Posted: May 28th, 2019

♚ Aarush ♚

2.34 Battlefield

I leave one end of the rope long and tuck it in her palm that she can use to pull at and undo the knot. Getting my hint, she closes her fist around the end of the rope so even if Narayan happened to circle her to ensure I had tied her up, he wouldn't notice it.

As I stand up, I sneakily whisper in her ear, "On my word, run." Then I walk around her and cover her face by standing in front of her to pick up the plate from her lap. She stiffly nods back at me to convey she'd heard me.

Narayan walks up and I take two steps back but sideways so in a way, I am still standing in between him and the chair Jhanvi is seated on. "Let's continue, shall we?"

Jhanvi says in a bored tone, "Just tell me what you want and let's get this over with."

"What do I want? Let's see. It's simple. It's the same thing I've wanted for years."

"Money. My estate. Yes, I know."

What is she doing? Pretending to be bored instead of getting him to confess to her mom's murder does not help.

He laughs as if he finds it hilarious and absurd in her claim. Her brows draw in as she asks, "What? What's so funny?"

He sobers up though amusement remains on his face, "You think I would risk my life for an old piece of property on which there is a useless palace? That greed for money is my bane? My, my. How misguided are we?"

"So, what? You want to kill me, the way you killed mom?"

There is a disturbing change on his face the way he seems to be at peace. "Oh, let's talk about your mom. I left my royal duties, my family, everything, for her and what did she do? Backstab me. Have an affair with a nobody when I could have given her everything!"

This man is beyond twisted. Is he still jealous? How could he not see that she didn't cheat on him but that rather, he got in between Dinesh and her? How can he justify everything in his head and portray himself as if he's the one who's been wronged?

Jhanvi's face hardens as she warns with clenching teeth, "Don't you dare talk about my mother."

It's hard to decipher whether he is sympathizing or mocking, but I doubt the man is capable of the previous emotion, "Oh, Princess. Does that hurt? I was hurt the same way, you know? But, I'm only stating the facts."

She exclaims, raising her voice, "No one deserves to die for choosing how to live their own life!"

He agrees, "No, you're probably right. But, then again, I am not just any man. I was the Prince and future King. Who gave her the right to ruin my name and my families' legacy? She brought shame to my ancestors and for that..."

"You killed her. You sick bastard!"

His face hardens, finally, as her words get to him under this cool façade he had been maintaining thus far. "A Princess should not use such foul words. It doesn't suit you."

She scoffs, "To hell with you and to hell with your pretentious royalty. What world do you still live in? Being a Princess means nothing."

He takes a dangerous step towards her, causing me to stiffen in attention, ready to take action if he would even threaten to harm her. For now, however, he sticks to words, "And for your lack of faith, you must face the consequences as well. We don't need a Princess who doesn't believe in her own worth."

"Listen to yourself!" She exclaims again, "Still talking as if we live in the times of Kings and Queens. It's a democratic world now! All I have is a title with no real power."

He sticks to his beliefs, challenging. "No real power? Oh, sad, sad, little girl. If only you knew. It's because you don't appreciate what you have been blessed with that none of the locals respect you. They don't want you around so much so that I had to assure them you wouldn't make it to the coronation in the morning."

She attempts once again to get him to say the words, "So, what? You'll kill me the way you killed her? Huh? Is that it? Well, get on with it then! Prove just what a low life you really are! You know what? She isn't the one who brought shame to our family. It's you!"

He looks at her, squinting for a second, trying to assess her, before laughing once again. "I see what you're doing. You're not going to get me to confess to something I didn't do."

She rolls her eyes, "Oh, quit your bullshit. We both know you killed them."

He leaned over, resting his weight on the arms of the chair and getting in Jhanvi's face. "Get yours facts straight, Princess. I did not even lift a finger." He pushes the chair back that it scrapes against the concrete but does not fall over as he towers over her again in his normal height. Thankfully. Else he would have seen that she's isn't exactly tied down. "You should not be prone to believing the words of a child. I hear their minds are very active and they can often create imaginary stories."

She shakes her head, knowing he had murdered her mom and attempted to kill Dinesh. "Then you don't know Aarav at all."

He waves his hand in boredom, circling around her. "You know, what? I am getting bored of this tete-a-tete. Let's get to the real issue here, shall we?"

She raises a brow in a slight mock, "Oh, really? There is a bigger issue here than that?"

