Today is my bday. And I wanted to share the first chapter that I had written for this book with you all.
Love you all.
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"What is it Maheshwar? Is everything okay?" Aditya asked, eyeing him worriedly. Maheshwar had asked him to the river near the Sindhya forests immediately. Aditya was surprised again
(What's with Aditya and surprises daily?)
Aditya had immediately departed on receiving his message. He played a cool and composed character compared to the bubbling rage that filled him wanting to confront Maheshwar. It took him almost two prahars before he found Maheshwar sitting by the river, tension etched on his face. Acting as if nothing had happened, Aditya asked his friend.
"Yeah, everything is fine. I wanted to tell you something." Aditya noticed Maheshwar's hands trembling as he refused to meet his eyes.
"Sure, is everything okay? Are you hurt or something?" He asked, taking a double look at him. Maheshwar nodded. He wondered if Maheshwar wanted to tell him about his reality or that he was confessing his sins. Aditya waited trying not to burst with his lack of patience.
"Yeah." Maheshwar looked away. "I am going to tell you something. I hope you don't hate me." Maheshwar's voice turned soft at the end. Aditya wordlessly nodded and looked at him. He wondered what he would do if Maheshwar confessed.
Forgive him.
Kill him.
Scold him.
Aditya had no clue. Maheswhar turned around and lifted the turban off his head. His hair fell loose onto his shoulder unraveling further into long tresses that looked feminine. He closed his eyes, turning away from Aditya as he began untying his robe.
"MaheshâMaheshwar, what are you doing?" Aditya panicked, his voice giving away his reaction. What the hell was Maheshwar thinking.
"Please. Just wait." Mahesh mumbled. Taking a deep breath, he discarded his robe, leaving him in a bralette. Aditya stood still unable to comprehend what to do. Maheshwar picked his turban and unwinded it, taking a thin layer of the fabric and wiped his eyes, revealing his natural eyes. Pulling on the cummerband, he untied his dagger from his waist removing the drape, leaving his dhoti on. He turned around slowly to meet Aditya's eyes.
"YouâWhatâHowâ" Aditya fumbled with words as he took in Maheshwar's new appearance. He did a double take at him before he spoke. "So you are Meena? My Meena?" He asked softly, his voice betraying him. Maheshwar or Meena slowly nodded. She looked at him waiting for his outburst but none came. "This is why I had this pull towards you." Aditya exclaimed.
"I haveâI have something else to tell too." Meena spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "I am Meenakshi, daughter of Raja Harshavardhan, princess of Vidhyanagara." She was unable to meet his eyes, afraid of his rejection.
"YouâWhy?" No words came out of his mouth. "So it was you, you planned this all along. Befriending me, making me fall in love with you, helping me with my kingdom and finally attacking my own kingdom. What else have you planned? Killing me" He asked, his mood changing from calm to anger in a moment. Fury dripped from his words as he menacingly walked towards her. He quickly pulled the dagger from his waistband and thrusted it in her hand, bringing it close to his neck. "Kill me. I should have known when my palace was attacked, it should have been you. No one else knew how to get in and I only told it to you. Kill me. It is better than seeing my kingdom, my people suffer in front of my eyes. Kill me." He pulled the knife closer to his neck and held it firmly in her hand against his neck. Meenakshi's hands shivered as she tried to pull her hand. Tears wet her face, as she shook her head trying to form words to defend herself.
"Adi, please. Adi, I would never do that. I was not behind the attack at all. Adi, please trust me Adi, I didn't do that." Meenakshi pleaded, but her words had no impact on Aditya. His eyes held rage and hatred. Aditya jerked his hand making the dagger fall from their hands. He grabbed her neck and pushed her into a tree, his eyes bloodshot, as he tried to rationalize his thoughts. But nothing could calm his mind. She had betrayed him. Acting as a friend, playing coy and meddling with his heart and finally attacking his own palace and trying to form an alliance. Even though Meenakshi's defenses kicked in she refused to fight him and let him do whatever he pleased.
"I can't even kill you because everytime I see you, I remember my foolishness. My stupidity. My mistake. It was my stupidity, my mistake of loving a person like you. Now that your dirty secret is out and that the marriage between the kingdoms is fixed, you decide to clear your conscience by telling me the truth. If not I would have never known right? Wait, wait. Was this marriage also a part of your orchestration? Did you try to convince your father to get us married? I am sure this princess could have even manipulated her father." Words spew out of his mouth piercing her heart like a dagger laced with venom. Tears flowed like they had a mind of their own to share her pain.
"Adi, I never knew about this alliance at all. Please believe me. It was shocking to me when I heard and that is why I am here Adi. I wanted to tell you the truth." She stayed still under his hold refusing to protest in spite of finding it difficult to breathe. "I wanted you to know about me. Adi, please believe me, I didn't do anything. I love you Adi. It was not my people who attacked your kingdom. Adi pleaseâ" She pleaded him, holding his wrists that held her neck before she was cut off by him.
"Would you have ever told me this? This double act of yours or would you have continued fooling me with your acts? And love? You think you love me. Yeah, you would say that, after all it is quite easy for you to stake my love. I gave you everything. I trusted you with my life, with my people, with my everything and you broke every single faith I had in you. You betrayed me and my kingdom. You tried to kill my father." He screamed, making Meenakshi flinch involuntarily. Every single moment spent with her felt like a blow on his face reminding him of his loss. He wondered how unlucky he could get.
"I wanâwanted to teâtell you on manyâmany occasions AaâAdi. I triedâtried my best. Pl-please believe me." She hiccupped, finding it difficult to breathe. Her head had started aching and she could feel something warm trickling down her neck. She tried to fight the darkness that was trying to overtake her senses, to explain herself. Aditya failed to notice her pain and before he could comprehend, Meenakshi was limp in his arms.
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Will they ever get married? Phew!
So much drama.