ArHi FF:1: The BEASTS and the BLEEDING ROSES - Page 77

MY STORY EVERY WEEKEND !!
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Yipee!! its friday night..great!! jst a few more hours to go...

8pm..😊

9pm...😛

10pm..😃

11pm..

12am..🥳

1am..

2am..😳

3am..🤪

4am..


5am..


SEEMS I'LL B LATE AGAIN..DAMN!!

7th time in 2 hours...pls update

I've been stalking this page all of today, that is not good. I feel very stalkerish. The story is becoming an addiction already! heck I've reread some of my favorite chapters until I wait for the next ones.

Dear story teller,
where art thou?

hey it's saturday ..!! aren't you updating..??

Pardon me my dear friends for my delay. I had a few near misses with Captain Responsibility and had been unable to reach the Inn in time. I know you must all be exasperated with the long wait…….but here I am. *stretches out arms in form of an embrace*

I want to thank each of you and answer the questions and reply to your comments in detail but Captain Responsibility is vigilant and lurking, and I shall do it justice on a later occasion.

Chapter Seventy Three: The Unexpected Visitor

In the heat of the backyard furnace, Payal stood, bent over the anvil, polishing the sword that she had made that morning. Unlike her sister, she was quite slow in swordmaking but her aunt was patient with her efforts.

Buaji had left for the market to buy some necessities for the kitchen and Payal was alone in the house. As she polished the sword, she sorely wished for the millionth time if her dear Kushi had been there. They would have had a lot of fun and laughter with the house all to themselves. Of course, the younger one would get into mischief and disarray things up when no messing up was expected but, even though Payal always accused for being the 'careless of sisters,' her Kushi was the best thing she could have ever wished to live with.

"You know what, Kushi?" Payal had once written in a letter, "If reincarnation is a candid philosophy and I must be granted a second life, the only thing I wish for is to have you as my sister again."

Payal presently smiled, thinking of Kushi, and imagined seeing Kushi sitting on the grey steps leading to the backdoor of the house, watching Payal work.

"What are you looking at?" Payal asked the apparition on the steps.

"Watching you work," said Kushi, smiling, her chin propped on her hand and her elbows pressed on her knees.

"You watch and waste your time, girl," said Payal, still polishing, though her eyes were on Kushi, "I have more important things to do."

"Really?" mocked Kushi, "Well, I can see your important work has arrived."

"What do you mean?" Payal paused in her polishing and stared at the apparition.

Kushi smiled mischievously and gestured with a nod to something behind Payal.

Payal looked curiously over her shoulder and her mouth fell open when she saw Lord Akash walking towards the house, his smiling eyes fastened on her. He waved. Payal blushed and looked away, towards the house.

The apparition of Kushi had vanished.

With trembling hands, Payal placed the polished sword on the anvil and rubbed her dirty hands on the apron. Why is he here today of all days? Why when Buaji is not here?

She turned about and presented him with a cordial smile, and he came to stand before the waist-high fence, his hands pressed on its white wooden staves.

He was dressed rich and his hair combed, dark and neat. It would be lovely to know how they feel through one's fingers. Immediately, feeling shocked and guilty, she bit her tongue.

"Grand afternoon, Miss Gupta," said Lord Akash, nodding.

"Grand it is, sire," she said and forced her reluctant feet to move to stand before the fence.

They stood before each other, separated by the white fence.

"How do you do, Miss?" asked Lord Akash, concerned.

"I am well, sire," said Payal, bowing, and then she looked up, "was it my sister that sent you here?"

"No," he said hastily, "I came here on my own accord," and then he smiled, "But since you have mentioned her, I assure you she is well and happy there."

"Yes I know," said Payal, nodding, "She writes me letters."

"I am aware," assured Lord Akash and then they were silent.

"I am sorry, sire," said Payal, "But I cannot let you in. My aunt is not here."

"It is alright," said Lord Akash, "I did not come here to see your aunt particularly."

Payal blushed but she didn't let her voice sound affected when she said, "I see. Would you like to drink some warm tea or coffee, sire?"

"No, thank you," said Lord Akash, smiling, "I was on my way to the Market and thought of dropping by…… since this Village is on its way."

Payal nodded and then said, "Thank you for aiding my sister, sire. She wrote to me that you teach her swordfighting," and she frowned to the ground, considering, "though I cannot possibly why she wants to."

"Yes," said Lord Akash, "I teach her what I know of the skill in exchange for the permission to write letters to you."

Payal blushed even more, "To me?"

Lord Akash nodded, and his eyes were soft and expectant when he gazed at her.

She looked away and fidgeted with her fingers, "I must get to work, my lord."

"And I to the village," said Lord Akash, stepping back, sensing her uneasiness and not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

Payal nodded and walked towards the backdoor when he called out, "I hope you do not object to me writing?"

Her hand on the door knob, unopened yet, she looked over her shoulder at him.

He was seated on a horse, waiting to ride off. But he was watching her, waiting for a reply. She smiled and he smiled in return and then rode off.

She walked into the house and closed the door shut. Leaning her back against the door, she stared into the space before her, "This is an uneasy prevalence. The Second Lord wanting to write to me……...I am in trouble."

And then she giggled and wiped a tear off her eye, "I am in big trouble because my heart has flown away with his horse."

Chapter Seventy Four: Letters and Practices

It was a good thing that the stable was situated a little farther away from the Castle though within the same grounds. The sound of clashing swords in the stable was muffled by the principle distance and also owning to the fact that the walls of the castle were quite thick.

"Turn and swipe," said Lord Akash, his sword lifted and waiting and he watched as Kushi turned and swung her sword at him. He blocked its descent and then brought the swords down by one push.

"Deflect," commanded Lord Akash and Kushi deflected, stumbling slightly on the scattered hay but regaining her balance immediately.

"Shall we stop for today?" asked Lord Akash, concerned.

"No," said Kushi suddenly, in between her heavy panting, "I must practice as much as I possibly can."

Lord Akash smiled, "You are one determined learner for a girl, I must say."

"I may be," said Kushi, wiping the sweat of her forehead, "This is important for me."

"May I ask why again?"

"I'm sorry, I cannot tell you, yet," said Kushi, and then she readied her sword, "Shall we continue?"

"Yes."

And soon the sound of swords clashing and commands thrown at her rang in the stuffy stable air. After a while, two exhausted sword fighters, one trainee and the other trainer, slumped onto the huge stack of hay and Lord Akash signalled to a stable boy to get a glass of water for him.

Kushi was sitting on the haystack, a respectable distance away from him and looked at him, "Thank you very much, sire, for what you are doing for me."

