Nothing's Conventional About Us

VI ~ Crimson

As crimson as their blood,
Darker than sin,
Your eyes captivate me.
But it is your soul,
Darker than your gaze,
That truly pulls me in.
Thirsty. Greedy. Surreal, still.

Crimson

Sneaking a royal guest - that too a lady - out of the entire citadel in broad daylight was no easy feat. But the third Pandava prince had never been one to fawn over easy feats. Difficulty has a draw of its own, one that has always seemed to pull him in.

Dark crimson cloaks covering even their entire faces, concealed their identities as their horses trotted down the main street of the Citadel, intended on crossing the gate.

Their luxurious royal attires were even folded and held up by glass-encrusted strings in order to conceal them under the cloaks to absolute perfection.

A seal of Tiamat in golden brown was stitched into their crimson cloaks, the morning sun shining off of it, making the shallow crowd on the streets give them and their dark steeds a wide berth. Many people feared the worshippers of Tiamat for their mercilessly uptight ways. Hastinapura, with its renown, often had visitors from far and wide, and they could not hope to find a better guise to slip past people without much of a hassle.

One of the guards at the check post of the main gates of the citadel came up to them, as the spears fell in a cross-block in front of them.

"Allowance letter, please.", the tall man with a lean and muscular build, his fair skin burned into an ochrous red by the sun, in the armour of a citadel guard - a position of high honour - and the white elephant seal, enquired them in a restrained but stern voice.

Arjuna carefully kept his gaze straight ahead, gesturing his lady companion to show him the letter.

The allowance letter was a must to pass through the citadel gates - into or out - and consisted of a handwritten pass with a reason by any direct member of the royal family - not through marriage, service or alliance - with the signature of the person in question.

The prince found it doubly humourous that the letter was written by himself and he did not carry an ounce of Kuru blood - or any human blood, for that matter.

The guard's eyes slightly widened when he saw the signature of the most feared and admired young warrior of the land, and undoubtedly the most admired Kuru prince, on the letter. The guards and defence personnels held him in a particularly high regard, and even touching a letter written by him felt like a blessing to the citadel guard.

He had had the fortune of seeing the prince multiple times during his years as a citadel guard. But this was the first time he was seeing the famed warrior's handwriting, touching something that he had touched. It felt slightly surreal.

But the man kept a straight face and nodded an affirmation, "You may pass through." He quickly dipped his index finger in the inkpot kept aside and placed a fingerprint on the paper before returning it to the lady. She even had heer hands gloved in crimson.

The two horses firmly trotted past the gate after the spears were removed.

Coming back would be so much easier. Arjuna knew a route that he could not use while leaving, thanks to the morning crowd of overly curious guests in the palace grounds.