A ride together

Mallika had never known a horse could gallop this fast!

She had always considered herself to be one of the best equestrians in her kingdom, but riding with Lord Arjun seemed to challenge her core estimations about her skills.

Within just a couple of seconds, they had rounded across the temple premise, and were almost face to face with a group of what seemed to be about thirty people!

Mallika gasped audibly. Even a child could guess what these men were-- assassins! And thirty at that! The number itself was unnerving. Her face darkened as shrill cries went up from among the killers-- the voices of women and children, pleading to be spared from death.

'Hostages!' she cursed inwardly. 'What a despicable bunch of killers!'

One glance, and she realised that the guards who had come with her were lying dead at the entrance to the temple, which was now tightly sealed. The carcass of her horse lay some distance away. Mallika's eyes narrowed dangerously. Just what did these men want?

She had many questions flashing through her mind but the most obvious was-- why were they heading right into the group of killers?

"Lord Arjun," She called out, not swaying her murderous gaze from the assassins even for a split moment. "Where are you riding?"

"Hold tight," he replied calmly. "We need to lead them away."

That was right. Fighting in such a crowded place, when there were so many lives staked, was the last decision a sensible warrior would make. They had to lead the killers away.

And just as the group of enemies caught sight of the two, they burst into an uproar. "There they are! Kill!"

An arrow or two came swishing at them, but the two instinctively ducked it in the nick of time.

Arjun's grip on the reins tightened as the horse picked up pace. Soon enough, they were riding so fast that Mallika could not manage to keep her eyes open. The wind was stinging through her. Everything was like a blur, passing before she could make out what they were.

This speed was making her sick. She bit down on her lips and unconsciously grabbed Arjun's arms, trying to support herself. For some reason, she had a vague feeling in the pit of her stomach-- something that told her she had experienced this before, but not as a horse ride.

"Does this ring a bell?"

Arjun's voice came floating to her. There was a hidden laughter in his tone. Mallika frowned. Was this man a mind-reader?

"Why do you ask?" Mallika shouted back.

"Heh, it reminds me of a bull-ride."

And before Mallika could process what she had heard, Arjun swiftly took an unexpected turn. The horse too gave a responsive jerk which was strong enough to have thrown the girl off its back, had she not been clutching Arjun all this while. It indeed seemed like she was riding a bull. But why did the prospect of a bull-ride make her feel strangely happy? Why did it give her a sense of familiarity? She clearly knew she had never even sat on a bull's back all her life, not to mention riding it!

"What the hell!" She exclaimed. "This is making me sick. Lord Arjun, where exactly are you heading?" Indeed, the contents of her stomach seemed to be swirling threateningly. Every now and then, she felt she might throw up.

"Aye, bear with it for a while more," Arjun replied. He clearly wasn't the least bit affected with all this bumpy berserk riding. "This is the first time I am riding a horse with somebody else, you know."

Mallika could only pray for him to slow down. If she could, she would have snatched the reins from him. After all, how could a poor beast run this fast?!

But the horse seemed perfectly fine with what was going on, even somewhat used to the situation, it seemed. So she kept quiet instead.

Thankfully, Arjun soon drew to a stop. It was a grove where he stopped.

As soon as the horse had ceased neighing and shaking it's mane wildly after a few rubs from its master, Mallika jumped down, patting her chest to calm her racing heart. "You!" She glared at Arjun, who still sat atop, smiling radiantly. "Are you crazy?! Who rides like this?!"

"If I didn't," Arjun casually tilted his head to a side, his eyes never leaving her even for a split moment, "how could we outdo our pursuers and craft a plan?"

Mallika straightened up, "Plan?"

"The killers, are the Gupta Sena of Vaimadri," Arjun said, his voice as grim as ever. "They are being led by a General named Durg. The last time you were ambushed, it was the same group of people. So, you know they aren't weak."

"Vaimadri?" Mallika frowned. "Why are they from Vaimadri?"

The words had no sooner left her lips than the wicked looking face of King Vidala flashed in front of her eyes. His words seemed to ring in her ears--

'After all, your girl does have nine lives. She seems to pull through everything! Lets see, how long her luck keeps her going!'

Mallika knitted her brows. So the king indeed wanted her dead. But why? She could not think of an answer.

Arjun chuckled. "You seem to know it's Vidala's doing. Good to see you can connect the dots. This isn't the time to bother about the 'why's. Even though those people have lost track of us, the horse hooves have left their marks. It won't be long before they catch up."

Mallika nodded, "What about the hostages?"

"Leave that to me, okay?" Arjun said, dismounting the horse himself. "Don't get too bothered if you see unexpected things from my end." This casual addition perked Mallika's curiosity up.

"You want me to trust you," she teased him. "But you haven't even bothered introducing yourself! How am I supposed to know you?Besides, you don't look like other people. There is something different about everything you do-- including riding a horse! It isn't easy to trust a person like that."

"Oh, is it?" Arjun smiled brandishing a long sharp blade. "I thought your eavesdropping session let you know enough about me to guess I am not an enemy. I would never harm you."

Mallika froze. How did he know about this?

But before she could ask, an arrow came whizzing straight at her. She wasn't alert, and didn't doge it in time.

A firm grip round her waist shook her back to her senses, and the next moment, she was enveloped in the most warming embrace she could ever have felt. Almost simultaneously, a blade swished through the air, and with a 'clang!', the speeding arrow was cut into two.

"Watch out! They are finally here." His deep voice sounded right beside her ear.

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Author's Notes:--

Bull-ride:- Lord Shiva's mount is Nandi, a sacred bull (or ox), often depicted with majestic horns, a powerful body, a hump on his back and a dewlap. Goddess Shakti in her form of Mahagauri is also depicted as riding a bull (or an ox).