"Don't run," Aadhiyan warned with a smile across his face.

"You're walking too slow, come fast," Rathi urged running into the woods. The jiggling sound of her anklet was pleasing to hear. The smell of the muddy wind filled his nostrils as he moved closer to the cascade. The place was colorful with all the flowers and trees. Butterflies were chasing one another and making it the most beautiful and serene place in the entire world.

"Be careful, you will hurt your feet," he advised and his eyes studying her every move.

"I won't," she giggled and went near to the cascade. She watched Aadhiyan sauntering to her taking small steps. She can't help but fall in love with everything. Even that ugly beard that growing fast on his face. Once he came closer she encircling her hand around his neck and kissed his lips passionately.

"Your lips taste like sweet," he told.

"Is it?" she shrinked her eyebrows and thought whether she ate anything sweet today.

Aadhiyan chuckled, "You're still a child," he shook his head seeing her innocent face.

Rathi blushed to understand that he just complimented her lips.

"No, I am not a child. I took me some time to understand," she shrugged. Aadhiyan sniggered and started removing his clothes. He dived inside the water and swam to the middle of the pond. Rathi stripped and wearing Aadhiyan's shirt entered inside the water.

"It's so cold," she exclaimed.

"Yeah, come near," he reached out his hand. Rathi just as Aadhiyan taught swam to him. For the last three days, he has been teaching her how to swim.

It's going to be more than a week since they married. Rathi has completely fallen for him but she didn't say hoping that he knew her and Aadhiyan never said that he's in love with her. But he never failed to show his love to her. These days Rathi is entirely depend and living following whatever that he says. It feels so easy and she likes the reward for doing that; it's his tremendous love he showers all day and night. Everything around her is changing so rapidly. The entire place is embracing her as she belongs here and Rathi never wanted to leave from this place or Aadhiyan.

He pulled her closer and started kissing her sensually. She giggled as his beard tickled her and her senses started trembling by his filthy touches on her skin.

"Leave me, we shouldn't do here," she whined and pushed him.

He again pulled her close to him, "Why not?" he leaned to kiss her neck and Rathi moaned closing her eyes with those rushing sensations. She opened her eyes and saw a dark figure more like a dog standing at the far end and watching them. Before she could grasp a proper look Aadhiyan nibbled her skin and making her close her eyes in pleasure.

The figure vanished out of her sight when she looked at the place again and then she stopped Aadhiyan. "I saw something there," she pointed the woods.

Aadhiyan narrowed his eyes and turned to see nothing. "Don't fool me," he glared.

"I swore, I saw a black dog there, it was looking at us. I saw it in my dreams too," she told as she's thinking that the last time she saw it near the temple was her dream. Hearing that Aadhiyan's face grimaced. His eyes told his fright. His hands kind of shivered as the whispers slightly touched his ears.

"It's nothing." He lurched his shoulders.

"What?"

"Rathi, you should leave soon," he told.

"Why?"

"Because look at the sky, it will rain anytime," he didn't say the actual reason.

Rathi covered her body in the saree and Aadhiyan was kept staring into the woods. Seeing that Rathi starts to feel nervous.
"Shall we go?" she gripped his shoulders.

"No, you go home. I will be back," he puzzled her with his attitude.

"Why? Don't go just come with me," she pleased him.

"No, Rathi. You need to go and I will be back," he pressured her. Rathi couldn't talk after looking at his eyes. She left the place staring at him once in a while making her way out. And then he totally vanished out her sight.

Coming back to the house, she quickly changed her clothes and headed to see Sumaya. "Rathi come and taste this payasam, it's too delicious," she told when Rathi entered her room.

"No Sumaya, there's something I need to tell you," she cut her off.

"What?"

"We both went to take bath in the pond, but he just asked me to go and didn't come with me," Rathi worried.

"Don't worry Rathi. He will return," she said.

"I am so worried, Sumaya. Shall I go there and find him?" Rathi blurted out.

"Hey don't be silly. He will return back. Now take this payasam; my husband made it for me," she told showing a spoonful near to lips.

She didn't allow Rathi to go to her home and start to talk to change her mind. Rathi somewhat calmed and hoped that he'll return back soon.

