Chapter 68

[MEMBERSONLY]

Rabba Ve everyone!!

Sorry I was late. Issues with Network Connection.

Mavs, Sammykins: *tapping foot and crossed arms before chest* You have an unres waiting! And Sammy? I know you were ill but really, Varun tweeted and you flew away to your la la land! And I know there are some of you who are yet to come and comment but I would like to thank you for not "res"ing and hope you will find the time and health to give a one-line comment when you can.

Farwa green-heart, saomom, Sona dear, obessed rockprincess who really deserves a hug from me for her love for my tale, happy smartgirl who has become Senior Member, my jolly rabba ve saluter hellgirl, lakshmin, peepli, anxious to know of the curses neevankrish, kvarsha, darling Sophie, Esmeralda, bewuster, Shalve, flowers4u, dear Annie, another thesis busy lover of ArShi bea_rom, hate_love, sweet and excited ASRandKKGSRFan who always wants to know if I am well and to whom I would love to say that I certainly am and hoping you are too, a sure SilverFairy, clever questioner Crinklez, excited and ardent dazzler kushipugly, happy thinker gayatri, sweet debby, dearest vidya, sweet lover of my tale vrinda, dear rockingsoni, excited subiscs, sweet yush whose thoughts are real rich, my darling mentor Leafs, dedicated reader of tale Riti whose presence in the Inn and Cottage makes me so very happy, anjs, SuryaRavi, dear shijina, deep lover of my story revathy, dearest dearest Music, sweet chochoo who visits Arhasia even with her kids taking all her time, warm friend Saga_twlight, busy Arhasian Poetess medharees, seshatree, sweet dearest purplelove who peeped in to tell she will come soon, LeenaRocks who really rocks not only in her comments but even her company, busy reader sanjana yadav. And Aura. Her pics give more life and colour to my words always.

Big shout out to Shas and Hoopoe especially the latter whose surprise visit made my day literally! I so did not expect her to come and yet here she was and let me tell you, Shas and Hoopoe have been awesome in their decoding. With Riti helping to perfect some thoughts, I am so glad to see you guys thinking into the tale. And for those who want the simpler easier version of Shas' and Riti's thoughts, you could look into sweet Hoopoe's words! Thanks so much Hoopoe for making me happy with that awesome entry! And yes, Shas, you are the awesomest!

Welcome to new reader s_mg who seems to be quite excited to move further into the tale, and we have a reader in waiting, vs_2706, who is yet to read the entire tale until time permits her to. Anyway, I welcome you two, to the Inn on behalf of all my Readers and Comrades and Silent Visitors!

Gayatri, you asked a question and I wanted to clear it for you. Do you really think the pawn wants to "beat" the king? The pawn wants to win the king and by winning it does not have to mean selfish victory but something like saving or winning the heart and love of the king.

Now, these chapters are the easiest I can get you to ascertain the answer of your biggest question in relation to this FF. But like, I told Saga in the Cottage, I will only hand you the key. It is your decision to unlock the door of the mystery. You already know what's behind the door but something in you hinders you from unlocking it and knowing for certain what it is. It's time to gather the guts and open it, dears.

But most importantly, the dedication of this character and chapter (though guessed rightly by man) actually goes to kushipugly whose comment at the end of the following link made me think and decide on creating such a character and to introduce her, not knowing how significant her chapters would come to be until I had written them! Kushipugly's comment Though my chapter doesn't answer to the to the request made by Kushipugly (she asked for Lord Arnav to know of it and make him jealous), becoz I had to make a logical sequence...Sorry KP and thanks as well...

A big shout to……

She is not a reader of our FF but I had learnt that she was Chinese and a fanatic lover of ArShi and I asked her if she could verify the vocabularies in the chapters I had written. Her linguistic assurance was really heartening. And, Amanda dear, on behalf of all the lover of Arhasia here, I thank you from the depth of my heart. (P. S. Yes, Mavs, Soul and Farwa, this is the 'certain person' I was waiting to get a reply from, the night I had written it in the Cottage.)

