Swarnima was in love with her king. She was shy. She won't tell him nor will she look at him.
Abhedya kept sending signals but his reticent protector ignored him. Abhedya had seen her after a day and this girl was ignoring him. 'Fine!! Challenge accepted miss protector' Abhedya threw a challenge to himself.

The royal family with their protectors left for the legislative assembly. Swarnima was driving Abhedya along with two security guards in their car leaving no scope for romance. But, the new King was different. He was Romeo. He kept passing signals and comments to gain the attention of his 'flame' but failed miserably.

Swarnima was finding it hard to resist but she was angry too. Abhedya was strictly trained to behave and follow the code of conduct but it looked like the training was a total waste. They will become a topic of gossip if he kept this flirting going on.

When they entered the gates of the legislative assembly building Abhedya was escorted to a room where a dark blue three-piece Ermenegildo Zegna suit was ready for him to change. The cuffing of the suit was studded with diamonds. He wore his Montblanc time walker e-strap, black Oxford shoes, his favourite Gucci guilty intense, gelled his hair and he looked perfect.

Abhedya sat down on the chair and inhaled deeply. He had met the council several times but today he will be meeting other important ministers too and he was nervous. A knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts. He answered "come in" and Swarnima who changed into a similar dark blue Tom Ford pantsuit came in and asked, "are we ready kunwar sa?" Abhedya nodded without looking at her.

"Nervous?" Swarnima asked.
"Why do you care? You just ignore." Abhedya complained.
Swarnima smiled at the child in front of her. She scooted down so that she could look at him. 'Oh my!! He looks devilishly handsome. He is up for killing every single female out there.' Swarnima found it hard to not stop staring at him.
"You know I do care. You are the last person anyone can ignore. See..." Swarnima gave an iPad to Abhedya which showed the trend list on Twitter.
#swarnbhoomicoronation
#PrinceAbhedya
#marrymeAbhedya
#royalgaurd

"Someone is trending," Swarnima commented standing up.

"This makes me more nervous. What if I don't live up to everyone's expectations? What if my impulsiveness destroys everything? What if..." Swarnima put her hand on Abhedya's lips to quiet him.

She made him stand up and said, "what if, you do wonders beyond everyone's expectations? What if, your impulsiveness channelises positive outcomes? What if, you just go there and conquer everyone's heart as you have always. Just trust yourself. If you can't do that... just trust me then. I have complete faith, trust and I lo.... umm... everything will be good." Swarnima was about to confess but it wasn't the correct time.

She opened the gate for Abhedya but he shut it back. He pinned her to the door, looked straight into her eyes and said,  "TRUST precedes LOVE and LOVE  is a fruit of FAITH. Right?" Swarnima nodded in 'yes'. "The only word missing in your dialogue today is LOVE!! You trust me, you have faith in me and you love me too. I know... those eyes tell me everything SONA." Abhedya smiled as he addressed his 'dulcinea' with her love name... SONA.
Swarnima could not stop the tear that rolled down but Abhedya caught the pearl that was about to hit the ground near her chin. She smiled at his antique. "Swarnima... come in..."
the walky-talky was buzzing.
"Panda is ready... over"
"Alert mode on... Panda on his way... over and out." The voice from the other end said.

"PANDA? You guys are calling me panda? Why?" Abhedya questioned in surprise.
Swarnima giggled and revealed, "because... you look cute."

"Cute??!!! Ewwww... I look anything but cute." Abhedya combed his already combed hair with his hand and stepped out.

"Don't spoil your hair." Swarnima scolded him and he rolled his eyes. Six-Armed security men walking ahead, behind and on sides of Abhedya and Swarnima. After crossing a long path they reached the assembly gate. Abhedya inhaled deeply and walked in with confidence as the members of the legislative assembly rose in the honour of their king.

He took the seat assigned to the King and the speaker welcomed him with a speech. Several speeches followed after that. Abhedya tried hard to focus but he was bored. All the ministers repeated the same thing. History of Swarnbhoomi, their family and then appreciating him.
What has he done to receive praises? He has not done a thing for his state as such and is only here because he was born in a royal family. The one who actually deserves all the praises and appreciation was "Swarnima!"
Abhedya spoke aloud.
The entire assembly was quiet. His family and Eklavya smiled to cover up. They knew how crazy Abhedya was for Swarnima but interrupting the speeches and calling 'Swarnima' was unacceptable. Arya could not hide his laughter. He went down under the table to laugh. Nivi joined him there. Both the brothers covered their mouths to avoid sounds of their laughter from coming out. Swarnima had no clue what to do. How to deal with the craziness of the King was not taught to her. She just bent her head and asked very softly, "yes kunwar sa, you need something?"

