-• count to three •-

I'm furious at Yuvaan. Not for the fact that he involved me in his plan, because despite his forceful objection to my resistance, I did make the decision on my own terms, keeping in mind the benefits I'll be reaping. I'm furious at him because he went and blurted it all out to the one person he shouldn't be telling this about. Did he not include me in this plan because he didn't want people pointing fingers at him? And yet he was the one to reveal the truth, voiding all and every reason that convinced me to partake in his shenanigans.

Absolute dumb.

"If you were going to tell him everything from the get go, why did you involve me in this shitty plan of yours!?" I hiss at him.

We were left alone at one corner after some point. The introductions were lengthy, some people were open about their dislike towards me, some genuinely interested and some pretended for the sake of my family name. I made sure my accent didn't reflect when I used the local nouns, words like honorifics, places and of course, my own name. I invested three hours perfecting my own name and I think I can vouch for my own pronounciation.

Well, that's that, and now I'm here, at the table left with Yuvaan to keep an eye on me. Yuvraaj didn't trust Agastya, Vivaan was busy attending his colleagues and friends from the workplace, Dad was with him, and my other brothers were too young to be babysitting me. But of course, they were old enough to be left alone, unlike me who's of the same age as them. Talk about being unfair.

"It was a mistake," Yuvaan sighs, taking a sip from the golden flute. Even the wine here is being served in the glasses made of gold and silver.

"A mistake?" I look at him in disbelief. "Seriously? Is that your point of defense? You involved me in this plan with the whole dramatics that you didn't want anyone pointing fingers at you, but you go and tell everything to the one person you should be quiet in front of? You know how that makes you sound?"

"Say it," he challenges me with furious eyes.

"Now don't make me open my mouth," I roll my eyes.

"Aren't you getting too bold lately, little one?" He leans in, his face scorned and eyes looking down at me in contempt.

"Well, you should have kept me out of your stupid brotherly feuds if you didn't want to hear the criticism for the mistakes you made when you know they'll be affecting all of us!" I snap in a low voice.

He sits back and spreads his leg, not meeting my eyes as he takes another sip from the glass.

Is he really not going to provide any solution out of it? Not even an assurance that he won't take my name if Agastya puts pressure on him again. Because honestly, trusting this man makes me question my decision making capabilities. And let me tell you, there has never come a time when I regretted any of my decisions.

I open my mouth to speak when a woman walks to our table and puts a hand on his shoulder. Yuvaan turns his head, his eyes dropping to the generous cleavage spilling from the low cut blouse before meeting the seductive pair of brown swirls looking at him like he was the eighth wonder of the world.

I rake my fingers through my open curls, avoiding them by looking at the people around.

She bends over even more, her chest almost pressing into his bicep before she says something to him in his ear and then he gets up, putting his glass on the table before clicking his fingers in my face to catch my attention. As if I had the luxury to ignore him.

I look at him lazily, almost acting as if it's a task on me.

"Don't leave this table." He warns and walks off with the woman.

I mock his words, crossing my arms on my chest as I look back front.

"Is this chair available?" The voice comes first, and then the owner of it. Shourya sits himself across from me, his light brown eyes shining with mischief. "I'm Shourya." He stretches his arm forward.

I shake it out of politeness. "Taranya," he grips my hand tighter, and then brings the back of it to his mouth, pressing a kiss on my knuckles before releasing it with a squeeze.

"Taranya, beautiful name." He compliments.

I pull my hand away and cross my arms back.

"You know Taranya," I look at him with fake interest. "I've been waiting for you."

"Was I worth the wait?" I indulge him out of boredom.

His smile transforms into a smirk. "Truly. Truly worth the wait."

I nod slowly, pressing my lips tighter, as though impressed with his one liners.

"Can I call you Tara?"

"No," I answer.

"C'mon, we're friends now, aren't we?"

"Is that a thing in India? Does knowing each other's names automatically makes you friends? If that's so, am I friends with everyone in this hall?" I ask sarcastically.

He chuckles. "No, but I would like us to be friends. And maybe sometime in future, more than friends."

"Overconfidence. Is that hereditary?" I ask brusquely.

His smile stretches wide. "You're amazing. I'm going to have you one day." He nods at me.

I scoff at the audacity. "Sure. One day." I nod derisively, pretending to believe his bullshit.

He gets up from the chair and looks down at me intensely. "It's a promise."

My face falls blank at his tone. "Leave."

He smirks, realising his stupid words indeed had my senses alerting in alarm. "See you soon, princess." He walks off briskly.

