Adya and Shreya didn't exchange a word or a glance for the next forty-five minutes. The former drove in utter silence while the latter had her eyes fixated on her phone's blank screen.

There were no further calls or messages from the crowned prince, and Shreya was not sure if any of the tell-tale signs were going to bode well for them or not. Again, warning bells resounded in her mind, asking her to trust her instincts and stay away from the Chauhans. All she needed to do was assist them in lifting the curse because humanity comes above all, and then she should rush out of the place before any of the events would start spiralling out of control. 

The evening had been so surreal and nice before the mystery man showed up, and then, one by one, strange incidents occurred. The frightened and pregnant woman, the near-death experience, the sudden act of vanishing pulled by the man, and his feral eyes. She shuddered at the thought. She could never forget the ferocity in his gaze, and she gulped when she recollected how tenderly he looked at her the following moment. Having said that, she could tell the man was visibly upset and concerned after the old woman's bout of hysteria. But the question remained. How did he know her and Adya?

Meanwhile, Adya was lost in her own train of thought. In a rush of adrenaline, she had eloped the security of the fort and brought along a guest with her who was a foreigner and didn't comprehend much about the intricacies of how utterly devastating and remarkably beautiful India could be. On one hand, they had the most exquisite tourist destinations, enchanting temples and glorious architecture, decadent cuisines, and a history so rich and so full of hued vibrancy that no other civilization in the modern world could compete with. On the other hand, the rising rates of crime against women, the violence in every nook and corner, the falling moral standards, and the safety of tourists were very questionable. To the extent that Adya was thankful no such lecherous man had approached them in their solitary journey across Sumedhnagar's fair. The princess would have been ashamed in front of the foreigner.

As Shreya got to thinking about responding to Aarush's messages, her fingers hovering above the keyboard, Adya contemplated whether she should head home or just drown in a kiddy pool. Her brother must be furious, and she was slightly intimidated by the idea of discovering the extent of his wrath. She had never experienced it firsthand, but everyone—even someone as new to Suryagarh as Shreya—spoke of his raging temper. Perhaps all of it would be directed towards the poor guest that night because of the extra affection Aarush held for his sister, and that made Adya extremely remorseful. She was also guilty of assuming the mystery man to be evil without even knowing a single thing about him, not even his name. He had saved them from an utter mishap. In fact, Shreya had saved her from getting brutally stabbed by someone she didn't even know.

She licked her lips and cast a furtive glance at the girl sitting on her side. "I can't ever thank you enough, Shreya. You just jumped in between her and me without even," she shuddered, "thinking of the consequences."

Shreya flashed a tired smile at the girl. "Yeah, I... I did not get the time to think. One moment I heard you scream, and the next moment the senile woman was threatening you. She would've stabbed you, and I... I just couldn't keep standing."

Adya let out an audible sob while they bolted along the highway. "I am a fool to elope from my home. I thought I would taste freedom for an evening."

"And all was good," Shreya murmured, patting the upset girl's shoulders. "We were saved by whoever that man was, and the old lady... she was mentally disturbed. Happens, Adya! No need to fret."

Adya nodded and sniffled. "Don't tell Bhai any of it please."

Shreya sniggered. "Do you really think I am stupid enough to have a death wish?"

Once the two girls broke into fits of laughter, the mood inside the car lightened. The headlights of the vehicle fell on all the milestones and boards along the way, and they noticed how Suryagarh was only ten kilometres away. Both of them sighed at the thought of the warmth and safety within the confines of the fort and were about to take an oath of never repeating the same mistake again when they were coerced into lurching forward in their seats as the vehicle jolted a few times, slowing down without Adya pressing the brakes, and after a few seconds of their confused mutters, the car came to a complete stop smack dab in the middle of a very desolate stretch of the road.

Adya licked her lips in anxiety and tried pushing the ignition again, hoping it was a minor fault and the car would start in a jiffy. However, the four-wheeler roared and howled but the engine didn't start. Huffing, she repeated the action, but then her gaze fell on the indicator of the fuel tank. It was empty. She gasped and slapped her forehead. "We ran out of petrol."

Shreya's eyes widened in horror. "What? We ran out of fuel?"

Adya clicked her tongue and bobbed her head.

