Chapter 3 The Black Figure
Princess Shakti stared in disbelief at the unruly, black beast of a horse galloping at full fury towards her. She, Princess Shakti, the Warrior Princess of Brahma, heiress to King Prithvi’s throne, had travelled all this way to get stuck in this? And that too, on her very first quest? Princess Shakti was suddenly filled with white-hot rage instead of fear.
Little did she know, that she wasn’t the only one. Angry, that is.
Before Princess Shakti could react or even gather her wits, her mare suddenly reared up on its hind legs and gave a bloody neigh!
For a moment it seemed like the fast approaching black beast visibly faltered and slowed down a little.
The mare gave another mighty neigh and pawed the ground angrily.
“How like her to order the unruly beast!” thought Princess Shakti half in amusement and half in pride. “Her behavior fits that of a queen!”
The shocked stallion slowed down to a trot and came to a stop meekly in front of the white mare and whinnied softly, lowering its head as if in shame.
“And that” thought the Princess slyly, “is how men bow down to the might of female fury!”
The crowd, who had watched with bated breaths until now, let out a deafening roar of applause!
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Prince Aditya, who meanwhile had his breath knocked right out of his lungs with the fall, but, who was nevertheless still in one piece, thanks to his heavy armor; managed to clamber back on top of his horse. He was about to chase the devil of a stallion when he saw the amazing scene unfold as if in slow motion right before his eyes.
His jaw did a free fall in shock, as he watched the fight go right out of the black stallion in front of a mare so white, it looked like snow. He thought wryly that he would drop down unconscious and embarrass his royal self when the fully black clad figure on the pure white beauty leaned down to pat the now meek beast on its head. The crowd let out another bellow of approval.
“Who the hell is that man?!!!” thought the Prince in amazement, “and where the hell did he get such a high spirited magnificent mare?”
The Prince tried to nudge his horse forward but before he could move, many things happened at once. The once immobile crowd now surged forward blocking his path. His soldiers caught up with the stallion and grabbed his reins.
Also at the very same moment, the figure who was totally covered in black except for the eyes, looked up over the crowd straight at him and their eyes met for a moment ignoring the pandemonium that had erupted all around them.
Just as suddenly, the figure disappeared behind a cloud of dust and stomping mob. By the time Prince Aditya reached the stallion that was sole culprit behind all the trouble; the figure and the horse were gone.
It seemed to the Prince that the figure had intentionally disappeared. And then the realization hit Prince Aditya that he knew who the figure was! It was the same figure from his dream!
Hurriedly scanning the crowd around him, he came to the conclusion that they were long gone. But he had a feeling that he would be running in to them again; sooner or later.
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Galloping away at top speed, Princess Shakti tried to shake off the uneasy feeling she had had when her eyes met those of Prince Aditya's. And judging from the look on Prince Aditya’s face and his reaction, he also had felt some connection between them.
It was a close call. She had almost lost her cover.
“More caution should be employed in the future”, thought Princess Shakti resolutely. “You however are one hell of a horse Fiza!” she said patting the horse’s neck fondly.
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Shakti- The Warrior Princess of Brahma
FantasíaIt was the year 200 B.C. India, as we know it did not exist. Rather the subcontinent was divided into many kingdoms from the north to the south. But a change was in the air. A breathtakingly beautiful Princess from a minute kingdom on the southernmo...