I suck in a sharp breath and almost drag a hand down my face but Mrs. Dodiya's strict face flashes in my head and I force my arm to rest on my lap.

A waiter walks to my side with a tray of drinks. I stop him with my hand.

"Is it juice? It looks like it."

"Uhm, it's -"

I take one glass and put the amber liquid to my mouth, swallowing three huge sips of it. The waiter gasps, his eyes wide in horror. My throat burns with the realisation of what I guzzled down thinking it to be apple juice.

"Shit!" I hiss and put the glass back down. "Don't tell anyone! Go!"

"But Princess -"

"Go! Go! Go!" I say when I spot Agastya coming towards me.

He scurries off like his tail is on fire.

Agastya eyes the waiter, then looks down at me and raises a perfect, dark brow.

"I told him to bring me something to drink. My throat is all dry." I whisper hoarsely, resisting the urge to rub my chest. How do people even drink alcohol? It's bitter and it feels like my whole body is on fire.

He nods and sits down on the chair Shourya had occupied a few minutes ago.

"Are you not going to do anything to ruin this for me?" I tilt my head to the side, uncomfortable with the distant look on his face.

He forces a smile on his lips. "I should, right?" He looks at me. "I don't know. I just don't have the will. My brains seems to have stopped working."

"What got you into baseball first?" I ask curiously. His forced smile vanishes. "I'm sorry if I touched a sore spot, I mean, I know it's a sore spot. I think I'm just ruining this for myself. I'm dumb ignore me." I sigh aloud.

He chuckles. "It's fine."

I breathe out in relief.

"Distraction." He replies a while later, catching my attention to him. "The answer to your question. Distraction."

"From what?"

"From the questions." He reveals. "There are so many, in here," he taps the side of his head. "And they have no answers." He shakes his head. "When I'm on the field, I know everything. The world ceases and I'm one with my bat. That's all there is to it. Who doesn't like being aware, being in control, being free of the unknown, the lost and the dead?"

I put my elbow on the table and rest my temple on the folded knuckles. "Is it like an escape for you?"

He shrugs. "Whatever you call it. Escape, passion, hobby. But it's been there with me from the moment I learned how to hold a bat."

"A companion then?" I offer.

He smiles. "A companion. Sounds about right."

I sit back straight before I end up giving in the desire to fall asleep right there on the table.

His eyes switches from me to somewhere else. "Excuse me," he says and walks off without giving me a chance to ask what's wrong. Not that I wanted to ask, and I definitely don't expect an answer to my nosy question. But I do want to find a quiet place and fall asleep.

"Taranya, is it?" A soft voice says.

I look up immediately, forcing my eyes wide open. A forced smile triumphs my lips and I get up to greet the couple. Vivaan walks over and wraps an arm around my shoulders, helping me get acquainted with the guests.

"Good that you kept her at the boarding school in London all these years. Such beauty can be easily stolen," the woman cups my cheek with a fond smile.

I lower my head shyly.

"That's true. But we couldn't have gone another day without her anymore. She's the life of the house." Vivaan responds with a grin of his own.

I almost roll my eyes.

Yeah, that's the lie my family has strung together to make my sudden appearance sound less shocking. That their half sister, due to her ethnicity, was sent to live at the boarding school so she doesn't suffer the public outrage and humiliation of being half British. For a Rajput man, especially one of Chauhan descent to marry a British woman and give birth to a child would have caused an irrefutable uproar. The fact that I was born out of wedlock is still a secret. Considering that the late King Devendra Singh Chauhan was mysteriously killed because of the trap set up by Mughals and British, the reason behind my hidden existence sounds plausible to the media and public.

I'm just glad it's not made into much of an issue. All I wanted was to get through life with my head down. Which is not possible anymore. The last thing I want is to be ostracised from the people that I've to live with considering as my own.

Once the couple leaves, Vivaan nudges me down on the chair and asks whether I'm hungry.

I shake my head.

"You haven't really eaten anything since the party started," he strokes my hair gently.

"I'm not hungry." I tell him.

"Are you sure? I'll quickly go and get you something." He inquires worriedly.

"I'm really fine. Don't worry about me." I say reassuringly.

His lips part to say something when someone calls him from the crowd. Vivaan sighs and presses a kiss on top of my head, reminding me to eat something if I get hungry before excusing himself to go talk to the group of men inviting him.

Eventually the lights dim and the dance floor begins to fill in with a group of dancers. My brothers and dad gravitate back to our table and take their own seat. Following the folk dance performers, a troop of belly dancers come in and the crowd cheers aloud.

