sickles in their hands against the sword.
I heard his deep scream as one of them attacked his bicep making him bleed.
“Pleaseeee, do not do this for me. You are the Prince, you should not take the risk of your life,”
I did not know what the hell was I blabbering but I was nothing for him and I did not know why he was doing this. How did he come here? He never even looked at me? How did he even know me?
“Aaaaaahhhh,”
He pushed the sword in one of them and he started to bleed badly through his stomach and I could feel my heart beats racing insanely wild seeing him bleed like that.
The noise of swords clashing intensified and I was not liking it all.
One more person attacked him making him falling on his knees and I did not know what came to my mind as I stood up and started to run towards the burning pyre.
But, he held my hand before I could run and I tried to scream.
“Leave meeeeee, I deserve this. Do not kill anyone for me. Do not do this. I deserve this,”
I burst into cries and he immediately pulled me closer to him and landed a tight slap right at my cheek and yelled at me with the wrathful voice.
“Stay here,”
I fell to my knees and burst into cries.
“Pleaseeeee, it’s your wedding in sixth months, do not do this for me,”
I heard the sound of swords clashing continuing and suddenly I heard the loud noise of even more people running to us. He got attacked by almost fifty people, surrounding him from everywhere and I looked at the father of my late husband holding my hand and starting to drag me.
“Leavee meeeeeeeeeee,”
I started to scream and struggle. My white clothes collected all the dirt as he was dragging and I screamned on the top my lung.
“Kunwarrrrsssssssssaaaaaaaa,”
I looked at him mercilessly killing people, one by one, his clothes getting stained in the blood of those people and his own too.
The smell of blood got up in air and I looked at him looking at me.
He pushed his sword in the stomach of one more person and screamed.
“Leave her alone, I saidddddddddd,”
He came running to me and held my hand.
“Leave her hand. She needs to die along with him. Do not call the wrath of Gods upon you. Leave her,”
The father yelled at him and he punched his face hardly making him fall on his back roughly. He started crying with the pain and held my hand.
He pulled me closer and I felt him strong and huge arm wrapping around my waist and put his sword forward.
“This is wrong. She wants to live, let her live. She was not a burden on him. She is on his own, she does not deserves to be killed like that,”
He started to argue and I cried hiding my face in his chest and fell on my knees terribly. He also fell on his knees and tightened his grip around me.
“She is a widow. There is no life for her, no husband means no support, nothing left for her. She needs to give up on her life,”
“Yes, she needs to be tied to that pyre. You are doing a sin,”
“Leave her, or we will kill you. This is our ritual,”
“Leave her alone,”
I heard the distinct voices of people yelling at him and he inhaled deeply and said.
“She is our responsibilty. Suryagarh will take care of her. She belongs there, she works there, you do not have to think about her. Consider her dead for you all already and let her live,”
Read the Volume 1 of this book on Amazon Kindle.
It was tough for me to take this book down. This book was initially written and published on Wattpad, with more than 10 Million Reads, and 1.1 Million Votes.
Yes...1.1 Million Votes.
But, a few people reported the book, and Wattpad took it down without any prior information in January 2025.
Later, in March 2025, Wattpad deleted one of my other books because someone reported it. They deleted that as well, and after three days, they deleted my Wattpad Account as well.
I have lost the courage to publish my books on Wattpad or a similar platform, but I have heard Inkitt also does this.
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