THE MINI ADVENTURES OF SHRUTI

CHAPTER 17

This time, Aryan accompanied them till they met their troops. It was a small group of soldiers which had set out to look for them. When the troops and Mahesh were having a conversation, Aryan whispered to Shruti, "You'll text me, right?" Shruti smiled and nodded her head. Then, all the courtiers, Hanuman, and Shruti were taken to the spot from which they had begun the journey – the edge of the forest. Shruti was instantly reminded of Beauty. She was worried how he must have been. She could see the whole army safe and sound, but couldn't see Beauty or any other horse. Avatar asked one of the soldiers, "Where are the horses?"

The soldier bowed his head. "S-Sir, they actually, have been..."

Roshan looked at him suspiciously. "Answer us fast."

Another soldier approached them. "They are not here sir."

Shruti stepped near them. "Then where are they?"

Both the soldiers remained silent. Nanda made himself loud. "Speak up fast."

Both of them took a step back. "They were killed, sir."

Everyone was enraged, especially Shruti. Mahesh gave them a piece of his mind. "Didn't you think of protecting them? How and who killed them?"

Shruti's eyes became moist, and she was filled with guilt. It was very difficult to control her tears. All the courtiers began scolding them, "Had you lost your mind? How will we travel without horses now?" Shruti's guilt increased as she heard the courtiers scolding the soldiers. Mahesh asked them angrily, "Who killed them?"

"A few demons, sir."

Shruti's eyes widened on hearing that. Vijay scolded, "You should have killed the demons before they could do anything!"

"Sir, only when the demons came before us, we realised that they had eaten up our horses, by cheating us."

Shruti didn't hear the soldier narrating what happened; she was so caught up. As everyone was scolding them, Hanuman said, "Please calm down. We all can still travel without our horses. Can't we?" It took a while for everyone to calm down. But Shruti's guilt had not subsided just as yet. She was still scolding herself inside. When everyone else was calm and ready to leave, Hanuman said, "Shall we go back now?" Avatar said, "Not just as yet. We still have to visit king Bana's kingdom and propose sandhi." Having remembered everything, they all set out for his kingdom, which was not very far away. They reached his kingdom by afternoon and they were welcomed whole-heartedly. The king was surprised to see all the courtiers, along with Hanuman. "I welcome you all to my kingdom... But why is it that all the courtiers, and Hanuman too, have paid me a visit? There must be something very important to discuss."

Ashok and Avatar told him the reason for which they had come, and the king responded with a smile. He asked all of them to stay in his kingdom for some time before they left. They all rested for the day, and further that day, the king accepted their proposal. He sent a messenger to inform Ram that he had accepted the proposal. The courtiers left for Ayodhya that very day. The king gifted them a few horses to ride. This time, Shruti could ride a horse, and she was a little happy about it. They thanked him and left. When they were nearing the enchanted forest, Jayant cunningly looked at the others. "Shall we go through it?"

Mahesh gave him a stern look. "No."

Everyone laughed and went around the forest. When they had gone around the forest, they met Shatrughan on their way. He had been looking for all of them.

Shatrughan talked to everyone, but Shruti. He had only looked at her and smiled at her. Shruti did the same and they all headed back to Ayodhya. First, the locals cheered as they saw the courtiers riding their horses back to the palace. And then, the message was spread in the palace that they had returned. Ram was happy about it, and after a while, after a long time, the court went on properly. When the court was about to end, Shruti saw something near the window. She looked properly and at once knew that it was Mitthu. Another small bird too was spotted by her in a short time. When there was a pause in the court, both the birds chirped and screeched loudly. Everyone's attention turned towards the source of sound.