The Fire In Her Eyes

III

Mohana's hand instinctively went to the dagger tucked in her skirt. She unsheathed the dagger and held it in front of her as she slowly turned to where the voice has come from.

She cursed at herself for being so clueless and not knowing that she was being watched.

Mohana tightened her grip on the dagger when she noticed the silhouette of a tall and well built man in the shadows near the huge tree.

"Who are you?", Mohana calmly asked the man. She felt like she had heard his voice before but couldn't pair a name to it. One could say she was rather calm for being in the presence of an unknown man in the middle of the night but Mohana trusted herself to be a strong woman capable of defending herself. From the looks of it there only seemed to be one man and she was confident she could take him down if he tried anything.

The man ,hesitant for a second, slowly walked into the clearing. Mohana gasped as moonlight reflected off his handsome face.

"Prince Rudra?", She asked confusedly and slowly lowered the dagger.

"I believe this belongs to you.", He said and held up her ring.

The ring shone in the bright moonlight as Mohana recognized it.

"Yes, but why do you have it and what are you doing here?", Mohana asked as her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion trying to solve this impossible mystery.

"You dropped it on the ground while you were running away from us.", Rudra said, his expression displaying amusement.

Realization dawned on her and her face transformed into one of surprise with her eyebrows almost reached her hairline. It was truly a comical sight but somehow Rudra found the princess to be really adorable.

Mohana realized why his voice had sounded so familiar.

Once she had overcome her initial shock she composed her figure and tucked away her dagger. Suddenly she became aware of how embarrassing the situation was. She could only hope he didn't ask any further questions and doesn't tell anyone about it.

She slowly walked towards him and extended her palm out to receive her ring. She said, "Thank you for picking it up. I-"

He withdrew his hand back and not giving her the ring and said, "Not so fast. I'm a little curious, princess. Why did you run away? It's not like we were charging at you with our swords out.

Mohana cursed silently but nonetheless kept a calm facade and answered,

"I believe that is none of your business prince. It was a mistake on my part but I hope we can get past it. Now I would be grateful to have my ring back."

"Well if you won't answer my questions, I'm afraid I have to return this ring back to King Amish telling him how I found it in the woods.", Rudra said and tucked it inside his robe.

"No!", Mohana said loudly. Her father would have no mercy on her if he comes to know of it.

Rudra was a little surprised at her response. He had expected her to be panicked but not to this extent.

Mohana thought about it for a solid minute before deciding to cave in. Prince Rudra doesn't seem like the type who cab be persuaded easily.

"I wasn't supposed to be hunting out here today and if my father comes to know of it, it won't end well for me. I thought you and your brother were local hunters who would have reported to my father. ", She explained.

"Does you father not approve of you hunting out alone?", Rudra asked wondering if her father was concerned of her being out alone.

The only thing King Amish worried about was his reputation. Mohana may not be close to her family but she wasn't about to open up about her family to a stranger however attractive he may be.