Lord Akash nodded but said nothing. The water arrived and after he had drunk and after Kushi had politely turned down his offer for her to drink some, he returned the glass to the stable boy, lay on the haystack and smiled at the ceiling, "You remember what I proposed to you in return for this training, Miss Gupta?"

Kushi looked at him from over her shoulder where she sat, "Yes?"

"It's been a week since we began practicing," said Lord Akash, looking at her, "I believe I can make my offer now."

"What is it, sire?"

Lord Akash sat up and his face was serious, "I would like to write letters to your sister."

Kushi sprang up on her feet and refuted it, saying that it was a most unfitting repayment for the training. While one was a matter of skill, the other was a matter of name, dignity and well-being of a loved one.

"I only wish to converse with her by means of written words," reasoned Lord Akash but there was no budging of verdict from Kushi.

However, after a long struggle of Lord Akash's verbal reasoning and Kushi's mental debating, she finally sighed and nodded, "You may, but foremost, I shall have to personally ask my sister's permission if she may have a man court her through letters."

"Proceed as you wish, Miss Gupta, as long as the result is favourable for both of us," said Lord Akash, relived the debate had ended in comforting tones.

It seemed that Payal was delighted with the prospect and told Kushi that 'the Second Lord may speak to me through written words if he wishes to do so, keeping in mind the etiquette and cordiality desired of two reserved strangers'. Kushi understood that Payal was willing and when she conveyed the information to Lord Akash on her next session of sword training with him, he was too overjoyed to proceed further with the training, but was forced to return from his happy trance when Kushi warned him that she might reconsider her answer to the repayment proposal.

And so, every night, before dinner, Kushi handed Rahim Chacha two letters addressed to her sister and in return she got an envelope in which were to be found three letters.

Ah, you ask me why three. I shall tell you.

One was for her from Payal and Buaji, the second was from Payal to Lord Akash (which Kushi would hand over to him during their afternoon training) and the third was from General Jha, which would arrive in her name, at her aunt's house.

Patently, the General, on receiving one letter from Kushi, made his own letters to her a frequent activity though Kushi never wrote to him. Sometimes though, if she felt there was something she had to answer or ask, she would write to him.

She stuck to writing one sentence letters to him but there were times when she regretted writing it so. The man was very open in his letters, sounding concerned about her and Kushi remembered guiltily that he had saved her twice. Kushi always felt remorseful when she kept his letters away after reading them, not bothering to reply to them.

So eventually from the end of her third week stay in the Castle, she began replying to his letters whenever his letters arrived and, soon, the two of them struck of a happy note of amity in their written conversations. He was a very wise and understanding man in his letters and Kushi was happy she could begin to trust him.

He spoke about battles, about death, about life and about his other soldiers and Kushi spoke to him about the happenings at the Castle, but not of what she did or whom she met and talked to, for she didn't want to acquaint him deeply with the stories of her own life. They never spoke to each other about their own personal lives. They just touched on the details of the present and contemplated on the philosophies of life that the existent circumstances permitted them to think over.

Every Sunday was an extremely happy day for her for she would be at her Buaji's house, having the time of her life. She would enjoy to the fullest every Sunday and the fruits of bliss of that Sunday would aid her to plod through the rest of her coming week at the Castle. Sundays were her refuge wherein she found the strength to face the hardships of her new life at the Raizada haven.

Three weeks had passed so and Kushi was beginning to like her life at the Castle. One morning, when the First Lord and Second Lord, and Lady Lavanya too, had already left for the Industry, Kushi went upstairs to spend some with Nani. At the landing, she saw HariPrakash who had been making the beds of Elder Lord Manohar Raizada and Lord Akash Raizada and was now heading for Lord Arnav's chamber.

"After that I must go to town and by some herbs for Lady Mother's medicine," said the servant.

"Oh, then I suggest you not to waste more time but go buy the herbs for Nani," said Kushi.

"But the First Lord's-"

"I'll make his bed," offered Kushi, though she didn't know why she had to make such offers to help others by putting herself in messy situations.

After HariPrakash had thanked her and left for stable, Kushi moved towards the detested room. Turning the knob, the door swung open and she stepped in. Closing the door, she stood for a moment frowning at the window across the room.

"Oh, I remember you," she said to it, "You gave him ideas to push me to death, didn't you? Well," she moved towards the huge bed to her right, still talking to the window, "It's good I'm made of a strong heart or I would have smashed to pieces with that horrid fall."

She stopped before the bed. It was huge enough for about five people to sleep on it. Frowning at it, she grunted, "The hapless extravagance of the rich, when there are people spending nights sleeping on cold road edges."

The bed was a four-poster bed with thin blue curtains enclosing it and Kushi had to draw the curtains apart to get to the bed. And now that she was near the bed, she realised she couldn't do the bed standing. She would have to crawl over it to organize its centre.

"I tell you, it's larger than the lake he has outside," she muttered to herself, as she slipped her boots off and crawled into the bed on all four.

The bedding was hard in the periphery but as she crawled towards the centre, she realised it was softer towards the middle. "This must be where the lordy Lord lays himself at night," she supposed sarcastically.

She made the bed, tucking the corner and puffing the pillows to look unslept and then, sitting cross-legged on the bed, folded his blanket. As she was folding it, the scent of his hair and his nightly sweat caught her unawares and she dug her face into the ocean-blue blanket.

She breathed in.

"You like it?" asked a voice in her head.

"Yes," she moaned unconsciously, "I like his smell."

"He likes yours too," said the voice and Kushi frowned at the blanket, "He does?"

"Yes," said the voice and beckoned her to look to the bedside table. A shirt was neatly folded there.

"It's not mine," she said to the voice, relieved.

"It is not your shirt but the smell on it is," said the voice, perceptively.

Kushi remembered the night when she had offered to light the candles and how she had had a confrontation with the First Lord and how her sleeve had caught fire and he had torn it off and then offered the shirt he had been wearing which she had instantly rejected.

Kushi crawled to the table and picked up the shirt. Opening it, she sniffed it suspiciously, "It doesn't smell of me."

"For him, it does," played the voice in her head and Kushi scowled into the air, "Oh, knock it off, will you?!"

She crawled out of the bed and after hastily folding the blanket and the shirt and keeping them in their respective places, she left the room, closing the door behind her, shutting the undesirable thoughts from messing with her head anymore.

At night, when Lord Arnav slipped into his night gown and made for bed, he paused.

Everything smelled different, his bed, his blanket, his pillows……Even the shirt on the bedside had toned stronger in its 'special scent' which had almost faded off. It was, as though, he was offered a whole environment doused in her village-flower scent.

He lay upon the bed and pressed his nose into the pillow and then he pulled up the opened blanket and draped it over him. He was surrounded by her fragrance. He closed his eyes and breathed in the air around him.

