His Hated Bride | √

12 | The Queen By The Sea

Vikrant :

I went and sat down beside her, looking at the sea.

"So, what is it?", I asked as I felt her placing her head on my shoulder. I looked at her as she shut her eyes.

"Nothing.", she lied.

"What happened to your hand?", she asked in concern.
"Ah nothing.. Just did too much of workout. Its okay, don't worry.", I replied as she placed her hand on my shoulder and caressed it with care.

I drew in a deep breath.
No. I couldn't hate her - my heart didn't allow me to anymore.

"Tell me Simran.", I said trying to sound as caring as I could, looking at her beautiful face.

She drew in a deep breath and then sat up right, looking at the waves hitting the shore.

"I want to tell you a story.", she said, she seemed much zoned out. As if she was mentally in some other place, while she physically sat with me.

"Tell me.", I said, watching her carefully.
Her eyes did not waver from the view of the sea as she begun.

"There was once a Queen. A Queen who ruled her own life — she had always done what she had wanted to. One day she met a King, and fell in love with him. The King too loved her, but he was from a far off land. So soon after he left for his land, after his engagement with the Queen... ", I was watching her as she narrated the story.

Her eyes were numb, her voice was slightly heavy, as if she had been crying.

I drew in a deep breath as I turned my gaze to the sea as well.

"After he went, they would talk to each other through letters. She loved him dearly, but he..", she paused as her voice broke, she gulped and continued, "He started feeling that she was cheating on him. Therefore he barged into her house one day to find her talking to a man. He thought his fear had come true, although that man was just the Queen's old friend."

"The King accused her of cheating.. He said he didn't and could never trust her. The Queen, hurt and broken, called off their marriage and decided to move on in life with someone else. But the King was not ready to let go of her so easily, so he started spreading lies and purposely lied to the person she wanted to move on with... ", she paused and looked at me.

" And now everyone believed that she was a cheater... What do you think she should do? ", she asked.

I sat back and drew in a breath.
Was this just a story?
Who knew.

I replied, "The Queen should fight the King."

"She didn't want to hurt him. They had always stood for each other.. How could she fight him?", she asked almost in rebellion.

"If a man can defame the woman he once claimed to love, he is nothing but a scumbag. That's damn fact. If you love someone, you will never be able to speak ill of that person or do anything to hurt her.", I replied.

Simran :

I looked at him.

He looked agitated, like he himself was angry with what had been done to the Queen.

I had to meet Prithvi and shout at him to leave me alone in my life and stop giving dumb interviews.
I didn't have the guts to face Suyash, the King I had just spoken of.

Love was a problematic thing.

"Vikrant..", I said as he looked at me.
It was involuntary.
I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly.

The kind of comfort I felt seemed to heal my bleeding wounds.

"Simran.. Is everything okay?", he asked as he placed his hand on my back, rubbing it softly.

I wanted to burst into tears and tell him everything, but no. I didn't know him well enough yet, and I didn't want to do the same mistake once again.

With Suyyash it was love at first sight, and that had ruined it all. From the happy and carefree Simran to this emotionally unstable Simran - was a result of it.

"I am fine. Was just craving for some care...", I said as he drew in a deep breath.

He drew in a deep breath.
I could hear him breathing, it seemed like he was calm, his heartbeats I could hear, they paced but not wildly.

Did he also feel this weird comfort?

No, he would never feel for me.
Of course not. He hates me.. But this.. The way he was slowly placing his hand on my back comforting me..

I just shut my eyes tightly and hugged him.

"Let's go home.. You have another meeting tomorrow.", he said as I released him, still close to him.

"How do you know?", I asked.
"Because I care.", my heart skipped a beat when he said this, "Now can I call the car?", he asked.

I nodded as I blinked off my tears.

There was a silvery glow surrounding us with the peaceful sound of the waves hitting the shore.

And I heard my heart beat again.

....

What do you think about Simran and Vikrant?
Lemme know in the comments!