The Empress of his Heart

RAVENOUS LOVE: TANGLED IN TOXICITY

A night before the wedding

RIDDHAAN'S POV

I was preparing everything, for the wedding but suddenly my eyes started to get heavy and I didn't remember when I dozed off, it felt like some kind of force was pulling me into a slumber. I tried to be awake but at the end, I felt myself slipping into darkness and a loop of a dream started. As the vision of the burning man consumed by flames faded, I woke with a start, my body drenched in sweat, my heart pounding violently in my chest. The nightmare left me gasping for breath, the searing pain of the flames and the anguish of the man's scream echoing in my mind. My heart pounded in my chest as I sat up, drenched in sweat, the remnants of the dream clinging to me like a dark shroud. The vision was too vivid, too real. It felt like a memory rather than a mere dream, a glimpse into a past life shrouded in pain and loss.

(The dream is in the chapter Brewing Tempest: The Storm of Obsession.)

I tried to sit up, trying to steady my breath, but the images continued to replay in my mind and it was too much, I could not move. It was a fucking sleep paralysis I am trapped in a dream. The villagers in their ancient attire, the helpless woman tied to the tree, her house set ablaze, and finally, the man who had declared his undying love and vengeance before stepping into the flames with her body in his arms. The intensity of his emotions, his promise to return stronger and more vengeful, reverberated within me.

As I tried to make sense of the dream, a sense of déjà vu washed over me. The faces were blurred, yet the emotions were painfully clear. The sense of loss, the agony, the burning desire for retribution—it all felt too familiar as if it were a part of my own soul's history. I couldn't shake the feeling that the man in the dream was a reflection of myself, bound by a timeless love and an unbreakable curse.

In the fire, as the man leaned down to kiss the woman's forehead, I saw the truth. The man's face was mine, and the woman's face, now unmistakable, was Nitya's. It was like staring into a mirror reflecting a past life, an existence where our love had been met with tragedy and death.

''Their love is a forbidden fruit they are made to yearn for each other, forever, yet their hearts will be torn apart by the cruel hands of destiny'' This was the thing that I heard, it felt like someone was warning us or cursing our love.

 And it happened I got up. With a jolt, I woke up, my heart racing and my body drenched in sweat. The remnants of the dream lingered, the vividness of the flames, the intensity of the emotions. I sat up, gasping for breath, and felt the weight of the curse pressing down on me.

The dream had shaken me to my core. It was so vivid, so painfully real that, for a moment, I had forgotten who I was. In that dream, I was the man watching his love, Nitya, being torn from him in the most brutal way. The anguish I felt was his, and the sense of loss was overwhelming. But now, awake and trembling in the darkness of my room, the fear gripped me tighter than ever before. Nitya. What had happened to her? Why her?

The more I thought about it, the more the lines between dream and reality blurred. My love for my precious had always been intense, but now it took on a darker, more desperate edge. I couldn't bear the thought of losing her, and the dream had planted a seed of paranoia that began to grow and fester within me.

I had to take control, to ensure that nothing and no one could come between us. I couldn't lose her—not again, not ever. And so, my thoughts twisted into a dark resolution. If I couldn't trust the world to keep her safe, then I would have to cage her myself.

I desperately pulled out of my laptop and watched the screens constantly and then I saw her, my eyes glued to the footage of her every move. One evening, she was sitting in her room, drying her henna and talking to Risha. The sight of her, so serene and unaware, both soothed and tormented me. I could see her, but it wasn't enough. I needed her close, needed to feel her presence and ensure she was safe.