Fuck you...Your Majesty!

9

After hours of crying when Atharv regained his composure, he called for his guard, Shikhar.

"Get the horses ready. We leave for Kaveri right now. I won't believe it till I see it with my own eyes. I know my husband is not dead." said Atharv, his voice hoarse from all the crying he had done. With a bow, Shikhar left to make arrangements for the trip.

                            *******

"Mercy!!"

"Please let us go!!"

The shrieks and pleas coming from the torture chamber of dungeons of Kaveri castle kept on increasing. The criminals imprisoned for lesser crimes thanked the heavens for them not being the now tortured souls. Some even pledged to leave the kingdom of Kaveri as soon as their punishment was over or the nightmares they were about to have wouldn't leave.

"Speak the truth and we'll stop! Who sent you?!" thundered the guard holding a red-hot iron rod he had used to burn the captives he had been questioning. The chamber reeked a pungent smell of burning flesh but that didn't stop the guards. They were hell-bent on discovering the truth. These pests had tried to harm their beloved prince Salil. Had it not been for King Samartha's plan earlier, they would've lost Prince Salil. Just the thought of any visible harm coming to their beloved prince who called them his elder brothers, made them hit the prisoners harder.

The black-clad assassins were no more the arrogant captives who had refused to reveal any information earlier. The numerous bone-deep burns they had endured were enough to break their souls. All they wanted to do now was, get out of this hell. No matter what it costs.

"N-Noblem-man Anwar! A-Antharva King-dom!" Shrieked one of the men when he was struck with the hot metal rod on his back.

All the guards stopped abruptly when they heard the prisoner reveal a name. The head of the guards signalled his subordinates to back away for a moment while he talked to the prisoners.

"Speak the truth or the torture that would follow is beyond your imagination! Is it Nobleman Anwar?!" thundered the guard making the prisoners cry in alarm. They had barely survived this torture. If anything worse than this came they wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Y-Yes my lord! It was Nobleman Anwar! H-He even gave us thousand gold coins to fulfil the task! Please believe us!" pleaded the prisoners, trembling in fear, praying that the guards would believe them.

"I'll take a look into the matter... but the moment I feel that you lied to me...I would make you wish you were dead." said the leader of the guards with a sinister smile on his face, making the prisoners nearly faint. With that being said, the guards left the torture chamber with only two of them staying behind to guard the prisoners.

                            *******

"Nobleman Anwar it is... Give those men some food and water and bring a physician to treat them," ordered Samartha as he cleaned his favourite double-edged sword. The sinister smirk plastered on his face caused the guards present in the chamber to shiver in fear. They thanked the heavens that it wasn't directed at them.

"Dismiss." And without wasting a single second the guards rushed out of the King's chambers as if they had hell hounds behind them. The glint in their king's eyes was similar to the one they had seen years ago when a foolish king had tried to lay his hand on Prince Salil to threaten the Kaveri Kingdom.

As a result, King Samartha mercilessly crushed the entire Kingdom of Kunthala when their King had shown the audacity to kidnap Prince Salil on his visit to Kaveri to pay his tributes. The tale was quite famous in the entire Arya empire.

Just by a mere glance, the guards could tell that this time their opponents were going to wish they were dead by the time King Samartha was done with them.

                              *******

Heavy smoke rose from the courtyard of the royal palace of Kaveri as the last rites of 'Prince Salil and his attendant Madhur' were performed. The sadness and despair hung heavy in the air.

Seeing the heavy smoke rising from the royal palace, Atharv kicked his horse to run faster. Something told him that he wouldn't be able to see his beloved for the last time.

Noticing Antharva's royal convoy coming towards the Kaveri palace, the guards notified King Samartha of their arrival. With a nod, Samartha left to receive King Atharv at the palace gates.

"Where's Salil?!" Was the first thing that Atharv asked as soon as he saw Samartha. Samartha tried to tell him to calm down and rest for a while as he looked quite haggard but Atharv didn't budge. His health and all the formalities didn't matter at the moment. What mattered was Salil.

When the haggard king showed no sign of backing down from his claims of seeing Salil before doing anything else, Samartha let out a sigh of exasperation and then uttered the words that made Atharv crumble to the ground.

"Salil's last rites are being performed right now in the palace courtyard."

Atharv seemed to have lost all his fight on hearing the words. He didn't bother to stop the tears that flowed from his eyes. With a broken voice, he begged Samartha to take him to the palace courtyard.

The scene in the courtyard made Atharv sob like a broken child. The huge bonfire where Salil's dead body was being burnt according to the religious rites made everything more realistic. He could no more console himself that it was just a bad dream. His beloved had left him once again. He had once again failed to protect Salil. Had it not been for Shikhar's strong hold on his arm he would have jumped in the huge bonfire just so he could be with his beloved, even if it meant death.

Atharv was still sobbing like a child, fighting Shikhar's hold when a loud slap landed on his left cheek, making his head jerk in the opposite direction.

"How dare you King Atharv?! How dare you act pitiful when tears were all you gave to my son when he was alive?!!" Shouted Salil's mother, Shakuntala Malvan, her eyes red with rage and hatred, all directed towards Atharv.

"What right do you have to be here King Atharv?! You were never a good husband to my child! Then by what right are you here?!" Each word the Queen uttered pierced through Atharv's heart. The courtyard was now dead silent, it was like everyone was waiting for a storm to come.

"A little bit of love and respect was all he wanted from you but didn't even bother to fulfil such a small request of his... If you are here out of diplomacy, please leave. I don't think my son would've wanted to see you after all the hatred you showed towards him." With that Queen, Shakuntala turned to leave and signalled the guards to escort Atharv out of the palace but was stopped by Atharv's words.

"I'm not here out of diplomacy Queen Shakuntala but out of my love for your son, my husband. I know I don't have anything to prove my love for him but it's true. I love him. I didn't love him at first but eventually, he made me fall for him. I know I was unfair to him it doesn't mean I didn't try to make up for my mistakes..." trailed off Atharv. By now everyone in the courtyard was looking at him. The previously broken-looking king was now standing once again with a deadly glint in his eyes.

"Salil is the only one for me, Queen Shakuntala. I swear on my honour to avenge my husband's death. And only after that, I will show you my face." And with that, Atharv left. He may have failed to protect his beloved like in his previous life but he will avenge his beloved's death.

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Hi guys!!! I am really happy that you guys are giving this book a chance. Thanks a lot.

Here's the next chapter. I don't quite like it. I may change it later but for now, it is how it is. 😅