ArHi FF:6:The BEASTS and the BLEEDING ROSES Ch 175 - Page 22

Chapter One Hundred Sixty Two: Wretched Worry

Kushi was standing with her mother and her sister in one of the festival tents, looking through some ornaments put on display when, from the other end of the ground, they heard loud cries and yells and violet bursts of fireworks.

"What happened?" Garima wondered, looking in the direction of the commotion.

"It seems some of the fireworks they were keeping for the end fell into the central bonfire," said someone passing by.

"Is anyone hurt?" Payal asked anxiously.

"No, I don't think so," said the man as he walked on.

"Well, your father's at the other stall for I can see him from here," said their mother, her eyes focused on where she was able to see her husband.

Payal's searching eyes fell on Lord Akash who was standing a little distance away in the crowd, his gaze on her. He waved a hand once to assure her of his safety and she breathed a sigh of relief. Kushi noticed this and when she caught Lord Akash's gaze, she smiled at him.

Instantly, another face crossed her mind and her eyes scanned Lord Akash's territory for signs of that person.

But he was not to be found.

Kushi clutched at the sides of her gown, turning to the crowd behind them.

Her gaze searching, she moved through the crowd, drifting away from where her mother and sister stood inspecting the ornaments.

Kushi made way through the crowd and as she moved closer to where the bonfire had erupted, she was trapped in the crowd that was walking in her direction. She braved herself and eased through the thick mob, her eyes keeping a lookout for the face she had come searching for. But he was nowhere to be found.

As she got nearer to the thick crowd around the bonfire she heard people speak of someone getting hurt, or was it more than one person, she was not sure but her mind began to swim and her cheeks were flushed with the panic running through her heated blood.

Forgetting herself she began calling out, "My Lord? My Lord?" over the noise, hoping with all her strength that the voice she wanted would answer her. But none came and with a sinking heart, she moved through the stiff crowd right up to where the bonfire was blazing. She could not see any face clearly, her eyes blurred whether by tears or the stinging smoke, she was not sure.

She looked around, trying to decipher the faint features of each face through her tears.

But no face was his.

"Pardon me," Kushi addressed the man standing beside her, "But was there an accident here?"

"Yes, two men were slightly hurt from the fireworks but it was nothing fatal," the man said off-handedly.

"Do you know who it was?" she could barely hear her voice over her wild heartbeats and the noise of the Festival.

"We didn't see the faces in the frenzy and the crowding," the man said, "But I did catch a glimpse of his attire. Quite rich, it seemed!"

Kushi's head reeled, "Where'..where do you think he may be now?"

The man shrugged, "Haven't the faintest clue'...probably he's walked off to enjoy the Festival again."

She didn't know where to search anymore but she could not stay in the hard-pressing crowd and suffocate herself by the smoke from the bonfire. Feeling heavier at heart, she circled the crowd and moved away from the bonfire until she had reached the nearby sale-stalls.

She blinked away her tears and continued searching for him. She was knocked by men hurrying by and they accused her for being careless as they passed by grumbling.

But she didn't care for what they said. She slid a hand to her heart, wishing she could stop it from beating any faster and raising the heat in her worried blood.

"Please, please be here, my lord," began Kushi, and she was knocked by another man she had run into and he muttered something about 'recklessness' and moved on, but Kushi looked helplessly around her, her hand on her heart and her tear-filled eyes searching.

With a sinking heart, she realized her mother would panic if she found that Kushi was longer with her family and Kushi had barely turned around to return when her eyes fell on the man standing in the shadow of the pavilion, detached from the entire village Festival, with the forest trees behind him.

His bored gaze slid across the crowd until it finally rested on Kushi, who remained transfixed to the spot.

Next moment, with clenched fists and gritted teeth, she marched up to him, her gown flying with fury as she made through the crowd.

The man, who had been casually leaning against the side of a wooden post, straightened up in a concerned study of her face.

"Kushi-?" he had barely voiced his confusion as to her expression, before she was upon him, slapping her hand hard onto his chest, "You cruel vile beast! You heartless monster!"

He blinked, startled from the unexpected slap on his chest.

He frowned at her, rearing on his lordly demeanor, "What is the meaning of this?" and then he noticed the tears in her eyes, reading angerand relief in them.

She glared at him, "How dare you lead me on like this! How worried you had gotten me!!"

"Worried?" he was amazed, "For me?"

"Yes, for you, you foul heartless Frankenstein!" she yelled, "Do you not care for those who care for you that you must go and torture them so?!!"