Alright, enough of my talk: even the InnKeeper is getting restless to hear the tale! So grab your favourite drinks and enjoy! And cheers to kushipugly, who made me think these chapters out and to Amanda for helping me perfect them!! *curtsy*

Chapter One Hundred Thirty: The Awaited Industry Visit

It was quite a fine Saturday morning and when Master Aman had come to take the green-gowned Kushi to the Industry, she insisted on sitting with him at the front of the carriage and feel the wind, instead of enclosing herself within the carriage that would not give her the enjoyment of the ride through the countryside.

Master Aman had happily let her do so and she sat next to him while he manned the reins and the horses. The carriage rode along the Road and the blowing wind drew Kushi's smile wider and her flower hat flapping.

As they travelled, they maintained a friendly prattle and Master Aman's heart leapt on hearing her innocent laughter at the humorous quips he made for her sake. She looked very beautiful when she laughed, her eyes sparkling with overflowing mirth.

They were crossing the bridge just then and Kushi peered down to look at the river gently rolling below them and she was instantly reminded of a night when she had slipped into it. A face crossed her mind, a face that she had first beheld on being dragged ashore. The face of the man who had saved her from drowning.

She closed her eyes and sat still. She had believed that she had found a friend in him but when he had come in the night and made that suspicious request, she was hesitant. She was not sure how much a friend she could trust him to be, since he had read her warm amity for something else it seemed.

"And we are here at last!" announced the voice of the man beside her and Kushi's eyes snapped open to find the massive Industry looming before her, getting bigger as they approached its gates.

The gates were already opened by Master Lal who stood there and waved at Kushi. She smiled and waved at him cordially and, as the carriage rode along the path around the Industry, she stared at the tall walls, lost in memories of all that she had encountered when employed within these walls.

When the carriage was pulled to a stop, Master Aman got down and held out a hand to her. She placed her hand in his and let him help her step down from the carriage.

Master Lal came up just then and asked her how she was doing.

"Quite well, Master Lal," she said happily, "How is everyone at the industry? And Mia?"

"Everyone is as they once were," said Master Lal with a smile, "Mia has gone to see her family for the weekend. When she heard you would come to visit the Industry, she asked me to give you her special regards."

"Give her and the others my love, Master Lal," said Kushi, "You all have been quite kind to me and I will always be grateful for all the care you have given me."

"We were only blessed to have met a dear girl like you, Miss Kushi," said Master Lal and then he addressed Master Aman, "Our Master has left and you can take her to them."

"Your Master?" Kushi perked up, "I mean………you mean, the First Lord was here?"

"Yes," said Master Aman, "It was essentially to meet him with regard to a proposition that they came here. However, they remain here because they will not go without having seen you."

Kushi's heart sank on realizing that she had been this close to seeing Lord Arnav but her mind was soon swirling in the sea of questions as to who and why the "they" was here to see her.

"You still have not told me who they are," began Kushi as she followed Master Aman who was heading for the huge Industry doors that stood open into the dark wide inside, "How am I supposed to greet a person unless I know who they are or what-?"

She paused in her words for now they stood right before the open doors and Master Aman turned to face her and she saw that beside him, emerging from within the shadow of the huge doors of the Industry, came a face that was not only queer but speechlessly questionable in the nature of its general appearance.

The man was as aged as her father, she was certain. He had long grey hair that was curiously plaited like a girl's and at the end of which was a thin golden band. His forehead was wide and calm but there were tiny wrinkles under his wise eyes. And those very eyes of his were that which captivated her curiosity most. They looked extremely small.

And to top it all, he was dressed like a girl. In a long dark navy robe that had strange golden writings on its sleeve-ends.

With his hands folded before him in respectful stance, the man bowed to them and both Master Aman and Kushi curtsied him in return.

When she had straightened up, she asked him, "Pardon me, sir, but are you from the Orient?"

"We are from the East, yes," acknowledged the man in a very strange accent, and Kushi's eyebrows rose as she appraised his interesting way of speech, but he continued, unaffected by her surprised expression, "But to call us Oriental would not be fitting from you, for you are of the Oriental too, xiaojie."

"Xiaojie?" Kushi was amazed, "Why do you call me that?"

"Xiaojie is how we address young girls in our language," said the man, with a gentle smile, "And you are younger to me by age, or do you see the need to deny it?"

