Till Fate Tie Us Together...

Chapter 19

Chapter dedicated to @shreya1234chaudhary

Ada remembered the day when she met the slave maid who was brought inside the palace. She desperately needed a chamber maid and because her mother in law wouldn't issue her one, she came directly to the slave quarters where they brought in slaves from the outside.

     The girl's eyes were downcast and her cheeks were dirty. Her clothes were tattered. She felt pity for them. She spoke to the chief and assigned her as her personal maid.

That day Salim came huffing inside his chambers and saw the girl combing his hair, his eyes flashed in fury. "Why did you take her in as a servant? She's not a servant, Ada! She's my rescue and guest."

"But, I found her in the slave quarters. Maybe, someone took her there misunderstanding her attire."

After the child was taken to her chambers, Ada came to know that girl was merely 14 years of age and someone had locked her in a dungeon, violating her and abusing her. Somehow, when she had managed to escaped, Salim had found her. The shocking part was that he believed that a monster was part of the brotherhood. Until the ongoing investigation, he had brought her here under his protection.

Present...

                  Ada watched with frustration the three of them leaving the said cottage. She couldn't stop or change any of  their minds. Jellal was too thrilled to be finally back in the field to even heed caution. She waited and prayed that they stay alive for just a while until she makes things right.

***

         Salim walked behind of the small group of soldiers. They were wearing black armour to camouflage into the night. He was glad Jellal and Nilija did not speak a word to him or he would've lashed on them. Though the journey was silent, his mind was roaring with questions. He wondered about the letters she was talking about. Was it the letters she had sent after her betrothal. Three letters. He never read the contents and was unaware of what was written on them. Did she really ask him for matrimony in those letters? If it was so, then it was his fault that he didn't claim her when he could. He hissed when he remembered that when the third letter was delivered, the messenger had seen him in bed with a woman. Then the letters stopped. Did she come to know of it? He rubbed his eyes tiredly, making a mental note to read the letters which were tucked into his cupboard drawer, if they were not already destroyed by moths.

             His stream of thoughts came to an end as he heard a scream, then another and then a series of screams. In the faint moonlight, he saw a few fall down. He watched the rest of the soldiers panic and rush back. Jellal made a path towards him from the panicking crowd.

          "They've set traps." He said loudly so he he could hear. But the problem was, everybody heard it.

           "Light the torches!" Someone shouted.

            "NO!" He shouted back but in vain. A few had already lit torches and then as he had expected, it rained arrows on them. He moved back away from the torches.

           "Your majesty!" He saw Nilija limping towards her.

          He squinted his eyes to look for her injury but it was too dark. "What happened to you?" He held her forearm and put an arm around her shoulder. 

         "They had animal traps installed." She winced. He slipped his hand to her waist and supported her weight.

           "Let's go back. This is bad." He said and both of them nodded.