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Abhinandan POV

It was the day I was waiting for not-so-patiently.

I hated stars now, too, because I knew they would betray me. Everyone was doing the same. It was like an end that seemed near and certain, and the people were choosing sides. My family had already declared it towards my enemy, my former best friend. The friend with whom I had shared everything related to my teenage life; I even trusted him enough to allow him to walk into my Kingdom.

I was seventeen when he stepped into Mahabaleshgarh with me. I invited him—my first ever biggest mistake. The day was still as clear as the pond's water, my hand waving in.

It was just a dining thing. My parents seemed sceptical about it, but I assured them he had no enmity towards us. Now, they rightly blamed me because I earned their trust, too, to let Rudra have a family. He made me believe it. He never talked about parental history. And it was the second biggest mistake of my life: seeing what he wanted me to see.

He left the next day after dinner, and our friendship grew even more vital. He would come to meet me often, and knowing how the King of Suryagarh, Surgami Dev Singh, was treating him widened the hole of sympathy in my heart for him.

Sympathy: I would never have sympathy for anyone. There are specific rules to live. And I would follow them. I would hang all the culprits to death and protect the innocents when I came into power.

Power was all that I needed to remove my prime enemy. Rudra Dev Singh.

And it was time for the show.

"Yuvraj, the soldiers are ready," An informer's voice caught my attention. He had his head bent forward.

"Let's go," I decided, stood up, and walked towards the main exit of the Kingdom. My horse and the troop of soldiers were waiting for me.

I climbed my horse and kicked him a little to get him moving. The soldiers followed me behind as we marched towards the decided place. I wanted to avoid catching everyone's attention by implementing my plan in Pratapgarh. It belonged to my father after he won it from my mother's brother, Abhidev Pratap Singh, before their marriage.

I knew little about their marriage, but I had an idea that they did not like each other for quite some time, even after their wedding. Even my mother used to call him an animal often.

They have a great bond. It was like completing each other. I wanted something like this for my sister, Nandani. I knew everyone called her smarter and braver than me. But, the truth was she was only outspoken, and I was not.

People are always in a hurry. They believe what they see, what they are told, and what they do. No one tries to verify if it's true or not, if it's genuine or not. My parents fought a lot. They had different opinions and serious conversations; sometimes, they would drag their past into it, too. But deep down, they always understood each other and stood together, which was beautiful.

Knowing that a person has more to say than he speaks is genuine. Nobody understood me because I never talked much. Nandani always speaks. Always. She always had to say what she wanted, what she did not like and what she expected others to do for her.

Maybe that's why she had a story to tell, to convince others, and I was charged with the sins.

But be it as it was. I did not care who hated, loved, or considered me a culprit.

I was the victim. People betrayed me. Everyone could have forgiven Rudra for what he did, but I would never. Even if it was love between Rudra and Nandani, he was still the culprit of mine. He betrayed me.

Speaking of betrayals, I had recently received one more from the person I least expected from. Trisha.

I hated her. She lied to my face.

I asked her if my father sent her, and she lied. Now, I understood why a friend who was long gone suddenly appeared. It was my father's plan, and she agreed to participate. I wondered how much of the gold my father showered on her for this. Maybe she would use it for her wedding. Her dowry, perhaps.

She was planted as a calculated distraction. My father knew I had no woman around me; seeing an old one would make my heart wrench and soften. I hated him even more. He did not dare to speak to my face, so he did this.

What kind of father does this to his children?

I could understand he was happy with Rudra being his Son-in-law, but why was he targeting me? What did he want from me? I was not his hurdle. He was a king, and everything was going fine. Why would he bring Trisha back into my life?

Five years ago, before leaving Gurukul, I had made up my mind that she was a good friend of mine despite contradictions blooming in my heart. I accepted it. It was wrong back then to have different feelings, not lusty or greedy, but different. Different from friendship. I longed to stay near her, hear what she had to say and help her with her work. Seeing her burn in the fields for months, milk the buffalos, cook, wash, clean, ached my heart. In the first year of my Gurukul, I had never found her sleeping, resting, or eating. I did not know what her time was to do all these things.

I was young, maybe childish, and when I talked to my mother, she told me it was just sympathy. I believed that. I felt hurt for her. I wanted her to have comfort like my sister had all her life, like my grandmother, mother, and the women in the Kingdom. They talked, shared the work, sang, laughed, and enjoyed themselves.

But, no more. I cared for her; in return, she cared for the King.

Holi was the day I met her, and I was sure it would last forever in my life because I could not stand and breathe the same air as her.

After all, she was Rudra's sworn sister. Betrayal was in their upbringing.

"We have reached." the head of the Pratapgarh's army, Ashwin, told me.

I inhaled deeply and stepped down from the horse. Everything was done here for my comfort: the tents, the soldiers, and the weapons.

"A troop of soldiers will go near the Suryagarh's border to threaten Rudra. Bait him to come here and bring him to me," I ordered, walking towards my tent. It was late evening, and it might have taken a day for everything to be done, including what I ordered.

Trisha's thoughts were the last thing I wanted. But, as I lay on the bed, she was the first to invade my nightly visions. I could not settle on her decision to wedding. I did not like Shantanu. I told her, and she spoke of my place. I had no say in her marriage.

Why?

The other part of my brain was feeling happy about her marriage. After what she did to me, she deserved to be burned for the rest of her life. Farm, cook, clean, wash, milk, and stay as a maid.

I inhaled deeply.

Where the hell life had brought me? How could I think of this for my family and friends?

