Ruthless Rulers of Rakshatra (RRR)

Chapter 37 - Gift

Abhyuday said, "Don't worry, no one will disturb us.  And You didn't doubt unnecessarily.  You were right in finding out the person who was injury on his shoulder".  Kalindi was confused by his answer when they heard the door from the tunnel getting opened again and the person who came out of the tunnel brought a shock to Kalindi as she was left speechless.

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There stood infront of her was another man who looked exactly like Bharath, with a metallic box in his hand.  He came near them and greeted them both and said, "Yuvraj, here is the thing you have asked me to bring from the Palace".  Saying that, he gave the lengthy box to Abhyuday and went to the room where Bharath was Kept.  Kalindi looked at the direction where he went off and Abhyuday pulled her chin towards himself.  Before she could ask anything, he said, "Now you know, why I said that your doubt on Bharath was right?".  He laughed lightly looking at her stunned face and then continued, "That was Laksh, twin brother of Bharath.  He was the one who got the shoulder injury by your knife.  And then he escaped through the tunnel to come here".  Kalindi questioned again, "But I had people dig up near the bushes, and still no tunnel was found as I suspected". 

Abhyuday replied while admiring her thoughtfulness, "Yes, you couldn't find it because the way to the tunnel is outside the palace compound.  And to come out of the compound, we have made a door on the compound wall itself, similar to the one inside the jewellery shop".  Kalindi made an 'Oh' face and thought about that day.  She also realised that Gopi was hiding all this while still helping them to search through the ground.  Thinking this her mood got sour and she asked with a bit of anger and hurt, "So you along with the people around you had fun by making me a fool.  Isn't it?".  Not waiting for him to answer her question, she turned around to walk away but felt a tug on her wrist.  She didn't turn back as she was feeling humiliated that he didn't inform her about the truth even after she shared her thoughts.  He back hugged her and said, "I'm sorry if you feel that I have made fun of you.  But trust me, no one knows about your doubts on Bharat except me and your maids.  And coming to Gopi, she couldn't reveal this place to you and at the same time, she couldn't disobey your orders.  That's why she was there doing whatever you asked her to do while not revealing the correct path to the tunnel".

He turned her around and caressed her cheek and said, "I will never do something that hurts or humiliates you in any way.  And I will neither be the reason for your pain nor will allow anyone to cause you pain.  If that happens then it means that I'm no more in this world".  Kalindi gasped and closed his mouth with her hand as she didn't want any of his words to become true.  Abhyuday removed her hand and chuckled while saying, "Why is my strong and smart wife crying over superstitious beliefs?  Just talking about death doesn't make it the truth".  Kalindi shook her head and said, "Its not a superstitious belief but the fear of the future where we have to live alone after losing our loved ones.  In the fraction of second, that unknown and painful future gave me the fear".   Abhyuday kissed her forehead and she hugged him by placing her head on his chest.  After a few minutes, he pulled her near the table where he kept the box delivered by Laksh.

Abhyuday gave the box to Kalindi and said, "Happy Birthday, my Yuvrani.  This is your birthday gift".  Kalindi, who was about to receive the box, got stunned by his words as she didn't expect anyone in Rakshatra to know about her birthday.  Moreover, she herself didn't remember about her birthday.  She stuttered, "T..Today is..".  While she was trying to remember the date, Abhyuday replied, "Today is the day of your birth star.  And your brother told me this little information before he left Krishakya".  Kalindi felt a little emotional thinking about her brother's concern as he was the one who always celebrated her birthday grandly, although her mother disapproved of women celebrating their birthday.  Her thoughts were broken by his voice, "Open your gift and see".  She proceeded to open the box with a small smile on her lips and once again got surprised that day.  Seems like a day full of surprises.

Kalindi took out the gift from the box and the sword gleamed under the sunlight.  Abhyuday smiled and said, "This is made specially for you.  I have ordered for this to be made, when you asked me to teach you sword fighting.  Coincidentally, your birthday also falls on this day.  So the gift has more significance".  Kalindi was still looking at the sword which had a golden handle with gems embedded on it in such a way that it won't prick the hand of the sword holder.  When she looked up to him, he was not beside her and she felt a tap from her back, only to face a sword pointed towards her.  Abhyuday stood infront of her with his sword in hand and a smirk on his face.

Kalindi heard him say, "Are you ready for the fight Yuvrani?".  He had already removed his upper cloth and jewels and stood only with his lower dhoti in a fighting stance.  Kalindi took up his challenge and took her stance as well since she wore clothes which was prepared for horse ride.  Kalindi was the one who attacked first and he defended himself from her attacks.  And the fight ended with Abhyuday's sword on Kalindi's neck while her hand with sword was held back by him.  They went on to fight for few more rounds and finally stopped when Kalindi felt tired.  They sat down on the chairs under the tree.  And then Abhyuday said,"You are not that bad in sword fighting.  Although you couldn't avoid my attacks and lost in all the rounds, you never dropped your sword".  Just then they heard another voice which said, "Yeah Yuvrani!  It's really commendable that you were able to retain your sword while fighting with the mighty Yuvraj". 

Yuvraj Abhyuday rolled his eyes at his best friend's comment.  Kalindi looked at him with a smile and said, "Good afternoon Bhai (Brother)".  Parth reciprocated with a smile and said, "Good Afternoon Bhabhi".  Parth went on to continue, "As I was saying bhabhi, Abhi has trained many people here but even after the years of practice, they couldn't retain the sword after five rounds of fight.  There is one exception which is your brother standing infront of you, who could withstand the fight without losing for even ten rounds.  And as a newcomer, you retaining your sword for almost seven rounds is really a commendable job".  Kalindi thanked him for his compliment and Abhyuday said, "Since you wished to learn sword fighting properly, you will train here along with the other people everyday or atleast whenever possible, considering that you might not be able to leave the Palace as frequently as me.  Parth or Gopi will always be here to train with you, when I am not available".  Kalindi agreed with his words and both of them bid bye to Parth.  Then Abhyuday took her back to the jewelry store leaving behind Parth. 

Once they returned back to the store, Kalindi asked, "So, that is the place where you leave early in the morning after waking up even before me Yuvraj?".  Abhyuday looked at her and nodded while saying, "Yes, I wake up early and finish my prayers and directly come here to train with them.  But not always.  Sometimes I do train in Sastrashala in our Palace along with the Soldiers of the Royal army".  She nodded in understanding and then frowned while asking, "What about the owner of the store? Wouldn't they leak out these secrets?".  Abhyuday walked her out of the room and went out of the shop to mount their horses.  Once Kalindi also mounted the horse, he said, "Look at the symbol of the shop".  Kalindi looked at the entrance of the shop to see a symbol of full sun with its rays all around.  Suddenly she remembered that the golden handle of the sword she received, also had the same symbol.  She looked at him and asked, "You know the owner?  Is that why you ordered the sword from here?".  He replied, "No, I'm the owner".  With that said, he turned around with the horse and also directed her horse to move as well, since Kalindi was still digesting the new information.

Glossary:
Maharaj - King
Maharani - Queen
Yuvraj - Crown Prince
Yuvrani - Crown Princess
Rajkumar - Prince
Bhai - Brother
Bhabhi - sister-in-law
Vaidh ji - Doctor
Chacha - Father's younger brother
Shastrasala - Godown of weapons with practice arena
Gurudev - Teacher

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Hi guys,

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Thanks,
SM.