Chapter 20.   The Target

"She is so beautiful and strong," Rumi said through the small window of the palanquin. Her small head was poking out to make conversation with her brother, who was on the horseback, walking next to her.

He glanced at her sideways and rolled his eyes. "Hmm," he hummed to let her know that he was listening.

It was getting late, when they had left the queen's residence it was already dark and they needed to get home before dinner.

"I could feel her strong muscles when she snuggled me," Rumi said touching her shoulders.

"She snuggled? When?" Sumin thought hard, he had been around them all the time but he couldn't recall a time when the queen snuggled with Rumi.

"you were there… right after I feed her an apple," Rumi said extending her hand out of the palanquin, re-enacting.

Sumin sighed as he realized that Rumi had been blabbering about the horse, not the queen. "You mean the horse!"

"She has a name, Bela!" Rumi was strict with this.

"And still I didn't hear you use it even once while rambling on and on about how beautiful she is…" He said calmly with a straight face but only Rumi could spot the annoyance in his calmness.

She laughed. "You thought I was talking about the Queen all this time…" she cracked uncontrollably shaking the suspended wooden box.

The palanquin bearers had to stop in order to balance themselves and the palanquin that was suffering from Rumi's laughter fit.

"Go easy on the bearers. They will fall along with you," he said tapping his sheathed sword on the wooden frame of the palanquin.

The bearers sighed as the shaking stopped. Their poor shoulders weren't prepared for that.

A shrill sound tore through the quiet night catching everyone's attention. Rumi sat straight in the palanquin as Sumin did on the outside. It was the sound of the horn used to send the alert signals.

He peeked inside the palanquin window, "It's an alert signal to gather up the inspectors. I will drop you first." He helped Rumi out of the palanquin and onto the horse before he hopped on too.

"Take it home. Be quick and stay alert." Sumin ordered the palanquin bearers and rode off with Rumi.

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At the detached palace:-

The dimly lit outer hall of the detached palace was prepared as per Maan's instructions, sumptuous feast adorned the table, from sweet to savory, with every flavor that tempted the senses with its enticing aromas and vibrant colors. The courtiers and attendants left after setting the table, leaving the king and queen sitting, facing each other on opposite sides of the table.

"What is the reason for this grand meal?" Jwala asked, her voice sultry as she tasted a fish dish.

She was dressed rather plainly than the last time they were together; a pink tunic blouse and circle skirt with little to no decorative work on them, her heart-shaped face was framed with soft curls that had escaped from her loosely tied hair. She wore a silk overcoat-like robe in white color similar to Maan's.

"My queen's presence," he said, his eyes mischievous.

Jwala nodded. She placed another bite in her mouth to prevent herself from smiling.

He smirked, proud to see her flustered. "Where is all your gold, my queen?"

"In my chambers. Do you want some, your highness?" she said putting her spoon down to give him all her attention. "A headpiece will look good on your big forehead."

He laughed. "If you wish to decorate me with one… I wouldn't mind." He played along. "But I fear it will become impossible for my queen to handle herself after that…" he sighed placing his hand under his chin.

Jwala chortled, she covered her mouth to keep the food from flying out of her mouth. 'How cocky!' she thought.

"Are you alright, my queen?" He asked innocently, still following his act. "What should I do about this divinely handsome face that keeps causing trouble?"

Jwala laughed out loud. Her shoulders shook as her melodious laugh echoed in the room. "Who is feeding you with this misinformation?"

"Misinformation!" he leaned in with a smirk. "If not for my handsome looks then what would have made a warrior queen such as yourself, travel all these miles to marry me?!"

"All the maidens of Hanna were upset to see their handsome king get married off… they must have been heartbroken." He sighed again making a sad face.

"I disagree." Jwala leaned in, "I met with one, she was rather cheerful and excited to meet me. Not a word about that handsome face." She gestured at Maan's face.

His eyes squinted, "Who would that be?"

"Daughter of the Jheng family,"

He took a bite from a rice dish, "I wonder what you both talked about…"

"Many things but none were about you," she smiled, teasingly.

"Was it jealousy that made you want to meet her?' he said while chewing, his eyes playfully watching her.

Jwala scoffed and continued to eat after saying, "The king's head is in the clouds. Come down before you fall."

"It will be on you…" he said stuffing his mouth.

"I would rather have you on me," Jwala said.

It took a moment for Maan to realize what she meant and once he did her words made him choke on his food. He coughed moving to the side. 'she would rather have me on her!!' his teary eyes couldn't resist the urge to check if she really meant that.

Jwala's sharp eyes locked with Maan as she poured a glass of water and offered him. He took the tall silver glass, their fingers touched and caressed each other's. The touch was dragged out and slow with a mix of desire.

Maan poured the liquid down his throat without breaking the eye contact, behind the tears there was a glinting desire in his eyes.

The feast progressed lacking any words but full of stolen touches and subtle gestures as they served each other and exchanged small sips of intoxicating wine.

Soft candlelight flickered casting dancing shadows upon the intricately carved wooden walls. The air was laden with an aura of mystery, shrouding the room in an alluring enigmatic ambiance. The subtly intoxicating smell of the wine was mingled with their distant yet sensual connection.

