Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, thus does not revolve around the real world. Any kind of words or incidents mentioned does not signify anything related to the real world. **

While Shivantika and Rajveer were still in embezzlement, Nayantara recognized the person standing in front of them.

"Looks like there is no need for introduction, am I right Ms. Nayantara?" he said.

The person standing in front of them was Anirudh. He was also a resident of the same village that Nayantara and Rajveer belonged to. Being born to an underaged and orphaned mother, Anirudh was left on the temple stairs. Therefore, he was picked up by the chief priest and was named Anirudh Das. From the early days, Anirudh was quite an outgoing and sporty person who could fight in both the local and the martial arts way. He could read and write, but too learned sword ship from one of the travelers who stayed in the village for about an year.

All three of them, Nayantara, Rajveer, and Anirudh, knew each other from the early days of their childhood, as they were inseparable best friends. But things took a turn when Anirudh expressed his feelings for Nayantara and proposed to marry her. Nayantara from the beginning loved Rajveer and thus rejected his proposal.

In a rage of anger at facing a rejection from the person he loved the most in the entire world, left the village the very day. After months of Rajveer and Nayantara looking for him, one day they received a letter by the name of "My Most Beloved, Nayantara" by Anirudh.

Dear Nayantara,

The day you rejected me, I was in great devastation, because when nobody accepted me, when even my parents rejected me and threw me away, you were my lightning star, my angel, who showed me the way to enlightenment of the vast world. Even though you were being nice and sympathetic towards me, my stupid mind thought it was love. After the day of your rejection, I was in great turmoil, sitting under a tree in the forest, when I noticed a person about to get attacked by a tiger. Watching such a scene, I couldn't help but help him, who later turned out to be the crown prince Ahil Chandra of Braheshwat. Later on, to repay the favor of saving him, the prince appointed me in a ministry in the royal court. Now, after days of hard work, I've finally bought myself a house. These past few months, I've spent my time on self-realization, so even though I couldn't marry you, I hope, we still can be the best friends as earlier. Find me whenever you want in Kayati.

Yours only

Anirudh

The letter made Nayantara weep; to obtain a life full of love, she lost her best friend.

Three years later, now in the present time, looking at Anirudh in Kayati, brought all the past memories back to Nayantara.

"Introduction!?", said Nayantara in a raged high pitch voice, "of course you would need an introduction after we give you a beating."

For the first few seconds, neither Nayantara nor Rajveer could recognize Anirudh in his new look. He was now something like Twenty-six, three years older than Rajveer and Nayantara. A well-built-up muscled body with a height of 6'2 and a complexion between dusky and light skin tone made him so attractive, that women of any age would get crazy to even peek a look at him. It was not just his physical appearance, but also his righteous and kind attitude that made him incomparable to others.

Seeing them tied up in the dark room, Anirudh asked his men to untie their hands.

As they all stood up, Anirudh explained to them the reason for kidnapping them, while taking them towards a room at the backside of the house. The reason was as simple as the water from the river Miltayi, if somebody else caught them or recognized them, they might have ended up in danger, he had to make it look like a kidnapping so nobody would come up front fearing the instances the person might face in the future.

River Miltayi was the river that was worshipped in Braheshwat from ancient times, linking it to the birthplace of one of the Gods from their scriptures.

"If your father didn't come here, no one knows what might have happened to y'all, Nayantara.", said Anirudh.

Hearing the word "father", Nayantara was on cloud nine, but Shivantika broke the silence by saying, "Uncle is here? But who are you? And why did you kidnap us and bring us here like this? And… who was that kid there?"

"Looks like you have plenty of doubts stirred up in your mind, but the most important thing is that I'm no enemy and not at all dangerous to you all. As for my introduction, you'll have time later for that?", said Anirudh trying to calm an anxious Shivantika.

At last, they reached the room, and Anirudh showed them the room in which Nayantara's father was. Nayantara without any other thought striking her mind, opened the door and entered. Seeing her father lie unconsciously on the bed with wounds all over his body, Nayantara broke down in tears.

