The outcasts waited for Aradhya and Gaurang to return from a market that was on the outskirts of Ashokdhar.
They saw Aradhya come back holding the baby in her hands and Gaurang carrying a big basket of goods. He set it down and everyone huddled closer. Aradhya had to sit down to not stress her wound. Gaurang handed out the materials to the farmers and the doctors.
"There is a clearing in the woods. You all can make your farmstead there. There is a freshwater waterfall there. You can use it for water supply," Gaurang addressed the farmers and turned to the doctors. He handed them a singed scroll of sheet wherein the retailer agreed to take in their medicines.
As all the men walked away the women looked at Aradhya with hopeful eyes. Aradhya sighed and stood up after great effort.
"What were you all doing before?"
One replied, "Some of us were housewives and some use to work at the farms. And some of us are just children."
Aradhya smiled, "Farmers can accompany the men. But you can join us if you want to. And as for the housewives... let's put you to work."
.  .  .  .
Almost a week later, Aradhya and Gaurang stood at a stall at the local market in the outer city of Ashokdhar. The market was closing. Aradhya looked at the first pay of the outcasts in her hand. It was more than she expected. The outcasts had taken to their best abilities to work hard.
"You seem like you are ecstatic," Gaurang stated as a matter of fact. Aradhya rolled her eyes at him and handed him the bag of silver and gold. Gaurang had packed up the remaining handicrafts and the crops. He took the money and smiled at her with the warmest smile he could.
"I am. This is our first earning. We need to buy favours for them. And let's save about one-third of the money to invest in the swords for the young ones." Aradhya spoke as she looked out for any remaining things.
Her eyes fell on a crimson coloured shawl and her words stopped. It was the same one she had when she was abandoned by Vihaan. It was the same shawl Vihaan had told her to put on before going for a walk that night. Aradhya dropped her head as her emotions took over again.
Gaurang put a hand on her shoulder. He gave it a little squeeze. He then took the shawl and strung it around her.
"Don't worry, Aradhya. You can be all in love with the person who meant the world to you. I've had experiences where you need not be with the person you love to love them."
"Yes...but he is making me weak. He...he left me feeling like he never loved me. I shouldn't get this into my head. I have a whole bunch of people leaning on me. I cannot show this side of mine to others."
Aradhya sighed and picked up the baby from a platform.
"Are you going to name her any time soon?" Gaurang asked as they started walking back. Aradhya wondered for a while. She looked at Gaurang and then again looked at the baby.
"She looks like Vihaan's reflection. She has the same eyes. You name it based on this." Aradhya handed the giggling baby to him. Gaurang smiled at her.
"Chavi."
.  .  .  .
~1 year later~
It was the time of the yearly court in Ashokdhar. Every representative of every city of Ashokdhar had to attend. Vihaan was still overly cold-hearted. Nandini took a seat in the seat below him. Rihit sternly stood by his side.
The session was coming to an end. Around two cities were remaining to be examined. Guru Chitrabhanu sat there reading the reports.
"Your city...your local market has been in quite the profit in this last year. And economic gains have skyrocketed. The medication retailing has also been given positive reviews. Why?"
The representative stepped forward and bowed before the king. He turned to Acharya next.
"Yes, Mahamatya, the development of my city has been over the clouds this year. As for the local market, there are two people...most likely a couple sell handmade goods of the best quality. Pots and pans. And they also sell commercial crops like rice and corn. Extremely intricately woven clothes."
That caught Vihaan's interest. He addressed the person, "who are they. Where are they from? Do they have any name or background?"
"Unfortunately, no Maharaj. They denied giving out their identity. They say that they prefer to be anonymous."
Guru Chitrabhanu intervened, "But they need to be honoured. Trade, economy and societal status has been increased by them. How did they look? Any description?"
The person thought about this for a while.
"Maharaj, the lady is probably in her twenties. Probably a year or two younger than you Maharaj. She has a brownish fair complexion. But she has an almost four-inch wound on her gut. She had dark eyes and thick blackish hair."
Vihaan's heart stopped. He knew all those fit Aradhya's description flawlessly. Especially the dark eyes. Nandini and Rihit caught each other's glance. Their mind wandered around the four-inch cut.
"What about the man?" Vihaan asked.
"The man has a normal composure. He is tall and has matte curly hair. The two are often seen conversing with each other. Though they haven't disclosed anything about their relationship they seem like they've been together for the longest period."
.  .  .  .
"What is it about him?" Aradhya asked an elderly lady who worked diligently on an embroidered veil. The lady smiled at her and dropped her needle for a minute.
