In My Veins (Arnav/Khushi)Chapter 13 Sept 6 - Page 9

Dhruv sank down in his chair, still mulling over dinner. The King, for what it was worth, seemed quite intelligent. He obviously did not want to be there either; intelligence in his book. Yet, they had continued conversing, as only was polite. Remarkably, his father was polite throughout the dinner, only throwing out vague references to his true nature in his speak, which it seemed like no one except the eldest daughter got. She was the perfect picture of, well, perfection; exactly what his father had wanted. Well, obviously not entirely, she, sitting in front of him holding up, what he assumed to be an absurd amount of weight, in a red and purple lengha, was steely in holding his gaze, defying tradition. It was a good thing, he supposed it was better that she had some character; he did not want a trophy or someone to relegate to chambers, he was not that kind of man, he would never do that to a woman. He looked down at his desk, a mess. He had been looking at maps since dinner, trying to figure out other points of ingress; Akash's plan of action, some sort of reasoning behind the attack; he was getting absolutely nowhere. He shuffled through the maps again, groaning slightly, maybe Altaf and he could have a look at it again in the morning, he thought, glancing at the large clock towards his left, it was getting late he really should- a loud thump interrupted his thoughts. The door opened and his father walked into the room, Dhruv frowned slightly but made no move to get up. His father was not unaware of Dhruv's feelings and he did make an effort to avoid him as much as possible. So he simply looked at his father while his father stood unmoving at in the center of the room. Dhruv motioned slightly to the chair in front of him; if his father wanted to sit he could. His father sat; looking uncomfortable to say the least, but Dhruv could not be bothered. He can't even take a hint.

"We have to talk about your marriage." His father stated, waiting for, it seemed, like a response but when he got none he continued; "we have arranged this marriage based on many things, but the most important is the expansion and alliance of the Raizada Empire with the Gupt Empire...which you know. So, in doing so, we have had to make some sacrifices on the quality of the woman." Quality of the woman? What is he going on about...? Dhruv's hand stilled, no longer shuffling maps as he had been when his father entered. "Obviously this is not ideal, but you can always take another woman on in a few months. No problem with that, as long as the heir is yours it does not really matter who the mother is I'm quite sure so it shouldn't be a problem and - "

"Can you just get on with it?" Dhruv interrupted.

"She's not a pure woman. She's been tainted. Taken. A wh**e. However you want to say it. She's not only yours."

Dhruv forced his hand to remain stationary, and said, "is that all?" in what he hoped sounded like a bored tone of voice.

"No one is to know about it. If someone finds out..."

"You'll kill them and then their family. Yes. Understood." his father stood and exited, obviously displeased and slightly confused by his lack of reaction but as soon as he heard the door click Dhruv dropped his papers. What had just happened? A princess? A tainted woman? He shuddered at the thought of her being called that, but what had happened? How had it happened? How was his father allowing this? And how had no one told him about this earlier? A thousand more questions swirled through his mind as he

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He brought a hand to the thatch door and pounded heavily. It was late and they were probably asleep but the horse needed food and he needed water. He pounded again and the door swung open and he was greeted with the front of a rifle. He simply raised an eyebrow and put out his hand. He had three gold coins, probably a year worth of income for this family who lived in a mud house with a small, empty, stable, the rifle dropped. "Ji?" said the man wielding it.

"I need a place to keep my horse and some food and water for him and me for the night. If you speak of this to no one I can add another gold coin to that trifecta."

The man's mouth opened slightly and opened the door. "There are no extra beds, we have a mattress we can put in front of the fire for you"

He peered over the man's shoulder and saw two young children peering out of a back room. "I don't need a fire sir, just a mattress and a roof over my head; do not take the warmth away from your children." The man nodded gratefully and mentioned for him to enter; the hut was kaccha, pure mud walls except for the area where the fire burned, that was stone. He made not motion to move until the man motioned into the other room, the two boys ran up behind their father, looking warily at this new man. He knew he must look a right mess, so he attempted a smile at the boys, judging by their reactions though; it looked more like a grimace. Oh Well. He turned around and said to the man; "my horse..."

"It will be taken care of sir."

"Thank you"

"I will set food for you and then -"

"No"; he cut him off "the horse first please." If the man thought this odd he did not show it, he nodded his head slightly and took off outside, leaving the two boys in the room with him. Oh boy...

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