"Dammit!" Shreya muttered under her breath. "I am calling Aarush now. This is not good. Look at how empty the road is!"

Adya snatched her phone from the backseat and switched the device on. "I should've called him aeons ago. Don't know what I was thinking."

However, much to the chagrin of both, they couldn't find any signal. Warning bells were ringing in both their minds, but as they exchanged another set of nervous glances with one another, they knew it was futile to continue sitting there. So, they clambered out of the vehicle and started walking a few meters on either side of the road to see if they could find a signal or perhaps spot a moving vehicle that could provide them with a phone to contact Aarush Chauhan.

But much to their displeasure, not a single soul haunted the road, and it was just the two of them sauntering back and forth in tandem, pacing the length of the white Mercedes, and letting their angst get the better of them. Both were on the verge of a complete emotional breakdown when more woes were added to their list.

They could distinctly hear the thudding footsteps of people walking towards them from the shadows of the trees lining the highway, and from the very sounds of their conversation, the girls could tell they were a bunch of drunkards making their way to them while whistling and catcalling.

Adya clutched onto the sleeve of Shreya's kurti when the four boys around their age appeared on the road from a side alley, stumbling in their steps, their lids hooded, a smirk etched on their lips, and the foul stench of alcohol emanating from them.

"What are you two lovely ladies doing here at this ungodly hour?" one of them said with a slight slur in his tone.

Shreya's breathing turned ragged, and she glimpsed around herself to spot something she could use as a weapon. Nothing caught her eye, but a very rough hand did grab her arm. "Ouch! Leave me, you rogue!" she screamed in pain when one of the four clenched his palm painfully around her wrist. She writhed and wriggled but to no avail, as the snickering boys continued to advance towards the fearful girls.

Adya didn't know what to do. The four had cornered them. Shreya was already trying to fight one while the other three had their dirty gazes locked on her breasts. For the first time in her life, she loathed herself and tried to hide by crossing her arms across her chest and looking away in disgust as a grimace crept up her soft features. Her spine hit the car's door behind and her shoulders nudged with the frantic Shreya's, who was busy trying to kick the assaulter in the groin.

In a flash, much to everyone's surprise, three cars came rushing down from their left while one was approaching from the right. The medley of headlights from both directions caused everyone to squint and shut their eyes, but when the vehicles stopped fifty feet away from them with deafening screeches, the boys had already jumped backwards in trepidation.

And they began trembling at their spots when they saw the very furious, the raging, and the very incensed crowned prince alight the vehicle with seven others in tow on their left. The car on the right had stopped a certain distance away and the engine was killed but no other movements could be discerned.

Adya and Shreya heaved sighs of relief and wiped the moisture on their cheeks and the perspiration on their foreheads.

The four lads were supremely scared of facing the outrage of the frenetic lion now almost growling at them. The way he glared at the four was sufficient for them to go up in flames. So, they scampered away after bowing deep and muttering apologies at an increased pace. Suyash Singh and Jagjeevan Singh were about to grab hold of them by their collars and punish them accordingly, but a wave of dismissal from Aarush halted them.

Once their footsteps stopped echoing in the emptiness of the highway, Adya's shoulders slumped and she cast an unsure glance at her brother. He was breathing unevenly while glowering at Shreya, who was deftly avoiding his gaze by gaping at her feet. 

The princess gulped and commenced taking unsure steps towards her brother as moisture dampened her eyes again. "Thank God you are here. I was so scared."

He didn't pay any attention to her and rather, with a show of hand, commanded her to stay where she was. Instead, his dark, seething asperity was solely directed towards the girl loitering a couple of steps behind the princess. "I assumed you are a mature individual, capable of discerning right from wrong, and competent enough to understand the intricacies of power politics. Especially when you and I already had a detailed conversation regarding the same merely hours ago." Disappointment flashed across his rugged features. "Accept my gratitude, Miss Awasthy. I stand corrected."

Shreya opened her mouth to provide an explanation, delineate all the events from the harrowing evening, and convey the displeasure Adya experienced every time someone tracked her every move. But the young princess beat her to it.

"It's not her fault," Adya nearly screamed out of exasperation, desperation, and anxiety as her enlarged orbs shimmered with unshed tears. "I went away because I was feeling so... so suffocated. Living in that palace. With no one else to give me company. You are always so busy with work, and I just wanted a few moments of freedom. That's all. I... I... She's not at fault."