"Kushi," he moaned, and then he rolled to his side, hugged a pillow and was fast asleep. In the middle of the night, if he felt his tongue burn or something wild stirring in him, ready to awaken and wreck hungry havoc in his body, he would dig his face into the pillow, smell her in and flood his mind with images of her eyes, her smile and her hair and then he would drift to sleep again.

Chapter Seventy Five: At the War Ground

"Your arm!" yelled General Jha, over the uproar of battle, "Put your arm over my shoulder!"

The wounded solider limped a step towards the General and the General helped him to stand, supporting him. When one arm was draped over his shoulder, the General looked at the man, "You ready?"

The man nodded.

The General stepped forward and the man winced as pain pressed up his semi-severed leg.

"A little distance more," said the General, encouraging the forward strides, "Just a few steps more and we'll be at the medical camp."

It was a struggle carrying a struggling man and practically having to drag him over the war ground, that was scattered with dead corpses of committed soldiers.

Soon, the land dipped and the camp was visible from the distance. The General prodded on with the man straggled beside him.

"It hurts," said the man, barley whispering. He had no strength left to speak.

"Just a little more," said the General, pulling the man along.

"No," wheezed the man, and he slipped from the General's sweaty hold and fell limply onto the ground, time pausing in shock, as dust sprayed with the force of his body hitting the dry sand.

"No," said the General, crouching at the fallen man's side, "Solider! Lad, up! Up!! "

The General slapped on the man's cold face, trying to get some kind of response from the man but the man lay staring into the burning afternoon sky, his spirit no more on the land…….….

The General removed his cap. This man who lay dead before him had defended him during the battle when he hadn't seen an enemy soldier come to attack him with a sword. If it hadn't been for this young soldier, I would be counted among the corpses lying here…….….

Sighing, the General ran a hand over the soldier's face, closing his lifeless eyes, and then placed the soldier's cap on his unresponsive face, shutting him from the world he had been part of.

Then he stood up and replaced his own cap on his head.

There was a war to fight and many would be wounded and dropping dead every minute. This ground has never mercy, never sympathy. There is only death or victory. And he would have the latter.

Stepping away from the corpse, he drew out his sword again. The battle awaited him.

The combat ended only when the sun was about to set and they had disabled the enemy to the core. But victory was still not theirs. They had received information that new forces were gathering from the Far East of the land and they had to proceed further and make preparations in view of the greater battles remaining to be fought in the coming week.

At dusk, an exhausted General Jha walked with the other Generals behind the Commander, inspecting the camps and checking on the wounded in the medical camp. The hours of fighting had left them famished and the hungry soldiers were fed plenty before they retired to their respective tents for a night of rewarding sleep. But it was a disturbing irony that no one could gratify their sleep with the cry of dead soldiers echoing in their dreams.

General Jha sat before the table in his tent and, in the candlelight, ran his eyes down a letter:

Honourable Sir General Jha,

My niece Kushi has said that you have begun communicating with her through thoughtful letters and I am happy to know there are gentlemen who care to enquire after a girl's contentment. My niece told me that you were the one who had saved her once at the Festival in the North Village where her parents reside currently. It is an honour to do service to a man as compassionate and dedicated to our land, as you are. My niece no longer stays in my house, I am certain she may have told you of that. She is presently hired as the personal handmaid of a Lady Lavanya who is a visitor at the Raizada Castle.

My dear niece is quite a reckless girl but she is very important to me. Hence, it is my duty to tell you that your communications with her must be always adhere to her well-bring and happiness. If my niece is ever entitled to get hurt by anyone, I make sure that that specific soul will never find the metier to hurt another person in life again. Truthfully, when it comes to both my nieces, I am a most possessive aunt. And I do not underestimate when I say that I admire my little Goddess of Mischief more than my niece-of-blood Payalia. Payalbitiya is a sweet one and I have always been proud of her. But to me, Kushi has always been a treasured possession and though her parents take extreme care in nurturing her, I have always looked upon my Kushikitiya as my own child whom I was hadn't borne. Therefore, caution when you court her, for I shall have no man cross the boundaries that permit her dignity to flourish.

Now, this is not the only reason why I'm writing this letter to you. You had asked me for new supplies of swords in your last letter to my niece and I am sending, with this letter, three dozen new swords, sharpened and polished, waiting to be wielded in the battle front. We villagers always will remember the trouble our soldiers go through to safeguard our realm at its boundaries and I hope that you will find the strength and courage to fight well and return victoriously to your home, which I know not where it is.

Sincerely and with good wishes,

Mistress Madhumati, the Swordsmith's Wife.

The General closed his eyes, digesting the contents of the letter in his weary mind, and then he opened his eyes and took up a quill and some fresh parchment. Laying it upon the wooden writing desk, he dipped the quill in a bottle of ink and began writing:

To my Dearest Wife, my Lady Queen,

The times are hard here and I will take a while to return. I sorely miss being in your arms and I miss the fire and warmth of being home. I will not be able to return until the battle is completely done with, which will be another two or three weeks more. You said in your last letter that the house is more sprightly now. You say that it is because of a certain village girl's presence in the Castle, come to act handmaid to Lady La. I have not met Lady La yet nor do I know of any village girl. But if you say the girl's presence brought Nani to smile and laugh again, that is certainly something. Why, I see your joy in your letters to me, too! I must say this is a fortunate intrusion indeed. I only want my wife to be happy. Always.

It is not a pleasurable sight to be part of slaughter, violence and death every waking day of one's existence. But I have no choice and I can only live with this. I must fight for my land. And for you, my Lady Queen.

Dearly,

Your husband, General Shyam Manohar Jha.

Folding and moving that letter aside, on a fresh parchment, he wrote another letter:

Dearest Miss Kushi,

I am most troubled by the way things are proceeding here on the battleground. It seems as though I can have peace no more. The only comfort I have are your letters which arrive here once every week. Do you know what is a most guilty datum: to be helpless and unable to save a man who died defending you. Being a General, I have many soldiers under my command and they are, all, most dedicated to not just my battalion and the land, but also to their leader. To me. However, I will tell you one thing, Miss Kushi. The world is a cold place and I believed that there was no redemption until an angel was sent in the form of a young girl to save one's mind from becoming insane with one's curses and fears. You are that angel for me, Miss Kushi. I survive because you show me what it is like to feel warm in one's heart again and thus find the strength to face all the torments of my days and nights. I will return to the village only after three weeks or around. Until then, we shall have to keep conversing through letters. Hope you are having a safe and happy stay at the Castle you mentioned in your last letter. From what you say, Lord Arnav sounds like a harassing Master but I'm glad you found friendship in the Ladies who live there…….…

With regards and affection,

General Shyam Manohar Jha.