After a long while, the courtiers were called in to clear the table, their faces turned red upon sensing the sensual tension in the room. The king and queen were sitting still but their eyes weren't. The courtiers quickly cleared the tables with their heads pinned to the ground and left as soon as they could.

…

Maan got up and sat next to Jwala, his eyes traced her long neck. "That is the longest neck I have ever seen."

"How many necks have you seen 'til now?"

"Not many…" he confessed with an embarrassed smile.

"Your intentions aren't very royal, your highness," Jwala sang in a breathy voice noticing Maan staring at her lips.

"Neither are yours, my queen." His voice was deep as he leaned closer to her face. "Your eyes are making my skin burn…" he continued in her ears. "… with desire, my queen"

Jwala felt a tingle in her ear that traveled from her ear to her throat and then to her chest. A seductive smile took over her lips, "Then I must take care of it…" She said and kissed him.

He complied with the soft movement of her lips, surrendering to her. One hand holding her hand and the other was supporting him as he leaned toward her.

Jwala broke the kiss and slid his overcoat off of his shoulders, leaving him with his white undershirt and trousers. She then placed her hand on the back of his neck, pulling him in for another hot round.

Their lips moved, overlapping one another while Maan's hand was gently pressed on Jwala's back and her hand grabbed his neck, pulling him closer.

Maan moved to her cheek and jaw making her body arch and she elongated her neck, demanding his lips to touch her skin. He obliged, giving warm and open mouth kisses all over her neck before moving to her shoulders and removing her overcoat.

Maan laid her down, his one hand finding its way around her waist from over the blouse to under it.

"Come to bed," Jwala said taking a break from enjoying his skinship.

"Hmmh?" Maan was too busy devouring her, his eyes drowsy and lips red.

"come to bed…" She repeated in a breathy voice in his ears making him close his eyes for a second. "… Your Highness" she added as she got up while maintaining the intensified eye contact and walked towards the soft white four-layered bed.

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On the way to Jheng house, Sumin saw fireworks in the air. It was in a particular color combination that carried a message – the location for the gathering, it was one of the methods used by Hanna's military and defense units to communicate.

Sumin dropped Rumi off at home and hurried to reach the location which was one of the noblemen's storehouses. 'It must be the thieves again,' he thought.

There had been a group of skilled and trained thieves who only targeted the noble and wealthy for their secret funds and riches that were usually stored at storehouses or stables.

…

In the dead night, a group of men were running with bags on their backs. They jumped off a wall and hid behind the pigsty; dressed in all black with their faces and head covered with black cloth, swords tied to their waist and they communicated using hands and coded tapping of foot.

It was the same place the inspectors were gathered in secret. It was a big piece of land, far away from the capital city with a big storehouse and a few small farms that housed pigs, cows, and goats.

A team of inspectors secretly searched the cowshed for the thieves and another team was headed to the storehouse.

As soon as Sumin arrived closer to the location he got off the horse and sneaked inside the property.

He clicked his tongue for wearing a light blue-colored outfit, 'I should have worn the uniform.' He thought the deep green and black colors would have helped better with the camouflage.

'Pigs' Sumin thought squinting his nose, realizing that he was next to a stinking pigsty. He unsheathed his sword, cut off a long piece from his undershirt, and tied it around his nose.

He heard something. Alert and quiet, he followed the direction of the sound and found the thieves sneaking off with bags full of stolen items on their backs. Without wasting any time he lunged at one of the thieves and yelled, "This way" alerting the others.

But the thieves too had swords and they were more in numbers. Regardless, Sumin launched attacks at them, slashing and kicking one after another.

Despite Sumin's swift attacks, they were able to defend, they had advantages. First, they were at least five and were protecting each other, second, they were light on their feet and quick, third, the darkness and fourth Sumin's bright clothes, which made their opponent easy to spot even in the dark.

Sumin was aware of his disadvantages so he changed his strategy from stalling them to targeting one of them so he could arrest him and get information out of him. It was hard to pick one since they all appeared to be of similar build and height, they wore similar clothes, and carried similar swords... except one.

Under the white mask, Sumin smirked, fixating his eyes on the target, it was a man of similar height but he was using a different sword that had a smaller hilt and a blunt tip.

Sumin targeted that man while avoiding the others, "He doesn't look that skilled with the sword." He thought as he slashed the man's mask off of his face. Luckily, he had an intense practice with the queen already, on how to uncover someone's face mask. 'No experience goes to waste,' Sumin thought narrowing his eyes at his unmasked target, who appeared to be a young man maybe in his early 20s.

With his face bare the man got startled, lost his footing, and fell as he tried to run away. Like his fellow thieves were shocked too, "fall back" one of the thieves yelled and they all started running, leaving the robbed items behind.

Sumin couldn't have let them leave like that, he threw his sheath at the unmasked man, making him fall. He ran to the unmasked thief and kicked him in the stomach, the thief fall flat on his back. Then he pressed the sharp tip of his sword into the fallen thief's abdomen.

"SURRENDER!" Sumin yelled to thieves that were running away, flaunting the placement of his sword. He didn't need to complete the sentence for them to know that their teammate would die if they didn't surrender.

…