From afar - Madhavgarh is as much a royalty as any other small erstwhile princely states. After all, what could be different for a princely state in the 21st century. But the politics inside the palace and the evil lurking around the corner make thi...
A/N: Hi people... It has been a long time. So here I am with the second installment of our collaboration - The Royal Reservation. A few more characters have been introduced and some incidents occur in this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. Reviews would be greatly appreciated.
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Disclaimer: All the characters, situations, incidents and places are fictitious and bear no resemblance to any person living or dead. Any resemblance found is purely coincidental.
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Arna shut the huge text she had been poring over and pulled off her spectacles. The book was some of the driest literature she had ever read on Norse mythology. When Arna had picked up this topic for her PhD, her guide had warned her that though interesting, it was going to be challenging and a challenge always excited her. So she had plunged head first into the topic of "The Conception of an Old Norse Heritage in Twentieth-Century Literature". But now, she wondered if it would be better for her to change her topic.
The scrapping of a chair near her broke her reverie. She knew without even looking up, who the other occupant of the table could be.
"Hey Shubham." She greeted her friend tiredly.
"Still poring over Norse mythology?" She watched as that 6'2" tall, well built but mostly slim frame dropped down in a chair next to her. Shubham had a good physique and he took care to maintain that, but what she liked about her friend was that he didn't flaunt it like most people of their age group. He was modest to a fault and sometimes Arna felt that he pushed that virtue to limits, but whenever she raised the topic, Shubham would just flash that dimpled smile of his and disarm her completely. She shook the cobwebs from her mind as he pushed a cup of piping hot tea in front of her and bookmarked and then closed her notes and other magazines for her, leaving her to enjoy her tea in peace.
"You are a lifesaver, Shubham." She murmured as the scalding liquid warmed her from inside.
"I realized you needed a break. Besides, even Sir was moaning about how hard you have been working. Between classes, test corrections and your own research, no wonder you look so tired." He had cleaned the table for her and now pulled out a tiffin box from his backpack.
"Hey... You got me some food?" She asked in surprise.
"I got us some lunch. For heaven's sake ma'am... Take a look at your watch." He shook his head at her antics.
Arna checked the time and did a double take. It was almost lunch time. Had she been pouring over those texts for the last five hours? Suddenly ravenous, she pulled the plate forwards to the aromatic smell of Aalu and methi paratha and started eating.
Shubham looked at her fondly and then sampled his own food. A companionable silence descended between them which nobody cared to break. Shubham really liked this quality in his friend. Unlike other girls, she never filled in the silences with endless, nonsense chatter.
