ArHi FF:1: The BEASTS and the BLEEDING ROSES - Page 10

Firstly i must say u r a fab story teller... u have me transported to another land that is a lil dark except the silvery glow of the moon..lonely scary and yet beautiful.. u r words and description of minor details has left me real speechless. the air of mystery you have wound from the first chapter has got the curiosity just as you had aimed...

You have described everything so very beautifully.. Arnav a person over whom darkness has taken over.., anjali who craves for light.. light in her brothers life... the bond between arnav and anjali and that between khushi and payal...its perfect... i think this is one of the best ff i have read and the only one in this theme... u have me totally hooked to this one... you are an amazing writer...

All i'll say is congrats gal u have weaved an amazing fairy tale

Words fail me to express rightfully my overflowing gratitude for all the heartfelt comments I have been showered upon by all of you.

Since I am in a haste, I cannot do justice in thanking each of you individually: molten_lava, Siaa, the_breeze, Salsa, Mrs Raizada,

Leafs, Vidya, Shagun, sowmya, Safiya, music, purplelove, Rose, serialmaniac, rashgirl

Pinkpanther, Archana, crazy4ZaynMalik, Akshu, Artemis, angeldream

And Lyraa (whose stories I so admired since the time when I was not yet a member of this Forum)!

All your comments have been read twice, thrice, researched, studied and taken to heart……Everyone of you is special to me and you make my tale worth the pain and time!

Before I proceed further with my tale I wish to share something I should have shared with you before beginning the story. It's nothing but the description of the landscape of Arhasia. To make it more clearer, I provide herewith a map of our dear land and below a description that is merely to back this poor image of mine.

Arhasia, as you all know from the Preface, is a land that was once inhabited by the Greek gypsies. When the Greeks left the land uninhabited, migrants from colonial India arrived and settled here. Now these people have no means of electricity or telecommunications here. It is quite the medieval period wherein automobiles, engines, trains, telephones and other such luxuries are yet to be invented (or maybe they are already being invented in some other part of the world but is yet to be available here). Yes, there is a mixture of many time spans but this is merely a Fiction and we have the "fictional right" to entail such varied features in the background of the tale.

Now, coming to the outline of the map: As you can see, the land of Arhasia is encircled by forests and it is through these forests that one can travel to and from different places outside of Arhasia. In the south border, we have a line of mountains and enclosed within these forests and mountains are three major landmarks: The North Village where Babuji and his family are seen to reside when the story begins (which is purely the Lucknow in our show), the Raizada Empire (which is both Lucknow and Delhi- and this constitutes the Castle, the Orchard and the AR Industry), and the South Village where Buaji lives (Laxmi Nagar). Now when the Greeks had been here, they had set up their Temples in every village they had established and hence we see two Temples in the map, situated on a hill, a little distance away from each village. Near the North Temple, you can see I've placed a tent there, and this is to help you understand that the Harvest Festival we see in the story is held here. Now if you look closely at this North Village, you can see how I've placed the yellow fields between the village and the Cocoa mill set apart from the village. I have tried to implement, as much as possible, the items we see in the story into the map.

Coming to the Raizada Empire, you can see how the forest juts into the land to mark out a different territory for the accommodation of the Raizada Castle alone. Also, the Grove, the Orchard and the River all play a part in making this Castle appear isolated but projected. On the other side of the River is the AR Industry, regarding which I shall speak of in the future chapters. Finally, though I have unwisely used the orange colour without thinking, you can see the light shade of the Village Road that connects every village to its Temple, the Castle to the Bridge, the Bridge to the Industry, and the North Village to the South Village. Hope you will not need to strain too much over the folly of the colour I have used to represent the Village Road, which is how it will popularly be known. Well….hope that clears most of your doubts regarding our Arhasia. Yes, the map-making was troublesome but I was able to make it within an hour as soon as I'd made up my mind. I had to give you an aid to understand my tale better, for it is not my tale once you are hooked to it: it becomes our tale, and this land becomes our Arhasia. If you are contented with this description, let's get on with the story.

A very short update here, because I actually updated today just for the sake of the map, but the next two chapters will be posted in two days time.

Chapter Fifteen: Stubborn Hearts

She always looked desolate and saddened every time she emerged from that room. With her features firm with dejection, Lady Anjali walked out of the room in the far end of the upper floor, and closed the door shut behind her. This certain door always closed without a sound, as if not wanting the world to know it existed. Sighing, Lady Anjali handed the tray in her hand to the male servant waiting there. He took it wordlessly, and cast a glance over the contents of the tray. There was still a lot of food leftover. He looked up at Lady Anjali, his eyes sad and questioning. Lady Anjali only looked at the tray and shook her head. And then she nodded at him and said, "Clear it up before he arrives."

The servant bowed in affirmation and left with the tray. Lady Anjali stood there and looking over her shoulder, stared at the door. She closed her eyes and let the image in her mind fade away. All that was the reason for this distance….there had to be a way to bring it to an end. The sound of carriage wheels groaning up the pathway to the Castle stirred her from her thoughts. Clutching either side of her gown's frills, she made her way to the stairway….away from one stubborn heart to another. The butler, Rahim Chacha, opened the door to his Master and Lord Arnav walked in, fuming, as Lady Anjali climbed down the stairs towards him. He stopped in front of his sister and allowed her to take his coat off his shoulder. This was something he did not permit his servants to do. He preferred his sister removing his overcoats for him on his entry.

"How did the Ritual go?" asked his sister, hanging the coat by her arm and straightening its creases.

He only grunted and made to move towards the stairs, when Lady Anjali, who had been running her hand over his coat pockets, looked up and asked, "Where is my wish key?"

He closed his eyes and saw in a flash the girl that lately haunted his mind, and her outstretched hand upon the palm of which glinted the key in the moonlight.

He opened his eyes and stared above to where his room was, "It is not essential that one needs to keep the key to complete the ritual." And he began climbing the stairs.

Lady Anjali frowned after him, "But you always remembered to bring it back. Every year but this one."

"Things cannot be expected to remain unchanged always," he said, wishing his sister would stop pursing the topic. The girl was still in his mind, the fiery eyes daring him to question the existence of Divine Forces. He clenched his fists instinctively, but released them when he found himself standing before his door. He opened the door, entered the room, and closed it behind him, shutting the world and the many questions out of his life.

Standing below, Lady Anjali gazed at the closed door, "This is indeed strange. Why would he have lost the key? Did it accidently slip off? Or did he not go to the Temple?" Then she shook her head, "No, he always does what I want and he must have offered my wish at the Temple. So then….he must have lost it on the way. But how….and why?"

Curiously strange it may have sounded but she smiled at the thought that crossed her mind just then. She wondered if all these years her constant wish had gone unanswered with him bringing him back the key, would the loss of the key signify that at last her wish was to come true. She delighted with the newfound thought but decided not to raise hopes that sounded impossible, and proceeded to her room, his cold coat hanging by her arm, clutched close to her heart.

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