Utter silence befell the moments following her declaration, and Shreya slapped her forehead, correctly surmising what could be the next course of action by the prince. And much to her chagrin, she was absolutely and unwaveringly correct in her judgment.

"Sit in the car."

A tone so cold, so detached, and so crude that Shreya froze at her spot, the chilliness permeating through her bones and pervading across her heart. A heavy weight settled in the air, the tension from which percolated through the parched atmosphere, scattering far and wide.

"Bhai... let me explain." Adya shivered when the icy cold stare was directed at her, and she ended up tucking her hair behind her ears as her eyes welled up more. Ducking her head down, she mumbled, "I was just feeling too suffocated in the pa—"

"Sit in the car," he looked away, "Princess Adya."

His tonality was so calm that Adya knew it was as forced as the feeble smile on his face. Yet she wished he would lend an ear to her so that the guest would not have to bear the brunt and nor would she be misunderstood by her brother. "But you are not listening to me." She sniffled. "Shreya did nothing. It was me who—"

"I said, and don't make me repeat it again, sit in the car."

Her lips quivered. In her entire twenty years of existence, she had never been on the receiving end of his ire. Mollycoddled she had been throughout, loved and pampered thoroughly by the brother, and for the first time in her twenty years of existence, she comprehended why everyone was so afraid of him. The frigidity in his cadence, the iciness of his demeanour, the clenching of his jaws, and the vein throbbing on his forehead—he was only superficially composed. And he was not even looking at her.

Shock and grief were the only two things she could feel. She chose to comply as hurriedly as her shaking legs allowed, sliding into the backseat, the door to which was held open by Aarush's secretary. Once the door was slammed shut, a barrage of tears broke, and she was unable to control her sobs.

Aarush heard the soft wails emanating from her mouth, and his gaze hardened before landing on the other girl fidgeting with her phone. "Did you get your phone from an antique store?"

She bit her tongue upon comprehending the derision behind the snarky remark. "Yes, it's the same store you got your anger from. Old, bland, and boring."

He despised the recklessness she always exhibited around him, and his irritation peaked. More so when she continued dawdling and showed no signs of walking up to the vehicle. "Should I present you with a garlanded invitation, Miss Awasthy? Or do you need a palanquin to cover the rest of the distance?"

She cast an accusing glare at him, refusing to back down under the pressure of his hostility and frenzied wrath. "You needn't be so mean with her. We just had one bad experience after the other, and you—"

"And that's the reason she is encapsulated with so much security. To keep her safe and prevent the said bad experience."

She licked her lips, her gaze darting back and forth between the sobbing mess that Adya had become inside the car and her raging, furious brother who couldn't stop tapping his feet on the ground while his hands were on his hips in a gesture of sheer impatience. A languid gait from her side resulted in her edging closer to the prince. "I will sit in this car only if you agree to my demands."

Taken aback he was due to the absurdity of her response and the audacity she exhibited after so much had transpired. "Pardon?"

The way he scowled at her should've been enough to dissuade anyone from making any 'demands'. However, she had strangely become a bit too immune to the rash behaviour of the man. Quirking her brows, she crossed her arms across her chest and shrugged her shoulders. His shallow breath and the ragged respiration were enough tell-tale that he was losing control, and that made her prouder of herself, if possible. She began humming tunes under her breath and peeking at her painted fingernails.

All the employees of the crowned prince gaped at the scene unfolding in front of their eyes with their mouths almost agape. Somehow, when it came to the girl, the man always managed to give in to the situation when everyone present at the spot knew how impatient and short-tempered the crowned prince could be.

He took another deep breath. "What is it?"

She cast a suspicious glance at Suyash Singh and ambled closer to the prince. With her brows furrowed, she said, "I will only whisper in your ears. I don't want anybody listening in to our private conversation."

He huffed. "What?"

She clicked her tongue. "Now we are not getting late?"

He gritted his teeth. "Tell me."

"In your ears!" She watched him keenly for a few seconds, noticing how he looked away, scoffed frequently, and glowered at her but did not heed her request. Left with no other option, she yanked at the fabric of his shirt and pulled him closer, muttering feverish whispers into his ears and not discerning the paleness of his skin as lines of substantial anger decorated his forehead.