I look around the hall, in search of a waiter carrying something to eat when my eyes catch a sight of a man weaving through the crowd. Dressed in all black, with the shadows concealing him from the world, he appears suspicious. The blue lights flashing across the crowd spills on him for a split second, revealing his dark ebony eyes and I sit straight in alarm. Before I can turn and alert one of my brothers, he disappears inside a corridor.

I hurry up from the chair but someone grabs my wrist.

Agastya looks me in the eyes, questioning my abrupt action.

"Washroom," I tell him.

He releases my hand and I take that as a queue to leave.

I follow the same path of the man, but unlike him who becomes one with the dark, I stand out as people smile and greet me. I force myself to respond, making an excuse of using the washroom to get rid of them.

After managing to split free from the people, I find myself standing at the end of the same corridor I was lost in on my first night here. The same corridor that had me wondering whether what I saw was really a hallucination or not.

I grip my phone tighter in my hands and let my feet lead me towards the room that steals my attention whenever I pass by. I know I should have got one of my brothers with me. But Yuvraaj wouldn't entertain my antics and neither let anyone else. I feel like one of those dumb white girls from the low budget horror movies who walk into the woods because she hears someone scream.

My hand grips the door knob and sweat trickles down my back. Yeah, I'm definitely dumb. But like my stupidity, my curiousity has no bounds either.

I push the door open and turn on the flash light of my phone.

The room is completely empty.

I frown, searching all the corners of the room with the light provided from my phone torch. Finding no one around, I step inside and the door slams close behind me.

I flinch. The phone clatters to the ground.

Dumb.

If I get killed tonight, that's on me.

Mom's going be to so fucking disappointed.

A strong arm wraps around my bare waist and spins me around. Before I can scream, a hand clamps over my mouth, muffling my screams. The sturdy figure pins me to the doorframe, their ghost of a breath so close to my ear, it's uncomfortable. Fear grips me whole and I shudder.

"Don't make a sound," his voice comes out as a whisper, incomprehensible to identify but imposing enough to make me nod immediately.

His fingers are gentle as they skim down my waist, fleeting and pulsing, like he's playing a piano.

If he's trying to scare me, he's doing a great job at it. Because I'm going to pee my pants any moment now. My heart is practically in my mouth and my head feels light. Shiver licks down my spine, the possibility of my death at my own hands of stupidity brings tears to my eyes, eliciting a soft sob from my mouth.

He hesitantly lowers his hand, as though making sure I don't call out for help. I don't. I'm not that dumb. The music outside is loud, my family is at the far left of the great hall, there's no way they could get here in a speed of flash to save me from getting butchered by this monster.

His breath turns harsh and I feel the swell of his chest as it rises and sinks against my back. His lips skim the corner of my earlobe, causing me to grip the fabric of my skirt tightly in my hands. "Taranya,"

I can't stop the gasp that escapes my mouth.

He knows my name.

"Count to three with me," he says in a whisper.

I swallow.

"Want to see your family again, don't you?"

I nod slowly.

"Then count to three with me, Taranya. With your eyes closed. No cheating, okay?"

I nod again.

"Let's start," he releases my waist and places his hands on either side of my frame, trapping me to the door.

I clench my eyes shut and bury my face in my hands.

"One", he says.

"One," I repeat in a feeble voice.

"Two," he continues.

"Two,"

I wait for him to say three, my heart hammering into my chest, my entire body trembling violently. But I wait patiently. No cheating.

He never says three.

And before I realise he's the one who cheated, he's already gone.

I turn around and scramble to pick up my phone, my eyes landing on the open window that lets the cold wind in. The white curtains flutter violently, announcing the exit of the mystery man. I search for the switch, flooding the room with lights before I walk to the window and look outside. The night is heavy, grey clouds scarf the moon but the garden is lit up. Yet I find no one in sight.

Grabbing the windows, I slam them shut and put on the lock. I come back to the hall, take my seat and pretend as if nothing happened. Not because I want to keep the encounter a secret, but because now is not the time to tell anyone about it. I can't risk thinning the chances of my reward.

Wait, Tara, what if he was here to kill someone?

"Bhai," I turn immediately. Reward can be damned. This is more important.

Yuvraaj looks up from his phone screen.

"I followed someone." I start and manage to grab all of my brothers' attention.

"What?" Agastya frowns at me.

"Remember when I told you about seeing someone inside the room?" I remind Yuvraaj. He continues to look at me blankly. "I went to the same room just now. I was right. There was someone in that room that night. When I went in, he pinned me to the door and told me to count to three with him. And then he disappeared."

