The Last Princess (18+)

11.0 Royal Danger

The Chakrawarti Samrat had loved only one thing all his life.

Until, her,

his little sparrow.

Wax melted the and burnt the wood, as it sat burning smugly in the corners of the small room. A large table laid in the centre of the room, a large sheet resting on it.

The wind whispered to the leaves eerily as it blew. The wind was free, unlike the hundreds of people who were manacled. Shackled by duties, honour, responsibilities and bonds. People looked at the wind with envy painting them the deepest and the darkest shade of green. Being completely unaware of the fact, that even though the wind was free to move, it was never given the permission to stay at one place.

It had no home.

Shivaay couldn't think. His eyes were trained on the large sheet of paper in front of him. The different colours, the patterns suddenly didn't make sense to him, for all he could see was the face of his wife even on the map, which he had been trying to study.

He felt anxious, though it wasn't shown on his face, there was a gnawing feeling in his stomach. After Anika had left, he had taken out some maps to study them and find new routes. The maps, which had once seemed to be very interesting, now seemed mundane. He looked up, his eyes falling on his chief. He couldn't help but scoff. A banal bunch of people.

Well it seemed like, it was only his Rani sa who was interesting to him.

Shivaay shook his head. His woman was casting spells on him as near in his life had he been so distracted from work.

Little did he know that the spell had been casted ever since the blameless blue eyes met the honey brown ones.

Shivaay's mind travelled back to the past. He had visited Singhall a couple of times after the alliance had been fixed. The popular gossip of that time was, how much prem the Samrat had for their Rajkumari.

Well he did have, but it solely belonged to the last princess of Singhall, his little sparrow.

Going to Singhall, often making politics, mergers or even Avanti the reason behind his visit, meant that he could see her too.

She would either be training herself, or the young women of the kingdom. He would find her listening to kirtan along with her father. But what made him chase her more, was that she always ran away from him.

It was quite evident that the youngest princess did not like the visits of her brother-in-law, as she preferred leaving the castle while he was there.

Shivaay sighed, he had wickedly enjoyed the game of hide and seek. There were times he would intentionally be around ehr chamber or make her stop from leaving by an excuse.

Shivaay closed his eyes again. He tried to stop himself from thinking about her. She was a threat to his sanity and he would make sure to keep his little sparrow all to himself once she returned.

If only she doesn't go far far away.

***

They were under attack.

The chiming of her anklets rang in the open air. The queen of Mewar ran along the hallways of her maternal castle in haste. She had crushed the weed of panic under her heel as soon as it began to bloom. A warrior couldn't panic at a time of emergency.

"Nehi, Anika. Hum aapko jaane ki ijazat nehi de sakte!" Gayatri warned. "Magar kyun? Hum pehli bar nehi jaa raahe hai jang pe!" Anika exclaimed. This was the question of her father's kingdom and the safety of hundreds of families.

"Aap kisi aur ki amanat hai. Aap ek yoddha hone ke saath saath kisi aur raje ki Rani bhi hai!"

"Iska Matlab ye nehi ki hum apne kartavve ko bhul jaaye,"

"Aap nehi jayengi, Anika," hearing this from her father shocked Anika. "Data Hukum, par-," she was interrupted by the old man who coughed before saying, "Ek beti ko toh hum kho hi chuke hai, doosri ko nehi khona chahte,"

Anika war torn between duty and obedience. She felt helpless at that moment, but reminded herself that she couldn't sit idle.

Anika hastily wrote on the scroll. The disobedient nature of the ink as it smudged made her even more annoyed. She quickly folded it, after making sure that the ink had dried, handing it to the awaiting soldier.

"Jaldi jayiye. Gupt surang se jayiye tur gupt surang se hi unhe le aayiye,"

Anika leaned her head against the pillar. They were surround by ten thousand armed soldiers from two sides. The news of the King's sickness and somehow leaked to an enemy, making Junaid Ibrahim, the ruler of a nearby kingdom, attack them. Junaid had had his eyes on Singhall for some time. This had been a golden opportunity for him to capture the kingdom, he gad been eyeing.

Anika had been asked not to participate or even go out of the kingdom by her father. She felt frustrated and utterly useless. There was only one person whom she expected to help her out at this time, Shivaay.

Anika had not hesitated to write to him the second she was prohibited to go out. They had sent countless letters to the neighbouring kingdom but none of them responded. Nobody wanted to use their soldiers or weapons for other kingdoms.

He was her only hope now.

***

"Maharaj!" Junaid looked at the soldier, who was panting, with a bored look. His mundane soldiers didn't please him, all he wanted now was the comfort of his harem. He motioned him to continue as he smoked his hookah. "Kya khabar hai?" he asked, fixing his gaze back on the map.

"Khabar hai ki Mewar ki Maharani Anika bhi Singhall mei hai,"

A wicked smirk arrived on his scared face. He looked like he had come from the deepest and the most grotesque pits of hell.

"Ek teer se do nishane marne ka wat aa gaya hai, Kasim," he said to his right hand man, with a  wicked gleam in his eyes.

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