DEVMITRA - the thread of fate

CHAPTER -20

Devkirti was pacing around her room. The last few days had been little slow for her. Apart from eating, sleeping and strolling around,she didn't do much. At home, in Satlavi, she would always had her little talks with Malati, hearing gossips from here and there, spending time with her father while he would tell her the stories of faraway lands,her cooking classes with her mother, and her mini adventures with Mitra.

Mitra, her best friend. She missed her. She wondered how might she have been faring with her new life. Devkirti never felt any kind of resentment towards her. It was just the unexpected turn of events that had kept her confused and disappointed. She knew that she would have done the same thing if she was in her position. What made her feel more dejected was that she couldn't talk with her friend properly and clear the air of guilt and discomfiture between the both of them. And now she yearned to have her friend with her.

The mysteries looming around her new home wasn't helping her either. Each day felt like she was delving more into a pit with no bottom. Unknown fears easily clutched her heart. She hadn't seen her husband after their last encounter in the day she set her foot in her new home.

She often saw Taash, cooking food for more than three people, she also felt a bizarre but strong energy of something so heavy towards the northern side of the palace where she was forbidden to go. Her enigma of a husband and his silence. Everything was creating turmoil in her mind. She knew that she had no rights to intervene in her husband's life but the fact that she was residing in his home gave her every rights to ask questions and get to the bottom of the things that had been kept hidden from her.

Her curiosity was getting intensified each passing day. And she couldn't seem to contained it any longer. And hence she decided that she need to know exactly what her husband was hiding.

It was almost midnight. The crescent moon was shining above the sky. The silence engirding the place was unnerving. She presumed that her husband might have been already asleep by that time. Kirti slowly opened the door of her chamber and peep through it to see if anyone was there. Then she remembered that her new home was practically void of any soul except her husband,Taash and herself. She heaved a sigh of relief. There were less possibility for her to get caught.

Slowly and carefully she stepped out of her chamber. Taking a good look at her surrounding she treaded forward. The small lights illuminated her way. She felt nervousness coiling in her stomach. Her throat had gone dry because of her anxiousness. But there was a strong determination in her mind to unveil the secret that was aggravating her mind.

With careful and hushed steps she passed the Hallway. Amidst the grave silence and partial darkness with only the flickering light emitting from the small lamps,she stood at the beginning of the long and narrow hallway that would lead her to the northern end of the palace. She quivered a bit. An unknown feeling of chill rattle her body. A part of her mind was telling her to leave the idea of prying into her husband's matter and heed to his warnings but the other part was gnawing at her to uncover everything. And before her mind persuade her to retreat she made her way toward the forbidden domain.

With each approaching steps her apprehension grew stronger. The unfamiliar turf made her feel on edge. She was perspiring because of the nervousness she was feeling inside. Cold sweat trickle down her forehead as a sign of fear. But her steps were not haulted because of her inhibition.

The path was like any other hallway but the eerily calm and hauntingly silent atmosphere made the her feel more affrighted. With the scanty glints of light she could vaguely see the the weird inscriptions and figures drawn on the walls. The aura of the place was petrifying. She could feel the strong and heavy energy that she had felt before. And it had amplified as she got more close towards the end. At the very end of the Hallway she could see a large door that she presumed would lead to her husband's chamber.