"Yes. For example, the village heads who are so desperate to have you gone that they turned to my bosses to eliminate the problem so that you would not be the leading face of their community."

"What drugs are you on, seriously, dude?"

He sighs as if not happy with her attitude. The thing I wonder is the bosses he mentions. I am sure he is talking about the radical groups' head. But... bosses? Are there more than one?

"I see nothing is going to get through your thick brain. This is what we get for having you be raised in a foreign country. An uncivil, shameless lass with a child out of wedlock. Your mom definitely did a number with an extra-marital affair but you..." He laughs, "you don't compare. Now... your image is certainly nowhere fit to be the Queen of this regiment. So, here is the deal. You won't be crowned. You will renounce the crown over to the government. We will not have you soil the good name of the Rajput royals."

With every word he speaks, I find myself having to control my anger. Rajput royals? There is one person with the power to make that decision in this room and let me tell you, that person is certainly not Narayan Raichand.

She gives him a smug expression raising her brows and lips turning up sideways in a challenge, "Really now? You think you'll give me an order and I will listen to you?"

He carelessly shrugs his shoulders, least bothered about getting her to fall in line with his commands as he threatens, "If you don't, I fear you may no longer remain the proud mother that you boast yourself to be. What is my granddaughter's name, again?"

Her form tightens, ready to pounce on him as she gets protective over Inaaya and even I have to fist my palms behind my back to keep from jeopardizing everything before it would all be for nothing. "Don't you dare threaten Inaaya."

"Then don't force me. Because, one way or the other, I will get my desired result."

She inhales sharply in order to compose herself before she surprises both of us by chuckling.

I look at her in concern and he must have as well for he questions in confusion.

"Finally lost it, have you?"

She shakes her head biting her bottom lip to keep a burst of laughter at bay. "Oh, God. You are a foolish man; do you know that?"

He glares at her, "There are many names I have been called but I assure you. I am no fool."

She raises a single brow in a challenging manner, "Really, now? Then I wonder how come you do not know this... I cannot renounce my crown because I... don't... have it." She draws out the words as if to emphasis and build suspense at the same time. She adds in a quick side note, "And not because I haven't been coronated yet, but because I am no longer the true heiress of this so-called royalty you keep going off about."

He walks back, mumbling to himself. "She really has gone crazy holed up in that big palace by herself."

She rolls her eyes at his dramatics, "You're the crazy one here. Know why? Because the very day you sent those people after me to end my life, when I was still pregnant with Inaaya, I had a will of my own created. And you see, according to that will, if anything happens to me, everything belongs to Inaaya and naturally, because she would be underage, she'd have a guardian. Well, multiple. I made sure she'd have the best damn godparents any child could have."

My eyes snapped to hers at the mention because... say what now? Inaaya's godparents: Aarav, Annie and... me. She entrusted Inaaya over to us? To... me? I can understand why she would choose Aarav and Annie, but we barely knew each other back then! And, I had assumed that she was only making them Inaaya's godparents because she'd grown up in Australian culture. I would have never thought she had another agenda behind it: secure her child's future. Like a true mother.

I always respected her, but that doubles ten-fold in this moment.

As much as I keep calling on our whatever psychic connection, she doesn't seem to look at me. Her gaze is glued on him as she continues talking. "And do you know what they would do the second something happens to me? They'd put her so under the radar, far away from the world, that you will never be able to find her."

He dares to call her out on it. "You're exaggerating."

Still, she remains confident. "Am I? Tell me, were you even once in these past years able to find out where I was? How long did it take for you to trace those checks to Australia and then find Hiten to get to me?" His confidence falters as he begins to question if Jhanvi is speaking the truth because he knows the answer to her question is in the negative. "Until they brought me back to Mumbai, you had no idea where I was. Sure, you had Hiten but you couldn't so much as touch me, could you? And at that time, that burden was solely on Arnav Raizada. Now... tell me. All these years later, are you really willing to find out what'll happen if I throw Aarav Raizada in the mix as well? Are you confident you'll be able to get to Inaaya before they disappear with her?"

Seeing him totally off his game now, she smirks again in her unofficial victory. "Exactly. You see, her future is more secure than you can imagine so don't you dare try and use her name to threaten me in doing your bid for you. If you are going to kill me, then get on with it because I am not afraid, and you are not going to win this time."