Kushi only stared back at him and then her gaze slid to Master Aman who had stepped towards the man.

"Miss Kushi," began Master Aman with a smile, "Meet Anguo, the loyal servant and right-hand of Princess Da-Xia, daughter of the Honorable King of China."

"What?" Kushi was flabbergasted, "I am- this is-we came-" She took a deep breath and then worded, "The Princess of China?" She was too taken aback to talk straight and both the men standing before her appeared amused.

"Oh please, xiaojie," said the strange man in his strange accent, the man whom Master Aman had named Anguo, "Please follow me and you will learn of why you were bidden here."

He stretched out a hand of his towards her, beckoning her to follow him and Kushi looked at Master Aman.

"I will be waiting here for you to return," said Master Aman warmly, his soft gaze assuring her, as he took her hand, "You can trust them. She only wants to see you and then you will be let to return home."

She saw in his eyes that she could trust his words and she nodded, smiling slightly, and then Master Aman placed her hand into the strange man's waiting hand and Kushi felt the gentle warmth of an aged man seep through the veins in her palm. She looked from Master Aman's face into the eyes of the man before her and she saw he was of a kind heart.

She smiled and he smiled in return. And then he led her within and the doors closed on Master Aman's yearning looked.

Master Aman stood staring at the door, feeling a strange realization come over him. The doors had not closed on him without a message. He knew it was the echo of something else. That one day he would have to let go of her hand, to let another take her away from him and shut the doors of his love for her forever…………

Chapter One Hundred Thirty One: The Princess

The man had led Kushi up the familiar steps of the dark and empty Industry and she felt a tug in her heart when she was made to pass by the room that had always held a certain man within.

If I open the door and walk into it, would I see him there? If not see him, then would his smell and his warmth linger in the room where he had remained just a few minutes ago before my coming here?

The man led her past this coveted room, and brought her to stand before the room that was Lord Akash's. Kushi frowned, did every substitute room have to be Lord Akash's?

"You must bow before the Princess when you are presented to her, xiaojie," said the man, releasing her hand and placing his hand on the handle of the door, "Of course, you will know it already, I am certain."

And then he was opening the door and the light, from the open window within, blasted on her face and she squinted as she stepped in after the man who shut the door as soon as they were inside.

The room was transformed into something she had never seen before. There were curtains made of bamboo and white silk lining all along the walls of the room. Scented candles were lit on tiny tables around the room though the window shed considerable light into the room. The floor was flourished with exotic carpets that felt like soft grass under one's feet.

The man named Anguo told her to remove her shoes and Kushi undid them and then stepped into the carpeted room. That was when she noticed the woman seated behind a thin white curtain.

The light breeze from the window fluttered the white curtain and Kushi stopped in amazement as she beheld the women. This woman was like no other woman she had seen before. She was as fair as a white lily and though her eyes were small like the man's, they shone with great power and strength even through the curtain. Her nose was so tiny that one could barely make it out in that fair face. Her smooth black hair was tied up in a bun and she was dressed in a thick golden silk robe with engravings on it. Kushi noted that she wore no crown to claim her as Princess but the grandeur with which she sat and gazed was enough to designate her royal.

The woman looked up and, on seeing her, the woman smiled. A gentle smile that also looked like that of a child delighted to receive a long-awaited gift.

The woman was sitting cross-legged on a rich-looking mattress, and she lifted a hand in the direction of Kushi who was still near the door.

"Do not fear, Xingfu," she said to Kushi, in her gentle musical voice, her gaze warm and welcoming.

Kushi was getting confused. She had too many meaningless names being thrown at her that day. First she was xiaojie and then she was something- f. The only name she knew was truly hers was what her mother had named her by.

Nevertheless, she stepped forward, aware that Anguo was walking beside her too and they soon came to stand a few steps away from the thin curtain that concealed the Princess. The Princess continued to smile at Kushi through the curtain, her hand stretched towards her.

Kushi saw Anguo bow and she too bowed to the Princess and then, when she had straightened up and removed her hat, Anguo was addressing his mistress, "Gongzhu, I present you the NuHai you asked for."