Mithran also joined them after finishing some work on the farm with his cousin. They were only people who make her days to move faster.

But inside she's so worried about Aadhiyan so she decided to return home. While walking she stumbled before Aadhiyan's grandparent's room. There was an argument between Masumi and Aadhiyan's dad.

"We will all die if she escapes from this place, don't you know that," "She has to bear his child and then die for him," Aadhiyan's dad retorted.

Rathi doesn't know what they were talking about.

"Don't ever talk about this to me again or I will kill you both," he said and Rathi's eyes widened in shock. How could he talk to his parents like that?

When she heard he's coming out, Rathi hidden behind the wall near the tree. She's too scared to go inside his grandparent's room but she felt sorry for them, in confusion she moved but her bracelet was stuck in a twig as she tried to pull without noticing it. The metal string tying the pearls ripped. A few of the pearls fell on the ground.

Seeing that Rathi's heart broken. Instantly tears welled in her eyes. She took the beads and headed inside the house. With flowing tears from her eyes, she tied the pearls and put that on her hand. She made sure whether it is strong by pulling it but it's not very stout. She sensed there's something bad going to happen and waited for Aadhiyan impatiently.

How long can she wait no one here seemed to worry about him, as it start to rain too. Rathi decided to look for him. Taking two rags and putting it one on her head Rathi headed to the temple side. Her eyes carried all the love for him and her heart throbbed in fear. She's going to do something that Aadhiyan has prohibited.

A huge thunderstorm fell on the top side of the mountain and Rathi shuddered in a panic yet she doesn't want to return back to the home without finding Aadhiyan. Suddenly she saw someone approaching her from the far end. Then she clearly saw that it's Aadhiyan.

Her legs wobbled yet she stepped forward to him with teary eyes. As he came closer, she saw his head was injured and his thick blood is rushing out of it.

"Why did you come here? How long you've been wandering?" he seethed.

She didn't mind his question. "What happened to your head?" she touched his blood and looked at his intimidating eyes.

"I hit on the rock," he took her hand.

"I asked you to stay in the home, then why did you come here?" he complained.

"I was worried about you," she blurted out.

Aadhiyan sighed. "You don't have to worry about. Nothing will happen to me," gritted and again a huge thunderstorm fell on the mountain.

Rathi hugged Aadhiyan in shock and he embraced her. "Let's go home," he muttered.

As they come back to the house, Rathi rushed to get a cloth to tie on his wound. At last, she tore it from her saree. She band-aided his injury using that. She looked at his eyes which is watching her intently.

He held her hand and drew her on his lap. "Where did you go in the woods? Did you went to search that animal?" she asked.

"No, it's not an animal,"

"Then?"

"It's the guardian of this place," he whispered. With an unbelievable expression, Rathi stared him.

"Rathi?"

"Hmm,"

"Will you do anything for me?" he asked.

"Yes, I will,"

He took a moment before asking, "Even if you die for me?" Thunders roared and it hit her straight on her head.

"Why you're asking this?" she questioned.

Aadhiyan was confused by her reply. He looked at her hand and saw the bracelet is broken.

"What happened to this?" his tone is frightening. Rathi couldn't reply to it immediately because she can't tell him that she has overheard about what her dad was talking about.

"It broke when I came back home," she lied and Aadhiyan easily identified.

"You're lying to me, what did you hear from my dad?" his question terrified her.

"He was scolding your grandmother and I don't understand what they were talking about," she confessed.

Aadhiyan accepted her answer. "Now tell the answer to my question, Rathi,"

"We have just started our life, why are you talking about ending it?" she frowned and looked away. Because what he's asking now has already came in her dream and it ended terribly.

"This care and affection that you're showing on me- is it all real?" he asked. He stabbed her broken heart and made her eyes to well with tears. She couldn't ask the same question to him because he doesn't want anyone to die for her. Especially him.

"You think whatever you want but no sane girl will tell that she will die for her husband," she stood in her point strongly and got up from his lap.

Aadhiyan was taken aback by her reply. It felt like, the fort that he has been build over the years is entirely demolished in a moment.