ArHi FF:1: The BEASTS and the BLEEDING ROSES - Page 65

Got my hot cocoa ready... Let me know when you arrive! ;)

A moment before you go into the story: in honour of celebrating the union of our favourite couple in the world of the show, I gift this to all my readers, friends and Comrades...

If you wish to join in my celebration, do stop by: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/iss-pyaar-ko-kya-naam-doon/3218108/arshi-celebration-look-how-far-weve-come-pics

There is another reason why I am extremely happy now. I made it a point that if I am going to turn Goldie, I would want to do it for my FF...and yes, the honour I have accomplished here and I, Aquiline, am at last, tagged with the Golden Crown of being a member of the Forum Kingdom where hearts that love ArHi reign...

I have said why I value your comments not only because it adds to the fuel of my creative spirit but it also takes me to understanding what I wrote in a better way. Reception matters more when it comes to writing something. On the basis of what hoopoe said, I was reminded of the need to show Lord Arnav's thoughts on the aftermath of the 'last night. Also, hoopoe has kindly advised me what I feared I was beginning to do: rushing up with the tale. If I take it slow, you will cherish what I write and there will be depth to what I write but it will take a long time till I reach the end of the story in that case, hoopoe. I will try to balance the speed and the depth the way you want but this FF is already heading for its 100^th chapter...and there is much more to go after the 100. Sigh! This is the only one I write but it is indeed a struggle to give flesh and bones by mere words...

However, your comments, kushiarnav, indiavizion, Vidya, sariarshi, dear Shikha, Preetianjita, archana, darya, amazing ASRandKKGSRfan, angeldream, kvarsha, kushipugly, Harsh, garlic, Saomom, masaf, dearest Shas, music, hatelove, AllSmiles, Crinklez, darling Breeze, Big Sister Kalpana, Idealist, Sonia (welcome back to the inn after a long time)…..all of your comments make my efforts worth proceeding! I adore reading what you think of and wish to attain from my FF and it is such an honour to amuse your taste as you so deserve!

And now, we are back to the inn and I see some of you have even logged in the inn since last night, expectant for my arrival. Well here I am and I see you have your drinks ordered as well (hot cocoa, is it, dear saomom, for your reading mind?). Ah, its surprising how the pigeons were sent to bring in new faces to our latest gathering...On behalf of the Circle of Arhasian Comrades and my dear readers, I would like to welcome peepli, farha5556, forfunlanya, saga_twilight, allzwell and selcouth_names...

And without further dearly, let me hang my coat, keep my travelling sack upon this table, pick up my warm cup of tea and tell you what I was told to tell you about the happenings in the land of Arhasia...

Chapter Sixty Four: Contemplations and a Conversation

The night wind waned but the cold remained in the air. Lord Arnav sat in the armchair situated in his open balcony that overlooked the lake, his head leaned back, his eyes closed and a cold glass of wine clasped in his right hand that was resting on the arm of the chair. He was bathed and his bathrobe looked sinisterly red in the moonlight but not as red as the wine glistening in the glass. Wet hair fell upon his pale forehead and he sat so for a long while.

Images flashed through his mind.

He was running through the dark forest, searching. As he ran, he passed by the fallen pail of silkworms on the forest floor, its insignificant inhabitants crushed by many rushing animal feet. He heard her scream and his heart leapt with concern.

He saw her running. Suddenly she was standing before him, her warm trembling body leaning back into his chest. He felt her hair brush against his cheek and its exotic scent tingle his strong senses. He saw her pale neck caressed by the light of the moon.

He felt her fear. He reached out his arm and pulled her to him, his arm around her petite waist, securing her to him and warning those that had chased her that they could not have her.

Images shifted. He saw the anger in her eyes when she realised it was him. He saw how her lips trembled when he had held her close to him. He remembered the hunger that had awakened in him on seeing her and how he had struggled to fight it. He had never hurt anyone for so long and she was always an easy prey, always drawn to his need. Being alone in the dark forest, alone, with her was not helping him either. He saw her beautiful body framed against the tree, heard her unconscious moan when his hungry mouth had kissed her neck.