"What!?" Yuvaan exclaims in disbelief.

"Are you making this up?" Arush leans in.

"Taranya, is this some kind of prank?" Agastya questions.

"No!" I snap. "Why would I cook up something so ridiculous as a prank!?"

"She told me about it as well," Vivaan says to Yuvraaj.

"What else did he say?" Yuvraaj interrogates.

"He knows my name."

"At this point, so does everyone." Arush deadpans.

I groan out in frustration. "You guys should be searching the CCTVs right now. Not suspecting what I saw! Why would I lie!?"

Ayush leans in towards me and takes a sniff.

"What are you doing?" My lips twist in confusion.

"I smell whiskey on you," he says with squinted eyes. "Did you drink alcohol?"

I gulp.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Mission abort.

So what if someone dies? Maybe it's written in the stars. Why should I care?

"Forget whatever I said," I look back at the stage.

"Taranya," Yuvraaj calls out.

I close my eyes in defeat. This man is unbelievable. He did not even react when I was telling him about the horror I went through just now, that I was on the edge of my death, but will speak like a parrot just because I made a simple, stupid, insignificant, rookie mistake.

"What dance form is this?" I ask Agastya.

"Tara-" miraculously, Dad brings over a guest with him to our table. Yuvraaj gets up and excuses himself, his eyes lingering on me for longer than necessary. I heave a breath of relief when he leaves.

"Forget about the reward now." Agastya chuckles.

"Shut up." I hiss at him.

"So, did you count to three with him?" Arush asks me curiously.

"No, he cheated. He told me to count to three with him and then he left without saying three." I snort. "What a hypocrite! He warned me not to cheat."

My five brothers burst out laughing.

I startle, looking around the hall cautiously at the guests watching us with smiles as they murmur among themselves. Embarrassed to my core, I glare at each one of my siblings.

"Bhai!" I grip Vivaan's arm in disbelief. "You don't believe me!?"

"No, no, I do," he sobers up, biting his lower lip while his chest vibrates with a surpassed laugh.

"Are you guys nuts!? I'm serious!" I almost shout in rage.

"Of course, you are," Agastya nods in pretense.

"There's no reason to doubt a drunk sixteen year old's words." Yuvaan says sarcastically.

"I'm not drunk!" I grunt. "I only took three sips! Only three. I didn't even know it was alcohol. I thought it was apple juice."

"Right, we believe you." Agastya places his hand on his chest.

"Yes, it's a very realistic and horrifying incident that happened to you." Arush adds sympathetically. "We feel sorry about it."

"We do," Ayush joins the cult. "Imagine a killer coming onto you and telling you to count to three with him."

"And he also has the audacity to cheat!" Yuvaan exclaims.

"I know right. How is she going to believe anyone ever again?" Arush shakes his head with a disappointed sigh.

"Guys, we need to learn a lesson from this very realistic incident," Agastya says seriously. "What's worse than being killed?"

"Telling someone to count to three with them and then not counting to three." Ayush answers.

"Ah, the worst betrayal." Yuvaan clicks his tongue.

"Well, that's life." Vivaan shrugs.

"You guys are the worst!" I scoff and leave the table before they make me scream in rage. I hear them hollering in laughter behind me. Such knuckleheads.

For the rest of the party, I stay away from my brothers. I can't believe they don't believe me. I'm definitely not so drunk to make such an exaggerated storyline. It was real. I can still feel the chills remembering that incident.

The party ends after dinner.

I stay with my brothers to see off the guests and once the palace empties, silence prevails upon us. We all part ways to go to our rooms when Yuvraaj calls my name.

I turn on the staircase, all the attention on us.

"Come to my office after you wash up." He commands.

"Now?" My nose scrunches. I'm so tired all I want to do is sleep.

"Yes, now." He says. "Let's discuss what happened in the room again."

My back straightens. "You believe me?"

"What about the room?" Dad asks curiously.

"Tara believes she saw someone in one of the rooms." Agastya answers on my behalf.

"What?" Dad frowns. "Are you okay? Who was it? Did you see their face?"

I shake my head.

"It's okay. I'll clear it all up with her." Yuvraaj intervenes.

Dad nods reluctantly.

"Get fresh and then come to my office." He looks up at me, an unreadable expression on his face. "I'm sure you know where it is." He smirks.

My blood runs cold.

Fuck.

Yeah, Tara, fuck. You're truly unlucky in all matters.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to vote and comment. Makes my day.