"Can I say YOU?" Abhedya whispered but he loved the crimson colour of her cheek. Abhedya's gaze shifted to his father whose expressions told him to handle the situation... NOW!

"SWARNIMA, is the name you should all be appreciating. She is the one who has guarded and kept the state and it's heir safe. You all have I guess forgotten to mention her.
No worries we can do that now...Consider this your viva... and let's see who can speak without a prepared speech... uh... Miss Mansi Rawat, I know you can. Please start."

Mansi's face went pale but she masked a smile and started speaking. While speaking about the state and Swarnima, Mansi realised she was wrong all the time when she was rude and mean to Swarnima after she got to know her real identity. The girl with no motive but the state's welfare sacrificed her childhood and adulthood for their state. Her entire family was a true epitome of patriotism and sacrifice. By the end of Mansi's speech, most of the members of the assembly were in tears. There was a thunderous round of applause and the assembly roared with "long live Swarnima... long live Swarnima"

The loudest clap came from Eklavya. To see your student receive much-deserved credit and appreciation is a proud moment in every teacher's life.
The overwhelming gesture of the assembly and her king only allowed a bow from her as a 'thank you'. She couldn't say or do anything more.

After a few more speeches which included Swarnima, Eklavya and Abhedya in it, now. The time for the formal oath-taking ceremony came. It will be covered and telecasted on television and digital platforms.

Eklavya came to the centre stage and Abhedya joined him there.
"I ABHEDYA RAJVANSHI swear in the name of God/solemnly affirm that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the state of SWARNBHOOMI and Constitution of INDIA as by law established, that I will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of the State, that I will faithfully and conscientiously discharge my duties as the KING  and that I will do right to all manner of people by the Constitution and the law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will."

Swarnima was called to the centre stage for the oath-taking ceremony.
"I SWARNIMA ARYAVANSHI having been appointed as the protector of the King of SWARNBHOOMI, do solemnly swear/ affirm that I will support and defend the King and the State  against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God."

The state anthem followed by the national anthem, sung by the choir and everyone present in the assembly.

The next step was the royal carriage ride to the palace. For that Abhedya again had to change his clothes. He was escorted to the same room and a group of stylists were waiting for him. They bow in front of him and asked him to pick a dress.
"Everyone please wait outside the King needs 20minutes." Swarnima requested the stylists and they waited outside.

"Thank you." Abhedya lie down on the bed. He was very tired and emotionally drained.

"Thank me after you eat this." Swarnima opened a tiffin and Abhedya got up to the smell immediately.

"Wow!! Rajma-rice, paratha and pizza? What a combination!! I am famished!! You are a saviour." Abhedya sanitised his hands and sat down to eat. Swarnima was standing there staring at him.

"What? You can share it if you want. Don't cast an evil eye on my food." Abhedya's mouth was full.
Swarnima smiled and lowered her gaze. "I am here to protect you not cast an evil eye." She took a pizza slice and ate it.

"The taste is the same as we had in..."
"Dehradun" Swarnima completed for him and Abhedya nodded.
"Amma, Eklavya's wife has come to Swarnbhoomi to take on her duty as the royal chef. You will be treated with her scrumptious food every day. All the cooking I know is because of her. I never met her but read her recipes and spoke to her on the phone if I didn't understand a process. The trick was, if the prince liked the food cooked by me, he will love her food." Swarnima informed Abhedya.

"You guys had everything planned!! Superb. But actually superb is this lady.. she cooks perfectly." Abhedya praised Eklavya's wife.

After a quick meal, Abhedya chose a dress and his stylists started working on their already suave and good looking king. Abhedya was to wear a Sherwani and he chose a red and golden one for himself. The work done on the sherwani was in pure zardozi. He was asked to wear a matching turban. Abhedya was chanting 'just a day, tomorrow will be a regular day' to calm himself down. Little did he know tomorrow will be the day that will change his life forever.

Swarnima came to his room and she also changed her dress to a blue coloured Angrakha with a red piping and a matching turban. She had a sword in her hand and she looked like a fighter ready to kill anyone who comes close to her king.

"Kunwar sa, it's about timmm... what have you done?" Swarnima shouted in shock when she saw Abhedya. Who turned to the mirror and shouted in surprise. "Who is this? It's not me!! I look like vanilla ice cream."

"Kunwar sa, don't freak out. Everyone likes fair people and we just enhanced your already cream skin tone." The stylist explained himself.

"Dismiss now," Swarnima ordered their stylist.
"What? Why? He looks gorgeous." The stylist argued.