At that very moment, she remembered all the instances happening to her after meeting the 'Exiled Princess, Shivantika'. At that moment, she couldn't think of something else but blaming Shivantika. According to Nayantara, for the massacre, her father's current condition, and her love, everything was to be blamed on Shivantika. At one moment, Nayantara burst out her anger on Shivantika and started blaming her for her existence.

"It is all because of you. You entered our lives and made our lives a living hell. My home, my father, and my love Rajveer, you snatched away everything!", said Nayantara in a raging voice.

Hearing this from the person who she thought she could turn to after everything happened to her, too made Shivantika upset. She ran outside the room, with rivers of tears flowing through her cheeks.

Whereas, Anirudh ran towards Shivantika and Rajveer started calming and soothing Nayantara.

Rajveer tried to awaken Nayantara's reasoning and told her, "Nayantara we all know what you are going through. We all here have lost our family members, but your father is still here. His stars are still shining brightly. And you cannot blame Shivantika for that, she too has undergone so much in the past few days. As for you loving me and having romantic feelings for me, I was always aware of it, I gave you hints that I knew about them, but you never noticed. But you need to understand that none of this was Shivantika's fault. She too is a victim of this game of politics and thrones as much as we are."

On the other hand, Anirudh was trying to calm down a broken-hearted and weeping Princess, and he was also successful in doing so. He convinced her to go back inside the room. When they arrived at the door, they heard Rajveer and Nayantara confessing their feelings to each other, which broke Anirudh's heart. On the outside, he seemed like he had moved on, but deep down he still had that unrequited love for Nayantara, which can only go with the ashes of his existence. Seeing them both, Shivantika coughed a bit before entering the room to make them both aware of the fact that they had entered the room.

Shivantika and Nayantara both asked for forgiveness from each other for their arrogant behavior. To some extent, maybe Shivantika knew that it really was her fault. Nayantara too apologies, regretfully, for the manner she talked in.

"I'm sorry, Shivantika. I shouldn't have talked that way," Nayantara apologizes to Shivantika, but also thanking her, "But I must also thank you, Rajveer and I..., had so many misunderstandings, but now that we've sorted them out, I no longer hold any kind of feeling of indignation. But now, my only worry arises for Father and you…"

Just as Nayantara finished, her father uttered words like Ahil, Shivantika, and Sidharth, repeatedly. Nayantara hurriedly takes and holds her father's hand. Shivantika tries to calm an anxious daughter worrying for her father's safety, Nayantara.

Hence, Anirudh sent one of his men to call the physician living next door. Even though Nayantara's skills were second to none after her father, the chief of the village of physicians, she still couldn't treat her father. She could not see her father in such a state.

When the physician arrived, Anirudh asked Shivantika and Nayantara to go to another room for protection of safety. Even though they changed their appearance, however, they couldn't change the touch they were bestowed by their dear ancestors. As just they were about to, the physician entered the room and he saw both of them. They, in a rush, went into the other room covering their heads and faces with the long flowy sleeve from their Indian-touched hanfu.

The physician quickly, at first, checked the wrist nerves, then the eyes and fingernails. After examining him, the physician knew what to prescribe.

"Anirudh, some kind of a pointed item was inserted in his body, thus he suffered a great loss of blood resulting in him going in a short-term coma state. He has already recovered much; however, I'll still give you some medicine, he'll just probably wake up soon. But who are they…? They do not look like they're from Braheshwat."

Although the language spoken in Braheshwat and Ampranam were similar when spoken, but were different when written, too had a difference between the accents.

Anirudh listening to the question from the physician knew this was going to come, he first thought of just requesting him to not tell anyone, but later he just told him a sham story, that they are father and son, and someone he found hurt in the streets of Kayati and he just helped them out of kindness and generosity.

Even though he told him the story, the physician knew that it was made up, thus replied, "If you don't wish to tell me it is ok, but don't lie Anirudh."

"And one more thing, don't worry I won't report it to any authorities", said the physician before leaving. The reason why he said so was because Anirudh was engaged to the physician's younger daughter.

