A Pull Of Destiny

12| A Secret Code

Previously on APOD: Raghuveer and Riya are on a hunt to find the stall which sells Red-sage roots. And when they do, Raghu walks inside the hut to get those roots while Riya outside faces a head splitting ache with painful snippets of her life.

|CHAPTER - 12|

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This late-night walk with Riya seemed unnaturally natural to Raghuveer. His memories of attending these famous markets were very vague, somehow unknowingly he spent all his teenage by his mother’s bedside wishing for her to open her eyes and feel better. Yet, he cannot say that his present is no different, he still strives for his mother's well being just like his past self. 

His mother rose up from the low social status of being a maid to a king’s concubine, however, she never dreamed of anything other than his father. It is important for a man to have a goal in life, a dream, but when a dream turns into an obsession then and there begins your destruction. And his mother is living through that destruction phase. 

In his childhood, his mother always made sure to teach him about his father’s greatness and Raghuveer was always impressed beyond words listening to those stories but as he grew up a harsh reality of truth hit him. His father never cared about anything other than his empire, all day and night Raja Vimal Das strived to increase the pride and wealth of Sagara kingdom, and in that process of his struggle for power and greatness, his wives and women were just wind of pleasure and relief. 

Every rock and tree in their palace knew this truth except one, his mother. She lived in dreams that her husband loved her and one day he would come back to her, but when that never happened her heart weakened, physically. All her hopes turned into flows of water and slipped down her fist as she kept watching her husband take young concubines every month. 

The situation worsened when Raghuveer had to move out from the palace, his mother straight away refused to shift with him. Soon after that, her health deteriorated drastically as she slowly accepted the fact that her husband can never be hers. 

Raghuveer tried to provide all the medical help he could for his mother. His wish to cure his mother got so deeply rooted in him that he started to garden medical plants himself, he tried to grow several herbs and read countless books to help his mother. But, who will tell him that a broken heart can be mended by herbs? It longs for that love it can never receive and his physical help can cure nothing. 

Usually, his day begins with reading and ends with planting and gardening with Dhruvan. But something has changed recently, his life no more revolves around just trees and books. His life somehow revolves around someone who makes him want to express his hidden wishes just like he did a few minutes. Mysteriously, he started talking about how he would care for his future wife, whereas the thought of marrying has never once crossed his busy brain. 

After that particular conversation, Riya remained mum, and Raghuveer let her be as it was equally embarrassing for him to even think about what he had said. 

They soon reached the hut which he was searching for. Red sage root, that plant works miracles on heart patients and above all, it was a code. A code from minister Jaidev. 

“You stay here while I go and get those roots.” His words came out firm and demanding, and surprisingly Riya obliged and stayed back.

He quickly rushed inside the house. It was tiny and clumsy with several roots hanging around and at the end of the room was Jaidev’s bodyguard trying to arrange everything but failing miserably. 

“Ugh,” Raghuveer’s nose scrunched up in disgust at the stinky smell of rotten roots hit his nostrils the second he stepped foot inside, “Why is it smelling so bad in here?”