Then the images distorted and her eyes opened. With his mouth still on her neck, he looked into her face. She was watching him.

"Why do you stop?" her voice was like the whisper of the silent wind.

He moved his head away from her neck but his hands were still holding her, not wanting to let go.

"Why do you stop?" she asked him again, smiling.

He shook his head.

"Kiss me, my Lord," she whispered and his head fogged with her intoxicating wish.

"Kiss me..." she whispered and his eyes could not look away from her lusciously red lips. She licked her lips and they glistened tenderly in the moonlight.

"Are you afraid?" she asked.

He leaned forward, heard her soft chuckle and then she vanished.

Lord Arnav sat up, rage rising in him and he threw the wineglass down. No, I want nothing to do with her. And then he frowned at the moon, Stay away from me, Kushi. Forever. Or I'll make you!

His rising anger was suddenly stifled when he heard a shuffling sound behind him. He was about to leap out of his armchair when a familiar hand touched his forehead from behind him. He sighed and leaned back again into his armchair, closing his eyes in the ease of calm the hand offered, "Di."

His sister caressed his forehead, touching him where it hurt with needless thoughts haunting him.

"Di?"

"Yes, Chotey."

"You sound sad."

"You sound sad, too, Chotey."

Lord Arnav opened his eyes and let his sister's hand slip down from his forehead. He stood up and came to stand before her, cupping her face in his hands.

"We are always sad, Di," said her brother, his eyes cold but his voice gentle.

"We don't have to be," said his sister, smiling at him with her sad eyes, "I have found my smile in my husband. Though he is not with me in form, he is always here." She pressed her hand to her chest.

Lord Arnav let his hands drop to his sides and looked away, "I can never smile."

"You can," said his sister, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You have Lady La now."

Lord Arnav looked at her, "So you are happy I brought her?"

Lady Anjali frowned at the floor, "I am not happy about the way you brought her but I am relieved knowing that you have someone other than me to care for."

"That is not why I brought her."

"That was why I kept insisting that you marry," said his sister, ignoring his replying groan, "I wanted you to marry so that you can love someone other than this sad sister of yours. I want you to know the love I get from my Shyamji."

"What you two share is different," said Lord Arnav annoyed, "I do not have any need to share such a kind of bond with any living being."

"So you think," said his sister, "But deep inside of you, I know there is a void that can only be filled by someone you can love...someone who will love you in return like the way you've never felt loved before."

"I only want your love," he stated, and his eyes were angry and hurt at the same time.

"Those are the word of my Chotey speaking," said his sister, smiling, "But the Arnav inside of you is not satisfied. It is time for you to move away from the shadow of your sister."

"Never!" said Lord Arnav, pulling his sister into a hug, and his voice trembled though his words were firm, "I will never part with you. Shadow or Scent, I want you around me always."

"I cannot always be there," said his sister, patting his back leaning her head against his shoulder, "A time will come when I must leave with my Shyamji to make our dreams come true and we cannot take you there."

"Why can't you make your dreams come true here? With me in this Castle?" he asked, pained, the side of his face pressing against her head.

His sister chuckled and it sounded like music to him, "My dear Chotey, it is not a matter of where I stay. What I meant was that he and I will have our future to think of and then, even if I stay with you in this Castle, you will feel lonely. I cannot spend time loving you the way I have spent with you so far."

"I will leave me to live alone?"

"No," said his sister, "You will have me, and for you I shall stay here in this Castle, but yes, you will feel lonely. Which is why you need someone."

"I don't want anyone," he said walking to the edge of the balcony, his hands pressed on the ledge, "If I must live alone, I shall. But I will never share my life with anyone but you, Di."

"Your past was mine and so is your present," said his sister, standing in the shadow and painfully watching him, "But your future does not belong to me."

"I don't want another in my life," he said harshly, smashing his hand on the ledge, "I want you to stop talking on this matter."

His sister was silent and a tear fell from her eye. She was about to move away when he said coldly in a low voice, "It was unwise of you to team with Nani in wanting to bring that village girl here. You know how much I hate her."

"I do," said his sister, her back to her brother who was still standing at the ledge, facing the lake.