As soon as he left, Shivantika and Nayantara returned and Anirudh told them what was prescribed by the physician.

Nayantara was now at ease that her father might recover soon. She told everyone that she will be staying beside her father till he wakes up. She made it sound like it was no request, but a decision, a command to all.

Just when all this happened, the full moon was already set in the dark night and dogs were howling. Anirudh and Rajveer were served dinner, whereas Shivantika was plating her and Nayantara's dinner. When she was asked why she was not having it with them, she responded by saying that she had something to tell Nayantara and left with two plates in both her hands.

The moment she entered the room, Nayantara excitedly stood up and took a deep breath, smelling the food, having a food orgasm hitting her body, grasped the plate from her, and started eating without any other word.

"Do you know food is something which brought me and Veer close? Maybe my childish personality from then was something, due to which Veer could fool me", said Shivantika. She narrated her story from the beginning, from the moment she met Veer to how her life was devastated. She sat on the ground, took a break, and started crying. She cried a few times earlier too in remembrance of her family and the kingdom, but this time she could feel the sorrow and remorse of losing everything. She could now celebrate her grief, her right.

Nayantara trying to relax Shivantika, noticed that the pill's effects were wearing off, and their true body physique started emerging. She decided to change into Braheshwat's clothes, a lehenga with a pattern of tie and dye and a type of jewelry of a neckpiece and nose pin, it was an attire that only women of Braheshwat would wear. Anirudh arranged everything and all types of necessary items required for them. They changed their clothes into something light, as it was already night, and prepared to go to bed, whereas Nayantara kept sitting beside the bedside of her father's bed.

That night was filled with warmth in the air, it was comfortable for all three after almost a week of discomfort, but it wasn't the same for Anirudh who only took turns and never slept and dreamt of Nayantara with his open eyes. He could only take a small nap when he was woken up at dawn the next day by Shivantika.

In an era, where men and women had to keep their distance, because of the norms set by society, they didn't apply to Shivantika and Anirudh, because they both considered each other brother and sister. Thus, she called him brother Anirudh.

Anirudh sat up from his bed, got ready and he arrived in the main hall of the room beside the room where Jairam Singh was resting, and everybody was waiting. Everybody took baths and was ready.

According to Braheshwat's culture, bathrooms were built inside the houses, whereas in Ampranam, it was done near the freshwater bodies, and only the royals and their staff used latrines( which were water-borne toilets connected to drains) and bathrooms(somewhat similar to hammams). This was quite a culture shock for not just Nayantara and Rajveer, who were commoners, but also for Princess Shivantika. 

After getting ready, the three of them were waiting for Anirudh in the main hall, the moment he arrived, they all went inside the room to check on Jairam. Nayantara stayed with her father the whole night, but it was only in the morning that she went to freshen up.

When entered, they noticed that Jairam was already in his senses and conscious. His eyes were dimly open.

Nayantara grasped, "Father!"

As they all stood beside him, they noticed that he wasn't responding, thus Anirudh again called for the physician. The physician arrived and examined and told that Jairam Singh was in a state where he could not move his body, he could only lie down and hear everything, but could not respond. But one day he will, when he will slowly recover.

After he left, they all gathered to discuss further strategies to be taken.

When everyone was worried for the health of Jairam, Shivantika was the one pondering over the thoughts of the child who they met on the street and her uncle mummering her, Ahil's and Sidharth's name.

Even though when she discussed the topic of the child on the street, Anirudh too didn't have answers for that. The kind of attire he wore and the words and accent he had were not familiar to either Anirudh or anybody he knew. It was almost like he too wasn't from either Braheshwat or Shi state. Ampranam was already destroyed and every other citizen was killed, so there was no point he was from there and the accent too wasn't the one used by the people of Ampranam.

For everyone, the child was a mystery, some kind of a phantom.

There was one more doubt striking Shivantika's mind again and again, which was the words said by her uncle, before going into that vegetative state, it was as if he knew something that he had to tell her, Shivantika.