ArHi FF:13: The BEASTS and the BLEEDING ROSES - Page 82

Now waiting to know what's stopping Arnav from being his self..

Loved reading😊

eagerly waiting for the next!!

I simply adore Ram for his bravery, kindness and intelligence... If he was First Lord's son, I would have said, "Bap pe gaya hai..." :p

Good one Liny...

Waiting for more...

Still wondering, what is there in the place, that is preventing Arnav from phasing...!!!

Also, hope General and his wife are safe in the jungle...

Love the family moment

Chapter 327: Unflinching Love

A journey that could have been made in two days was becoming a three-day venture.

It's her. The General grimaced at the night sky. Having a woman tag along with you makes everything move damn slow!

He turned on his side, crossing his arms tight to keep away the twilight cold, and found reason to frown again.

A few feet away from where he lay, reclined Lightning in deep slumber and, propped against her mane-ridden shoulder was Lady Anjali, her hood covering her face from the chill of the night as she snuggled warmly against her husband's mare.

He shook his head. Never trust a female! Be it a horse or a woman. She'll always support others in her species is there needs to be a man they'd like to turn against!

He turned to his other side, refusing to see any more of the insolent comradeship that left him out.

When the hour of the night was in its darkest, Lightning stirred awake and looked across the distance to where her master lay.

She had sensed it before she saw it.

Turning her head to the damsel sleeping beside her, she brushed her snout against her cheek.

The warm breath of the horse woke Lady Anjali and she was on her feet, realizing that what she'd thought were sounds in her dream were for real.

Lying on his chest, the General bit into the ground, trying to contain himself.

Pain shot up his spine and left him battered and senseless. His blood erupted like fire and his heed reeled.

He tried crawling away, afraid he would harm them, but his mind drowned rapidly into darkness and he could grapple at human comprehension no more.

All of a sudden, cold hands gripped him by his shoulders where her tender, long fingers seeped through the cuts his claws had made in his shirt sleeves.

He felt her chest press upon his fiery back, her sweet breath in his hair and then her lips brushed upon her ear.

Get away from me! Get AWAY FROM ME!! He wanted to yell at her, but the pain numbed his throat and he could only struggle to keep his hands clenched to ground.

And then she began humming.

He stilled though his body still trembled in the wake of his wild tremors.

She continued humming close to his ear, her cheek pressed against his head.

She was humming the song that he'd so often played on the piano forte when he was tormented by the beast inside of him.

Agonized tears filled his eyes and he gripped at the sand to contain the grief that began to overwhelm him.

She continued humming, feeling him relax under her as she caressed his hair with one hand.

As his galloping heartbeat gradually mellowed to its calmer rhythm, his floundering senses recovered and he realized what was happening.

Immediately, he pushed her away and, shrugging displeasingly, got to his feet.

"You shouldn't have come," he growled vehemently.

Sitting on the ground, rejected again, Lady Anjali watched remorsefully as her husband stormed away into the huddle of trees in the distance, wanting to be as far away as he could be from her.

The General wept against the shadow of a tree and cursed the face that consumed his mind.

"I hate you," he whispered sorely, "I hate you. For still loving me."

Exhaustedly, he slumped to the floor and lay curled on the dead leaves that lay spread over the protruding roots of the massive tree.

What shook him was the realization of why she was here.

If it was for her child, she would have found faster means to get to the mountains and rescue her offspring. Besides, she knew her brother was on the mission and that there was little she could do to help.

And yet here she was, trudging through unspeakable terrains on foot, keeping close to him like his own shadow...

She was here not for her child.

She was here for him.

Because she needed to be. Perhaps to keep close to her own sanity. Where else could she belong? If not with her child, but with the man she loved...

The General swallowed, remembering the last time he had seen her before this insufferable quest.

Their dance, their last dance...

How she'd clung onto him, how her uncertain eyes had tried to read the truth in his eyes... Had he accidently revealed to her, as they danced, that he felt for her? Longed for her secretly?

Had he, thus, given her false hope to believe in him? That led her to find him first before finding her child?

Lightning pretended to sleep but she had one eye open, feeling it her duty to guard over the unmanageable couple.

In the space of time that took for the General to leave for the forest and return, Lady Anjali had cried herself to sleep.

She had thought she could make him love her again but every desperate attempt she tried turned futile.

Helpless and broken-hearted, she cried for him. For his blindness. For his unwilling hesitance to recognise their love.

And then she cried for her child. She prayed her to be safe, to not go hungry and to not feel unloved. If either Ram or Kushiji was around her baby, she knew her child would be alright. But the thought of her child removed from them, shattered her entirely...

When the General came back an hour later, Lady Anjali had fallen asleep on the ground where he had battled with his beast a while ago.

The tormented sight of her, curled up and cold in her sleep, weighed upon his heart.

Reaching down, he wrapped her hood tighter around her.

He proceeded to lie down himself, deciding to sleep in the open space between her and Lightning.

As he lay down, he ran his fingers through his hair and watched the many stars smiling sadly down at them.

Everything in nature seemed to resonate a sympathy for their plight.

He turned on his side and gazed at the woman sleeping three feet away from him.

Her hood was thrown back and her dark hair covered her ears from the cold of the night.

There was no moonlight but, even in the dark, he could identify her features from his memory of gazing at her many nights.

Her closed eyelids, her slightly parted lips... Her most beautiful feature was her nose that occasionally twitched in her dreams...

Lightning opened both her eyes in surprise when she noticed her Master shift. He was sliding closer to his wife but not too close that he could hold her.

Keeping the little distance between them, he lay down and watched her sleep for a while longer. And then his hand was reaching for hers, one palm that lay upturned on the ground. Clasping her cold hand, he let his warm fingers graze them gently.

Lightning did a happy horse dance in her mind and spent the rest of the night watching the two sleep, unrelenting of the love one had for the other.

At daybreak, when the first rays of the sun found the wilderness in the South of Arhasia, Lady Anjali awoke to feel her head cradled against her husband's chest and his arms wrapped around her. In the middle of the night's deep sleep, as is accustomed to a married couple, they had come to be in each other's embrace in slumber.

She was astonished, at first, but realizing he was fast asleep and did not know of their poise, she resorted to a secret smile.

How safe she felt and empty of fears, with his strong arms around her, the familiar touch of his palm against the small of her back, and the sweet heat of his breath on her forehead...

Tears rose in her eyes as she gazed up at his face, sleeping like a child, a little drool glistening in the corner of his lips.

She knew she had to get out of his arms before he awoke but how her heart craved to persist that moment to eternity.

How could he not remember all this, how could he not see that they were perfect together...