Love and Redemption

Chapter 62

“You are looking beautiful”, the prince of Shivgarh, Yuvraj Veerbhadra Singh Rathore said looking at the pretty queen of Vijaygarh, Maharani Aparajita Singh Rathore who had just arrived in the forest.

Clad in an aubgerine silk skirt and a matching blouse, Aparajita truly looked like an epitome of beauty. With the finest jewels embellishing her body, the regal queen was gorgeous in every sense.

Giving a full-blown smile in return, Aparajita sat elegantly on the ground leaning on the magnificent banyan tree that was witnessing the saga of their encounter in the lush, green forest. With amusement in her eyes, the queen guffawed, “I know that”.

Veerbhadra could not help but chuckle at her response as he retorted dramatically, “O! Dear queen, you are expected to say a ‘thank you’ at the compliment”.

“Why this Rajput prince is flattering me?” Aparajita snorted trying to control her laughter. Veerbhadra’s compliments often led to butterflies in her stomach but she was a champion of masking her emotions.

“Because someone is too impeccable to deserve all the compliments”, Veerbhadra spoke genuinely admiring the gorgeous look, kind heart and exceptional nature of the girl against whom he wanted revenge.

Taking a deep breath, Aparajita gave a tight-lipped smile to the prince as she inhaled the damp smell of the soil in the forest.

Veer could not help but admire the queen’s innocent beauty as involuntarily his hand touched the back of the palm of the queen. His breath hastened as he cupped the right palm of the queen which was resting on the ground. For the first time in his life, he wished to entwine his fingers with hers lifelong after all, she was amazing in every sense.

Aparajita shuddered for once as her heartbeat fastened. The little girl inside the Aparajita was elated with the touch of the man whom she admired but the mighty queen inside Aparajita mentally screamed, “It is not right”.

Aparajita was truly lost under his calm touch who seemed to be relaxed. Regaining her composure within seconds, the queen stiffened as she pulled her arm towards herself and clasped the left wrist of the prince between her thumb and fore-finger of her left hand startling him.

Veer groaned trying to pull back his wrist while Aparajita exerted tremendous pressure. Her chocolate brown eyes were red in anger. She was enraged not because the prince touched her lovingly but because she, the mighty queen of Vijaygarh could not control her emotions.

The poor wrist of the prince was red. The bones were ready to be churned and blood vessels were set to burst open oozing all the blood that had drained in his palm. He could feel the immense pain and the sweat beads began to form on his forehead. He had seen her fighting and killing people but he never knew that her animalistic hands were as strong as steel. He mentally made up his mind to revert back to his intense training sessions as his opponent was really strong.

Veerbhadra groaned in frustration after several unsuccessful attempts of unclasping his arm from the steel-like grip of the enraged queen as he shrieked, “It was not intentional. I am sorry”.

Aparajita immediately left his wrist as she got up to leave but stopped in her tracks when she heard Veer saying, “Stay”.

Veerbhadra was beyond angry at the arrogant queen as he inspected his reddened wrist.

Aparajita felt sorry for him at once but then she reprimanded herself for getting driven towards his amorous touches. As soon as the image of her people and her kingdom flashed in front of her eyes, the queen regained her senses.

“I respect you and it was not deliberate”, Veer said with his eyes hung low as he tried to control his anger. He was gritting his teeth as his hands ached to kill the queen that very instant. He was disgusted at himself for being weak but that’s when he realized that he was foolish to have not defended the attack. He was flabbergasted at his folly and he cursed himself for not using his other hand against the arrogant queen.

“It is getting late and I guess, I should leave”, Aparajita said trying to control the angry little girl inside her who craved to be touched like that again.

After several pleadings finally Aparajita sat down beside her friend Veer as they chit-chatted about their lives.

Aparajita was taken aback when Veerbhadra stated, “I heard Rajgarh is waging a war against your kingdom”, after all, she had kept all the information highly confidential but soon her doubts got cleared when he told, “The royals of Narayangarh informed that the wedding of their daughter, who was getting married to the prince of Rajgarh, stands postponed for now”.

Aparajita nodded with disappointment in her eyes as she felt sorry for the girl whose wedding was uncertain but she could not help but avenge her mother’s death.

“I will be there for you, if ever needed. In case of any emergency, feel free to write to me.” Veerbhadra expressed his concern genuinely as he wanted justice for the seventeen year old queen who had lost her mother due to the politics of her kingdom.

Being a royal, he knew the queen was a subject of mockery as some chauvinistic royals felt it was easy to dethrone the queen. He wanted Aparajita to win so that her victory could be a slap to those disgusting royals who felt women didn’t deserve the throne.

“Says the one who couldn’t release his hand moments ago”, Aparajita mocked scornfully. She wondered just because she is a female, no one trusted her enough to win a war and seek justice for her mother, her ideal, Maharani Manjughosha Devi.

Veerbhadra closed his eyes in despair as he felt disgusted at himself for have not counter-attacked the girl beside him. He tried to probe himself and find the reason for him being too timid to have not countered her attack. He retorted venomously, “I am a Rajput and I did not want to raise a finger on you, woman”.

Aparajita chuckled as she realized his frustration and countered, “You are a Rajput and you did not want to raise a finger on robbers too earlier.”

Veerbhadra was taken aback at the insult. With anger and disgust in his eyes, he defied, “Aparajita, don’t challenge me for your own good”.

Aparajita was enraged at the comment. As politely as she could respond, she stated, “Let’s have a dual”, as she got up taking position against the prince.

“I don’t fight with my friends”, Veer mumbled as he gulped looking the terrific eyes of the queen shining with power and authority. He had two reasons for not taking up the offer, firstly, his wrist was paining real bad and secondly, he was uncertain what if he stood like a pillar and did not defend himself like he did moments ago.

“O! Prince, I know. I know this friend of mind doesn’t fight with dacoits too”, Aparajita said mocking him again. She wanted him to hate her because she could not control her heart who was getting pulled towards his aura.

Veerbhadra chuckled as he rose his hands up in air surrendering for once. He was angry and embarrassed. Obviously he could not tell her that those dacoits were his own men but at the same time he was guilty of not protecting himself moments ago. He mentally planned to avenge against this insult too, very soon.

Changing the topic for once and all, the prince began talking about her mother as he knew the memories of her mother would surely appease Aparajita. The queen, on the other hand, seriously developed doubts on the royal lineage of the prince who seemed to have no effect of the insult she threw.

They chit-chatted for a while and soon the sky turned to the darker shade of blue indicating the time of dusk. On their way back, the prince planned to hasten the plan as he decided to contact Trayambak Sharma, his loyal servant as soon as the queen returned from the war while Aparajita plotted the defensive strategies to be used in the war that would begin soon.

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