"Then why?"

"Because I want to make Lady La perfect for you," said Lady Anjali and suddenly her brother was standing before her, "Lavanya is most reasonably prefect for me as she is. I want no village tricks degrading her present worth."

"It is not to teach her village tricks, Chotey, but to teach her of the values of one's heart that Nani has insisted on bringing Miss Gupta here," said Lady Anjali.

Lord Arnav's lips were a hard line and there was a cold light in his eyes, "If Lavanya grows soft upon me, I shall no longer want her here," he said with finality.

Lady Anjali said nothing, only gave him one last look and then walked away, leaving her brother seething with anger regarding what was to come.

Chapter Sixty Five: The Decision

The very next day, late in the morning, a carriage was speeding down the Road to the South Village and there is much reason why I would be interested to trail it. It had set out from its home up in the stable of the Castle grounds.

Now that I've caught your attention to the curious carriage, it would be time to introduce to you the riders within it. Seated outside, riding it, was the servant named Om Prakash, whom you may have already once met when the First Lord had gone on a trip to the Festival in the North Village. And if you don't remember...never mind. But note one thing: this time it was not the First Lord he was driving down the Road but the Second Lord.

Nani had sent Om Prakash solely to go enquire about Miss Kushi's decision regarding her invitation to being appointed personal handmaid to Lady Lavanya at the Castle, but on hearing this, Lord Akash volunteered to reinforce the morning trip by making it more official and important with the presence of a Lord added to the servant of the Castle. When Lady Anjali conveyed this wish of her cousin to her grandmother in her upstairs room, Nani was pleased for she believed that if a Lord was to approach at the door of Miss Gupta and ask her about her decision, she would have to swallow her possible 'no' for the sake of not being disrespectable to a Lord.

Well, whatsoever Nani's ideologies point out to, Lord Akash found that he was already nearing the house of the Gupta sisters' aunt and soon, the carriage came to stand outside the garden of the once-visited house.

"Sire?" asked Om Prakash from the front, "Shall I go and alert the inmates of your arrival?"

"No," said Lord Akash, through the window, eyeing the house while he spoke to his trusted servant, "I would like to do this myself."

"As you wish, my Lord," said the servant, politely, and stepped down to open the door to the carriage. Lord Akash climbed out of the carriage as soon as Om Prakash had swung open the door and the Second Lord stood gazing uncertainly at the house for a while.

Om Prakash bowed, "Is there some inconvenience, my Lord?"

Lord Akash frowned at the house, "I want to ask you something."

"I wait for the question, sire," said Om Prakash, still bowed.

"What do girls like?"

Om Prakash straightened up and stared at his Master, "My Lord?"

Lord Akash looked at his servant, and asked though he were asking about the weather, "What do girls like?"

"Like?" Om Prakash doubted he was dreaming.

"Yes," said Lord Akash, nodding once, "If you were about to meet a girl for the first time, what would you do or say? Something that she likes, right?"

Om Prakash frowned at the air, "Only if she was important enough for one to be concerned about her likes and dislikes." He looked at his Master, "I thought we were to meet the girl who was to be the handmaid-"

"Well, supposing she turns out to be important?" Lord Akash interjected as he turned to look at the door of the house again.

Om Prakash was deep in thought, "Yes, well...that is a matter that needs consideration."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"As to what, sire?"

"As to what I must do?"

Om Prakash shrugged, "I can only provide you my experience with my first love, my Lord."

"How did it go?" asked a worried Lord Akash.

"Not fine," said Om Prakash sadly, "Women like to hear nice things told to them. She found me too silent and self-absorbed. Aye, that was the word she'd used……"

"Silence is unprincipled, isn't it?" wondered Lord Akash.

Om Prakash nodded, "Most girls do not like it."

"And they say I'm more of the silent sort," said Lord Akash, sighing.

"Not now, though," said Om Prakash to himself, amazed that he was striking a casual conversation with one of his Masters. At least it is with the Master with whom a sane exchange of words is possible. He did not want to think about the other Master and the possibilities of safe conversation he could never have with that Master!

