The Battle Of Hearts A Choice Between Power And Love

Chapter 5 Visions At Night

Annika's pov 

My heartbeats sped up at the thought of that man. I've never seen him here in the castles before. Who was he? What was he doing here, in the castle?

After a quick talk with Patel ji, I got to know why he was here. He was a businessman from a foreign land, all the way from a place called 'Britain'.

My thoughts were not left to wander off for too long as dadi maa came to the garden and hence my classes with her started.

I sat down on the grass, my legs folded under my lehenga skirt, which was spread wide across the green of the grass.

Dadi maa asked me to close my eyes and to meditate for a while, as being in touch with oneself and having a calm mind helped with the visions.

Dadi maa kept her eyes on me as I meditated for a while. All I could hear was the rustle of the leaves, the gentle breeze and my own breathing.

I tried to clear my head and to calm my fast-beating heart. After a while, when I had gotten myself under control, I opened my eyes to look up at dadi maa.

She looked pleased, now that I had got myself in the perfect mood for our practice session. She asked me to write down on all the flashes I got during the visions. It was not the happiest of memories to think back to and the flashes sent a shiver down my spine.

Finally after a struggle, I wrote down every detail I remembered about the vision I had earlier. She took the paper from my hands and started to read. Her brows furrowed and her loose grip on the arm of the chair tightened, none of which escaped my watch. She looked at me, her eyes leaving the paper and finding mine. Her eyes looked troubled. I could practically hear the wheels turning in her head. She managed a smile for me as she patted my shoulder, signalling me to get up from the grass. I made sure to dust off my skirt as I got up too.

"That's it for today, Annika. I will meet you tomorrow. We can discuss more about your powers then".

After the practice with grandma, I went to my room. I then changed quickly into a simple blouse and a pair of pants for my horse riding practice with Aditya. He was waiting near the stables. I could see the sun setting behind the castle walls, right behind him in the sky. I went to the stables to get Raja, yes, 'Raja', that's what I named my new horse, the Black Stilton.

Raja and Adhi's horse were of the same height but bhaiyya's horse was a brown shade. He started off by placing a straddle on my horse. He fastened the straddle on his horse to show me a demo, as I followed the steps on my horse straddle. After that he lifted me to my horse's height and I swung a leg over its back. He held the horse's head as I mounted it. He then grabbed the reins for me and I placed my legs properly, on the stirrup of the straddle and finally corrected my position.

"Chottu, now nudge the horse's side with the heel of your foot or squeeze its sides. If it doesn't respond to this, then you can kick it lightly, got it?" he instructed.

I nudged the horse on his sides. It responds with a neigh. Then it walked a few steps forward.

"Now you see it bob back and forth?"

I nodded my head. "Yes I see it, Adhi. What about it?"

"That's how it moves, so you should acknowledge its moments by moving the reins back and forth Annika" .

Then Aditya quickly mounted his horse. He rode his horse into the stable riding grounds.

"What's your horse's name?" I called from afar.

"It's Ragav. Nice, isn't it?" he said, with a cheeky smile.

I chuckled as I tried to ride to the stables. I tried to give the horse a little nudge by the side. It took a step forward, only to stop and neigh.