And then, dropping his quill down on the table, he leaned back in his chair and closed his exhausted eyes.

Chapter Seventy Six: Nani's Wish

It was the second week, and Lady Lavanya was asleep. The men in the house were not back from the Industry yet, so Kushi made for the floor above and found herself knocking at the door of Nani's room, a tray of tea and warm buttered scones balanced in her hold.

"Come in, Kushibitiya," said the voice from within, and Kushi opened the door and stepped in with a smile, "Good evening, Nani."

"Good evening, Child," said Nani, smiling warmly from where she sat in her armchair.

Kushi placed the tray on the tiny table before Nani and then straightened up, "Nani, may I draw apart the curtains on your window for some light?"

"You may," said Nani, taking the teacup and saucer from the tray.

Kushi moved to the window and pulled the curtains apart, flooding the room in a wave of the late afternoon light.

"It's a pleasant sight," said Kushi, "When the sky prepares for sunset."

"It is," said Nani, sipping her tea, watching the girl as she stood near the window, light from the outside framing her young figure, "But I prefer to wait for the dawn than the dusk."

Kushi turned to look at the older woman. Nani looked a lot younger these days. Her grey hair was more black then white and her wrinkles no more primarily noticed if one centred on the sparkle in her eager eyes and her reborn smile of warmth.

"Nani?"

"Yes, bitiya?" Nani looked up as Kushi came and sat on the floor beside the armchair of the older woman.

"Why do prefer the dawn?"

"There is no hope in dusk," Nani smiled at her, "It is what comes before the obscure night."

"I believe there is hope in dusk too," said Kushi, and suddenly a squawk sounded and Fortune, the white parrot flew out from somewhere in the rear of the room and perched upon Kushi's shoulder, "Hello there, Fortune." She caressed the wings of the bird who tweaked its beak into its wing.

"I've brought you some biscuits," said Kushi and picked up a biscuit that was placed in the corner of the tray she had brought in, "Here," she fed the parrot who nibbled on the biscuit, caring to not be too forceful on her hand.

"He is a wonderful bird," said Kushi.

"And wise too," said Nani, smiling as she watched the girl feed her parrot, and then she was serious again, "Tell me, Kushibitiya, why do you say there is hope in the dusk too?"

Kushi's eyes were focused on feeding the parrot as she answered Nani with a smile, "Because every dusk is a promise that there is a dawn right around the bend of the night between them."

Nani's eyes shone with a light of great approbation as she gazed at the girl before her. The young one's hand caressed the bird's back and Nani closed her eyes. A face crossed her mind and she felt her heart weigh. Would those hands of hers be willing to caress the heart of a cruel one too?

"Nani?"

Nani opened her eyes and looked at the girl.

Kushi frowned with worry, "I've been calling you for a while. Are you alright?"

"Ah, yes, my Child," said Nani, smiling suddenly, "I am getting better steadily."

Kushi's eyes were pleading when she asked, "Then would you not step down and make us happy?"

"Down?" Nani asked, "Out of this room?"

Kushi nodded, "You would make everyone happy."

Nani looked away, "There is nothing to earn in me making anyone happy. It is a sad life within these walls." Her eyes ran over the dark stone walls of her room.

Kushi was hurt but hopeful, "You would make me happy."

The older woman looked at the girl and saw the genuine yearning in her eyes, "Maybe I will, child. For you. One day, but not today."

"Very well," said Kushi, and then she tilted her head, "What do you want to do today, Nani? Knit?"

"I have done enough knitting for the day," said Nani, and she sipped her tea, "Leastways, it's a hard labour for these hands of mime."

Kushi's eyes fell on that hand of Nani's which had a cloth wrapped around its fingers.

"I love tea," said Nani, sipping.

"I know you do, Nani," said Kushi smiling, "Which is why I make it a point to bring it up to you myself."

Nani smiled at her and then they were silent for a moment.

"Do you want to hear a story?"

"Yes," said Kushi eagerly. "You always tell very nice stories, Nani."

"There are stories of every kind," said Nani, leaning back in her armchair, "There are even those that are sad and linger."

"Are you going to tell me a sad story?"

"I do not know," said Nani, as if in a trance, "There was once a tiny larva that was a dear friend of a flower who loved the larva with all her blossomed life. Many days passed and one fine day, the larva turned into a cocoon. The flower was sad and she missed the larva a lot. This flower lived in the garden of a little girl who loved the flower a lot. The flower was very special to her because it was a gift from her father who had left to fight in the war and had never come back. So the little girl cared for the flower as if it were a part of her father's love that he had left behind for her to remember him by. She had always loved the friendship of the larva and the flower and had watched them playing in the sunlight. But when the larva became a cocoon, she found herself spending her time in consoling the flower. Even the little girl felt sad that the larva had left them. But she suppressed her pain and consoled the flower with promises that when it was time, the larva will return. One fine day, he did return but in the form of a honeybee. The flower was overjoyed but the girl was sad. She had loved the larva more and this changed creature, with a needle on its rear, didn't look like her innocent larva anymore."

"What happened after that?" asked Kushi, as she and Fortune listened to every word that fell from Nani's mouth.

Nani continued, her tea forgotten, "Well, the girl would watch from far how the flower forgot her gloom and welcomed the honeybee to drink from her nectar. The girl was worried if the honeybee would harm her tiny flower but so far as she had seen it, the honeybee had never hurt her flower in anyway. Then one day, the girl was watering her other plants when she heard the honeybee's buzzing and it sounded really angry. Afraid for her flower, the little girl rushed to the spot and saw the honeybee closing in on the flower, intending to drink from the nectar again. But the girl didn't think, and she stepped forward and just before the bee had descended on the flower, she harshly slapped the honeybee away, pricking her little hand with its stinger. The mother of this girl, who was always disheartened because her husband was never returning, came outside just then and dragged the girl inside. She scolded her for trying to save a flower by putting her own life at a risk and nursed the little girl's wound. And then, the mother told her that she was the only family she had remaining and she could not see her be harmed. So she shut the little girl in a room. The little girl would look out of her window and watch her sad flower everyday but she could never go to it. And she never saw the honeybee again, knowing not if he was dead or alive."

Kushi was silent and a tear dropped from one eye and fell upon her gown, "What a cruel mother. I know she was hurting too……..but to have shut her little girl in her room and deny her all the little joys of life…….."

Nani looked down at Kushi as if waking from a dream and then looked at the cup in her hand, "Oh dear, my tea's turned cold."

"Here, give it to me, Nani," said Kushi, "I'll warm it for you."

The parrot squawked and flew from its place on Kushi's shoulder to the bedpost.

"Never mind," said Nani, "I don't feel like drinking anything anymore."

