Nothing's Conventional About Us

XIII ~ Darkness

The worst part of my story
Is not that I am afraid
Of darkness.
But that, darkness was always
Supposed to be my home.
And now,
The world has ensured that
I am afraid of going home.
Darkness is my colour, though.
In fear and in love.

Darkness

She did not know whether she was dreading the end of this breakfast gathering or anticipating it. For, in the palace, this formal gathering would end mere hours before the demarcated hour of afternoon chimed in.

Yes, she had her own work cut out for those mere hours. She needed to train. Like every single day. She knew that he would be right there with her, and she could not possibly miss the opportunity of training with the Lord of War himself, now, could she?

But what she feared lay waiting like a silent predator, right after those anticipated mere hours concluded. They very thought brought the darkest of clouds racing into her mindspace.

She took a deep breath in. Out. It worked. It cleansed her mind's eyes - the one which saw those memories like they were actually happening in the present, over and again, while she waited, not like the predator of prowess, but the helpless prey that she had once been.

"We need to leave.", she felt his heat searing into her skin, as if the layers of fabric separating them did not exist after all, even before she heard his deep voice against the shell of her ear.

"Certainly.", she curtly replied, regaining her balance and her grip over her own senses, as she turned to Krishna.

"We need to leave.", she almost reflexively echoed his words to her friend, who looked rather amused.

"Certainly.", he carried forward the secret joke by echoing her earlier reply right back to her. She narrowed her eyes in mock-reprimanding, even while amusement lifted up the corners of her lips.

Krishna's eyes caught sight of Subhadra, who had left the company of the three friends quite a while back to try and socialise with Princess Duhshala and some of their common friends from their Kanyavaasa days.

"I still think she ran away because you two intimidated her with all that intensity.", Krishna said, his eyes still trained on his sister.

"Unbeknownst to ourselves, being the key words here.", Arjuna replied, probably for the umpteenth time, if his exasperated tone was any suggestion to go by.

"Words that you conveniently choose to omit time and time again, my friend.", Krishnaa added, her voice akin to an elder sister chiding her brother for some mischief he was committing for the umpteenth time, if only for the joy of seeing the annoyance line her eyes.

Krishna dramatically brought his hand over his heart as he quietly exclaimed, "Oh, I am hurt! One day - and one night - with this lad and you forego my favour?"

His eyes now shot to Arjuna, while mischief and mirth swirled in the depths of his blue irises like two galaxies swirling into one.

Arjuna responded with a smirk, as his arm snaked around her waist, drawing her into the heat of his chest, as he replied, "What can I say. I am a very persuasive man, it would seem."

She could feel the heat already starting to stain her skin like a tangible thing.

But she could also feel something else like a tangible thing. Like an arachnid with thin legs crawling across her skin. Like-

Blind panic started crawling up her throat. She could tell that it was baseless, that she should not be afraid, that there was no reason to - but a certain God had started unravelling her insecurities in a way so strange that it was as if every wound, every worry, every fear had been brought to the very surface, and nnexxt to everything could set it off.