"You may leave us be, Anguo," said the Princess, firmly, in her soft voice and the man bowed and left, his plaited pigtail bobbing as he walked away and out the door.

Silence settled in the room and the breeze blew gently through the curtains, fluttering the one before which Kushi stood.

The princess patted to the wide space beside her on the rich mattress, "Seat yourself beside me, Xingfu."

Kushi stood for a moment, "Respectfully, your Highness, but I cannot, for you are a Princess and I, a young village girl of no power or fame like you."

The Princess looked at her through the curtain, "I ask you to sit beside me not as a Princess urging a foreign villager, but as a girl trying to befriend one whom she has only seen in painting."

That was when Kushi realized what it was all about, "Oh! The painting! Of course!"

She looked at the Princess, and asked excitedly, "You were sent my painting, the one with red robe?"

The Princess smiled, "The painting I was sent was a copy for I am a painter myself and I realized that the Maker of the Silk Robes named Raizada had not sent me the original. But even the copy could not kill the life in those eyes of yours well imprinted into canvas by whosoever had painted you."

"It was Master Hari," answered Kushi, humbled by the words of the Princess, "He was an exceptional painter, I believe, and it is in his skill that you found delight and not in the subject of the canvas."

The Princess giggled and the air rang like gentle music.

Kushi smiled, "Why do you laugh, Honorable Princess?"

"I have my reasons," said the Princess, smiling, "but I will tell you if you come sit beside me."

Kushi was reluctant for a moment but then she let herself obey the Princess' repeated request. She stepped forward, moved the curtain aside and sat beside the Princess with a decent distance between them.

Kushi looked up at the Princess who was studying Kushi's face and the young girl saw that the royal woman looked a lot younger and cheerful with the proximity. In fact, she looked to be almost Kushi's age. "Honorable Princess, do you not think it disrespectful: sitting beside one who is not of regal bearing?"

The Princess smiled and shook her head, "You must know one thing about us rulers, Xingfu: we rule well only when we are willing to sit with the people we rule over. So it is not hard for me to sit with people of other births. Besides, I believe one is not royal by birth but by bearing."

"Oh," Kushi smiled, "You are very wise and humble for such royalty and age."

"I will one day have to lead my people when my father, the King, cannot," replied the Princess, "It is by wisdom we rule our land and not by power."

"I have never seen this country of yours," said Kushi, "Is China as beautiful as Arhasia?"

"The beauty of China differs from Arhasia for they are beautiful in their unique ways," said the Princess, "You see, the beauty of China lies in its silence and the faith of the people. And for Arhasia, beauty lies in what is hidden."

"What is hidden?" Kushi was confused, "Why do you say that?"

"In China, you look around and see beauty staring back at you everywhere," said the Princess with a smile, "But if one looks at Arhasia, one can behold beauty only if one has a heart of beauty. Arhasia will be a land of pain if it is seen through the eyes of a wounded heart but if seen through the eyes of an innocent heart like yours, Arhasia will always be young and full of life."

Kushi was amazed, "Do you write poems? Your words flow over me like how poems do!"

"I do not write poems," said the Princess smiling, "I paint. But I love reading poems. I know every poem of my land's language but I have read some of the poems in the language we speak in too."

Kushi smiled, "You talk to me like how I would expect a friend of mine to speak to me."

"I would believe myself blessed if I can befriend one like you, Xingfu," said the Princess.

Kushi decided to make the annoying address cleared, "Actually, Princess, my name is Kushi."

"I know you are called Kushi, Xingfu," said the Princess.

"But you call me……..Xing- f," said Kushi.

"Because you are Xingfu," said the Princess, placing her hand on Kushi's hand and Kushi was amazed at how light and soft the Princess' white royal skin felt on her hard-worked ones.

"What does Xingfu mean?" asked Kushi, looking at the Princess.

"Xingfu, in our language," said the Princess, her hand still on Kushi's, "means happiness."

Tears filled Kushi's eyes as she looked gratefully into the Princess' eyes, "That is my name."

"And you are one who lives up to yours," said the Princess, her radiant face glowing as the sunlight flitted through the open window and cast its light over them. The gentle rays fell on their hands, warming them in their clasp.