Kushi looked at the older woman for a moment and then finally nodded.

"Do you want to rest, Nani? You look tired."

"Yes, I think I will," said Nani and she stood up. Kushi helped her to her bed and then wishing her a good rest, the young girl left the room with the tray and its contents.

As soon as Kushi had closed the door, Nani sat up in bed and stared at the window, the curtains forgotten to be shut. At the other end of the bed, perched on the bedpost, Fortune watched the woman.

Nani smiled at the white parrot, "And you are one clever little thing. You knew, didn't you?"

The bird clicked its beak and then sat still.

Nani leaned back against the wooden board of the bed, "Kushibitiya has left the curtains open, Fortune. Do you think it is a sign that I must see hope in the dusk too?"

The bird was silent.

Nani sighed and lay in bed. She felt extremely tired. Her cloth-wrapped hand lay on her pillow before her.

"What do you think, Fortune? Do you think I should stop caging myself in this room?"

Fortune squawked and said nothing.

Nani felt sleep weigh upon her eyelids.

Fortune tweaked his beak in his wings again and then squawked, "The honeybee is not dead! The honeybee is not dead!"

Nani smiled in her sleep.

Chapter Seventy Seven: The Little Adventure of the Mistress and the Handmaid

It was the third week of Kushi's stay at the Castle and in the afternoon of the Wednesday, Lady Lavanya called her to her room.

"I want to go out today," said Lady Lavanya, as she dressed before the mirror, and Kushi helped her.

"You will accompany me," said Lady Lavanya.

Kushi looked up, "Out of the Castle grounds, my lady? Am I permitted, being your handmaid?"

"Yes," said Lady Lavanya, "Because I say so. Except for the Industry and this Castle, I have seen nothing else of this land."

Kushi smiled, "I can take you to my village."

"No," said Lady Lavanya, picking up her hat, "I want to buy some things fancy and I want you to take me to the best place in this land where I can get them."

"There's a Market at the far end of the South Village," said Kushi, "That's the nearest one. Everyone goes there, even the servants of this Castle for the provisions of this Castle."

Lady Lavanya donned her hat and looked herself in the mirror.

"What do you propose to buy, my lady?" asked Kushi, waiting.

"We'll see when we get there," said Lady Lavanya, and then she picked her umbrella and was heading for the door.

Kushi hastily straightened the creases on the plain gown she was wearing and tucked in any loose strands of hair behind her ears. She always plaited her hair these days while in her role of a busy handmaid.

Lady Lavanya had ordered a carriage to drive them to the South Village and soon maid and mistress were riding downhill, with the servant named JayPrakash for carriage-driver.

Half an hour later, on nearing the South Village, they rode away from the street and further down the Road to get to the Market. This was quite far from Kushi's aunt's place. Since it was not the weekend, the Market place was not teeming with villagers, except for a few handful women or men.

With the carriage parked in the market stable and JayPrakash left to wait at the carriage, Kushi followed her mistress as they made for the centre of the square. There were several stalls or shops set up in this marketplace, selling many kinds of articles, and occasionally hawkers kept trudging by, calling out what they sold and the cost of each.

"What do you want to look for, my lady?" Kushi asked, trying to catch up with her mistress who was hastily walking about, searching for some shop she could examine.

"Let's see," her eyes read the banners above each stall or shop and then she nodded to a shop at the far end, "The Perfumery."

Kushi led her to the local Perfumery and Lady Lavanya was greeted with great commendation there. She felt so overwhelmed with all the attention that she ignored Kushi all through her stay there. Not that she needed Kushi for anything when shopkeepers showed her the different perfumes they had in stock.

But none of the perfumes were up to the rich taste of Lady Lavanya's class, so she rejected the offers and stepped out with great gusto into the street again, Kushi behind her, holding the opened umbrella of her mistress above her.

"Is there a shop for hats here, Kushi?"

"I suppose there might be one for accessories, yes," she suggested from memory, "I think it is this way, my lady."

Both of them headed in the other direction to search for the hat shop and soon found themselves inside a shop that had an ample stock of various womanly accessories. While the shopkeepers hovered around Lady Lavanya, showing her everything they had in stock, Kushi ambled through the aisles touching and admiring things she could never dream of owning.

After an hour, Lady Lavanya stepped out of the shop, followed by Kushi who straddled two baskets full of articles her mistress had bought from the shop. They made for the carriage and after JayPrakash had stocked the purchases in the carriage trunk, Lady Lavanya looked around, "Is there a place we can have some good drinks from?"

Kushi looked about, "The coffeehouses do not open at this hour, my lady. But if you are desperate for a drink, I have heard Buaji speak of an inn here but I suppose women are not popularly expected to visit the place."

"A men's place?" Lady Lavanya asked impatiently, "Do they serve things that only men may drink and something fatal would happen if a woman drinks it?"

"No," said Kushi, confused, "I do not know what they serve there but I am hoping it may not be harmful beverage."

"Very well then," said Lady Lavanya, "Take me there."

"But my lady," began Kushi but Lady Lavanya frowned at her and Kushi silently obeyed.

The inn was located adjacent to the centre of the square and Kushi led her mistress into it.

Since it was the afternoon, there were not many people in the inn but the dozen or less men seated drinking within looked up from their conversation as the door opened and admitted in a pretty girl and an exquisitely dressed rich lass.

"Look what the strange wind dropped in," said a man., playing cards with four of his friends in one corner of the room, his eyes watching the girls walk in.

Lady Lavanya ignored them and walked towards the counter where the bartender stared at the women and then bowed low and enquired to the rich looking one, "How may I help you, your ladyship?"

"What do you have?" said Lady Lavanya, looking around for a place to sit.

There were only stools there and the man came out from behind his counter and brushed a dusty stool for her to sit. Lady Lavanya looked at the stool as if it were a dead rat. Kushi stepped forward and laid her opened handkerchief upon it and then Lay Lavanya attempted to sit upon it. Once she was seated, she placed her hands on her lap in a ladylike manner and looked at the innkeeper from under her hat, "What do you have?"

"Anything from cold to hot, your ladyship," he assured her warmly.

Kushi heard sniggering from where the men were seated but she didn't turn to look. She felt extremely unsafe sanding in this place.

"One cup of coffee please," said Lady Lavanya and then she looked at Kushi, "Do you want anything?"

Kushi shook her ahead.

"Yes, so one cup of coffee that will be, with two cubes of sugar," she ascertained to the innkeeper, who bowed low and went to get her coffee in one of his best cups and saucers that were kept within his inner cupboard.

"My lady." Kushi leaned towards her mistress and whispered, "I believe it is not good to be here. We must go."

"Nonsense," Lady Lavanya shot Kushi an annoyed look, "Is my handmaid a scared kitten?"

