My Beloved

Chapter Eight

~KAIRAV~

“Oh, that’s what terminating the worker’s contract was all about. They hurt your precious beloved, and you, her knight in shining armour, are going to protect her onor. So romantic!” Kabeer went on dramatically.

“You must have felt great though, just entering Thulcandra and having your beloved in your arms without so much effort. How wonderful!”

“Don’t exaggerate it, will you?” I said, whacking his head, on my way to my office chair. I sat on it and began swinging from left to right a little.

“Besides, it’s not just about Kaira. I would have done the same thing if someone else were in her place. The workers’ neglect would have caused someone’s death. And you know me better than this. One thing I resent the most is someone neglecting their duties.”

"Yeah, I know that very well. I also know how you have just ignored the ‘her being in your arms’ part. But seriously, there was no need to terminate the contract with every worker on their team. We could have searched for the one responsible, who was working with the neon sign, and would have punished only him. You have to admit that the extra reaction was due to the fact that it was about Kaira,said Kabeer.

“Okay, okay, maybe.” I said with an annoyed face, not liking being on the losing end.

“Your ‘maybe’ is good enough for now, your highness.” Kabeer said, laughing. He then briefed me about everything that happened before I came to the city and went out to handle some other work.

Wonderful, it was. Having my beloved, my Kaira, back in my arms after so long. Her little body felt so perfect against mine. Kabeer was right about me overreacting because Kaira was in the picture.

I didn’t like the fearful expressions on her face or the shivering she had for the whole five minutes. Her heart was beating so fast, and I won’t allow anyone to make her heart speed up like that again, other than me, of course. It did speed up because of me later, when I caught her staring at my lips.

It was so amusing seeing her all confused and trying to figure out what was so familiar about me. I don’t know how much she remembers that night; it was almost six months ago, and she was intoxicated at that, so I’m counting on her remembering my name and the other stuff vaguely.

I get up and stand in front of the mirror. Having royal blood in me and being next in line for the throne sure has its perks. Looking at the reflection in the mirror, I get back to how I looked originally. My oceanic-coloured blue eyes were lighter than what my disguise had. My jawline was sharp, and my height and muscles were a tad greater and stronger than my disguise so as not to scare the humans. Disguising ourselves was a rare gift of our kind, too.

In my whole life, I have come across only two such individuals from Oasis who don't belong to royalty yet can disguise or even shapeshift. Many had magical powers depending on what clan they belonged to, as well as almost all having enhanced senses, fast healing, and most importantly, the ability to fly.

As I got back to my seat and was thinking about how it'd feel to take Kaira on a flight with me to my favourite place in Oasis, Kabeer entered my office in a hurried manner. Just by his action of not even bothering to knock and barging in my office, I knew something was wrong.
“What is it?” I asked him, getting up from my seat.

“Your father wants to speak to you. Something is wrong in the Oasis. There is unrest and riots happening. Mahira just now contacted me through our portal, as you didn’t bother to take your locket with you. She sent it with the people you asked to come here as workers from Oasis. Here, take the locket,he said, handing me my locket.

I went to sit on my chair again to let it all sink in before I opened the message from my father. I very much knew what he wanted to say.

My heart was racing, as unrest and riots in the kingdom had not happened for many decades now. Kabeer’s unmistakable urgency indicated the severity of the situation. But somewhere, I also knew that my father was capable enough to handle all this on his own.

Once I was ready, I took the locket in my right palm and thought of the word Άνοιξε [Ánoixe].

In seconds, my father was in front of me, through what humans call a hologram projection.

“Son, you should come back to the kingdom immediately. As a crown prince, you must help in quelling the riots and restoring order, my father said.

“And how do you expect me to do that exactly? Because, as much as I know you, you must have quelled the riots. What I might be doing after coming there is damage control.” I replied.

“Okay, yes, you just need to do the damage control. By getting married.”

“Father, what has gotten into you? You were the one who told me to focus on Oasis and not drift away from my goal; how has marriage become my only goal in your eyes then?”

“I didn’t say no to marriage; I told you to stay away from love. You need to understand that the weight of the throne won’t let you have both, he said.

“How can you say that? When you and your mother were tied by love and then marriage, She was your soulmate!”

“Kalil! You know how that turned out to be.” He said, getting angry as he didn’t like that subject at all, and went on, “Besides, marrying into a powerful family will help solidify your position and give you the strength you need to control the masses. It’s a strategic move that will ultimately benefit the kingdom.”

“And I believe that I can solidify my position by ruling over their hearts. For that, I need to have a companion who can give me inner peace rather than materialistic power. I am capable of doing everything else by myself like you did after Mother was gone.” I declared stubbornly. I never disagreed on anything with my father more than this one topic.

Before my father could react to that, the signal became fuzzy, and my father’s voice started cracking through the locket.

“He’s hiding something," said Kabeer, as soon as the connection broke completely.

“I know. The desperation in his voice says everything. We will find out soon enough what he is hiding.” I said, staring at the locket in my hand. 

“But first, I need to decipher the secrets that played a major role in bringing me back to Thulcandra disguised like this.” I thought.