"If it is not wrong to ask it of you, may I know your name, Princess?" asked Kushi.

"My mother named me Da-Xia," said the Princess in her soft voice, taking her hand off Kushi's hand, "She died giving birth to me but my father tells me I look like her. She told him that Da-Xia was what she wanted to name me if I was to be a girl. And he named me thus."

"What does it mean?" asked Kushi.

"Everlasting summer," said the Princess, "Our land is most beautiful when bloomed with flowers in the summer. But I believe my mother named me thus to remind me that I must keep my heart beautiful and humble so that it may retain the wisdom to rule over my people when it is time."

"And your mother was right," said Kushi.

The Princess looked at her, her eyes warm and gentle, "You think so, Xingfu?"

"I don't think so, Princess Da-Xia," said Kushi, "I know it is true."

The Princess smiled and then she asked, "Would you like to have tea with me?"

"Oh,"Kushi was uncomfortable, "No, I don't think I can drink with you-"

"Having Tea together would be a sign of sealing our bond," said the Princess, "You shall not deny me the wish to seal this cheerful moment of ours in memory, before we part?"

"Since you say it thus, I shall accept the offer, Princess," said Kushi, smiling.

The Princess was clearly overjoyed. She looked though the thin curtain, towards the closed door at the end and called out equably, "Anguo."

The door opened and the man walked in and came to stand before the curtain. He bowed low and then asked, "Your request, Gongzhu?"

"We shall have the Tea Ceremony," said the Princess and the man bowed again.

He walked to the other end of the room and began setting things up. Kushi could not see what he was doing but soon she found him bringing what he had made, towards the curtain behind which they sat.

He placed something the size of tiny table before the curtain.

The Princess lifted her hand lightly and he bowed and left the room.

When he had left, she moved the curtain apart and Kushi saw that Anguo had placed a tiny furnace-like thing before them. There was a thin circle of fire burning in the center of the tiny table and the fire was fueled by some oil poured into the circular wedge.

There was a tiny clean round pot placed atop this circle of fire and the pot was engraved in golden writings of some strange language. In the tiny pot was, what seemed to be, water boiling: water enough for two people to drink.

There were other bowls and jars and spoons placed beside this pot and the princess opened one of the tiny jars and took out some leaves from within.

She murmured something under her breath and then dropped the leaves into the water and let them soak in.

Kushi frowned, was this the way they made tea?

And then she watched as the vapors rose from the boiling pot and the Princess waved her hands above the vapours and then moved her hands upwards from the pot, as though her hands were commanding the vapours to rise up and do her bidding.

Kushi was staring at all this in utter confusion and amazement, and the Princess turned to find her so. She smiled, "Tea is a spiritual drink for us, Xingfu, and that is why we call our Teatime as Tea Ceremony."

"What are you doing with your hands?" Kushi asked, unable to take her hands off the Princess' gestures.

The Princess moved her hands upwards from the pot and repeated this again and again while she explained, "The essence of the tealeaves is released into the water when the water begins to boil. We believe the vapours rising from the boiling pot of tea is rich with this essence and is capable of cleansing the air and the minds of all those seated around the pot."

"That is a beautiful thought," said Kushi, "Can I do it too?"

"Yes, you may, Xingfu," said the Princess and she helped Kushi to sit before the pot and they together began aiding the vapors to rise up and drift into the air.

The scent rising out of the pot was a very different one from what Kushi expected tea to smell like. It was not like the tea the people of Arhasia had. It smelled like flowers dipped in tea.

After a while, the Princess lifted the pot by its curved handle and poured it into two tiny white bowls that were positioned on the tiny table beside the gently flaming circle.

The white bowls began to fill with the swirling steamy clear brown liquid and, once the Princess had filled both the tiny bowls, she placed the pot back on the circle of thin fire and handed Kushi one of the white bowls.

"Blow, breath in and then sip," said the Princess with a smile, as she picked up the other bowl.

Kushi followed the Princess' demonstration. With both her hands cupping the bowl before her face, she blew on the clear liquid in the bowl. Its vapour rose and she breathed in the fragrant scent and then she tilted the bowl slightly and took a hesitant quick sip.