Suyash Singh was at the point of losing sentience at the amount of liberty the girl was taking with the crowned prince. Since that morning. He was swaying at his spot as he saw stars form in front of his vision, and only a firm hold by Jagjeevan Singh helped the man keep standing on his two feet.

Only when she was satisfied with her long list of demands did she step back and beamed. She didn't even let the frigidity of his countenance affect her in any way as she went back to humming tunes under her breath and glimpsing at her fingernails.

Until the absolute silence stretched for longer than necessary, and she peered at him. Sharp tingles rushed down her spine when she saw the ferocity in his gaze and the way his eyes had darkened considerably with the suppressed aggression that would've landed on the person placing such weird orders had it not been Shreya Awasthy in front of him. And she was well aware of it. And she was proud of herself.

He raked his palms over his face and muttered curses under his breath. "No woman, to date, has been as difficult to handle as you are, Miss Awasthy."

She smacked her lips and simpered. "Tell me something I don't know. Say it!"

His jaws clenched harder. "Your mouth is not a garbage can."

She tapped her feet. "And?"

When casting his infamous deathly stares at her didn't deter her, he could only roll his eyes. "Your mouth is a pot full of honey, and you only have nice and wise things to say."

"And?" she sang.

He quavered with fury coursing through every cell in his body. "I should seek advice from you to handle my outlandish temper." He gnashed his teeth. "Are we done?"

She flipped her hair and batted her lashes. "Tell me I am prettier than Meera."

His nose flared, and he took a step back. "Jagjeevan Singh! We are going back to Suryagarh. The American citizen can find her way to the fort by the crack of dawn."

She gasped and held his arm. "You brute Princey! You rude Princey! Will you seriously leave me here? All by myself? What if the goons come back? And what if they harass your esteemed guest? Especially when the said guest is only going to be here for three more days."

He let out an exasperated and exhausted sigh. "Miss Awasthy, it has been a really long day for me, and it's past midnight. It will take us twenty minutes to get back home, and I have to get up early in the morning. I don't know about you, but I would really like to catch on some sleep. If you don't mind, kindly get in the car."

She pouted and shuffled her feet. "Fine," she said, but her eyes lit up with joy. "But I have one last demand."

"What the fu..." He chomped down on his lips and huffed. "At your service."

She forwarded her phone to him. "Click my picture," she gestured at the intricately decorated boundary wall to a temple erect behind her, "in front of that."

He knew she was doing it deliberately. Just to irk him. The smirk on her lips and the glee in her eyes gave it away. Despite being extremely tired, disgruntled, and annoyed with the girls, he was strangely amused by the glimmer in her brown orbs.

Suyash Singh leapt to the duo. "Yes, madam. I will click your picture."

Shreya didn't bother taking her gaze off the man scowling at her. Biting her nails, she wagged the phone in front of him as innocently as she could feign. "Aarush can do it, can't you, Princey?"

Suyash Singh's breathing turned ragged as his gaze darted back and forth between the wrathful prince and the ignorant commoner. A quivering mess that he had become due to the girl's demands, he was on the verge of an emotional outburst again. "I will click it for you, madam."

"No." Shreya giggled. "I will go home only if Aarush clicks my pictures."

"It's not the protocol, madam," Suyash Singh cried and whimpered. Addressing the royal with his palms joined, he whispered, "Your Highness, I requested her not to ask you—"

"Oh, forget it." Aarush scrunched up his nose and snatched the phone the smirking girl was forwarding to him. "Move a couple of steps back," he muttered. "The lighting here is," he grimaced, "not that good."

"Your Highness!" Suyash Singh was a moment away from fainting and collapsing as he wobbled at his spot. "Twice in the same day!"

"Suyash Singh!"

The harsh reprimand forced the turban-wearing man to cower, whine, and back away, slinking into the shadows, and leaving the girl and the prince with only the mobile device between them.

"Clickity click." She beamed and placed her hands on her hips as she hopped back towards the facade. "And make sure you get my profile, okay? My profile—"

"Looks better in photos." He grunted. "I know."

***

Author's Note:

I will try to make up for not updating this past week, but the next chapter has me all excited and blushing 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.