Kushi shook her ahead and spoke no more.

As they waited, Kushi heard the sound of chairs scrapping backwards and then footsteps approaching where she stood. But she had not been the aim of the advancers. It had been her mistress.

"So," said a man, with a dirty beard and red-shot eyes, "What do we have here?"

Lady Lavanya looked fixedly at the counter, as if nothing was happening around her.

A man with a scar over his eye stepped forward and touched the black feather on Lady Lavanya's hat. The woman flinched, and looked at him, "Take your filthy village hands off my hat!"

"I would, darling," said the man, "If you hadn't been sitting here like a spectacle inviting to be touched."

Lady Lavanya went red with embarrassment and anger and she stood up. Kushi's handkerchief, upon which she had been seated, slid to the floor.

"How dare you!" Lady Lavanya lifted her hand to whack the man but his hand was faster and caught hers before it had descended. He caressed her wrist with his other hand, "How soft your skin is, beauty."

The bartender arrived with the ordered coffee, and he placed the dainty cup on his counter and glared at the men, "Aye! Leave the lady alone, I say! She's my customer!"

"We're all your customers, Kumal," said the man with the dirty beard, "But you never serve us drinks in dainty cups, do you?"

The bartender frowned, "Aye! Leave her I say…." But he made no move to interfere physically.

"You know what happens if you step out of that counter, don't you, Kumal?" threatened the man with the scar.

The bartender looked away, "Just leave her and keep my inn clean."

"Its never clean," said a random man and the other men laughed, "Besides, it's been long since we've had a pretty rich lass to entertain us."

Lady Lavanya pulled at her arm, "Let go off me, you tramp!"

"Who you calling tramp?" the man raged and he lifted his other hand to strike her, when Kushi's reflexes worked and she drew the cup of coffee on the counter and splashed the scalding drink upon the face of the man with the scar. Yelling, he let go of her mistress' hand and he bend forward, his hand on his steaming face, trying to pat it to cool it.

The other men looked up to glare at Kushi but the young girl had dropped the cup, smashing it to the floor, and pulled at her mistress' arm who did not stop her. With the men following them, they raced out of the inn and together, they sprinted through the square, careening past the bystanders, and heading for where their carriage awaited. From afar, JayPrakash, who was leaning against the horse and eyeing the young girl selling vegetables, heard the sound of Kushi yelling him to "Get the carriage ready!"

Dropping all casual stoic, he scampered upon the carriage bench and picked up his reins. Kushi and Lady Lavanya were slowed by a hawker's cart and also because they ran with one holding another's hand but panic over the thought of the men chasing behind them had then speeding down the street and rounding obstacles until the carriage was before them. When they were still a few feet away from the carriage, JayPrakash leaned back and opened the carriage door, and the two young girls leapt into the carriage, yelling a battle cry, JayPrakash winked at the open-mouthed vegetable seller he had been eyeing earlier, tugged hard at the reins, crying, "Hiya!!" had the horses neighing and cantering off down the way they had come. Kushi pulled the carriage door shut as Lady Lavanya straightened her hat and seated herself on the seat. Both the girls looked out of the carriage window and saw the men arriving upon the spot just then but the carriage was too fast and they could not catch it. So the men stopped and cursed at them and Kushi put her tongue out in mockery. She giggled and then froze in surprise. Lady Lavanya was giggling, watching the expressions on the men's faces and then looked at Kushi.

"That was fun," said Lady Lavanya and then her face was serious, as she removed her hat and inspected it, "I'll have to throw this away because that man touched it."

Kushi said nothing but, next moment, jumped in alarm when Lady Lavanya cried, "Oh my umbrella!! I left my umbrella at that horrid inn! We have to turn back!"

Kushi stared at her mistress, "Really, my lady? You really think it's a favourable plan to go back to that inn where we've just created quite an uproar that if we ever step into the market again, we'd sooner be dead than walking out happily with your umbrella straddled on your arm?"

Lady Lavanya sighed, "I know its impossible to return but can't one wish. Oh, my pretty umbrella! The filthy scroungers will blacken it with their dirty hands and then tear it to pieces and finally burn it up in the fireplace as revenge for what you did."

Kushi gaped at her mistress, "What I did? My lady, I did it for you."

"I know," Lady Lavanya said, looking wistfully at the grassland scene outside her window.

They were silent for the rest of the journey and even after reaching the Castle, they were silent.

JayPrakash nodded at Kushi, when she thanked him, and said, "In our days of mortal service and dreary existence, it is a treat to have such rare escapades and adventures, don't you think, Miss Kushi?"

Kushi smiled at him but said nothing for she didn't know how to answer. Escapades were fun but they also left a bad taste in their aftermath, after the effects of the "fun" in having them had faded.

That night, after Kushi had helped her mistress into her night gown and then into bed, she had switched off the light in an attempt to proceed to her own little coffin-room when Lady Lavanya called out to her in the dark.

"Kushi?"

"Yes, my lady?" Kushi asked.

The darkness weighed with the silence for a moment before Lady Lavanya's voice returned to break it with a feeble, "Thank you."

And then the silence that followed was one of promises and Kushi smiled as she made towards her room, where she changed her gown and then slipped into the warm blanket. In that darkness, as they waited for sleep to come, the grateful smile of the mistress and the assured smile of her handmaid, lingered to carry on the memory of their smiles into the days to come…..…

Chapter Seventy Eight: Morning Messes

Kushi was heading for the kitchen, one early morning, and she almost crashed into Lady Anjali who was coming through the door, carrying a tray with coffee and breakfast placed upon it.

"Careful!" Lady Anjali cried and Kushi froze, stopping inches before the tray was unharmed.

Lady Anjali giggled merrily, "You are very quick in caution and instinct, Miss Kushi."

"Doesn't make much difference," said Kushi, shrugging, "I always do mess up a lot of things."

"You've been most careful though, since the day you came to be part of this Castle," pointed out Lady Anjali.

"Yes," said Kushi, looking up while pondering, "Yes, you're right, my lady. Fear has made me redundantly careful in this Castel."

"Fear?" Lady Anjali tilted her head, "Fear of what, Miss Kushi?"

"Fear of……" Kushi frowned at the floor, "chancing upon someone I do not want to chance upon."

Lady Anjali nodded in thought and then smiled, "Well, I would love to hear more about this fear of yours but I have to hand this tray over immediately."

Kushi volunteered, "Here, let me carry it for you."

"You will?" Lady Anjali smiled gratefully, "Why thank you, Miss Kushi. I hope you are not wanted with Lady La right now."

"No, she's in her bathing chamber and will not need me till an hour has expired," said Kushi, carrying the tray and following after Lady Anjali, who had begun climbing the stairs.

