Unmasked~The Prince Of Lanka

♦~Chapter 4~♦

||~ "And after I spent what felt like an eternity drowning; you taught me how to breathe"  ~||

LANKA

Sulochana had ventured out of Naaglok for the very first time and this would surely have been a good no doubt a memorable experience had she been alone. But she was not; she was with her father, her step-sister and her step-mother. She was not claustrophobic but the space in the chariot was suddenly too small for all of them. She could not wait to get out of it. They had been travelling for hours now.

How far exactly was Lanka?

Finally, after what felt like years, Lanka was in their sight. Sulochana heaved a sigh of relief. She could not wait to get out of the chariot. As soon as she jumped out of the chariot, Bhanu caught her arm. All the life seemed to ebb out of Sulochana's body as she was caught in Bhanu's grip. Anand and his new wife ignored them and went ahead to the people who were waiting to receive them into the palace.

Sulochana tried to break free but Bhanu just wouldn't let her go. Finally when she looked up at her, only then did Bhanu smile and whispered, "Be a good girl, will you? And for heaven's sake don't even try to run away. We don't want you getting lost now, do we?" after a pause she again said "Everyone knows you're ugly so don't go begging for attention and embarrass our family. Also, keep your distance from me; I don't want to be seen with a hideous girl, like you, here in Lanka. Okay?" Bhanu asked, tightening her hold on Sulochana's arm. She submissively nodded. Bhanu let go of her and walked behind her parents while Sulochana restrained her tears and started slowly walking behind all of them. She sincerely hoped that she would not have to come across Bhanu for the rest of their stay here. Or for the rest of her life for that matter.

Sulochana was shown her room and was very grateful that she had her own room since she could not bear to share a room with her family. Only when she was safe in the confines of her own room could she manage to think of something else. The palace of Lanka was so huge and gorgeous. It had a certain grace about her that the palace back at her home did not. Raavan certainly had a great taste. Lanka was a rich country, much richer than Naaglok and Raavan was a great ruler, which was beyond the shadow of doubt.

Suddenly out of nowhere the door to her room burst open and for a moment she feared it was Bhanu but when she looked at the door it was just a child. Much younger than her. He ran to her and hugged her. He came only up to her waist. She was stunned for a moment. In her twelve years of life she never recalled anyone hugging her so tight. Probably her mother did but she could not recollect.

The little kid looked up at her and said, "Save me." She never in her wildest dreams thought that someone would have uttered those words to her but this child did it so effortlessly and simply. The trust this little kid out in her made her want to cry so she just clutched him tighter to stop her tears from falling.

"Akshay?" called a voice and then after a moment the owner of the voice walked into the room. He paused on the threshold and looked at her then at Akshay. This boy was older and most probably the older brother of the young boy who was clinging onto her. The older boy opened his mouth to say something but then closed it. He spoke again, this time with more surety and confidence. "I'm sorry about my brother, Princess. I'm Meghnad and this is my younger brother, Akshay."

Sulochana was touched by how politely he talked to her. She had forgotten that people were actually nice in the outer world. She stroked Akshay's hair as he was still clinging to her, "It's alright, Prince. I don't have much else to do here so he isn't much of a trouble. Plus, he's so adorable". This time Meghnad smiled and Sulochana noticed that he had a dimple in his right cheek which made him look so much more amiable and open than when he kept a straight face.

"Do you mind if I come in?" Meghnad asked a little unsure. Sulochana nodded and he smiled again. She liked his smile; it made him look so different and beautiful. And with that Sulochana was reminded of her own ugliness. She wondered how much he would hate to look at her. Weren't all girls supposed to look beautiful and make men speechless? That's what she was supposed to do but this boy didn't look speechless or anything resembling that. He looked so confident. She indeed was very ugly.

Meghnad walked in and tried to pull Akshay away from Sulochana but he wouldn't budge at all.

"Akshay, you can't just run off into other people's rooms like this. Come on, let's go" but anything Meghnad said was of no use because Akshay was clutching at Sulochana's skirt and hiding behind her now. Sulochana looked between the two of them and remembered Akshay asking her to save him. She immediately turned protective of him. She looked at Meghnad a little doubtfully. "What were you doing to him?"

"What? I-I" He looked a little embarrassed now. Seeing that she thought of Bhanu and how she treated her.

Maybe Meghnad was doing the same. Looks can be so deceptive. I cannot protect myself but I'll make sure this little boy is not harmed.

"I asked you something. Why did he have to run away?" She asked as sternly as she could.

Meghnad could not understand how her demeanor had changed all of a sudden. "I...I was just playing with him. I was tickling him; maybe I took it way too far. I'm sorry." Meghnad had to look down at the floor. He thought that ticking his brother would be fun but he did not know when to stop. This girl before him had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen but right now he could only see anger in them.

Sulochana visibly relaxed. She had misread the situation. Not all siblings were like Bhanu but she felt calmer now seeing that he was just ticking his brother and he actually looked remorseful. Both Meghnad and Sulochana talked for sometime till Akshay decided to come to Meghnad and hold his hand. While leaving the room, Meghnad looked back at the girl when he realized that he forgot to ask her the most important question.

"What is your name, Princess?"

"Sulochana", she said after and pause and averting her eyes. She wondered why she had such a name. She did not like her name one bit. She hated it. Now that boy was going to hate her because she had such a repulsive name.

Meghnad turned back and let her name echo inside him. "Sulochana, indeed", he repeated quietly smiling to himself.