Unequivocal Support

Northern Zilla

Bela knew that she wasn't supposed to talk about Suraksha Chakra or the details of it. But she was headed to a mission which had no time limit or guarantee of success. She owed him the truth.

When Raghu came and sat next to her, she took his hand in hers but couldn't look into his eyes.

She tried different thoughts in her head to start talking about it but failed.

"Is this the time that you are going to tell me about you being an agent of the Suraksha Chakra team?" he asked with a small smile playing on his lips.

Bela's mouth fell open. Looking at her face, he gave a small shrug. Turning his body towards her, he patted her head. He could almost touch the questions on her face, they were so vividly written.

"Why do you think were you sent to the Northern zilla for treatment? Did you never ask yourself that question? My father was an official Vaidya for the zilla's spy office and we received many injured spies for treatment. In fact, even after you got married to me, did you never wonder as to why would my dad travel so extensively? It was to handle situations where the agents couldn't come to the clinic," he said with nonchalance.

He seemed to be lost in those memories.

"You mean you are also a…" the disbelief was making her voice squeaky.

Raghu shook his head and said, "No, I had no inclination nor any aptitude. And once I fell in love with you, I thought that one spy is enough in the house."

Bela didn't know whether to feel sad or angry or laugh at herself. She had completely failed to see this while it had been in front of her eyes and blatantly so.

Once she recovered from her shock though, it became easier for her to say the rest of it. Without giving any details, she told him that she would have to go away for an uncertain period of time. She would be applying for leave on the pretext of ill health from the police station and would claim to be going to the Southern zilla for treatment and recuperation.

Raghu was looking at a point behind her head somewhere. It was quiet after she finished speaking. The bees around them also seemed to have sensed the atmosphere and went looking for their food elsewhere.

The sun, though not harsh, caused one to squint their eyes against it. Without him even saying so, Bela knew that it was unfair on her part to have undertaken the project without consulting him first. They had been partners for too long but for her, when it came to her country, everything else faded in the background.

The angst of the opportunity of serving her country being snatched away from her so early on, had left her craving for it badly. At the time when she had said yes to Prithvi without flinching, Raghu or her family hadn't even crossed her mind. The woman in her was ashamed of her callousness but the patriot applauded her sentiment.

Raghu broke her reverie with a heavy sigh and said, "Just come back to me. I don't think I can manage the world without you in it. Had I been competent enough, I would have offered my services as your valet or protector, but something tells me that I would only be a burden, instead."

This mild, normally reticent man was the only one who could make her heart thump wildly, now and always. She rose from her place and stood up for a moment to run her eyes across where they were. Squatting back, she leaned into his face, and poured her answer in a wild, uninhibited kiss. When Raghu responded with equal abandonment, she smiled and made love to her husband on that scorching hot, and hard ground right there and then

Himprayag

Gayatri rolled away from the sweaty body next to her and put her head on her arm, looking at the drowsy woman next to her.

Ahilya traced a slender finger on her sun kissed cheek and sighed in contentment.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

It was late at night and they were in Gayatri's quarters.

"I am wondering if I should ask you to listen to your mother's advice or be selfish and tell you to let go of the kingdom," Gayatri said with a frown.

"Who says that I can't have both you and the throne?" Ahilya tried to pull Gayatri towards her but the latter got up from the bed and walked across the room.

Her taut, angular body was a sight to behold in its full glory. The moonlight falling on it, made it look especially ethereal. Ahilya found herself drinking in the sight, greedily.

"Come back to bed," she cajoled her.

Gayatri shook her head obstinately and said, "If I don't talk about it, you will be happily doing sword practice morning to night. Prince Mithilesh has joined hands with that new minister. He was one of the few ministers left in the court who were neutral. If I understand correctly, this minister has the king's ear. No wonder the guy wants him on his side. We need to reach out to the few who haven't yet converted to his side. Or else, you would really have no recourse but to sell your body. And I am not convinced that it would be an effective method, as well. I have checked all the prospective princes and most of their fathers are still alive. To make it worse, they are really poor. So apart from a few thousand acres of their land which comes laden with problems, we don't gain anything. What was the queen thinking, offering such a solution?"