"Is this Nani's regular breakfast time?" asked Kushi as they stepped onto the landing.

"Nani has her breakfast only two hours later," said Lady Anjali, stepping forward.

"So, why are we taking her breakfast this early?" asked Kushi, curious.

Lady Anjali looked over her shoulder, surprised, "Who said the tray was for Nani?"

And before Kushi's bewildered face, Lady Anjali opened the door before her and Kushi's heart leapt to her throat, almost choking her. Lady Anjali had stepped inside and the door was left open for Kushi to enter but Kushi was occupied, wild options running through her flustered mind.

Leave the tray on the floor and run? Call Lady Anjali to come out of the room, hand the tray over to her and say Lady Lavanya has called to her? Go back to the kitchen and transfer the tray into some other servant's hand and ask him to take it to the First Lord's room?

Her juggling of options crashed to the floor as soon as Lady Anjali called out, "Miss Kushi?" from within the room and Kushi found her feet walking into the hated room on their accord.

She forced herself not to look to the bed where he was probably lying. Keeping a stiff posture, she walked right up to the table by the bed and placed the tray on it. She was about to walk away when Lady Anjali said, "Miss Kushi, since you are here, could you draw the curtains apart please?"

Kushi had to take a moment to reactivate her immobilised form and make a move towards the window. Her hands reached for the dark curtains and with a tug, she had drawn them apart and light burst into the shadowy room, accentuated by a startled manly yell.

"Not so fast," he grunted from the bed as sheets rustled and Kushi assumed that he was trying to sit up.

"Sorry," muttered Kushi to window.

Lady Anjali shook her head, "Waking in a sore mood is not good, Chotey."

"Well, don't I always wake sore?" asked her brother, and then his eyes fell on the girl near the window, "And today, I have more reasons to wake sore."

Kushi swirled around where she stood and made for the door, casting a hateful glare at him on the bed as she passed. But just when she thought she could make a hasty retreat and get away with the glare, Lady Anjali asked her, "Miss Gupta, could you pick out a neat coat and shirt for Chotey from within his wardrobe?"

Kushi's heart sank. When can I get out of this room? But she moved to the wardrobe, obediently. Her hands had reached for the huge wardrobe doors when he barked, "Don't touch it."

Kushi stopped and looked over her shoulder.

He was frowning at his sister, "Are you making her touch my clothes?"

Lady Anjali frowned back at him, "Why, Chotey? She's not going to dirty it or anything,"

"I don't like it," he said and he looked at his enemy from the corner of his eye, "Especially because it's her."

"Chotey," Lady Anjali had begun in defence of Kushi but her brother interjected, "You take my clothes out for me, Di."

Lady Anjali shook her head and with a sigh, rose from the bed and made for the wardrobe, "While I take out his clothes, you can hand him his coffee, Miss Gupta."

Silence weighed in the room.

I'd have preferred choosing the lordy Lord's coat instead of handing the evil One his morning coffee, Kushi grumbled as she turned about and made for the table beside the bed.

She could feel his eyes on her and that flustered her senses even more. She poured coffee from the tiny pot into the cup, dropped a cube of sugar into it, stirred it and placing the cup on a saucer, turned to the bed.

He sat there, curtained behind the blue netting of the huge bed, propped up on pillows and leaning against the bed board. He was eyeing her with great animosity and Kushi would have loved to throw the coffee onto his arrogant face if his sister had not been present in the room.

Kushi reached a hand out and drew the curtain of the bed apart. With trembling hands, she held out the cup and saucer for him to take. He made no move to take it. She was getting annoyed, but she spoke respectfully, "Your coffee, sire."

"I can see that," he said bluntly, not taking his eyes off her.

Then he cast his eyes over her shoulder and addressed his sister, "Di, I think you must ask someone to press that coat. It has creases on its sleeves."

"Yes, I see it," said his sister, inspecting the coat.

"Why don't you send Miss Gupta downstairs to get it pressed?" his eyes were back on Kushi.

Kushi was surprised he had said that but equally happy that she was being offered a chance to get out of the stifling room. She waited for Lady Anjali's answer.

"That is not needed, Chotey. She is administering your breakfast and since I'm presently heading towards the kitchen, I will hand it over myself."

Kushi's heart sank on hearing this and instantly her heart leapt with fear on seeing the smirk on Lord Arnav's face. He knew. He knew his sister would offer to go herself and leave the two of them alone.

No, no!!

Kushi gulped and took a step backwards. She heard Lady Anjali leave the room, shutting the door, and Kushi placed the cup of coffee back on the tray.

"Hand me my coffee," he ordered viciously.

"Get it yourself," she said shortly, and made to move to the door.

The bed creaked and in a swift moment, her hand was pulled hard, ramming her into a cold chest. She winced and remained with closed eyes.

"I'm going to wash up and until I return, you will remain here," he said threateningly to her and then her hands were released and he had walked off.

As she waited for him to emerge from the bathing chamber, she walked to and fro, thinking of all the things he may have intended to make her do and, contiguously, she tried to make possible plans of evasion if he attempted anything. All her plans and proposals failed when the door of the bathing chamber opened and he stepped outside.

She looked up and found the amused look in his eyes, finding that she had stayed and not run away.

"So, you obeyed?"

Kushi said nothing but stood by the bedside table, stiff as a stone. He walked towards her and, with each step he took, her heart was hammering against her ribs as if trying to break free of its skeletal prison.

To resume their mode of conduct formally and hoping to get out as soon as possible, Kushi lifted up the cup and saucer again and handed it to him.

This time, without a word, he took it from her, his cold fingertips brushing against her knuckles and making her withdraw faster than she had intended. The cup slipped and its contents fell onto his shirt.

"What the!"

Gasping, Kushi's hands reached towards his chest, "Are you-?"

He withdrew. She stepped away too and picked up the fallen cup and saucer that had thankfully not broken because they had landed on a thick rug.

When she straightened up after picking them up, she gasped and almost fell backward with shock.

He had taken off his spoiled shirt and he stood before her bare-chested, looking away. Blushing, she turned about, moved towards the tray and placed the coffee and saucer on the tray. There was an extra coffee cup on the tray. Lady Anjali must have intended to drink coffee with her brother but plans had evidently changed of course.

Kushi picked up the clean cup and poured warm coffee into it. She dropped a cube of sugar into it and stirred it. She placed the cup on a saucer and waited.

"Do you still want coffee?"

"Yes," his voice came from her left.

She saw that he was again sitting on the bed, propped up by pillows, his back pressed against the bed board.

Mumbling curses, Kushi picked up the cup and saucer and moved to the bed. The curtains were drawn apart and she didn't need to bother about them. She stood at the side of the bed and stretched out her hands, holding the cup and saucer.

