What would happen if you were appointed as a bodyguard for the person you were supposed to assassinate?
Adhiveer is a beloved king. Loved and adored by everyone in his kingdom and beyond.
Shiva, a professional assassin, gets easily appointed as hi...
It was a journey of six days to the capital city of Merujaya. Shiva had thought that she would go to the city alone, she had not expected that she would go to the city with the man that she was supposed to kill. What an odd turn of events these were.
On that fateful day, she had received a message to meet a man at the bank of the Raankai River. She had reached there in time only to receive another note with a message written-
The king is your target. Go to the city of Merujaya, and meet a man named Suhala, at the blacksmith's fountain. The rest of the instructions will be given when you reach there.
There was also a satchel with two daggers and tiny bottles of different colours of liquid. They were probably poisons she thought.
After meeting the chief and packing everything, she decided to go with Bagha and the others to the forest to gather herbs and fish from the river. That's when they'd seen soldiers helping villagers out of the building. She had thought that it was just a small quarrel between two small kingdoms and people were escaping to save themselves. She hated wars. War brings only suffering, disparity and death. And often it's only the innocent and poor who suffer the most. So, she, Bagha and others had helped the men to get the villagers to safety.
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But when she found out that they had helped the king's men. And that the king himself was right in front of her, the target. Her head had started to spin. He had seen her. He was staring at her as if he could see right through her. Many times, she thought that he knew she was hired to kill him, that somehow he had found out, and soon he would instruct his men to slay her. So she avoided him as much as possible. And now she was going with him to his place. What would happen if she killed him on the way? Make it look like an accident. Or would the soldiers find her out and kill her? Was it possible to get away with it? But the note had said to wait for the instructions and meet a man named Suhala. What if the person who hired her found out that she had done the job already?
She shook her head to get out those thoughts and just concentrate on the road for now. Maybe at nightfall, she will go ahead and get the job done.
They had tented to take rest. It was almost night. She opened her satchel again. Took out the daggers and put them on the belt under the dress she wore. The king's tent was surrounded by tents of his soldiers and right in front of it was Bhairava's tent. There were two guards appointed to stand in front of the king's tent at the entrance. If she got a chance to enter his tent without being noticed it would be an easy job to just slit his throat. She waited for the opportune moment and decided to do it after everyone was asleep.
Late at night she slipped out of her tent and moved quietly till she reached behind the king's tent. She crouched in the shadow and smoothly made a slit in the canvas and peeped through the hole inside the tent. She couldn't find him. He was not in his tent. Alarmed she swiftly moved across the back and came to the tent where they had stored the food. Her heart was pounding. This was a bad idea she thought. If she goes back to her tent now nobody would know.
"Are you hungry?"
She was startled by the voice behind her. She didn't dare to look back.
"Are you hungry my dear?" asked a soft voice.
She turned around. Bhairava was standing there.
"Yes... I am." She said.
"Oh, well then let's get you something to eat. Come." Saying this he walked past her and entered the tent. "We always make sure that each of our soldiers are all well fed and taken care of. Because they are the ones who safeguard our kingdom. You, too, are one of us now."
Are they so gullible? Or just pretending to be she thought.
"Do you want fruits, bread or meat?" He asked. There was a long table set in the middle of the tent with bowls of fruits covered with muslin cloth. Beside it was another table which had preserved fish, meat and flatbreads kept in earthenware. At the corner of the tent were pots filled with water to drink.
" Um..." She wasn't hungry but if she said no, he would surely doubt her. " Fruits... Fruits would be fine."
Bhairava smiled and asked, "Are you always this quiet or are you afraid of me."
Neither is what she wanted to say but she only smiled back. He handed her a few sugar palm fruits and a few bananas. "Never be afraid to ask for anything, especially from me." He gently patted her shoulder and left the tent. She gave out a big sigh, kept the fruits back and peeped out to see if he had gone. When there was no one. She started walking towards her tent.
While going back she once looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was behind her and walked right into someone. She stepped back to see that it was the king. Her eyes widened, and she was about to bow down to say sorry but bumped her head into his chest again.
"I was... I am... I didn't..." She couldn't get a single word out.
"I was just strolling around," he said.
So late at night? What was he doing near her tent? He knows something. But if he did, she wouldn't be standing there, she would have been dead by now.
" Do you need something, my king?" She asked
'my king' he mumbled.
"What?" She scrunched her nose.
He immediately straightened up and asked her what she was doing awake so late and out of her tent.
"Um. I was hungry so I went to the food tent."
"Oh," he nodded. " but where is the food?" He asked.
"I... I ate it." She nodded in affirmation.
His brows furrowed. " Then why does it look like you haven't had enough," he said grabbed her hand and took her back in the tent. She felt like a fool. She should have just said that she was out for a stroll as well. But now it was too late.
They entered the tent, and he just grabbed all the fruits, flatbread, and meat, put it in a bowl and a plate, and handed it to her. He sat on the long table and gestured for her to eat. Her mouth fell open. "All of this?" She asked. He nodded. He is testing me.
Are you going to sit there and watch me eat? She wanted to ask him, but she just took a bite of a sugar palm.
'What was he smiling for? Was there something on my face' she wiped the sides of her face with the back of her palm. " I am full " she finally said.
"Oh. Okay." He said.
She had never been this confused and awkward in her life. She kept the empty plate. Bowed down and left the tent.
When she reached. She threw herself on the bedding." I will not do anything till I reach the capital. The king is not dumb. He surely has doubts about me. And now he is even more alert than before. When I reach the city I will first meet the man they told me to meet. And then decide." She dozed off.
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Hello, my beautiful readers
Share your thoughts in the comments and tell me whether you liked the premise, story, characters etc
It's my first story in the romance genre so I would love to get feedback from you all.