"You see, From the time I've been cast out...Gaurang has been our biggest ray of hope. He is always there for us. He filled hope in us. We looked at you for direction only because he told us you will do your best. I don't know who he is but I can very well say that he is ours. He is the humblest, pure one out here."
Aradhya remembered a figment of her conversation she had with an older woman months ago. It had been four months over a year since Aradhya had fallen from the monarch of Ashokdhar and there hadn't been one day where Gaurang had not asked her if she was okay.
Aradhya watched Gaurang trade with the crowd of people who had gathered at their stall. It was close to the closing time and huge crowds of people were there demanding goods. And not a single one went home empty-handed. Aradhya would give away goods for free when she knew people couldn't afford them and in return, the people offered them anything that they had on their hands.
Gaurang sighed as the market officially closed. He didn't even turn to Aradhya but smiled.
"How long have you been watching me? It looks creepy sometimes, you know."
Aradhya rolled her eyes and smiled back at him, "Don't get any ideas. It was not like I was watching you with eyes filled with love like those dramatic books."
"You cannot look at me with love-filled eyes because you have all your love kept in Vihaan's account. And I don't expect anything less."
"Do...do you want me to look at you like that?" Aradhya asked as he bobbed Chavi on her shoulder. Gaurang -stopped packing up the things- and turned to Aradhya.
"No, I don't. I just want you to see me the way you do now. It's not that I don't want you to love me, I do. But not in the way you loved Vihaan. You two are...just meant to be."
Gaurang gave a few pats Aradhya on her head and turned back, "I think it's going to rain. We should get going." He spoke.
Aradhya was taken aback by his response. It was almost to the pony where she was battling between Vihaan and Gaurang. Though still in confusion she picked up Chavi and walked beside Gaurang who took care of the goods.
.  .  .  .
Just as the two started going back the clouds roared. Droplets of water rained down. The air blew cold as ever and it all seemed as though manifested something.
Aradhya handed off Chavi to Gaurang as he walked away to a closed shelter shielding her from the heavy rain that doused from above. He shot Aradhya a smile before leaving which she didn't quite understand.
She turned away and carried the goods as soon as possible before the rain damaged the hard work of the people. She set them down under a roof of an old structure and wiped away the raindrops that trickled from her hair to her forehead. She was already drenched and cold but was still determined to not let things go to waste.
She took the ends of her veil and fanned herself to dry off while her motions dropped low. The land below her feet started to slip away, she saw another figure walking into the same roof as her, a figure she most surely knew. It was etched deep in her head.
Vihaan.
He too stopped in her tracks for a second looking at the Aradhya but hurried on quickly wanting to save himself from the rain. He was curious as to who were the couple and secretly wanted to know if the woman mentioned was Aradhya. As to why he went in search to the local market.
The two stood in complete stillness, not a word. The sounds of the rain were all that was heard. The tension grew heavier. Vihaan didn't want to meet her sight but failed as he turned to her slightly tracing the drenched hair that stuck to her neck just below her jaw. He felt the silence paining. It was paining then and is now.
Aradhya's mind ran wild with scenes of Vihaan's anger and her exile. She shivered, more so from his presence than the chilling weather. Her eyes involuntarily became moist. She sniffled and looked away not wanting to even look at him.
There once was a time when she used to be restless to see him and now is a time when even when he's beside her she couldn't dare shoot a glance at him. She knew that the man she once loved was no longer in love with her. His presence stemmed a feeling around them that she thought was hate.
Vihaan felt uncomfortable that she didn't meet his eyes but then shook that thought away when he realised that she was the woman who had slain his mother.
He wanted to turn to her and some extent, wanted to embrace her but his mind stopped him reminding him of the fake accusation. But right then, at the moment, he wanted the silence to end. He drew in a sharp breath, a cold one and spoke dryly.
"How are you?"
Aradhya almost scoffed at that. Almost. She fought her urge and turned to look at him and looked forward again.
"What makes you think you have the liberty to ask that to me when you are the one who put me through this."
"I didn't put you through it, you did. I wasn't the one who beheaded Rajmata."
This time Aradhya didn't hesitate to scoff. She shook her head still feeling the stings in her heart that he still believed that. Of course, he still believed it. When he had a wife so manipulative as Tamasvini it was bound to happen.
"How...how are everyone?" She uttered and soon realised it was a mistake when she heard Vihaan scoff.
"So impressive how you claim to care about my people. And just so you know, it isn't the same anymore. Too much has changed. My world has turned over since you left." He said his voice cracking helplessly at the last lines. Hurt and strength, both shot through his words.
