SwaSan & RagYa FF - Behind Enemy Lines - Pt 7 on Pg 21 (05/10/16) - Page 5

Originally posted by: Krishnabhisarik

Superb update!! Loved every bit of it... Update soon😊

Originally posted by: alisha17

Superb update

Loved it

Originally posted by: rbb1

Nice update thank you for posting it, I wonder when they will find out Ragini is the princess, hope they don't do anything foolish and get caught again

Originally posted by: manishasatpathy

amazing!! plzz update soon

Originally posted by: Cinderella3

Hey!

Thank you so much for the pm. I'm loving the story so far. I love the gutsy Swara and I also love the way Ragini gave it back to Laksh. Waiting to see how the story move forward. Continue soon dear.

Love,

Ashi.

Originally posted by: patralekha24

interesting, update soon😊

Chapter 2 - Another Attempt to Escape

The next morning, a girl, younger than them entered Swaragini's tent. She had a pot of fresh water and some fruits.

"These are for you and your friend," she offered to Swara.

"Thank you," Swara replied taking the stuff from her.

"My name is Uttara," the girl replied sweetly.

"What are you doing in a camp like this?" Swara asked, passing the food to Ragini.

"They are my family," she replied, "I am Sanskar's cousin. We were also driven out of our homes by the Prince. Some of us lost family members in the execution. I lost my father." Her eyes started to tear up.

"I am sorry," Swara replied, placing a hand on Uttara's shoulder.

"Is Prince Vikram really that bad?" Ragini asked.

"He's the devil," Uttara replied, her watery eyes now reflecting anger.

Swara gave Ragini an inquisitive look. Ragini probed Uttara further, "I know this is hard for you. But it is very important for us. Could you please tell us what really happened? What did the prince do?"

Uttara took a deep breath and nodded, "My uncle, Sanskar and Laksh's father, was the chief advisor to the King. He didn't think prince Vikram was ready to become king. A few months back in a consultation with The King he conveyed the advice of the council. The King took heed and delayed the crowning ceremony. And that is when it all began."

Uttara voice became hoarse, "Prince Vikram went berserk and started framing all the people he thought were involved, as traitors. He and few of his sycophants manipulated the king to believe his lies. He got many executed; he threw us out of our own houses. We were lucky that we could escape. Some of the other families joined us too."

"That is truly despicable," Ragini said with quavered voice.

Uttara nodded, "We are trying to build a new life for ourselves. We want to stay in Kaushal but it is not possible. We've been declared as fugitives, to be killed on sight. That is why Sankar planned all this. This was the perfect and only opportunity."

She gave a pitiful look to Swara and Ragini, "I understand it's painful to be separated from your family and it's wrong to hold you against your will, but trust me none of us mean any harm to you."

Ragini and Swara exchanged looks. Uttara left them asking them to let her know if they needed anything.

"How could father and mother not know this?" Ragini asked Swara once Uttara was out of earshot. "How could any of us not know this?"

Swara replied, "Princess, we did hear about the uprising happening in Kausal, a few months back. But it was made to look like that some unlawful citizens were trying to overthrow the existing ruler. So we sided with the King and Prince. We never knew the other side of the story; until now."

"But," Ragini stammered, "I am supposed to marry him. Marry a monster!"

"Once we tell King Shekhar and Queen Janki about this revelation, I don't think they will force you into such an alliance," Swara re-assured her. "Moreover, right now we need to focus on escaping."

"But they said no harm would come to us," Ragini reasoned.

"We can't stay here," Swara pretested, "We have to take everything with a grain of salt. They could be manipulating us, for all we know. So we need to get out of this place first. We need to get to the river."

"But how?"

Swara's eyes twinkled, "I know how!"

--------

A few minutes later Uttara was in their tent. "You asked for me?"

"Uttara, we were wondering if you could take us somewhere to freshen up. We have been in this tent, like prisoners, for a day now," Swara requested.

"Of course, we have arrangements in the camp," Uttara replied and started leading them out of the tent, towards another tent.

Swara stopped her, "I meant something more natural, like a river or lake?"

Uttara bit her lip, "There is a stream here."

"Sounds perfect," Ragini chirped.

"...But that's a little out of the camp area..." Uttara fidgeted.

"Please?" Swara requested, hoping the ruse will work.

"I don't know... Sanskar has forbidden us to leave the camp area. He said it wasn't safe," Uttara replied.

Swara nudged Ragini with her elbow when Uttara was not looking. Ragini shot Swara an angry look and changed her tone to sound meek to talk to Uttara, "It's just that we feel like prisoners here. We thought it would be good to get some fresh air and since you said you'd help us, so we thought..."

Swara smiled inwardly. Princess Ragini had the innocent face and voice to pull something like this. She hoped Ragini's ruse would work. Who could say no' to a face like Ragini's?

Uttara thought for a moment, "Okay." She said unsurely.

Swara and Ragini both twined one of their arms around Uttara's, "Lead us."

A few minutes of walk later they reached the stream. It was a stream which ended with a waterfall! There was a 100 feet drop. The water was falling and crashing on a rock bed. Uttara sat under a tree, nearby the stream.

Ragini walked towards Swara, "So another plan of yours bites the dust? First you attacked Sanskar and almost got yourself killed and now there is no way of walking along the river bank unless we do the 100 feet jump and most probably die because of hitting the jagged rocks on the bottom."

"Sorry Princess," Swara mumbled, "Everything is going wrong!"

"It's okay," Ragini tried to pacify her, "Maybe we should just wait. Once they make the deal we'll be free."

Swara nodded.

