The King's Shield

Chapter 40 - The Two player game

This was the only way to escape. Make him believe that she was going to help him.

And when she'd get a chance, finish him.

Shiva would have easily left. She would have easily killed him and left, but the most bizarre incident made her halt and think of a new plan.
When she agreed to help him and kill the king, she knew that he wouldn't readily let her go free. She was planning to kill him at night and escape afterwards. But when she agreed to help him. He set her free, tended to her injuries by calling a physician and then immediately took her out of the storehouse to a new place.

It was another port city, a relatively new one; the houses and buildings there looked new, not more than a decade old. It was like any other city with market streets, merchant houses and public places.

" I think you will like it here more than any other place in the world," he said as they entered a large house. My world is where he is, she thought.
Her world was far away from her. Nothing would make her happy now.

The house was full of men and women. Probably servants and maids.

" Didn't I tell you I would give you a better family?" he said and called out for someone.

A young woman walked out of one of the rooms. She was wearing fine clothes and delicate jewellery. Her long black hair was tied in a high bun, and the silks she was draped in complemented her bronze complexion.

" Father, you are home so soon; who have you brought along with you this time?" She said as she walked towards them.

With each step the woman took Shiva's stomach fell lower to the ground. Her face was so familiar, her voice seemed known.

" Oh my dear daughter, " Balesh closed the gap between them and hugged her. " Meet our new family member, Shiva. She is here to protect you. You can treat her like your older sister." He turned towards Shiva and gave a wide menacing grin.

' Shaila,' Shiva gulped hard, her heart started to pound in her chest. All these years, she presumed her sister to be dead. But here she was right in front of her, alive and all grown up.

Bal had abducted her and kept her with him for all these years. Twisted their lives most cruelly, Shiva stared at her bewildered.

" Oh, how wonderful. You are very pretty," she said and took her hand. " I hope that you are here to stay with me forever, unlike Father, who roams around the entire kingdom. I get so lonely here." She pulled her in the direction of a chair and gestured for her to sit.

Tears were threatening to roll from her eyes but she fought them back. Shiva couldn't believe it. Her mind was foggy and numb.

This man, who had snatched every bit of happiness from her life, her sister was addressing as a father. The same man who had slit the throat of her mother and father was being called family by her sister. Shiva was trying hard to control her trembling limbs; the ground felt like quicksand pulling her in, sinking and sinking.

She wanted to stop her sister from talking so lovingly to Bal, addressing him as a beloved family member. But she was helpless. She had to wait for the right time to tell her the truth. Help her sister remember who she really was. Who knew what kind of lies Bal had fed her sister?

She was taken to a room. It was a small room with one single window which faced the entrance gate of the building. This house was no less than a fortress. There were men stationed at every corner of the house and the yard. It was under constant surveillance. The house was placed right in the middle of the city making it difficult to get out of the house without being noticed.

After dinner, Bal entered her room and locked the door behind him. " As I promised, I have given you a better family," he said and sat on the edge of the bed. Shiva stood near the window and stared at him with rage-filled eyes. " You must be wondering why I have kept your sister here. Well..." he got up and walked towards her. " I was going to throw her in a brothel, the same way I threw you, but she was so young, only two, I think and she was weak, very weak. The journey across the river must have weakened her." He leaned on the windowsill." She was so weak that I could have snapped her into two," he snickered. " But she clung on to me like a tiny lizard. I guessed she had forgotten who I was and what I had done. So, I fed her the best foods and clothed her with the best clothes...and just like that, one day she started calling me 'father'. So, I dropped the idea of setting her free from life that is... and she has stayed with me ever since..."