"Mine too, Vihaan. Everything has changed." She said looking at Vihaan, for the first time in a year and four months, meeting each other's eyes. Everything that they experienced together played in their gaze.
The annoying, the comfort, the smiles the laughter and the tough times, everything played in sync in their heads. Every passing moment injected pangs in their hearts.
Moments later Aradhya abruptly turned around to the sound of cries. Turmoil and confusion played their dance in Vihaan's head. The rain mellowed just by a bit, making the sounds clear.
"Aradhya..." Gaurang came out bobbing Chavi in his arms. Aradhya took off towards them surreally quickly. Vihaan's eyes tried their best to comprehend everything that happened.
Aradhya let her veil fall to her shoulders from her head and held Chavi in her arms, gently placing one hand on her head, checking her temperature. She handed her back to Gaurang and ran to her previous spot and scrambled through the stuff and pulled out a scarlet shawl while Vihaan's brows tangled in confusion.
Aradhya stalled for a second, meeting Vihaan's gaze and then trotted back again to Chavi. She wrapped her in the warm shawl and bobbed her on her shoulder.
"Your mother is here. You'll be fine." She said while still bouncing her on her shoulder.
Vihaan's confusion slowly disappeared at the evidence. The breath knocked out of his lungs before filling up in an instant. His heart and head, but felt heavy.
"We should return home," Gaurang said looking at Aradhya while she nodded leaning into Chavi as she sobbed slightly on her shoulder. Gaurang walked over to Vihaan and picked up the heap of goods with a bit of strength and shot Vihaan a smile before leaving towards Aradhya.
Vihaan tried his hardest to wrap his head around the scene he witnessed, understanding it as what it seemed rather than what it was.
"Everything has changed."
Aradhya shot him a peek before nodding to Gaurang and walking around the corner. The rain came down to a drizzle, leaving Vihaan entirely dumbfounded. The pain was now evident in his eyes.
Aradhya had moved on.
.  .  .  .
Rihit and Chitrabhanu waited for Vihaan to return while Nandini was in her room putting Udit to sleep. Though the three were unhappy about what Vihaan did, they were more concerned about Vihaan's coldness rising in the past year.
Though the three wanted to stay away from him they could not leave him to deal with his pain alone. Even Chitrabhanu understood how much Aradhya meant to him. It never fazed him but whenever he saw Vihaan with Tamasvini, his gut would churn.
Rihit and Nandini however knew that it was Tamasvini who was the core of all the problems in the palace but never spoke a word of it on the promise they made to Aradhya.
They saw Vihaan enter the palace drenched, crammed with thoughts and uncertainty. They approached him and yet he didn't heed them. He walked off into his room while the two tailed behind. Reaching his room Vihaan reminded himself to let go of her thoughts. It would only weaken him. He shook his head in annoyance.
He returned to his cold self. He sat on a seat in his room and looked at Nandini and Rihit, questioning them through his gaze.
"We have to go for a tour of the kingdom as per Acharya's instructions. To the northern villages where it said that the other local markets are down--"
Rihit said to be immediately cut off by Vihaan.
"Northern villages...no I won't be coming there."
"But why? You can't just stay away from the place just because people have spotted someone who looks like Aradhya there."
Vihaan paused closing his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked at Nandini and sighed.
"Not someone who looks like her. It is her."
"What are you talking about?" Nandini said taking a seat beside him while Rihit furrowed his brows.
"If it really is her then you should talk to her."
Vihaan groaned at the words that escaped Nandini's lips and stood up with his head in his hands.
"She has moved on, do you understand?! Aradhya has moved on." Vihaan bellowed frustrated to even say that. To say the words that he too had difficulty accepting.
"What?..." The soft breath left Rihit's mouth.
"Yes. I came across her today. She has gone on with her life, okay? She has a kid now. Maybe even a...a spouse." Vihaan said, shivering and his voice cracking up. The lump in his throat got bigger as he thought about Aradhya. He found himself becoming weak again.
He chose at that very moment that he would never cross paths woth that woman again. Would never go to that part of the kingdom. He decided that he would move on too. He would forget every thought of her. He would no longer think about her.
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Hello! I know I've been slacking for the past few days. Sorry. I was supposed to update two days ago but I couldn't.
As for the story now, I think I'm going to increase the pacing of the story just to take it to the extreme. (That sounds devious ik)
Let me know what you think of this chapter and do let me know if it's going too fast. And drop a vote if you liked the chapter.
A prior notice...this book is coming to a close end. As per my thinking, I think there will be 6 or 7 more chapters to come.
I will go now. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter this is by far the longest one I've written. Almost close to 3000 words.
K bye.
Until next time
With love
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