"This..." His lips parted but no words followed and his grip on my scorched hand loosened.
"...Is a reminder that I have to burn several times more to rise again." A smile articulated on my lips and I intervened my fingers to his.
❁┈┈┈❅ ⋞〈 ✿ 〉⋟ ❅┈┈┈...
Though it was the midnight of summer, few clouds hovered above the city illuminated by the lights of the moon. My lehenga fluttered with the strong yet soothing winds that were carrying the whiffs of scented night flowers blooming in the nearby garden. The scents of Raatrani and Parijat filled the usually sweaty and foul-smelling arena with their fragrances. It was pleasant and silent. A comforting silence. Occasionally I could hear the distant footsteps of the soldiers patrolling near the arena, disturbing the peace, till it was gone and silence prevailed back. . Nature was rejoicing in the silence of midnight, healing itself for the next day. My lone self standing there, experiencing this part of nature.
"What kind of poison was it?"
My voice broke through the silent arena, disrupting the peace that the place held. My voice though, soft and silent, traveled to each corner of the arena.
"Dhatura." A deep voice followed my statement and I could feel a presence behind me. I felt the person behind me move closer toward me when I turned around to face a silhouette.
Standing near the gates of the arena, it was difficult to see his face as the darkness was embracing him until he moved forward and his obsidian black eyes were visible. As the wind moved the sole cloud covering the moon, the arena became a bit clearer and I could see his well-sculpted face gazing toward me.
"Why did you plan to do it to yourself? It was a petty trick for even you, a light poison as such would have changed nothing,"
Though I knew the reason, I asked him nevertheless. He turned to look at the moon, his face hard and not revealing any emotion.
"I do not like competition."
I scoffed. "Competition? Urjit was nothing in front of you and what you opted for was deceit. Is the Rajkumar of Sakhya Pradesh a coward to attack behind the back?"
Anger dripped from my voice. He knows that I have no other option instead of marrying him, yet he chose to malign someone in the name of 'competition'. Before I could control my anger, these words were out of my mouth and what I received as a reply was the same sentence about his dislike of competitors.
"You very well know Nyrvig, I care for my brother's life and hence I am willing to marry you. Yet you try to slander someone."
Confusion flowed in my eyes and all I wished for were answers. I had to spend my whole life with him and his acts were making it difficult for me to accept it.
"I very well know it, Vijetri but I repeat myself, I dislike competing for the things I already own."
"You do not own me." My reply was quick and held infinite anger. I was not a jewel for someone to own me again. "This all wait is just a ruse Nyrvig. An attempt for me to get to know you better. And you are making it difficult."
I looked towards him, my eyes glinting but stance strong. I was confused about his game and his real face. I was confused about my future husband.
"I know."
His voice was deep and lacked any emotion. I scoffed and mirrored his actions of staring at the moon. My mind held many questions, many confusions. I took deep breaths to calm my mind and enjoy the peace of the night. I had much on my plate and I needed to clear them one by one.
"How did you get to know about my plan?"
His voice cut through the silence and reached my ears. Though his voice was plain, one could guess the underline of curiosity in it. I looked towards him, his eyes boring into mine and reading everything on display. I smiled at him which made his stance weak and confusion appear on his fell sculpted face.
"Even though Rajkumar made a great plan, he missed planning about the part where we, royal ladies, check for the presence of poison in the food. The maid who was carrying your bowl of lentils had a long veil and was shivering at her spot while we were checking others. She adorned the insignia of Chaitanyagadh. If Urjit wanted to clear out his competition this would have been a lousy move. Thus, I asked Chanchala to irradicate her and Shailja to send you my letter which ordered you to meet me at the place where warriors take birth at the time when the moon replaces the blazing sun."
I could see that he was impressed but I was least bothered about his opinions. We both stood there for a couple of minutes, rejoicing in silence and the beautiful view before his voice again disturbed it.
"As I said, you are different, different in a good way. But 'irradicate'? What did you do to the woman?" he queried with furrowed brows.
"You don't need to know about that Nyrvig. At times ignorance is bliss."
With that, I left the arena and moved towards my chamber. Many thoughts spiraled into my mind. The dark and deserted hallways provided me a chance to move back unspotted and my lack of jewelry assisted in the task.
I entered my chamber with a confused and stressed mind. The warmth and coziness of my chamber did not help me to feel at ease. Many thoughts passed my mind. I sat on my bed, trying to bring my mind to rest but it was full of questions.
I suddenly got up and rummaged through my items, trying to find some empty scrolls to write down the problems one by one. My mind had many issues and I just needed to concentrate on one at a time.
Taking a quill and dipping in my inkpot, I colored the white parchment with my problems and confusion. The mysteries and issues I needed to solve. There was a long list of it like why did I get the chance to time-travel, why did Bhumija ask me to go away, how in my last life, Urjit managed to overthrow my brothers, who were behind the adulteration of spices, and many more. Jotting them down, I made another column for mysteries that were solved.
And the first one of them was 'Nyrvig is a puzzle.'
❁┈┈┈❅ ⋞〈 ✿ 〉⋟ ❅┈┈┈❁
Raatrani: A flower that blooms in the night and has a nice fragrance
Parijat: Similar to Raatrani, it blooms at night and has a nice fragrance
Dhatura: Jimsonweed
Rajkumar: Prince
❁┈┈┈❅ ⋞〈 ✿ 〉⋟ ❅┈┈┈❁
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