BATTLE OF LOVE (completed)

CHAPTER 6

The next day:

Arjun's POV:

I was practicing with my soldiers when I heard the message that Dharani and Acharya had arrived. However, by the time I came outside Dharani was alone walking somewhere.

"Where are you going? Where is Acharya?" I asked in my usual aggressive tone.

"He is in the king's private chamber and I am going there as well," she replied hesitantly.

"Were you called in?"

I think I should go now," she said in an extra sweet voice. She didn't answer my question. She was up to something. God, this girl is terrible at committing crimes. I understood that she was trying to have a sneak peak. I immediately held her wrist and pulled her back. She fell on me but quickly retreated herself. I was still holding onto her wrist.

"Were you called in?" I repeated. This time a bit more aggressive.

"No. Leave me," she said as she tried to fight back.

"Promise me you won't go in there," I demanded still holding tight.

"But I want to..." she said with puppy eyes, like a child asking for chocolate.

"You could be punished for it." 

"Seriously?" she said with a sarcastic smile, "They are discussing about our marriage, in case you don't know and just so that you know if this marriage were to happen it would be the biggest punishment ever. Not just for me but for both of us."

I fell silent she was right. Yet duty comes first. Rules are rules.

"Sorry," I said as I held her hand tighter.

"I am sorry," she said looking guilty. However, before I could compel what was going on in her mind she stamped on my foot and ran away while I followed her. I shouldn't have advised her to give up on her attitude of not hurting enemies. She was almost near the window and was about to peep in when I caught her again. I wrapped my hands around her, closed her mouth and brought her down.

"It is going to be just an agreement, king," I heard Acharya's voice from the window. What agreement? I loosened my grip as I tried to compel what was going on. Dharani immediately freed herself, removed my hand from her mouth and went back to peeping. Eager to know what the discussion was all about I followed her. Now we were both peeping in.

"We are doing it for our people," Acharya continued. "Dharani and Arjun don't love each other and that's a fact. However, it is important that we ignore their personal preferences for the greater good. That does not mean we have the right to force them to love each other. So no emotional blackmail and no tactics to bring them closer. Is that clear?"

Father nodded and Acharya continued.

"All we are going to do is to convert the empty land into a separate kingdom. People from Mitra and Anjan are going to live there. In order for the citizens to feel safe, this new kingdom will not have a king or queen. Instead, it will have representatives from the two kingdoms. These two representatives are supposed to take every single decision together."

"And those representatives are none other than Dharani and Arjun." father completed.

What? We both looked at each other. As if marrying Dharani was not bad enough, we are supposed to take every decision together. This is impossible. Dharani will never listen to me and to be honest neither will I ever listen to her. We are just going to delay every judgment for years and years.

"You will be able to hear better if you could step inside kids," I heard Acharya calling towards us and my heart skipped a beat. He wasn't looking at us but he somehow sensed we were there. Dharani stared at me and I signaled to her that we should go in.

"Two great warriors,  but you will make terrible spies. Should have noticed the mirror," he said pointing to the mirror a few inches away from the opposite of the window. There is no way he could have seen us but could have easily identified that someone was spying.

"It was my fault, Acharya," Dharani confessed before Acharya could say anything.

"That's okay, dear. Is my voice clear?" Acharya questioned. He wasn't being sarcastic. It was a genuine question.

Dharani nodded and so did I.

"So let me ask you some important questions," Acharya said as he turned towards Dharani. I knew what was coming. He was going to ask us if we were ready for marriage. I crossed my fingers and prayed that Dharani should say no. I couldn't because of my word, but there is no reason why she should marry me. Dharani please say no.

(Hey guys. Thank you so much for making it till here. So this chapter is technically supposed to be updated yesterday, but I finished it anyway. So why not? Please enjoy. Also, don't forget to vote and comment. The next chapter will be released on 26 October. Thank you. Love you all. )

P.S: The image above is that of Acharya by the way.