I closed my eyes and recalled my heart. If they had ever considered me family or friends, they would never have done this to me in the first place.

I was alone, through and through. I knew the purpose of my life after so long. To avenge the biggest betrayal of my life. And tomorrow, I will do it. I would forgive my parents, family, Trisha, and even Nandani. But not Rudra. And, then, it would be over. They could get my forgiveness, but they lost their Abhinandan. He was dead.

It was hard for me to sleep. The time I had spent with Rudra, Trisha, and my family was constantly replaying in my mind.

The first thing I did the following day was receive a letter from the head stating that they had successfully captured Rudra. And, to top it all off, he was alone. A tiny smile appeared on my lips. I would do what my father could not do.

I had a happy meal after so long. And after that, it was time for some warm-up. I had three rounds of advanced fencing with the best of my soldiers, followed by one-to-one wrestling. And, to wait for him, I begin push-ups.

I have been working on my body for the last two years, and it has begun showing results in the previous two months. I have gained muscle strength and, most importantly, confidence and purpose.

It was about to be a thousand when I noticed Trisha walking towards me. I could not lose my sanity today over betrayers.

"I need to talk to you," she exclaimed, and I ignored her. "I am busy," I stated, walking into the tent for a glass of water. I did not expect her to follow me, but she did. My anger was hanging on a thin thread, and I did not want to say things that would hurt her. I chose to shut my mouth by filling it with large sips of water, half of which flowed down my naked chest.

"Please, just for a while," she stepped around. My eyes widened when she stumbled upon a stone and fell to her knees. My hand immediately went for her hand.

"Trisha!" my voice was loud and unwantedly caring.

"Ahh," she cried, and I saw the blood on the skirt near her knee.

I held her shoulder to help her stand up. But, she could place her feet on the floor. It was brutal, and I inhaled a sharp breath. We did not have a physician here. She began crying.

"Annhh, oucchhh, my feet," her voice trembled and I tried to make her walk to the bed.

Her fingers trembled, and I could feel how much it hurt her.

She placed her hand on my shoulder as I lowered myself to my knees to hold her feet. Her face reddened, and the slow screams sounded painful.

"It will twist your ankle, okay?" I tried to say, and she shook her head.

"No, nooo, nooo. Ahhhhh, it's painful. Do not touch," her words made me gulp.

"There is no physician here. Trust me, I can do it," I tried to convince them, and she cried even more. Her eyes turned red, too.

"It will hurt," I told her beforehand and touched her feet. She flinched, pulling it back, but I gently caressed it. Her bone was dislocated.

I cupped her feet and tried to find the place of dislocation. She was shaking. It had already begun swelling. I felt terrible for her.

I found and looked at her face. She would have gotten stiff if I had told her beforehand, so I tried to distract her a little.

"You know, I hate you so much," I said, and she looked into my eyes, her lips quivering.

And I quickly twisted her feet back.

"Aaaaaaaaannnnhhhhhhhhh, Yuvraj," she screamed and broke into more cries.

"Annhhhh, aaaouuchhhhhhh, Ahhhh," her voice trembled even more, but I had to do one more twist.

"I am sorry. I did not want to hurt you. I did not feel it was right to tell you that your father called me," she muttered, and I took my chance to twist her ankle again.

"Aaannnnhhhhhhhhhh, Oh my God! Annhhhhhhhh," her voice was so sweet that, for a moment, I wondered how she would sound while moaning.

"Annhhhh," she inhaled deeply, and I lowered my gaze. It was inappropriate to think like that.

"Anhh," her breath was shaky, and she rolled her toes, testing her ankle.

"It's good now," she muttered, looking into my eyes.

"He cares for you, Yuvraj. Hate me as much as you want, but your father needs you," she muttered, and I clenched my jaw.

"I do not want to hear this. Leave," I said, standing up. She stood on her feet, too, but she was still trembling a little.

"Please, listen to me for once. He thought that I am a good friend of yours so I could convince you,"

"Convince me how?" I immediately turned to look at her.

More tears fell from her eyes.

"Anyhow," she muttered. "A father pleaded with me to convince his son. He was not a King that time," she said, and I stepped closer to her. She took a step back. She was dancing on my last nerve.

"Convince me? What was your plan? How low did you agree to go to convince his son to return?" I asked, and she blinked nervously.

"Anything. Because it's for the best for him, to you and the people,"

"People?" I cut her off. "Or for you?" I asked. "How much did he agree to pay you to do this? I would be interested in becoming a distraction for me, to play exactly like a woman. What did he ask you? To seduce me?" I asked, and she gritted her teeth and pushed me away.

"You know what?" she replied in anger. "You deserve this," she muttered, and I inhaled sharply as she walked past me.

I immediately held her hand and pulled her back. Her eyes widened with shock before she began to struggle to get rid of my hand.

"Your knee is bleeding. I am going out. This is cotton, and you must bandage it before leaving," I said, picking the white cotton cloth from the bed. It was clean. I gently pulled her to sit on the bed while she let the tears roll down her cheeks.

I also sat down on the bed beside her and palmed my face.

"I am sorry. But I hate you, too. You were the last person I was expecting this from. Everyone chose their sides, and you happen to be standing against me while pretending to be my friend," I exclaimed, inhaling a deep breath as she fidgeted on the cloth.

"I did not pretend. I did care for you, but also for the King," she replied, looking into my eyes with a teary gaze, and I looked away.

I could not see tears in her eyes.

Standing up, I walked away to leave the tent already. It might not seem good.

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