Warm liquid touched her tongue and the sweet taste of the exotic drink tingled her tongue and down her throat as she swallowed it. She felt the warmth caress down the inside of her throat, cleansing and rejuvenating her spirits as it passed by her heart.

She smiled, the light in her eyes excited, "This is wonderful! I've never had tea of this kind before!"

The Princess sipped her tea and then after swallowing it down, she smiled, "To have shared this tea with you, Xingfu, is to have shared my country and my love with you."

Chapter One Hundred Thirty Two: The Parting Presage

After tea, Kushi was feeling quite energetic and jubilant, and after Anguo had been called again to clear the table and articles away, the Princess spent some time with Kushi showing her some of her paintings. The Princess had a skill of her own and it was evident she drew what her eyes found beautiful around her.

Trees, flowers, birds, deer, rivers, dewdrops on petals, leaves in the wind………..every painting was just a magnificent expression of the Princess' own summer-young heart.

The Princess was rolling back the canvas of one of her paintings when Kushi's gaze fell on a book lying beside the Princess and she reached for it.

The Princess saw this and she picked up the book and handed it to Kushi, "It is a book where I have written some thoughts of mine. You see, I like studying and reading a lot and in my studying of our ancient book called I Ching-"

"The I Ching?" Kushi wondered aloud, "Pardon me for my interruption but I couldn't help myself with so many unknown words being heard today and I had to ask it before I lost the flow of thought. What does I Ching mean?"

"It means Book of Changes," said the Princess, smiling, "And the writings in it are divination. It is one of the most important books of our land's ancestry and we have spent ages studying it and perfecting its teaching through our thoughts and experiences."

"Is this the I Ching?" asked Kushi, pointing to the book in her hand.

The Princess chuckled, "No it's not. It's actually some of my paintings and thoughts which I obtained on reading certain parts of the I Ching. You see I have the habit to paint where some others use words, and when I read something, if an image appears in my mind, I must put it down it paper or canvas."

"So this is a book with the images that crossed your mind on reading the I Ching?"

The Princess nodded and then added, "But not just images. I have written some of my thoughts and some important extracts of the I Ching to support my paintings. And guess what, Xingfu? I have written them in the language we speak in now."

"Oh!" Kushi was excited, "You wrote it in English! Which means I will be able to read and understand it……..if its philosophies aren't too hard to comprehend!"

The Princess smiled as she watched Kushi open the book and the image of a circle stared back at her from the first page.

Kushi read the heading, which was written both in English and in the strange script of the Princess' land, "The yin-yang?"

The princess nodded and Kushi looked up, "What is the yin-yang?"

"The yin-yang is something which is talked a lot of in the I Ching. They are two forces that exist in the Universe. They are the negative and the positive energies that drive everything into being. You see the circle? One part is black and the other is white. The black is called the shadow and the white is light. The black is the yin and the white is the yang. Everything in the world is either a yin or a yang. But do you see the line that divides the black and white? It is not straight but curved. This is because it stands for change. Because when it comes to understanding existence, change is as important as reason."

"You say there is yin and yang in everything," said Kushi, looking from the picture to the Princess, "Is it there in me? In us?"

"Yes, it is there, Xingfu," said the Princess, "The yin is said to be the feminine and the yang, the masculine. Earth and Water are elements of yin and Heaven and Fire are elements of yang. But it is believed and proved that yin and yang are interconnected. There is always a mixture of the two. Boys can cry and girls can fight. That is why I said the word 'change' holds the key here. The understanding of yin and yang is what lies as the foundation of our country's resources, medicine, martial arts, study of nature, religion and philosophy…….. "

"Why is there a white spot in the black and a black spot in the white?" asked Kushi, tapping her finger at the said 'spots' in the painting.

"It just proves more of what I told about the 'change' in yin –yang," said the Princess, pointing to the images while explaining, "Yin has the seed of yang in it and yang the seed of yin in it. Yin and yang transform each other. After every rise there is a fall; while one moves up, the other comes down. They are both required to maintain balance. They are opposing forces and yet they exist because of the other."

Kushi nodded, trying to let this learning sink into her intellect. Just then the breeze from the window that had been lightly playing with the curtains in the room, brushed past the two of them, fluttering the pages of the book.