Despite how proud I feel of her for holding her own in this battle against her own father and I get the feeling that she doesn't need me here for her safety, the thought worries me that he has still not directly confessed to the murder of Mrs. Raichand.

He is silent for a second before he shrugs his shoulder and announces. "Well then, I'll just have to get rid of all of you then."

My weight shifts to the front of my legs, ready to take a step when her eyes flicker to mines in a warning. I don't know what she is up to but it is enough for me to get her hint and stand down.

She throws her bait, "Or, I could give you a way out."

He raises a dubious brow, "You?"

"Let's face it, oldie. I've said it in more ways than one. I am not the most interested candidate out there when it comes to ruling a palace with an empty title and no powers."

Oh, Jhanvi. When we are done with this, I am going to have to show her just what administrative powers she has because even if he is full of big words on everything else, he is right about one thing. Even in a democratic world, her title does hold weight. She just does not know how to wield that yet.

She continues after a brief pause, continuing to reel him into a trap, "So, what do you say? We help each other out?"

Like a fool, he questions. "What do you have in mind?"

"Give and take. You want me gone. I want the target off mine and my daughter's back for good."

"So?"

"So, it's simple, isn't? I'll believe you if you say you didn't kill mom, but you'll find me those who did. I want proof. Then, you're free of the charges. I get answers and I leave, back to my quiet life in Australia."

That comes a surprise to me. She has thought about returning to Australia? When? How long has she been thinking this?

"You don't think I want the target off my back?" He starts to walk towards her like a predator stalking its prey.

I knew that look very well in a person's eyes.

My eyes averted to his folded back behind him as they reached to the back of his waistband.

"And really, why waste my energy proving myself to you when I could just..."

He trails off and I react faster than a blink, knowing very well there was only one thing he could be reaching for. I move to stand in front of him, blocking his path the second he pulls the gun and aims it ahead towards Jhanvi but meets my chest instead.

I hear her inhale sharply behind me as I use the shock on his face to my advantage by hitting the side of my hand to the inside of his wrist, right over his pulse. In a reflex, his hold on the gun falters and I grab it, turning it around to aim it at his forehead. "Now, Jhanvi!" I say without averting my gaze from him for even a second. He is not going to get an inch to escape.

The chair scrapes against the floor behind me as she frees herself to stand up. He puts his hands up in surrender and I wave the gun at him, motioning for him to move back. Jhanvi moves with me as I walk sideways. He may still not have confessed to the murders but he did pull a gun on her. That was the start of his fall.

His biggest mistake.

I move one of my hand to my side reaching for Jhanvi's hand so I could nudge her to stay behind me. She slides her hand in my palm and walks backwards behind me towards the exit of the room.

"Never trust the help," he says as if regretting his decision finally. "Should have known better then to think money would easily buy a soldier."

I question, finally having my go at him. "What is the name of your boss?"

"Aar..." She begins to speak to get my attention, probably to say we should leave instead of interrogating, but I do not let her stop me.

This man, as much as I loathe him, will lead me to the real killers willingly or otherwise. He is the link connecting to my past and I am not letting this opportunity go.

Thus, I instruct her. "Go. I'll meet you outside."

"But..."

"Go." I insist.

I can feel her glaring at me as she warns, "You better not die on me."

In urgency, I order. "Jhanvi, go. Run and don't stop till you're back at the palace. The sun can rise at any moment now."

She needs to return to the palace before the villagers notice she was out the whole night. They will make a mountain out of a mole hill, otherwise.

She squeezes my hand once to express her concern and I squeeze it back to assure her I would catch up with her, but for now, she needed to leave.

"Okay," she quietly whispers, and her hand leaves mine. Her soft touch sliding away as if in slow motion. I hear her opening the door then and take off down the corridor to find the way out of this abandoned one story building.

I move my hand under the gun to once again hold it with both hands. "Name. Who do you work for? I won't ask again."

He cocks his head to the side, "Seeing how you caught on I work for someone, you might want to think that I didn't come here alone."

The meaning of his words sinks in. If there were people keeping an eye on the building, they would go after Jhanvi seeing her running out.

Damn.

How did I not consider that he could be working with others?

He smirks, "That's right. Run along."

I move to place the gun at his temple, forcing him to walk in front of me. "You're coming with me." If he is the top dog, there is no way I am leaving him behind. I have every intention of first making him call off his men and then deliver him to his end result.

