ENCHANTED - BY INNOCENCE (ongoing)

42

Please don't finish the targets so fast 😭 

*** Yashoda***

"Only you can fix this, Madhava," I whispered to God as tears rolled down my eyes. "Please make everything righ—"

I paused when I heard the door open and turned around to find the general. I almost expected him to yell at me or, worse, take me to prison, but to my surprise, he simply went to the idol and touched the Lord's feet before coming back and sitting beside me.

Usually, it is the custom to take God's blessings as soon as someone enters the temple room before engaging in any other conversations, but the general is the last person I would expect to follow this tradition.

I slightly scooted away from him as a defense mechanism.

He contemplated whether to move closer but eventually decided to keep the distance to make me more comfortable.

"Complaining to your God about me?" he asked calmly.

I remained silent.

"I urge you to think twice," he added. "If he comes for war, even the strongest weapons in the world wouldn't be able to defeat him, let alone the poor and innocent general."

"Why would I... complain to him about you?" I said in a low voice. "I was complaining to him about myself... asking him to fix me and make me more intelligent so that I don't accidentally endanger your duty or the King..."

The general remained silent, and I slowly lifted my eyes to look at him to see if he was still angry, but he simply looked away, as if he was so full of emotions that he didn't know what to say.

"Are... you... are you still angry?" I asked, unable to decipher him.

"No... no," he barely whispered. "I just..." He paused, struggling to find the words and wiped a tear... I think... that made its way out.

"Yashu... my love..." he said with his eyes full of guilt. "Why are you so nice?"

"I am not..." I replied. "I am the one responsible for the..."

"Shhhh," he put his finger on my lips to stop me. "Not your fault," he added.

"Not my fault?" I asked, confused.

"No, not at all," he shook his head and looked away.

"The problem is, Yashu," he sighed, "I have very limited interaction with the world. Everyone around me were men—men who knew the rules, men who would see even my anger as a form of love, men who, within seconds, can differentiate between my anger and my sarcasm."

I listened attentively.

"Which is why I never knew the sensitivity, care, and love that needs to be shown to women, especially the one married to me," he continued. "I realize it every time I hurt you; I change myself a little every time I see your tears, but today everything went so very wrong that it made me question my capabilities as the general... made me question my ability toward the one and only identity I strived for and had all my life... that of a soldier... of a man... and it broke me to the core on a very personal level because..." he took a deep breath, "If something were to happen to the the King, I would lose not just my ruler—I would lose my best friend. I would lose the one person who trusted me when the entire world didn't. The one family I always had no matter what..."

I looked at him as he continued to speak like a kid while wiping a tear again.

"Having said that..." he said, looking up to hold back his tears and turning toward me, "None of that could or would ever justify what I did to you. I could've and should've been calmer and more sensitive. I am very sorry. I am not the best husband, but give me time; teach me how to be, and I will become the best husband for you."