Love and Redemption

Chapter 54

Veerbhadra was indeed, taken aback by the chocolate brown eyes of the queen that were red in anger. Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore seemed invincible, just true to her name and it appeared if she was an incarnation of Goddess Durga, a perfect combination of captivating beauty and unbeatable courage.

The prince of Shivgarh, Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rajput closed his eyes to control his emotions.
“I will be a true friend”, Veerbhadra smiled and mumbled looking at the queen. Feeling guilty of his deeds, his hazel green eyes could not meet the chocolate brown ones of the queen.

Aparajita did not say anything but continued to look at the waters flowing peacefully in the stream.
Veerbhadra could not take the silence prevailing between them. Regretting the turn of conversation, he said, “Queen, you know you killed my grandfather who in turn, killed your brother and we are friends. It would be weird for people to understand but trust me, I would remain a good friend to you and I know, I have gained my best friend in you”.

Aparajita wanted to tell the prince that he wanted to meet her but at the same time, she knew that she was equally excited to see him. The queen took a deep breath as she controlled her anger and said, “Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rajput, it is you who is writing letters to me. It is you who is coming to meet me in my territory. I am just acknowledging your presence, respecting your authority because you are a Rajput.”

Veerbhadra was truly bewildered. He surely could not blame the queen for meeting him because he waited for their sweet encounters excitedly. Moreover, he had may plans running in his mind and for them to be successful, it was essential for him to meet the queen and make sure, she falls for him. Ironically, he was falling for her and he was still unaware of his feelings.

Again an awkward silence prevailed with occasional chirping of birds and continuous rippling of waters. “May I know what kind of groom you want, Aparajita?”, Veerbhadra questioned the queen to break the awkward silence prevailing between them. He felt guilty of making the innocent queen angry.

Her heartbeats raced as the queen heard the question. Masking her blush on her cheeks effectively, she spoke the truth, “Prince, I have never thought about all this. I would simply chose anyone who would support me and my authority as the ruler of Vijaygarh. I would choose to spend my life with the one who would help me serve my people.”

Prince of Shivgarh, Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rajput was shocked beyond limits. He had wondered the queen would say that she would choose to marry someone who would take care of the people of Vijaygarh like his own people but he had not expected the powerful queen to have dreams of being the ruler of her kingdom forever. He simpered wondering the innocent queen was indeed, greedy of power.

“Would you like to consider me as a suitor?” Veerbhadra spoke skeptically to know what the queen thought of him. He could see the royal throne of Vijaygarh flashing before his eyes and he smirked.

Aparajita, who was already angry at her friend, was confused. She wondered if she liked him. She truly liked him as a friend but spending her life with a man who could not protect himself from the dacoits left her aghast for once. Being an expert in diplomacy between two kingdoms, she could not hurt his Rajputana pride by telling him the truth. She pressurized her brain to find a good answer while Veerbhadra, on the other hand, waited for a reply impatiently.

Aparajita sighed as she said in a calm tone, “Dear prince, a queen can never get married to a prince. We can talk after your coronation ceremony as a king.” Mentally the queen prayed that the prince should not be crowned as king in near future.

Veerbhadra felt belittled for once. He sighed as he remembered his promise of capturing Vijaygarh before getting crowned as a king of Shivgarh. Smiling in defeat, he said, “Let’s see who kills a deer first”, as he got up looking at the queen. He was truly speechless so he thought hunting in forest was better idea to keep away with the conversation.

Aparajita just smirked internally as she realized the prince was hurt with her remark. She knew she had hit his pride. She simpered wondering what would have happened if she would have told him the truth.

Accepting the challenge, she got up as both Veerbhadra and Aparajita decided to prove their hunting skills. Both the queen of Vijaygarh and prince of Shivgarh went deep inside the forest in different directions. They had decided to meet by the stream before dusk.  

It had been an hour of roaming in the forest when Veerbhadra shrieked in frustration. He could not find a deer. He had come across a herd of elephants and he had saved himself from a pack of wolves but it seemed as if the lush, green forests of Vijaygarh had hid its herds of deer. He was loitering aimlessly in the forest cursing the queen for absence of deer when he saw a young hart walking towards the water stream may be to drink water and he smirked.

Eyeing at his clueless prey, Veerbhadra carefully walked near a tree aiming at the oblivious hart. Taking out an arrow from his quiver, he stretched it over his bow as he aimed at his prey. Having hit the arrow swiftly, he felt contended to have won the challenge. His heart clenched as the animal shrieked in pain but he was helpless. His royal life had surely taught him to find pleasure in hunting but he could not find any. He often hunted to hone his warfare strategies as his teacher had taught him.

On the other hand, Aparajita was panting hard as she ran after a little deer with golden-yellow skin. The little animal was running swiftly in the forest when it had realized there was someone follow it. The queen had been searching for a deer in the western side of the forest when she had found one. Aparajita had truly fallen in love with the innocent antics of her little prey but she could not leave it because she had accepted a challenge. Being a royal of Rathore clan, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore could not accept defeat in front of the prince.

Aparajita held her breath as she got ready to kill her innocent prey as the little deer began walking through overgrown grass. Aiming at her prey, Aparajita took out an arrow from her quiver and struck her target. Her heart pained when the little deer cried in pain but she was overjoyed that finally she had won a challenge against Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rajput.

Veerbhadra picked up the animal as he went towards the water stream and was surprised to see Aparajita waiting for him with a dead golden-yellow deer in her arms. They both gave knowing smiles to each other as they dug the soft, damp mud and buried the dead animals.

They chit-chatted for a while and Veerbhadra made sure to bring smile on the alluringly beautiful face of his queen. The afternoon sun had begun to hide itself behind the mountains.

The dusk was indeed approaching so both of them parted their ways with happy smiles on their faces and contentment in their hearts. Their day was surely spent well.

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Hi everyone

How's the chapter? 🤔

Love or infatuation cannot happen immediately. Queen admires the prince but as a friend because she finds he is not upto the mark for her. After all, prince had not proved himself even once!

Let's see what happens further!😉

I will be updating soon, till then, bestow your love on the story with your lovely votes and valuable comments. 💚💙💚💙💚💙

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