"And while we are here," Ragini smiled, "maybe we could take a dip."

Ragini carefully took a step in the water when suddenly she slipped and fell in the stream. There was a loud impact and both Uttara and Swara shrieked.

"Princess!" Swara wailed. They couldn't see Ragini. The water wasn't supposed to be so deep. Why was Ragini not visible?

Without wasting a second, Swara was about to jump after Ragini when a strong hand grabbed her arm. She turned to face Sanskar. Laksh was standing behing him.

"Let go off me! I have to save her," she yelled at him, with urgency in her voice.

"I can't risk that. The currents are strong," he replied calmly. He quickly motioned to Laksh who immediately jumped in the water and went under.

"Leave me right now," Swara struggled. She had to find the Princess.

Sanskar shook his head. Laksh came up for a breath and went underwater again. His first search was useless.

Tears rolled down Swara's cheeks, "Please, please I have to help her," She was desperate.

"Laksh will find her. He can navigate the current better. The current's so strong you'll either drown or be carried away to the fall," Sanskar reasoned.

"You are a horrible person, "Swara spat the words out and tried to break free of his grab.

Within a few seconds, Laksh came out of the water carrying an unconscious Ragini. Her head was bleeding.

Laksh panted, "She hit her head on an underlying rock when she fell in the stream."

Swara rushed to Ragini. She was stone cold. Swara applied pressure with her hands on Ragini's chest to get the water out from the lungs.

"Please wake up, please, please," she murmured in between, tears still falling from her eyes.

Ragini woke up with a gasp and coughed up water. Blood from the wound on her head was running down her face. Laksh lifted her in his arms and carried her to the tent with Swara, Sanskar and Uttara in tow.

----------

A very nervous Uttara stood in front of Sanskar. Swara was present in the room too. Ragini was fine now. She was in and out of sleep. Her wound was tended too and she was sleeping. She needed rest.

Sanskar looked at Uttara, "There is a reason why I don't allow anyone to go to the steam unsupervised. It's dangerous. The surface is slippery, there are jagged rocks at the bottom and the current is so strong it can sweep you to the end in a few minutes. You knew this still you took them! Ragini could've died today."

Uttara flinched, "I am sorry. This will never happen again."

"It's not that simple," Sanskar's tone was menacing, "You may be my cousin but you disobeyed my orders."

"It's not her fault!" Swara interrupted, "Stop scaring her. I wanted to see the stream. I pressurized her into taking me there."

"You were lucky that we were nearby when we heard your shriek. Else you and your friend would both be dead," he spoke.

"And you wouldn't get your gold," Swara retorted.

"Uttara," Sanskar looked at his cousin, "Please leave us."

Uttara complied and walked out.

He turned to Swara, "We saved your lives. You should be grateful."

"Laksh saved Ragini's life. Not you. So I am grateful to him." She replied sassily.

"If you want I can throw you back in the stream," he snapped.

"Even that would be better than standing in the same room as you," Swara sneered, "Ragini needs a healer. She is not well. You have to take her to one."

"We have a healer in the camp who is already tending to her," Sanskar replied.

Swara scoffed, "Yeah, right. If you hadn't kidnapped us, none of this would've happened."

"If you had listened to me and not wandered around, she would have been fine," he responded, "These parts of the woods are dangerous. You can harm yourself, just like today, by trying to escape. That is your second foiled escape plan in 2 days. You're safe in the camp and will be released as soon as your fiance accepts our terms. Do I need to go on or do you understand?"

"First of all, Prince Vikram is not my fiance," Swara protested, "And secondly are you a teacher? I mean, first you were lecturing Uttara and now me."

"Look princess, I don't have the patience to tolerate your antics all the time. So I'll make it clear one more time - stop trying to get yourself killed."

Swara clicked the heel of her boot, "If that is all, I would like to go back to my tent."

Without waiting for Sanskar's reply, she walked out.

---------

Swara headed straight to her tent. Ragini was sleeping and Laksh was sitting beside her with the healer.

"Is everything fine?" Swara asked, concerned.

"Yes, nothing to worry," the healer, a lady in her forties, replied, "just applying these herbs on her wound."

Swara cleared her throat, "Wouldn't it be better to take her to someone who is a bit more experienced and learned?"

This time Laksh replied, "The healer, Uttara's mother and our Aunt, was the royal healer at the Kaushal palace. Until...'" he paused and the lady, Uttara's mother, continued, "Till Prince Vikram murdered my husband and threw us out."

"I am sorry," Swara muttered.

The lady got up, "It's okay. You should know the kind of person you are going to marry." She left the tent.

Swara sat beside Laksh and took Ragini's hand in hers, "I can't believe Prince Vikram would be like this. This is just unimaginable."

"All of us here have lost some family member or other by Vikram's hand and the worst part is we couldn't even prove our innocence," Laskh replied.

"Uttara told me about your father," Swara said, "It's horrible."

Laksh nodded, "There isn't much we could have done then or even now. We've seen too many lives lost and families torn apart. We just want a new beginning."

Ragini stirred in her sleep.

Laksh got up, "I'll go now. If you need anything let me know."

Swara thanked him and shifted her place to sit beside Ragini.

Swara whispered, "I am sorry Princess. It's my fault."

---------

Awesome!! I'm loving how the story is shaping up.. Swara is being unnecessarily harsh with sanskar, trying to override her attraction perhaps??😉😉 Ragini falling into the stream and injuring herself... Poetic payback??😆😆 i dunno how to explain this, but there is a certain warmth to your story.. Loving it!!👏

Awesome update

Liking the sassy Swara and the soon to be super frustrated Sansky !😉😆