"Didn't you hear her? Out... NOW!" Abhedya was angry. The stylist gathered his stuff and left the room.

Swarnima quickly grabbed some cotton balls and made Abhedya sit on the chair in front of the mirror. She cleared the layers of foundation the stylist applied to Abhedya.

"People still are bothered about skin tone? Such a shame!" Abhedya commented.

"I am shocked too. I mean you already are so fair... to make you look more 'fair', he made you look like a... what did you say, vanilla ice cream." Swarnima started laughing while cleaning his face.

Abhedya frowned but her laughter was magic. He could paint himself like a clown if she laughs. He closed his eyes so that he could fit the sound of her laughter in his mind permanently.

A knock on the door stopped Swarnima's laughter and she went to open the gate.
" stop romancing guys!! You are late." Maan's comment shocked them.

"Maan you too? They painted Kunwar sa with layers of foundation. I was just melting the vanilla icecream they prepared." Swarnima laughed again at her joke.

Maan and Abhedya looked at her and then each other. The girl laughing didn't even know what she spoke.
"Very well then. Keep melting your ice cream I will make an excuse outside." Maan winked Abhedya and left after closing the door.

"You know you are stupid." Abhedya had a red hue on his face and Swarnima furrowed her brows in confusion. Abhedya gave away his restraint and pulled her down. She was now sitting on his lap facing him. A decent distance between the two was dying to diminish. "You wanted to melt 'this' vanilla ice cream? Trust me SONA you don't have to put efforts to do that. Your one look and I melt like the lava. You have that power over me." Swarnima was lost in Abhedya's words. As it is from the time he has addressed her as SONA again she was on an emotional bungee. Happy and sad. Happy for all reasons but her inability to revert his feelings was making her sad.

Abhedya wrapped his free hand on her back and pulled her even closer to finally collide their bodies. As if in a trance, Abhedya was inching closer and Swarnima could not stop him or did not want to stop him, anymore, now.
When Abhedya's lips touched her cheek, her eyes bulged out of their socket. Realisation dawned and she looked at him with shock, puzzle and 'love'.
The colour of her eyes was a shade Abhedya had never seen probably because they were experiencing this closeness and intimacy for the first time.
Her body and mind were lightening up like a pinball machine. There was a blood rush to her vagina. Her heart rate and breathing rate speeded up. She immediately came out of his grip and stood up.

"I... I... I... have done my pa... paar... part. Please umm... I am waiting outside." Swarnima stammered and practically ran out of the room.

'Shit!! Shit!! Idiot!! Moron!! Why I can't resist myself when she is around!! God!! How am I supposed to run the state when a walking temptress is around me all the time. I can't even concentrate. Her eyes with lenses captivated me, now, she has removed them. How will I break her spell? Hell! I won't. I don't want to.' Abhedya was talking to himself and getting ready simultaneously to divert his attention from his 'enchanter'.

Nandini came in to check what took Abhedya so long. But when she saw her son she put kohl from her eye at the back of his ear and kissed his forehead.

"Kunwar sa, what took you so long? I hope your 'protector' is taking good care of you?" Pri had her arm around Swarnima when she teased Abhedya.

"She is the one casting spells bhui. I need to be careful." Abhedya winked at his bhui and the women in the room were left speechless. Swarnima wanted to knock Abhedya down for that super cheesy, cute, savage and all love comment. But why in front of everyone.
She couldn't knock him down but could she dig the earth and hide? Her frame was small.. she could. She was looking at the ground as if the hole she wanted to dig will dig on its own.

"Aww look at her she is blushing. I need to put a sight spot on her too." It was Nandini who remarked and put some kohl behind Swarnima's ear.

The walky-talky signalled that the royal carriage was ready.

Pri applied tilak to Abhedya and he sat on the royal carriage.
The rest of the royal family followed behind in cars. The carriage was to be ridden by Eklavya  and Swarnima walked in front of it. There were security guards all around the carriage and the royal families cars. Top-notch security arrangements were ensured and Maan had his sharp eyes at every point.

Before the journey to the palace could begin Swarnima pulled out her sword and pointed at a security guard, shocking everybody.
"Eklavya guard Kunwar sa...
Bend down and hands behind your head. One movement and I will knock your head instantly." Maan and the police officers came to the spot.
The security guard gave a wicked smile and exclaimed, "you are smarter than we thought but you have to pay now!!" He pressed a button on the chain he had around his neck and...

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Dear Readers
Swarnima's eyes gave her story and stole Abhedya's words.
Cliffhanger?!! Sorry. coronation deserves a little action and drama.

Stay hooked!
Lots of love