"I can't reach it," he said casually, making no attempt to move his hands, his long strong arms lying stretched across the bed board on his either side.

He was sitting against the wall near the centre of the bed and Kushi knew his intentions were to have her crawling towards him.

Annoyed beyond her confines, Kushi took a breath to calm herself before leaning forward. She lifted one leg and pressed her knee on the hard bed, his punishing eyes watching her every move and expression and making her hand, holding the cup, tremble. With the help of her free hand, she managed to let both knees crawl a few inches into the bed and when she nearly in the middle, she stopped a good distance away from him and from there, she held out his cup and saucer.

He looked at her, smirking, and took the offered cup. There was no 'brushing of fingers' this time and a relieved Kushi hastily stepped out of the bed. She was about to head for the door when he said, "I need my scones with my morning coffee."

She sighed disgustedly. Where is Lady Anjali when you need her?

She ambled grudgingly towards the bedside table and picked up the golden plate of two scones. She walked to the bed and stretched it out to him.

"Can't reach again," he muttered, sipping his coffee.

Grumbling, she crawled upon the bed once more, with the plate in one hand and she paused where she had stopped before, away from him, and held out the plate to him again.

His eyes glinted mischievously as he nodded to the cup in his one hand and the saucer in the other.

No, no, not this! Kushi felt like crying, but she pressed upon her hatred and crawled determinedly closer to him. A few inches away from where he sat, she paused and sat with her legs underneath her, her knees pressed together.

She stared fixedly at the plate in her hand but his eyes were on her and she could feel her blood boil.

"Feed me," he said in a low voice and she felt shivers run down her spine.

One trembling hand picked up a scone and lifted it towards him. He leaned forward.

She had been starring at the scone in her hand but now her focus moved to his mouth. The way he had opened it and his lips had closed over one end of the scone, biting on it so reverently. As though he were worshiping the scone as he bit gently into it. Her mouth dropped open on seeing this and then she watched the mouth chew its fill of scone, slowly, thoughtfully and relishing its taste with every moment of its presence in his mouth.

Kushi caught his watchful gaze, snapped her mouth shut and looked away, blushing, "I have to go."

"Not until you've finished feeding me both the scones," he stated simply, sipping his coffee to wet the scone in his mouth.

Kushi closed her eyes, More of this sweet torture? Please, Lady Anjali, come back!

"I'm waiting," he said and Kushi opened her eyes and resumed feeding him the remaining scone. Four bites were needed for him to finish one scone and on the fourth bite, when he had taken it into his mouth, her trembling fingers brushed upon his lower lips and both of them froze. Her fingers withdrew instantly, but they still felt burnt.

He paused, staring at her for a moment, before he let the moment pass and munched on his scone as if nothing had happened.

Kushi was angry that she was blushing under his touch and that he was not affected the way she was. She picked up the other scone, wanting to get this 'feeding lordy Lord' session over immediately.

"I hate you," she muttered as she let him take the first bite off the second scone.

"I hate you too," he said, munching.

He sipped his coffee and then looked at her, "I hate you so much that I am disgusted you are here on my bed, feeding me."

"Really? Then why invite me to do so?"

"Because I like to use any opportunity I have at my disposal to annoy my enemy."

"I see," she said sarcastically, feeding him the scone, "Then eat to your fill, Lord Arnav Singh Raizada because I assure you, fed by my angry hand will not give you an exultant day."

"On the contrary, I am most contented," he smirked, sipping his coffee before saying, "I may have to order my bedclothes to be washed since you've dirtied it with your presence on it but I seem to have succeeded in my intention of irking you and so I cannot stop myself in glorying under your defeat."

"How can this be my defeat?" she shot at him, her eyebrows raised.

"Feeding me against your will and succumbing to my demand is my victory and your defeat, isn't it?" The evil glint in his eyes and his scornful words were enough to anger her and she threw the remaining piece of the scorn into his unfinished coffee.

"Eat it yourself, you arrogant monster!" she fired at his stunned expression and made to escape as quickly as she could. But he was faster and just as she had turned in the bed to leap out, he had caught her by the waist, pushed her down onto the centre of his bed and pinned her there with his hands on her wrists, keeping them from fighting him.

She kicked at him with her legs, and with one move his legs pressed upon her thighs making her unable to move her limbs.

"No, let me go," she said, and then she felt something warm seep into her dress. She looked to the left and saw the fallen cup of coffee, the brown-wet scone sitting on a trail of coffee that had flowed out of the cup, darkening the bed cover and dampening the back of her gown.

"Your bed's really dirty now," she hissed at his face.

"It was dirtied the moment you crawled into it, so it makes no difference," said Lord Arnav in a low voice.

"You asked me to," she defended.

"I wanted you to," he reminded her, with an evil smirk.

"You are horrid and heartless!" she claimed distraughtly.

"You are annoying and interfering."

"Oh, so I do annoy you!" she was pleased, and she kept trying to free her hands and legs from under him all this while.

"Relentlessly," he said and kept her firmly under him, "Which is why I must return the deed back."

"That is so thoughtful of you," she hissed, cynically.

"I am very thoughtful when it comes to repaying something done to me," he smirked.

"Let me go!!" she tried pushing her legs but her effort was futile.

"Apologize," he stated softly.

"Never!" she said hotly.

"Then remain here for all day," he smirked.

Kushi paled, and tried to reason, "You have to go to work."

"Today is Saturday," said Lord Arnav, detachedly, "Akash will go if there is any need though there won't be."

"I am being called by Lady Lavanya," she tried.

"I can't hear anything," he cocked his head towards the door.

"Please," pleaded Kushi, tears stinging in her eyes.

"Say you're sorry," he offered.

"I have done nothing wrong to apologize, except meet your demands," said Kushi.

"Apologize for your disrespectful speech towards me," said Lord Arnav patiently.

"You are not worthy of respect from me," said Kushi, gritting her teeth, "Let me go!"

"Miss Kushi?" called a voice from downstairs and suddenly he let go of her.

She scrambled out of bed and raced for the door.

At the doorway, she looked over her shoulder and glared at him through tears that had not yet slipped out of their home in her eyes. He was smirking up at her, "Farewell, beggar. I look forward to more adventures aimed to exasperate you."

"I will not easily succumb…….ever," she hissed angrily and then was out of the room, leaving two hearts flustered under the aftermath of a tumultuous morning confrontation.

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The Book of Comrades Chronicles' lies open before thee. Dip the quill in ink and pen down thy thoughts so I can treasure them in my heart……..

Missed it for days and there is 5 updates in a row. loved it. Mostly the ch 78.I love this Lord Arnav and Khushi.