While the men where conversing, it so happened that Payal, brushing the furniture in the living room, caught sight of the carriage parked before the garden through the wedge in the curtain, "I wonder who it could be this morning?"

With the curious frown, she drew nearer to the window and squinted through the space.

Gasping, she moved away and leaned her back against the wall, "It's him," she exclaimed to herself, clutching the dust-brush to her waist.

"It's who?" asked Kushi coming inside the living room just then with a mug of warm tea, and then she looked at her sister's hands, "Oh, Jiji, you're dirtying your gown with that-"

Her sister dropped the brush and Kushi looked up and spotted the carriage through the window, "Who-?"

"Its no one," said her sister, coming up to her to stop her from going close to the window.

Kushi stared at her sister and was about to say something when a knock was heard on the door. There was no stopping her this time and holding her mug of tea steady in her hand, Kushi walked towards the door, followed by her unusually fidgety sister.

The door opened and Lord Akash took his hat off and greeted them, "Good day, Miss Gupta and Miss Gupta."

Kushi gaped and Payal blushed.

"Sire," said Kushi bowing suddenly, and Payal bowed too, and then Buaji's voice called from behind them, "Who is that?" And on seeing who it was, she too bowed, "This is an honour, my Lord, to find thee at my humble doorstep."

Lord Akash nodded politely to the aunt, "I have come after my Nani's orders."

"Yes, my Lord?" Buaji asked, coming to stand in front of the girls such that the girls where hidden behind the bulky shoulders of their aunt.

Lord Akash smiled, "Nani has asked me to ask the youngest Miss Gupta regarding the decision she said she would take after the last meeting with Nani and how things are to proceed in effect."

Buaji nodded, "Ah, I see, this is regarding the handmaid thing, isn't it?"

"It is," said Lord Akash, casting a glance over the aunt's huge shoulder and catching Payal's eyes that were looking over her aunt's shoulder as she stood on tip-toe behind her Buaji.

"Ah," said Buaji, nodding, and then she smiled, "Please forgive the loss of my manners over my excitement, sire. Do step in and we shall resume our conversation within the walls of my house..." And saying so she stepped back and beckoned him to enter.

"It is fine, ma'am, I am quite comfortable as it is," he said, in a gentle tone as he stepped into the living room.

"Shall I ask the girls to bring in some beverages, sire?"

"No," said Lord Akash hastily, "I am in a hurry and I cannot take time to enjoy your kind-hearted service but I shall one day come here in not so formal occasions..." No one noticed the shy glance he cast over the eldest Miss Gupta who was immensely blushing again, as she fidgeted with the flowers in the vase near the window.

"That again will be an honour, sire," said Buaji, bowing, "And about the sending Kushi..."

"Yes?" prodded Lord Akash, "Will you be willing to send her?"

"She is in need of a new job after the appalling effect of the last one," said Buaji and Lord Akash shrugged uncomfortably, but the aunt continued warmly, "And to work at a place where the same appalling effect could be expected-"

"No," assured Lord Akash, suddenly, "Miss Gupta will come to no harm at the place for she is not working under a singular Master now but she works for a family. It was Nani's and Lady Anjali's demand that Miss Gupta be hired to be Lady La's handmaid at the Castle."

Buaji frowned at the floor for a moment in thought and then looked up, "Sire, will you assure me that my niece will be protected from any future harm that is feared to be associated with working at the Castle?"

"I assure you she will be safe," said Lord Akash, nodding.

"Sire, you will promise me that if any need occurs, she will be sent here?"

"I assure you that too," said Lord Akash.

"How long will her stay be at the Castle?"

"As long as Lady La stays," said Lord Akash, "Or at least till Miss Gupta decides she's worked too long as her handmaid."

"I see," said Buaji, "And sire, when can we see our young Kushi again?"

"If you want to, ma'am, I can ask Lady La to let Miss Kushi visit her home every Sunday," offered Lord Akash.

"Yes, that would be good," cheered the aunt, and she turned to her youngest niece, "Kushibitya?"