"Instead of worrying about me, why not save the damsel in distress before it's too late?" He tries to talk his way out of being held hostage so he could probably escape because for sure, the people he works for won't spare him on another failure now that Jhanvi has escaped.

Reaching the exit, I push open the door and climb the few steps to step out of the building. I take a moment to case out the surroundings. There are no taller buildings around the idea where there could be sharp shooters. Wherever his men were, they had to be on the same ground level. That gave some vantage but not completely as the forest area around proves to be the main challenge then.

I push him to stand in front of me, stretching my arm out moving the gun to point to the back of his head. "Call them off." When he made no move to reach for his cell, I pulled the safety on the gun to convey I meant business. "Call them off or have your brains blown out. Choose."

Being in the army, I am not unfamiliar around guns. Most of my targets are soft targets. If I have to shoot, I know how and where to pull the trigger to ensure pain and injury to mobilize the harm but not enough blood loss so as to kill the person. I have never made a kill shot but I'd also never let the matter ever aggravate to it.

If it did somehow come down to it, the depth of my heart knew it wouldn't hesitate. Right here, right now, there was only one moral to follow. Kill or be killed. And there is no way I am going back on my word to both Jhanvi and Inaaya. The former isn't going to lose a daughter and the later isn't going to lose a mother.

"Okay! Okay," he gives in and reaches for his cell from his front pocket. He speed-dials the most recent number. At the answer, he instructs, "Stand down. Let her go."

I hear the faint reply. "But, we have orders."

He grits, "Right now, your order is to Let. Her. Go."

I interject, "Call them here." I'd rather they be in front of me so I can be assured Jhanvi would safely reach the palace. He hesitates but again gives in like a coward when I press the gun to his skin.

Within minutes, the clearing in front of the house fills with goons dressed in black with guns and yet, there is a sense of civility about the way they carry themselves. They do not seem to be goons for hire. I exhale at having my suspicions confirmed. They really do belong to an organization.

The thing about organizations. They are one of the toughest to infiltrate. Not because of their skills, no. It is because of their common mission that they have utter and blind faith in whereby they'd cross any lines, circle any dots, in order to carry on their agenda.

Why can't things ever be simple?

Reluctantly, I lower my aim and pull apart the barrel from the gun, keeping the bullets before dropping the gun to the ground. Without bullets, it was useless and I was not such an idiot that I'd drop the gun on the ground, outnumbered, with bullets attached for them to snatch up and use it on me.

I knew better.

He seems to notice that for he almost gives me an impressed look - not that I need one from him. I do not seek his approval. His men circle around us, but mostly, around me as if to show who was in-charge.

I patiently search for a second to turn the tables.

He comments, "Smart, but still outnumbered and defenseless."

I scoff, "You are mistaken if you think I need a weapon to hurt you."

He starts to circle me, "Right, forgot. You're some highly qualified solider. I reckon you wouldn't need one to hold your own in a combat." Then he walks backwards to step out of the circle. "Okay, let's see it. Let's see what you can really do."

"You know what they say. Curiosity kills the cat." I mention as a way to warn him that letting me show what I can really do would be his second mistake.

He, however, seems to trust his people, "These men have been fighting a battle behind the screens longer than you have been in the army. You don't stand a chance, kid."

In the army? Please. I could hold my own long before I joined the army. And a battle?

I plant my right foot back and shift my weight to the front of the left foot and giving the men around me a look over for their weaknesses based on their stance. "The battlefield is my home, Narayan Raichand." I lift my hand to make a 'come' motion and assist it with, "Bring it on."

I knew better than to expect them to fight fair one-on-one and they did not disappoint when all seven of them advanced towards me at the same time as if thinking they could over power me.

So, to begin with, I let them think they had the upper hand. I let them waste off their energy by running towards me with a battle cry.

An inch from me, I jumped off my feet and on landing, spun around in a squat to circle and hit them on the ankles. A couple fall back, tripping while a few skid to a halt. The one who attempts to punch me, I hold his fist in my palm and twist his wrist, having him yell off in pain. I push him back, ready for another attack from one of them aiming for my gut.

With a dodge, I kick him in the back of his knee to have him buckle over and fall on his knees in front of me. The one who tries to stab me with a pocketknife, I hit his hand with a straight one of mines and grab the knife the same way I had snatched the gun moments ago. I slice him across his front for a flesh wound instead of cutting him whereby blood would begin to ooze out.

