UNBOUNDED LOVE

Where Is Surabhi?

Roop's POV

I stood behind Kamali and lifted her braided hair which was decorated with garlands of jasmine when he brought the Mangalsutra to tie it around her neck. I could see her smiling and looking at him making me feel so happy for her. Everyone witnessing the wedding threw the holy rice at them and after tying three knots, he moved away and whispered something in her ear to which everyone awed. The priest asked them to get blessings from the elders and they obeyed him. The rituals continued for the whole day and I was with her for almost all of it. 

It had been a few months since the war and these days were the absolute best. Kamali's now husband Hemanth talked to his parents about them and it did not take them a lot of time to agree. The wedding was happening at a temple near the palace and even Mano was there as he was a great friend of the groom. We had lunch and decided it was time to get going. I walked back with Mano to the palace and we talked about Asha. 

"She told me that she is expected to give birth next month. I hope she will be able to attend your wedding. By the way, when are they planning to talk to the royal priest?", he asked. "I actually wanted to tell you about it, Mano. Maharaj and Maharani were informed about it yesterday and they think the wedding will bring back some life to the kingdom. We are just waiting for him to come back from the search. And I think we will be meeting the priest on Friday. I have no one left except for you as my family and Asha won't be allowed to travel in this time. So, I want you to make some time and accompany me when we go there".

"Of course, di. I will be there. I should have been the one to find a good match for you and take care of the wedding but God has different plans", he sounded guilty. "You are here with me, Mano. That is enough for me", I said and suddenly I heard someone call my name. I saw an attendee standing at the back entrance of the palace and panting as if she had run miles. "They are back, Roop!!", she said making my eyes widen and smile brightly. 

"Roop, I have to train too. Let me know when I should come to the palace, I'll be there", he said and left to the training grounds. I wasted no time in running into the palace with her and reached the main entrance of the palace and stood behind a pillar to see the men come back from the search. We were all eagerly waiting to see Princess Surabhi after such a long time and when they told that they had found a lead, our happiness knew no bounds. But the moment we saw their faces, we knew that they had come back with nothing like the previous 28 times.

"Its okay, Aparajitha. We will find her no matter what", Maharaj tried to calm down Maharani who had burst out into tears. "She was planning for the Panch Bhava Utsav, Maharaj. How can we do it without her? She is the life of this palace and the reason for all of us to smile. Why is life so cruel to the kindest hearts?", she cried making all of us shed tears. 

The men were sent to relax and rest for sometime and I ran away before anyone could see me and entered Dheer's chamber. I made sure everything was perfect for him and made arrangements for a relaxing bath. I heard the door open and my excitement grew. It had been so many days since I had seen him. I walked out of the bathing area and entered the chamber to see him laying on the bed still wearing the armor he had arrived in.

"Roop?", he called. I hummed and sat beside him on the bed. "I have disappointed Adi", he said. I was confused, "Why would you say that?", he sighed and sat up to look at me and said, "We have covered all of Ratnagarbha, Simhaswasa, Agnisena and even Hamsanaada. The other kingdoms are our allies. I have no idea where she is now, Roop. We thought she might be in Ratnagarbha itself and, like you know already, we started our search here and even after looking through each and every corner of the kingdom, we found her nowhere".

I pulled him by his shoulders and made him put his head on my lap and started to massage as he continued, "Then our next target was Agnisena. We were sure she would be there. Even if that stupid boy was dead, we asked his other brother, who is now the king of that kingdom for permission to check and then found nothing. We searched all over Hamsanaada and nothing was found even there. I just miss her so much, Roop. She used to brighten up our whole day just with some words. But now it has been four months without her. We have no idea where she is or what she is doing", he sounded broken.

"We will definitely find her soon. Don't worry", I said and he just sighed. "Come take a bath. You will feel much better", I said and he pulled away to stand up and walked with me to the bathing area. The water was the perfect temperature and he removed his upper clothing and sat in the pool of water relaxing his body. "You know, while you were away, I spent some time at your palace", he just hummed while his eyes were closed. "With your grandmother", I added making him snap open his eyes and look at me with surprise all over his face. I nodded and told him how one day, all of a sudden, I was called to their place and she said she wanted to talk to me. 

"She said she was just not sure about us but when Haripriya told her about us from the first day until then she decided to give me a chance. She actually kind of likes me now. We go on walks to the royal garden sometimes. She has taught me a lot about my responsibilities after becoming your wife", I said while he looked more surprised. "I did not know I would get to live a day where she would talk to you normally, forget going on walks", we both laughed. I sat on the edge of the pool and placed the bowls filled with sandalwood paste beside me and started to apply it on his shoulders while applying gentle pressure to relax his muscles.

I felt him sigh and smiled. "I missed this so much", he whispered. "The next time, come back with Princess Surabhi and I will give you a better massage", I said and he chuckled. "Oh God! I am very thankful for blessing me with such a motivating fiancée", we both laughed. Suddenly he turned around and hugged me while I squirmed as the sandalwood paste was all smeared on me. "I don't care. Hug me back", he ordered. "I just hope we find her and bring her back, Roop. I can't see Adi and Bhabhi live alone in sadness", I agreed with him.  

It was late at night when he decided to get back to his palace. I told him about how we had to meet the royal priest soon and he was as excited as I was. After he left, I went back to the chamber that was assigned for me. The attendees were placing some cloth covered plates in my room and when I asked them about it, they told me that it was Dheer's mother's gift for me. Most people in the palace had known about the wedding but they were not allowed to tell it to the public until the official announcement. After they left, I saw a scroll on one of the plates and decided to read it. It said that they were my cloths that I would have to wear for meeting the royal priest.

I removed the cover from the first plate to see and beautiful blue lehenga and the jewelries for it was placed on the next plate. I felt a shiver run down my spin as the fact that all of that was actually happening.

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Hmmm, the story is about to end. So if you have liked it so far, go back up to the first chapter and start voting on each chapter.

Lots of love💗