Mirage: Hearts Amidst the Mist | ✓

12. A Call Which Changed It All

When he woke up, Suren realized that we both had slept in the same position. He gently removed her head from his shoulder and placed it on the cushion. He then headed towards his room.

When he reached there, he saw Shachi looking out of the window. He went and hugged her from behind.

"Had a good sleep?" he asked her.

"No." she said.

"Same."

She turned towards him and said,
"It's about time that you accept Chandraa and give her the time and respect that you give me."

"I try but I can't." loosening his grip around her, he said.

"But why?"

"How can I accept her when I know she's not mine? God did not send her for me, he sent you for me. She does not belong to me! I feel so bad for betraying her. I feel so bad for not telling her the truth."

They stayed like that for a while. Shachi sighed, breaking the silence, and left the room.

Her words rang in Suren's mind again and again making him feel dizzy.
'He is not going to return. Get that into your mind!'
'Why don't you accept her?'
'She awaits you.'

🌙

He went outside the palace to have a stroll in the gardens. That is when a messenger approached him and gave him a letter which made him widen his eyes.

The Raja and Rani had gone for a tirth-yatra a few days ago and nobody knew when they would return. But the one whom Suren loved the most had called out for help and he couldn't stop himself. He immediately climbed his horse and left the palace. Shachi, at the same time, came out to her window just to see Suren's horse galloping towards the outer gate of the nagar.

She instantly guessed where he was going and ran to the stable. She won't let him get himself into danger. She took a horse from there. Before climbing it, she wrote a letter to Chandraa and gave it to a servant. Then she pulled the reins and her horse galloped after Suren's.

// any guesses? //