"Yes, Buaji?" Kushi was pale with anticipation. She didn't really want to go but she saw no option out. This work could fetch her enough money to support both Buaji and Babuji. She was willing to risk her comfort at home if it would be of some help to her family. And she had been assured that she wouldn't have to meet the lordy Lord during her stay….. And she could always come home on Sundays!

Since Lord Akash had obtained an affirmative response, Kushi was asked to pack and change for immediate departure as Nani wanted her to be part of the life of the Castel from that very day. The departure was a sad moment for Payal was in tears and Buaji kept complaining that Kushi had not packed everything and must have forgotten something. Even when a teary-eyed Kushi had begun to step into the carriage, Buaji pulled at her hand and said, "Are you certain you have taken a spare bath towel?"

"Yes," said Kushi, sighing.

"The new comb we brought last week from the market."

"Yes."

"You must have forgotten the knitting kit then."

Kushi rolled her eyes, "Oh, Buaji, I've taken it all."
"But I still feel like you have forgotten something."

Kushi smiled, "I think it was this," and leaned forward, and planted a kiss on her aunt's cheek.

A tear fell from her aunt's tough eye glands and she touched her niece's head, "I will miss your Mischiefs."

"I will miss annoying you," said Kushi and then she saw Payal, silently watching their interaction.

Next moment, Kushi ran to her sister ad they embraced for a long while. It was Buaji's throat clearing that made them release each other.

Kushi pressed on her sister's hand and Payal kissed her sister's forehead, "You will not get afraid of sleeping in the dark, will you?"

"No," said Kushi doubtfully, "I will make sure I won't have to sleep alone in the dark."

"You must write letters," said Payal.

"One everyday," promised Kushi, and then they separated and Kushi stepped into the carriage.

Payal came and stood at the window, and Buaji was saying, "Practice your knitting when you have time, Kushi, you need to make your fingers more patient."

Kushi sighed, "Yes, Buaji."

"And eat well," said Buaji, "you starve yourself sometimes wanting to spend more time working."

"I will Buaji," said Kushi, "You know how I love feeding myself!"

"Yes," said Buaji, smiling, "That I have seen."

"Kushi," Payal stepped forward, "I have put a sack of cocoa beans with your box of clothes. Just in case you need them."

A tear fell from Kushi's eyes and she could only nod gratefully at her sister.

Payal looked away for she could not see Kushi's saddened face anymore. Her eyes fell on Lord Akash's gaze who was watching her concernedly, "Sire, you will assure me that you will personally see to her safety?"

"I assure you, Miss Gupta," said Lord Akash warmly, "I will personally see to her safety for you."

The 'for you' lingered in the air and the signal was given to Om Prakash, who picked the reins and soon led the carriage fleeting out of the street of the Village, and down the Road, heading for the dark Castle where the future was about to touch old wounds and create new ones .

Chapter Sixty Six: First day at the Raizada Castle

Kushi's arrival was greeted with a mixture of excitement and contempt, the former on the part of Lady Anjali and the servants who were glad to have one more member share in their struggle to satisfy their masters and mistresses, and the latter was accorded by Lady Manorama and Lady Lavanya who found the idea of having Kushi becoming part of the Castle's daily existence very distasteful.

After presenting herself to Nani who was reading in her room, Kushi was directed by Lady Anjali as to the duties of a handmaid. It was understood that a handmaid had to be synonymous with the shadow of the handmaid's mistress, or in short, be vigilant and resourceful with the concerns of the mistress from her waking to her sleeping. Lady Lavanya didn't like Kushi re-appointed as her handmaid one bit, especially now that it was being forced upon her ladyship.

The first day progressed into the late afternoon and Kushi had learnt all about the duties of the Raizada servants, not that she would have to follow them for she never had to clean or wash or cook but she would have to do everything that was to fulfil the needs of Lady Lavanya.

"Lady La's requirements should be the axis of your day's work," said Lady Anjali, as the two of them climbed down the stairs, "Everything you say, do or think must be for her well-being."

"Yes, my lady," said Kushi, bowing.

"But Nani has specifically asked you to visit her when Lady La no longer needs you for an hour or for a few minutes," said Lady Anjali, smiling, "Probably when Lady La has her afternoon naps?"

