Soulmate [UNEDITED]

the father king

Amba wrapped her arms around me "thank you for saving me, I-" her words got stuck in her mouth and tears started to flow, all the suppressed pain was finally showing up on the surface, it should be a good start towards making it a better world to live right?.

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Soon the servants came with dry fresh clothes and helped Amba to wear them, while another pair of servants took care of Tara's open wound. "You should return to your chamber now, get some rest" by this suggestion, Amba agreed with her "Yes, I'll return, please take care of yourself too" both nodded at each other, Tara watched her fade away in the background, as she was returning to her bedside chair, a servant came to announce "rani Tara, the father king wants to have some tea with you" this was a twisted way of saying "I want to have a serious conversation with you" in palace words.

"I'm on my way..." What else could she say? Decline his words? That's never an option. The path to his majesty's chamber was long, since he was sick and cannot move around much, he suggested to meet her in his bedroom. All thoughts were running through her head, she did the right thing, but will others understand? Will the father king understand? She had the guts to yell at Harshat, but not on his father.

The train of thoughts came to an end when the servant motioned her to go inside " Please go inside, the father king is waiting for you". Gulping down all the courage she had in her, pushed the curtains away and went ahead.

The room was majestic, as it should be, he was the king's father, the previous king after all. The whole room was wrapped in gold, sweet wind with a pinch of sunlight was flowing through the designed windows. "Pranam rajpita" Tara bowed her head to show her respect to the man sitting near his bed, still covered in blanket and messy hair. His presence was enough to let everyone know how much power he held, even in this messy state he was shining, emitting powerful aura. He stared at Tara for a long time "arise" His words were harsh and dominant "so you are the 21st rani huh?" Without making eye contact, she nodded "just three months and causing such a ruckus!!!" He slammed his cup on the floor "How dare you stop the teacher from what she's doing!! Do you know how much I struggle with that kid that now you are adding on the list!!!!" He was furious. Tara held her breath grabbing her sweaty hands 'you did the right thing' was the only thought going through her head.

"But" He took a deep breath before continuing "I'll forgive you this once, since you saved him from that attack, now get out of my sight!!!!!"

Tara went away bowing her head, she did nothing wrong yet she had to bow, or else who knows what will happen to her.

On the other hand a shadow soldier appeared near the father king "any instructions?" He declined "no, let's see what her existence does to the palace" the soldier nodded and left.

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The day went by without any more disturbance to Tara's rest. Few more days went by without any drama. The king wanted to have a talk with her many times but was rejected to enter because of Tara's injury recovery.

Almost fully healed, Tara accepted to have the chat with Harshat, she has to figure out about the painting too, also, what was the father king talking about? She knew she got into their way, but Harshat also got into his way? All these questions can only be answered by him.

Tara was almost ready , that's when Pratham rani Kashi entered the room "You're looking gorgeous" she commented, making Tara turn towards her "thank you" she smiled. Kashi took a seat near Tara and admired her face , her gaze stopped on the necklace she was wearing, it was a beautiful golden set with green gems engraved "this" she held the necklace gently "Don't wear this" her voice was a bit shaky, rather than asking it felt like she was pleading her to not wear that. Tara looked down at the necklace, she loved the simple and elegant work on it, thats why she chose it "it doesn't suit you, your dress is blue..." Kashi undid one of her blue necklace which she was wearing and gave it to Tara "take this, this will suit your dress more" she was hesitant, how could she take someone else's jewelleries? That too of the 1st queen, the Maharani? "No-" she tried to decline the offer, but was cut off by Kashi "le lo, ab to batne ki adat si ho gai hai (take it, It has become a habit to share)" she placed them on her palms and went away , as if she was worried about something but can do nothing about it.

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Harshat was waiting for Tara in the garden, they both agreed meet there. After reaching there, Harshat motioned Tara to sit "so, what do you want to talk about?" Of course there were a lot of things Tara wanted to ask, but doing that too soon can make the conversation difficult for both of them "did you meet my father?" That was an unexpected question "I did" He furrowed his eyebrows "What did he say to you?" Tara looked straight at his eyes, to find what kind of emotions were going inside him right now, now conversing so easily was the same man who sexualized a 13 year old Amba "Nothing, he just scolded for what I did" there was a bit of silence before the next question "you remember the painting right?" Harshat nodded as he remembered the conversing they had in his room in the past "yeah, you wanted to talk about it, go ahead, ask your questions" relaxing a bit, Tara spoke her mind "will you answer honestly and truthfully if I ask?" Harshat scoffed at her question, who does she think she is? "I'll answer what I want, whether you believe it or not, not my problem " He leaned in front, resting his arms on the table as he spoke.

"Ok, tell me, how did you got that painting?" Tara also leaned in, being dominated by her competitive nature "ok, listen carefully"

"When I was 10, my father and I went on a hunting practice for me by hiding our identities, the place where we camped was near the jungle, in the outskirts of Mrigpara , at that time I slipped out of our camp and went to have a mini adventure of my own in the main village area, a big fair was going on at that time, I never went to a fair before, so I took my chance and went there to have fun. During my walk, there I accidentally caused a chaos and to hide, I went inside a tent, I met a girl there, she gave me that painting" Harshat finished his last lines as if he didn't wanted to go in details. Now Tara got confused, who could be that girl who gave him the painting of Nayna to him, that too in Mrigpara? "But, why do you have it till now, you could have thrown it away, no?" He slightly punched the table "Never! Cause she's-" He stopped midway, she is what? "She's.....she's someone I need to meet another time, to say something" He huffed and told her to leave "now leave me alone"

Tara squinted her eyes "you know, I'm sure when you were still a prince, everybody should have called you Akru Kumar, except of Rajkumar!" Both stared at each other's eyes with burning rivalry.

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After Tara left, Kashi came before Harshat could leave "akru Kumar?" She called him in a longing voice, but it irritated Harshat "What kind of joke is this Kashi, I'm not in the mood, I'm leaving" He left the garden.

There stood Kashi, watching her husband going away from her "why don't you look at me with those same eyes, even when I did what she did? Even when she wore blue, the color you feel useless and not green, your favorite colour? Why.....why...?"