A Shared Fate

ADITHYA

As I entered the room, everyone turned toward me and, as expected, Abhimanya was staring at me again. For a straight guy, he doesn't act like one. What can I say? I've never been attracted to anyone in my life whether women or men but it's different with Abhimanya. It's like we've known each other for years no, for centuries but I can't pinpoint why he feels so familiar.

Even though the attraction between us is obvious, I can't say we could be something more. Ignoring my thoughts, I walked toward Abhimanya and stood beside him. Noticing my questioning look, he said, pointing at a guard, "This is my personal guard, Garuda, and these are our escorts." Then, turning back to Garuda and the other guards, he added, "This is my fiancé, Prince Adithya."

All the guards bowed to me, and Garuda, bowing slightly lower, said, "Pleasure to meet you, Your Highness." I just nodded in acknowledgment. I didn't like this guy at first glance. I didn't know why, but my instincts told me not to trust him, so I didn't make conversation.

At that moment, the king entered the hall. Both Abhimanya and I greeted him, and he gave a short send-off to us. At the end, he paused, looking at me, and said, "Be careful, Adithya. Abhimanya will take care of you, so don't worry. And never forget, we are all here for you. Take care, my child."

He hugged me, and it hit me I was going to miss my palace. Even though most of the people here didn't like me, I was going to miss my kingdom and my uncle, who raised me with love and care, as if I were his own son. Hugging him back, I said, "I know, Uncle. Don't worry, I'll be all right. You take care of yourself."

With that, we parted ways. I glanced at Abhimanya, who said, "Did you pack a separate journey bag for 10 days like I told you?"

"Yes, but why?" I asked. "We'll travel separately from the escorts. They'll carry our main belongings, but we'll take a different route to avoid any potential attacks on us."

"Oh, okay," I said, remembering the attack when he was coming here earlier. I had no objections, so we started our journey on our horses just me, Abhimanya, and his personal guard. What's his name again? Ah, I forgot. Riding my horse closer to Abhimanya, I asked, "I have a doubt can I ask?" He raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Oh, asking permission? That's new. Go ahead."

"It's just that… you came alone, without your personal guard, when you traveled here. Why?" I asked, unable to understand.

He hesitated for a moment before answering. "Let me tell you this straight, Adithya. He's not my original guard. Before I came here, my personal guard, Gourav, who should be here, got injured. Garuda is new, appointed by my ministers, and I don't trust him. You should be careful too don't share anything with him."

"Okay," I replied. Then I added, "That means there must be a lot of controversy about our marriage in your kingdom. We'll have to deal with political clashes, right?"

Abhimanya looked slightly surprised before nodding. "Yes. There's a lot of tension right now. My father is ill, and as the future king, I've married a man with no scope for a future heir and, to make things worse, someone from an enemy kingdom. On top of that, there are rumors about you having supernatural powers. So yes, it's a mess."

Hearing him, my heart dropped. All I'd done was bring chaos into his life. Maybe I am the problem; I shouldn't have been born. "Don't do that, Adithya," his voice broke through my thoughts. Confused, I asked, "What?"

"Don't pity yourself. You've done nothing, Adithya. If you feel bad, just help me solve this mess instead." Even though the thoughts nagged at the back of my mind, I smiled faintly and said, "I'd love to do that." He nodded, and the rest of our journey continued in silence.

By the evening, we reached a small town know as Gangi. After tying up our horses, Abhimanya approached the innkeeper. "Do you have two rooms available?" he asked. The woman glanced at us and said, "We have rooms for three, if you'd prefer."

Sensing her curiosity, Abhimanya smiled and replied, "No need. He's my husband, so we'll share a room." What?! Did he just casually announce to a stranger that I'm his husband? Is he insane?

The woman's eyes lit with excitement. "Oh! Then we have couple rooms too. You can take one," she said. Smiling shyly, she added, "We also have all the supplies you might need... you know what I mean." What? I stared at her in shock realising what she refering to.

Still smiling, Abhimanya said, "We'll take the couple room. And one single room for him," he added, gesturing toward Garuda. Leaning closer to the innkeeper, he murmured something I couldn't hear. She blushed, giggling, and called over a girl to show us the rooms.

Garuda went to his room first, and then we were led to ours. It was modest not as grand as my chambers at the palace, but not too small either. The bed was decorated with flowers, and the room had white curtains that gave it a serene look.

I sat on the bed, watching as Abhimanya closed the door and leaned against it. Curiosity got the better of me, so I asked, "What did you say to her earlier?"

"Say to who?" he replied, feigning innocence."The innkeeper," I said, irritation creeping through me. "Oh, that." He smirked. "I told her we have our own supplies."

"You're crazy! How could you just tell her I'm your husband? What if she thinks it's weird?" He straightened up, his tone firm. "I'm the future king of Udaya. I'll never hide the fact that you're my husband, no matter what others think."

I stared at him, unable to respond. After a moment, I said quietly, "Thank you. I know it's not because of me, but saying something like that without hesitation means a lot."

"You don't have to thank me, Adithya. It's my responsibility to take care of you. You've left your entire kingdom for me," he said in a cold voice but with a soft edge to it.

After that, we showered and went to bed. The next two days passed in the same way traveling during the day and stopping for rest at inns at night. We were getting closer to the Uttara Kingdom's capital. In two or three days, we'd be there. I felt relief thinking about it but, at the same time, fear of living in a new place.