"I would only be delighted to obey that wish of Nani's," said Kushi, smiling in return.

"Very well then," said Lady Anjali, as soon as they had stepped down the last stair, "Since you have been informed of your duties, you can now proceed to Lady La's room. You do know where it is, right?"

"Yes, my lady," said Kushi and made towards the said place.

Lady Lavanya's room was next to Lady Anjali's room but it was a guest room and its walls were so thick you could hear nothing that was going on outside if you closed the door. This room had a bathing chamber and two dressing areas, one of which was now converted to a bedroom for Kushi.

Not a real bedroom essentially but just enough space to lay a bedding and a pillow. This space could only be used for sleeping. If she wanted to change her dress or open her box, she would have to do that sitting or standing on her bedding. And so, Kushi's tiny room consisted of nothing other than what she needed to sleep on and her little box of her homely things. The room had a door and if one closed it, the room gave the impression of being locked in a coffin, which was not very comforting. So Kushi preferred keeping her door open. The reason why she was made to sleep here instead of in a wide room, adjacent to the kitchen where all the other servants slept, was because she was a handmaid. A handmaid must sleep in respectable proximity to her mistress so that she can be there for her mistress if need arises in the middle of the night.

But if Kushi had to bath or use the toilet, she had to visit the room that other servants used, though Nani had forced Lady Anjali to tell Kushi that if she wanted she could use the bathing chamber in Nani's room. The old lady had taken an instant liking to the village girl and wanted to care for her not as servant but as a child of one's own heart.

It was nearly the evening of Kushi's first day at the Castle. Lady Lavanya was currently in her bathing chamber, singing as she scrubbed, and Kushi was folding the washed and dried gowns of her mistress. She had just placed them into the huge wardrobe in the room, and slid the doors shut, when the sound of the door to the room closing caught her attention.

Kushi had just enough time to look over her shoulder, when hands grasped at her, one closing over her mouth and another pushing her to the wardrobe door by her shoulder. Her frightened eyes met the cold-steel gaze of Lord Arnav as he stood there, having returned from the Industry.

Her breath quickened and his hand pressed harder upon her face, and she shook her head as if asking him to not hurt her. His other hand now held both her wrists locked and lifted above her head, leaning them against the wardrobe. In the background, Lady Lavanya kept on singing.

"So you've come," he said in a low menacing voice, "Do you consider yourself privileged, landing a job here?"

Kushi shook her head.

"Good," he said, his eyes glinting, "Because I will tell you one thing: No one can protect you here even if they may have made promises to protect you. This is my house and though I let people carry on with getting their wishes fulfilled, I am still the Master of their wishes and nothing can stop me."

Kushi was confused, and her eyes showed it.

Lord Arnav smirked, and whispered, "I shall rephrase that for you." He moved close to her ear, and said, "You were the wish made by Nani and Di, and though I granted them what they wanted against my liking, this is my house and I am the Master of that wish of theirs so….."

The fear in Kushi's eyes surged the fire in him, and he found himself already winning, "Don't think that you will live here in peace, Kushi Kumari Gupta. As long as I live, you will have to face me when I intend you to."

Kushi closed her eyes to shut his face from her vision and his words from her mind, but his hands pressing upon her wrists and mouth only made his existence more concrete.

That was when she realised that Lady Lavanya had stopped singing. Fearfully, she opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the bathing chamber. The last thing she wanted was her mistress to come out and see her in this conceding situation.

Lord Arnav saw where Kushi was looking and deduced that Lady La was probably preparing to step out. He released his hold on his victim, who looked at him, appalled that he had granted her freedom. He gave her one last cutting look, threw the cold warning "Beware" at her and soon slipped out of the room.

When Lady Lavanya emerged out of the bathing chamber, wet and covered in a towel, and humming, she stopped at the sight of the pale-faced Kushi, and frowned, "What are you doing there? Guarding my wardrobe?"

Kushi shook her head and moved away, still not able to find her voice. She looked at the door though which he had entered and, few seconds ago, vanished. She could still feel the imprint of his hard hand on her mouth. Her lips would not move out of fear of what he had said and she worried about what was to happen to her.