I hate slaughter. And, really. Pocket-knives? What is this, some Bollywood action flick? If they wanted to bring a weapon to a fight, they should have brought a real one instead of this child's play.

I use the hilt of the knife to pounce it with force on one of their heads and he grunted, stumbling back. Before I could turn to yet another who was recovering to come at me, someone from behind approaches with a battle-cry.

And they are meant to be veterans? What a joke. If you are aiming for a sneak attack, the whole point is lost with a battle-cry! I whirl around to dodge it and the longer sword he has in his hand slices through my shirt, revealing a mark.

I glance down at my open chest. Once they know who I am...

Slightly distracted because of my identity, two men come about to grab each of my shoulders to hold me back. The one with the sword makes a move to again attack me when Narayan speaks up. "Wait."

Oh, great. Now, it really is kill or be killed.

The guy stands down, stepping aside as Narayan walks up. I don't have the right to complain about feeling violated as he stares at the half-visible circular mark in the center of my chest. I don't give them the satisfaction of a struggle as he reaches forward the pull at the buttons of my shirt to reveal the entire seal.

He gasps, stumbling back a step due to surprise. "You."

His men's eyes double over in confusion at their senior's startled reaction. I shrug the hands holding me back off and reply, "Yes. Me."

He peels his eyes off the seal when I fix the collar of my shirt - unable to button up given they are all scattered on the floor when he pulled it open. "You're... you're alive."

"No shit, genius." I mutter rolling my eyes though I should be a little understanding about his shock. For the last seven years... or was it eight now... no one knew exactly who I was or that I was alive. And by no one, I mean the civilians. Some of the higher up in army commands knew, but that was it. My position as an army captain allowed me some secrecy to go by unnoticed - especially when I would stick to staying on army bases.

He begins to speak, lowering his head, "Your..."

I wave my hand, cutting him off. "Eh. Stop right there." I glance at my shirt, really irritated at its state. I take it off and snap my fingers at the one standing to my right. "You. Give me your shirt."

When he doesn't react, perhaps in a daze at the turn of events, I snap my eyes back at him to see what the delay was. His eyes widen slightly getting a clear picture of the seal on my chest and even if he were a slow one, he's learned by now who I am. Narayan clears his throat at the guy's inactions and he blinks, realizing I had said something, and starts to unbutton his shirt.

By the time he passes it over, the rest of the men have fallen in line. The second I slide my arms in the sleeve and reach for the buttons, I speak up. "Now, for the last time, is one of you going to finally tell me who you work for? Because it is definitely not me."

They lower their gaze having no answer. I raise a brow at Narayan and he too does not meet my eyes as he informs, scared. "We - we don't know."

"Excuse me?" I question how ridiculous it sounds.

"We just get orders. We've never met him."

I raise my voice slightly enraged at their stupidity, "You blindly follow orders?! Join hands with village heads and kidnap royals? Plan to murder them because they do not follow the ancient disciplined role of a Queen?"

He mumbles, "The village heads..."

"What?" I question having not heard him the first time with his quiet mumble.

"When they see her returning to the palace, they'll know we failed and..."

I don't have to listen him say it as I finish the sentence, "take matters into their own hands. Damn it." I turn at once to start my way back to the city but pause on recalling about Narayan. He is not yet pardoned for his crimes.

Instead of going off on my own, I ask. "Where's your car?" He wouldn't come to the middle of nowhere on foot, after all. A vehicle had to be around that would take me to the city quicker.

"Around back," he answers obediently and takes out the keys from his pockets.

I look at the rest of the lot, "All of you, I don't really care what you do." I speak to Narayan, "But you. You are coming with me."

"Yes, Rawal sa."

I respond grimly while snatching the keys out of his hand, "Don't call me that."

. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .

∞ author note ∞
Hello!! Quick note, I was originally planning on a 3rd book where I thought to explore more about Annie and Aarush's origins and as such, next chapter would have been the last. Then I did some more thinking and decided not to do that. Not much seems to have happened in this book due to poor planning on my part and not having the time to plan/write it either as I had for first book. So, this will just be a longer book instead!

QOTC: Fight scene could have been written better, but thoughts? Any guesses on who might be the head of the radical group?

Vote and comment <3