Love and Redemption

Chapter 93

The prince of Shivgarh, Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rajput had a broad grin on his face when he reminisced his blissful mornings where his queen, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore fed him with her own soft hands. He was thankful to his queen who was taking care of him in every possible way. His beautiful mornings were greeted with fresh exotic roses and a gorgeous smile of the queen. During the pleasant evenings, the queen used to strike a conversation with him telling about her day while he listened to her mesmerizing voice peacefully.

He groaned as his selfless friend greeted him early in the morning. It was a daily ritual for Uday Singh Chauhan to barge into the bed chambers of the prince and force him to begin the strenuous regime of exercises suggested by their old teacher, Guru Vasudev. Veerbhadra wanted to protest every time, Uday stretched his arms and legs but he was helpless.

Despite the bitter medications suggested by the royal physician and lots of love from his parents, his friend and most importantly, his queen; Veerbhadra still lacked the ability to voice out his emotions, concerns and opinions. The words he was wanting to speak with the queen were stuck in his throat since the day he woke up.

He was getting frustrated as he spent his days lying lifelessly on the comfortable cot of lavish bed chambers in the royal palace of Vijaygarh. His eyes were glued to the captivating rose garden that was seen through the window of his bed chambers and he was dying to spend his time roaming in that beautiful garden with his queen by his side.

It had been a month, Veerbhadra had woken up. He had lost all his hopes of recovery a fortnight ago, when he realized he could utter feeble sounds of groans and moans when in pain. According to the advice of royal physician, he had been trying to speak, straining his vocal cords since then.

Veerbhadra wanted to respond to Uday’s continuous blabbering about the strenuous training of the royal soldiers or his lonely life while Uday twisted and turned his limbs with a hope to bring them into life. Like any other morning, Uday was right beside his friend helping him cope with his paralyzed state however, the ambience inside the four walls of the bed chamber was gloomy today.

Unlike every other day, the queen was not present in the bed chambers to witness the ministrations of Uday on the prince. Veerbhadra smiled reminiscing the cute gestures of Aparajita to cheer him up and motivate him to slowly flutter his fingers. A lone tear crept on his face when he was reminded of the disappointment on Aparajita's face whenever he failed to move his fingers.

Occasionally the queen used to help Veer do crunches while Uday massaged the pressure points of his legs. The prince was lost in his own thoughts when Uday raised Veerbhadra's legs high up in the air.

Due to movement of his limbs, Veerbhadra was able to feel the pain in his calves since a few days. It was a great sign of recovery as his sensations were back. He remembered a month ago, he could not feel the pain in his limbs when royal physician had pricked a needle.

The chain of Veer's thoughts were broken when Uday held his legs high. A sharp pain shot in his calves and his vision blurred in agony. The pain became unbearable for the prince as a loud shriek echoed in the huge bed chambers.

Uday was dumbstruck. Tears of happiness overflowed from his pitch black eyes when the prince cried in agony, “Uday… Stop….”

With happy tears in his eyes, Uday left Veerbhadra’s legs and they were fallen on the cottony mattress of the cot with a thud. Uday’s actions earned another shriek of the prince but he cared less. Like an excited child, Uday hugged his friend hard almost squeezing his weak body in his muscular frame. “You can finally speak, Veer”, he mumbled rubbing the back of the prince.

Veerbhadra was elated as he registered the fact that finally words had come out of his mouth. He felt a burning sensation in his throat as his vocal cords itched but the joy of speaking after six months was indeed, blissful. Trying again to speak, Veer mumbled, “Water”, and realized his aching throat was parched. Uday offered a glass of water to his friend and the cool liquid had indeed, relaxed his vocal cords.

“I will inform the queen and royal physician”, Uday stood up with immense enthusiasm.

“No, I want to surprise the queen”, the prince spoke with great difficulty. His throat pained but a sip of water was enough to reduce the burning sensation in his throat.

With a discreet smile on his face, Uday teased Veer, “Her Highness has taken good care of you, Veer”.

“Especially when I did an unforgivable sin by making incorrigible plans to crumble her identity”, Veer lamented. His voice quavered as he stuttered while speaking but fortunately, his speech was comprehensible.

With a stoic face, Uday mumbled, “If she is alive and she is ruling successfully, the reason is you. You sacrificed yourself for the sake of the queen.” He was trying to explain Veer that he needed to shun his guilt in order to recover faster.

“I want to redeem my deeds and apologize to her”, Veer objected at Uday’s blabbering. Uday wanted to tell the prince about how he had witnessed the stoic queen breaking down in the battlefield seeing Veer injured but he refrained to speak any such thing. He realized it was for both the royals to decide and confess their feelings and he should not raise hopes of his friend.

Uday nodded. It was the time for him to leave. His disciples were waiting for him in the training grounds. Training the youth for royal army was not an easy task. He had to hone their fighting skills and instill unwavering patriotism into their minds. He stood up and informed, “I will go Veer. I have to train the army. It is quite a strenuous task.”

“Get married, Uday. I am literally tired of hearing you feeling lonely and tired in this palace. You are getting old, my friend.” Veer chortled. Speaking after a long time, his vocal cords were straining a bit but he was motivated for his speedy recovery today.

With a blush creeping on his stubble-clad cheeks, Uday had a tinge of joy on his face as he remembered the moments spent with Nandini, his honorable lady. He surely needed a bride like her after all, she was a forbidden fruit.

“Get well soon so that I can make preparations of your marriage, Veer”, Uday chortled and it was Veerbhadra’s turn to get drown in the beautiful memories of his queen, Aparajita but soon his smile was replaced by sheer sadness as he realized his deeds did not deserve forgiveness.

He realized he would have to stay a bachelor throughout his life after all, the valiant queen would never forgive him for disrespecting her dignity. She definitely cared for him but her feelings for him could never overpower her self-respect, the prince wondered. Her thoughtful conversations in the forest were the evidences of queen’s unwavering determination to work for the welfare of her people and hence, the prince who had tried to betray her as well as threaten the safety of her kingdom deserved a lonely life.

Uday left for the training grounds with a huge grin on his face not before penning down the letter for the king and queen of Shivgarh after all, he had a good news to share.

♥️♥️♥️

Hi everyone

So, finally we will be having the long-waited conversation between Veer and Aparajita in the upcoming chapter 😘

I hope, you enjoyed this chapter! 😍

Next chapter shall be up tomorrow! 🥰

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