As the Princess continued talking, Kushi looked down found herself staring at a painting that was different from the one she had seen and yet looked familiar. She frowned at the picture, trying to remember why it was familiar, so familiar that it was as though it was engraved somewhere………….On a paper? On a cloth? On a Wall?

Kushi inhaled sharply on realizing where she had seen it, and at that very moment, there was a knock on the door and with the Princess' permission Anguo walked in and bowed, "Gongzhu, Master Aman has told me to tell you it is getting late and the girl must be taken home before it gets dark."

"Very well, Anguo," said the Princess and she looked at Kushi.

Her royally firm eyes were touched with a glimmer of sadness, "It is time for us to part, Xingfu. It was a delightful encounter, I admit, and though we will not meet again, you shall be there always in my memories, inspiring me to look upon everyone with a warm smile of love."

"I will always remember you too, Princess Da-Xia," said Kushi, "Your humility and the insight you have given me of your land's teachings and thoughts will be with me to aid me in my every endeavor that requires such aid."

The Princess paused a moment, her head titled in contemplation as she looked at Kushi. Then, she reached down and kissed Kushi's forehead.

A blissful teardrop fell from Kushi's eye and the Princess wiped it away from her cheek with her soft tender fingers, "Your tears are pure," said the Princess, "May they not be shed unless to heal."

Kushi smiled at the Princess, "Your blessing shall be my strength, Princess Da-Xia. But I have nothing to give you in return."

The Princess pressed the book Kushi had on her lap, "Take this book of mine as a gift."

"I cannot," Kushi exclaimed, trying to push the book away but the Princess pressed it harder upon her hand and looked at Kushi, "I gift it to you knowing it will be safe and loved in your hands. My thoughts and my love for painting live in these pages. You will feel me beside you every time you look through this book."

"I cannot let you part with something you took such pain to create," said Kushi.

"I took pain to create something material," said the Princess nodding to the book, and then she looked at Kushi, "It is not pain I shall feel, but fulfilled elation to hand that material to one who deserves to be gifted a piece of my heart."

Overcome with emotion, Kushi leaned forward and embraced the Princess and the setting sun shone upon them through the window, blessing their bond, and the soft gold flecks of the sun fell upon the book that held the answers to what the rest of Arhasia's history was to be written by.

Having said farewell to the revered visitors, Kushi donned on her hat and headed to the stable where Master Aman waited with the carriage. Kushi was in such an elated mood that she insisted on riding back the same way she had come, sitting perched on the carriage front along with Master Aman.

On the ride, she told Master Aman about all that she had learned from the Princess and how much she admired the Oriental Queen and Master Aman listened in awe as the cheery girl narrated to him lovingly everything that had unfolded within the Industry.

"You know what, Miss Kushi," said Master Aman when they had crossed the bridge, and were riding through the open grassland, heading for the Village, "I can listen to you all day and never tire of you. Your family must be exultant to have you to listen to…….."

Kushi laughed merrily and Master Aman could not take his eyes off her. She shook her head and he was mesmerized by how the wind played around her hair as she looked at him to tell him, "Jiji is the only one who is willing to bear my lively chatter. Though she complains of a headache by the time I am halfway through a subject, I know she enjoys listening to me. I have come to learn that she loves listening to my chatter more than getting long letters from me."

Master Aman laughed at this and then he said something humorous and Kushi redoubled in laughter, and the merry carriage rolled on, with the sun still in the sky, nearing its setting, and the two horses nearing the Village, not knowing that a certain rider on a black horse, who had come to the fringe of the forest for an evening horse ride, stopped among the trees on hearing the unexpected laughter and didn't look pleased with the what he saw.

CAPSULE GLOSSARY for this Section: The vocabularies used and their literal meaning:

Xingfu: Happiness

Xiaojie: Miss (addressing a woman, here Kushi)

Gongzhu: Princess

NuHai: girl

Anguo: Protector of the Country

Da-Xia: Long Summer

Pics to help you understand the tale better!

I don't know when I will get the time and opportunity to update again but you are welcome to pass your time in reading the previous chapters and nourishing your knowledge of this tale that is too dear to me.

INDEX