Mihira stared in Nila in shock for a few moments before he laughed bitterly, "If you expect me to believe that you feel nothing for me after that, then you must think I am fool."
"What I feel for you doesn't matter, you cannot go back on your word, Mihira" Nila said, angrily.
"IT MATTERS" Mihira roared, "To me! It matters a lot! I spent years thinking of you. Hoping desperately against hope that I would find you again. When I abducted you, I only did so, to protect you in the war that I am going to wage against the Guptas. I was ready to let you go in a heartbeat after the war, whether I won or lost, if you wished so. Now, I can feel that you want me as much as I want you. After all that, how can you just leave?"
"I WILL LEAVE" Nila exploded, "You expect me to stay with a heartless man like you? A man who thinks only about winning despite the cost? A man who is merciless in revenge that he is ready to take out his anger for mistakes done by a few people onto everyone in Malwa? A man who refuses to forgive and forget for my sake despite claiming I am the love of his life? Love is an action word, Mihira! If you truly loved me, you wouldn't try to destroy what I hold dear. It's common sense to understand that much, at least. A pity you clearly don't have it"
"Alright, answer me this one thing, will you at least spare the civilians in the war against Malwa?" Nila asked
"You already know that I will not!" Mihira replied, gruffly
"Then, I have nothing more to say to you" Nila replied, "Whether I care for you or not, I refuse to entertain the hospitality and company of a man who is as ruthless and cruel in his revenge as you are"
"Nila, please let me explain..." Mihira began but Nila cut him off, "Explain what? How it is justifiable for you to destroy children, women, old and disabled simply because of what a handful of bullies did to you in Malwa? Yes, please explain, how and why I should support your mad obsession with revenge? If you were seeking justice, I would have been by your side in a heartbeat but no, it is not justice you seek. In fact, it is injustice that you seek to perpetrate on innocent civilians, I cannot simply stand aside and do nothing, do you understand?"
Mihira said, in a broken voice, "All these years, seven years, I never stopped thinking about you. I believed I would find the girl who saved my life. The girl I always called Paradise on Earth. I thought I would find that girl and marry her. I would make her the Queen of the Huns. I would protect her and devote myself to her till the end of my days. I won't deny that I had my share of women but it was only for sex, I never loved any one of them like I love you! I love you! I always have and I always will. So, please do not abandon me! Please don't dash hopes that I built from my seven years of waiting!"
"Well, I am no longer the same girl anymore than you are the same boy I saved that day. You are making me almost regret saving your life that day, Mihira, with your talk of an eye for an eye" Nila said, furiously.
"You are right, Nila" Mihira said, coldly, "I realize now that all these years, I had built an idealized version of you in my head. The girl who saved me was so many wonderful things in my head. I should have guessed that it was only an illusion. You are not that Paradise on Earth I imagined you to be. Your words cut deeper into my heart than any weapon in this world."
"No, it was not. I am not your Paradise on Earth. It was a mistake on your part to built an ideal image of me" Nila snapped, "Let me give you one piece of advice. Your concept of an eye for an eye? It will only leave you blind. You cannot undo the past by shedding blood. You can heal from the past by shedding tears, which are clearly long overdue. You can find peace only if you choose to forgive and to let go. The choice is yours"
"Spoken like a coward" Mihira said, icily.
"And you speak like a Tyrant" Nila responded, sharply, "If you mistake forgiveness with cowardice, I truly pity you. You have everything a powerful ruler has, Mihira, but you don't have the one thing that a good ruler is supposed to have. A heart"
Saying thus, Nila turned on her heel and started walking away from Mihira.
"Wait" Mihira called, "I will send my men to escort you to your village. You might run into bandits or wild animals on the way"
"Thank you" Nila replied stiffly.
Nila travelled for several days before she finally reached Malwa. The Hun horsemen bid her farewell and left after dropping her off at Malwa borders. Nila entered Malwa territory and rushed around, looking for soldiers. She saw a bunch of Malwa soldiers patrolling and rushed to them, "I must speak with your superior" she said.
"Who are you, woman? How dare you speak to me in that tone?" the soldier said, gruffly, "Go away, shoo! Don't waste my time"
"The Huns will attack soon" she said.
"Wait, what did you say?" the man said
"The Huns will be launching a surprise attack soon" she repeated
"What?!" the man shouted, "and how do you know that?"
"I was a captive of the Hun Chief, Mihirana, until recently. I escaped from the Hun territory" she said.
"My gods!" the man exclaimed and led her to his superior officer. Nila repeated what she said to the superior officer. The man asked for some more details before he sent an emergency letter to the Malwa King's court.
After waiting for a few tense hours, the messenger returned with a message from the King, "His Majesty wishes to meet with this girl and he asks the soldiers to track the recent movements of the Huns"
YOU ARE READING
Embrace the Snow
Romance"Hailing from Malwa, Nila was used to a riot of colours in both natural and manmade. Here, in the snow-covered landscape, everything had seemed a monochrome of white to her. Today, without anything to protect her from the cold, she could feel thousa...