He stared wide-eyed and then his lips curved to a pleased smirk, "This is strange indeed'..." The slow drawl in his voice reverted Kushi back to her senses and she realized what she had let find word.

Her cheeks flushed a deep red as she timidly took a few steps away from him and turned about, and she would have escaped into the crowd, if his swift hands hadn't held her by her shoulders, pulling her to him, her back pressing against the chest she had slapped.

"Let me go, my mother may worry over my absence," she struggled against his hold, finding the courage to fight because she couldn't see the smirk on his face.

His hands slid from their hold on her shoulders down her arms and with one swift movement, he was holding her wrists together behind her.

"Not until you tell me why you slapped me," he spoke closer to her ear, his breath on her hair.

Kushi gulped, "I was''...I thought you were''..."

"You thought what?" he sounded curious but Kushi could only feel how hard his grip was on her arms, not intending to let her go.

"I thought you must have gotten hurt," said Kushi and then, she closed her eyes and tugged at her captured wrists, "Let me go."

"You care for me?" he prodded, reminding her of the statement she had made after she had slapped his chest.

"I meant Lord Akash," Kushi said hastily.

"He is too busy trying to please his bride that he must have forgotten all about me," stated Lord Arnav, "But you'.You were scared,worried," he spoke into her ear, "For me?"

There was a tone of longing in his words. As though he wanted her to affirm''..

Kushi opened her eyes and threw him a look over her shoulder, "There will never be a day in sanity when I will be worried for you. Don't get your hopes so high."

"Why should I hope for concern from you?" he cocked an eyebrow amusedly, "I need no sympathy or emotion from you, beggar."

The last word did it. She shifted herself and kicked at his feet.

He winced inwardly but if he was hurt, he didn't let it show on his face.

Kushi gasped when she felt him turn her about and press her to the wooden post, his arms around her waist, locking her from any possible escape.

"Sire?" she looked up at him, sensing her cheeks heat up again, and then she glanced at the crowd over his shoulder.

They were oblivious to what was happening for the two of them were far away from the lightened area. Fearfully, Kushi realized that stranded in the shadow of the detached area would help Lord Arnav to fulfill whatever he was intending to do her.

She slid her gaze back to him and almost felt her legs give way by the way he was drinking her in.

She looked blissful with her face in the shadow but the light from the Festival decorations casting its gentle rays on her beautiful eyes.

"No one has EVER dared to raise a hand against Lord Arnav Singh Raizada," he began in a low voice, his face closer to hers, "No one, not even his sister."

Kushi took a deep breath and looked fixedly at his shirt to not look at his face, "Well, one mustn't, should one? It is unwise to raise a hand against a lord."

Lord Arnav frowned confusedly, "And yet you did''...?" And then he saw how her lips twitched in the attempts to not let the smile appear and though she was not looking at him, he was certain she was making fun of him.

"Are you teasing me, Kushi Kumari Gupta?" His hands at her hips pressed down, not too hard, but he got what he wanted. She looked up at him.

She was angry by the way he was touching her but she decided to let him win, "Do you like being teased, my lord?"

"I most definitely do not."

"Then its best you stay away from me."

"Why so?"

"For I am not one to let go off a chance to make you feel defeated."

"Teasing cannot raise the sense of defeat in me."

"Can it not?" this time she cocked her eyebrow.

He was taken aback by her impudence. And then he was furious, "Of course, it can NOT. I am never defeated."

"Because you are never teased," she stated emphatically.

He pressed harder on her hips, making her wince but then smiled, "Oh, sire, you are very much defeated now."

"Why so?"

"You get angry every time you are arrogant to ascertain that you have been defeated."

"I DO NOT."

He let go of her and, stepping back, frowned at her, "You play a little too much with me these days."

"Do you forget? You are to be my family soon," she smiled impishly, "My sister's wedding your brother tomorrow night."

He smirked, trying to camouflage his elated feeling on seeing her smile, "Are you excited about your sister's wedding or the fact that it gives you the absurd unwritten right to tease me?"

Kushi shrugged, "I do not know, quite. Both are enticing options and I am content to embrace them as they come."

"Then prepare yourself, Kushi Kumari Gupta," said Lord Arnav menacingly, "To not tease but to be teased."

And when he said those last words, he said it in such a low crawling voice, that her heart leapt and she felt weak inside at the way he was looking at her. She was certain the way she meant the word 'tease' was not the kind of 'teasing' Lord Arnav was planning to exercise upon his young enemy.

And then without a word, she turned about to scramble back to the safety of her mother's side.

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