The King's Shield

Chapter 25 - The End Of Love

Adhiveer sat in his chambers. The happenings of the court had left him in shock. Her silence hung above him like a sword. She should have said something; she didn't retaliate, nor did she protest. She had agreed to the accusations and had accepted her punishment. It made him uneasy and frustrated.

When she left with the soldiers, she did not turn back to look at him. He wanted to stop her, but words stopped in his throat as if by a barricade of his subconscious mind.

He wanted to meet her but was stopped by Rajveer and Sidhraj. They had now stationed four new guards at his chamber doors. " Your protection is our utmost priority now." Rajveer had told him.

Late after midnight, almost in the early morning hours, he slipped out of his chamber and went to the prison cells. He was shocked to find her gone. She was not there, and no one was there. The guards were missing and the prison doors were left ajar. Had she escaped? How did she manage to do so? Where was she now? In a panic, he left the prison and searched around the courtyard. The guards who stood there were curious and came to him. They bowed their heads and stood in hesitation.

" What happened to the prisoners in the cell?" Adhiveer asked.

" One of them tried to escape, my king. So they were shifted to the prison cells in the dungeons. The commander, himself took them there." One of the guards answered.

Adhiveer was furious. " Where is the commander now?" he asked.

" He must be near the dungeon." He answered.

Adhiveer walked past the guards towards the dungeon. Sidhraj met him on the way." My king, why are you awake this early?" he asked.

" What happened here?" Adhiveer asked.

" She tried to escape but the guards caught her. She has killed two of our prison guards and she even helped Suhala out of his prison. That is why I have shifted both of them to the dungeon. There is no escaping from there." Sidhraj said.

Adhiveer stared at him in disbelief. " I want to meet her," he said in desperation.

Sidhraj stopped him." Adhiveer," he said almost in a whisper," I know that you want to meet her but I have to stop you. You don't know how brutally she has murdered the guards. I think she did it out of rage. I am requesting you not to go there. I don't want you to get hurt." he said in an earnest tone.

Adhiveer was in shock. He couldn't grasp his fickle thoughts. What had made her behave like this? Or was it his fault that he had misjudged her character? Did he truly know her? Or was it all a facade she had put up to fool him? Anger and pain riled him up. He started to move towards the prisons again but Sidhraj stopped him and persuaded him to go back to his chambers.

Pain and anguish gripped his heart till it was dawn. He was in a stupor. He started to believe that maybe he was wrong about her and that she had fooled him. Gulled him to believe that she loved him. Was it that her affections were a mere game and that her feelings for him were only a show? Her true face was hidden from him. An elaborate show was put up only for him.

But his affections were all true. He truly did feel for her, he loved her. Foolish or not this strong feeling was the only one that was true. That was the only thing he couldn't get rid of.

Bhairava and Rajveer came to meet him at his chambers in the morning. Bhairava looked stressed and wanted to tell him something but looked uncertain of where to start.

"Uncle, say what you want to say. Do not hesitate. I do have an idea of what you are going to talk about." Adhiveer told him.

He looked restless and fidgety. Finally, he said, " Adhiveer, the court has decided on a public execution of the conspirator and the traitor." He swallowed.