THE DARK FATED KANYA

CHAPTER 17

Arjun returned to his tent, after checking on the man and the security of the camp. He was not surprised to find Chandrika there, changing the decorations of his tent a bit. He had noticed the saddened face of hers, when all of his brothers were complementing her intelligence while he himself hadn't uttered a single word about it. He had guessed then and there, that she would do something like this for gaining his attention.

"So," he started. "What brings the Eminent Princess of Angdesh here and what makes her take so much pain for this mere human?"

Chandrika could almost see the sarcasm dripping in his tone. She just smiled to herself, while continuing to arrange a new set of flowers in the vase near his bed.

"Well," she continued, "The thing is that this mere human standing here is none other than my Kakashree Arjun. So taking a little bit of pain for him seems nothing to me."

She just won't budge, right? That's the second thing reminding me of... of Bhrata Karn. His talent of speech has completely been imbibed by her, thought Arjun to himself.

"Any problem, Pradhan Senapati?" asked Chandrika, with fake confusion. "You seem lost somewhere."

"Of course not, Your Highness... I am absolutely fine... You can carry on with your work... I'll wait here till you finish with your work and find it fit enough to leave," replied Arjun, in the same tone while making himself comfortable on the nearby diwan.

"That's a nice way to say: Get lost," Chandrika stated, raising a brow to Arjun who put on a fake shocked face and replied, "No... no, Rajkumari... Please don't say such things... How can this mere human dare to invite your wrath upon himself by uttering such words?"

Chandrika let out a light laugh and went on to settle herself beside Arjun. As soon as he tried to move a bit away from her, she grabbed his arm with both her hands and rested her chin on his shoulder, looking at him. Arjun just turned his face away to avoid looking at her as he knew that he would melt immediately by looking at her puppy face and large, innocent eyes. Chandrika sighed and turned her face, now her cheek resting on his shoulder.

"Mujhe kshama kar dijiye, Kakashree... I know I was wrong... I shouldn't have said such words to you."

"Don't ask for forgiveness... It has become a routine now... First, you say things that hurt me deeply and then you come and ask for forgiveness... It's a cycle that just goes on and on... And I know that it's never going to stop."

"Of course, it won't stop, Kakashree... I am a human who is prone to err... And in my case, I know that I do more errors than an average human does... But the one who learns from those errors is the one who moves towards perfection... And I have learnt my lesson thoroughly... Afterall, I am a shishya of Gandivdhari Arjun himself, aren't I?"

"Spending time with Madhav, you have also learned to butter people like him."

"I am not buttering you, Kakashree... I know I was wrong... I knew it the moment I said those words... And I won't justify them... So if you find my guilt worthy enough for forgiveness, you may say so... or else... I'll just... just take your leave."

Saying this, she got up and moved towards the flap of the tent.

"Wait," Arjun said, finally giving up his demeanour of anger. Though he was still hurt, but the ashen face of his darling hurt him more. He just went towards her, turned her towards himself and gave her a tight hug.

"I know, Kakashree, that you want me to be safe... You want to protect me from everything in this world... And you can go to any length to do that... Maybe because you lost all your children or because you consider yourself the reason for me and my brother becoming orphaned – "