She took out a new set of gown and accessories for her mistress, handed it to her and then stepped back to wait for further orders. One thing I must keep in mind, she decided, I must stay strong and even if he is a man and he scares me, I should not admit defeat to him. I must ensure victory. She frowned at the door through which he had left after warning her, I don't need protection, Lord Raizada. I can defend myself when I must.

Chapter Sixty Seven: First Night at the Castle

Kushi lay in bed, staring at the dark ceiling. She was glad she had kept the door of her coffin-room open so that the moonlight falling from Lady Lavanya's bedroom window shared some comfort in the cold dark air.

Kushi turned over her side and closed her eyes. Sleep seemed far away and Kushi believed it was because she was in a new place and because she didn't have her sister to cuddle next to.

I miss you, Jiji, Kushi cuddled the tiny pillow under her head.

She rolled over to the other side and waited for sleep. It never came. Sleep, Kushi, Sleep!

Kushi sighed and pulled up her thin blanket closer to her neck. She waited for a long while and then slowly her eyes closed and she was drifting into a dreamy sleep.

And then she jerked awake, sitting up.

She stared into the darkness, afraid. She had heard something. She listened, her breathe held.

Was it her imagination? She heard nothing anymore so she relaxed with the thought that it was her imagination. Besides it's probably past midnight and there is no chance for anyone to be awake during this time.

She had lain down again, when she sat up and the sound of feet running down the stairs echoed overhead. Her room, she had learnt earlier, was right under the stairs leading to the top floor.

She paled and wondered who had come down. At this time of the night?

She sat unmoving in the dark, staring at the moonlight at her open door, afraid even to blink because she feared the moonlight would vanish if she blinked. Her heartbeat rose and she tried to calm her breathing.

It's okay, Kushi, there is no one there, you had only imagined it. And then she heard feet running upstairs and she almost screamed, but dug one end of her blanket into her mouth, No, you idiot girl, it's not your imagination!

It cannot be real.

It is.

No, it's not.

It is to.

Ah! Stop fighting, you stupid mind.

You're the one who started it!

I did not!

Did to!

How could I start it when I'm the same as you?

How can you be the same as me?

I am your mind and so are you.

What?

We are the same mind.

Oh, yes, Kushi's mind. I mean, my mind. What? Kushi frowned into the air, and then slapped her forehead. What is wrong with me? I'm so scared I didn't even realise I was talking to myself?!

Her trembling hands found the clasp of her box at her side and opening it, she found the candle and matchsticks she had brought along with her, just in case. She lit the candle and placed it on the metal box. Then she lay down on her side and curled up, the blanket tightly wrapped around her tiny frame. Her eyes centered on the glowing refuge of the silent candle and it was after a long time, that Kushi drifted off to a sad sleep.

The moonlight at her door shimmered and a shadow crossed it. A figure in a dark robe moved towards where Kushi slept. The hooded figure leaned forward where Kushi's head was resting and blew the candle out. The wisp of the smoke rose in the dark air with the lingering smell of burnt wax.

"At last...you have come," whispered the dark lady in the hood, close to the ear of the sleeping girl and then with an ambiguous smile, she vanished.

Sorry for the delay my dear readers, but I am quite often caught up these days. But I assure you, we will meet again in the inn on the coming Saturday and then I shall tell you more of the adventures that the land of Arhasia could offer for those who love it...

Do quill down your thoughts for I would love to read the parchments of your comments and press them close to my heart...

To return back to the Index, visit:

https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/fan-fictions/2901910/arhi-ff-1-the-beasts-and-the-bleeding-roses

see... i told u i have been stalking your blog!

absolutely loved the internal chatter of Khushi.. and loved her sense of strength and resolve earlier after Lordie Lord's departure..

Please do excuse my language!

The dark figure in ur ff is like Cinderella's god mother, wow now that Khushi is in the castle with her not so prince charming, wat is going to happen nxt...and wat that lordy lord after the arrival of Cinderella in his evil castle is going to do abt it...

awesome oneee...

Congratulations on becoming a Goldie ... 👍🏼