✓ Fearless - Book 1 of The Rajkumari Trilogy

Chapter 26

Chapter 26
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All she could see was darkness.

A black, endless amount of darkness. 

But something wafted to her ears after a while. Voices. And it seemed as if the voices were far away and incoherent. By the passing minute, they started to get louder and clearer. It was a man... and a woman. And it sounded like they were arguing about something in hushed whispers. She began to recognize them.

"Will you keep quiet?" Suruchi hissed.

"You're the one who's creating all the ruckus here!" Dipankar argued quietly.

The elder sister opened her mouth to retort something when they heard a groan from the body beside them on the bed. The figure covered a hand over her eyes and mumbled something so low that they had to guess, but it suspiciously sounded like, "Will you two stop? Urgh, I have two stupid thick-headed bulls for siblings."

"Revati, how are you feeling?" Suruchi asked, concerned.

"Water..." she rasped, clearing her throat, feigning more raspiness than required.

Dipankar was quick to hand it to her. The queen sat up on the bed with some difficulty and gulped the water down greedily. She breathed out in content, wiping her lips with her cotton sleeve.

"What were you saying when you woke up?" Dipankar questioned lightly.

"I was asking you two to stop arguing." She told, making sure to leave out her second sentence.

"No, I mean next." Dipankar prompted.

"I just... uh... groaned." Revati lied with a slight trace of a grin.

"Sure, we believe you." Suruchi agreed in a monotone voice, her words sarcastic.

"But first, tell me what exactly happened. I remember killing Balla-" she stooped mid-sentence, widening her eyes. "Holy- I killed him didn't I?"

"Yes, you did." They confirmed, growing solemn.

I... killed him, and it was-

"For real. I really did it, we really did it," she finished her thought with relief but perked up again when remembered something, "But what about the soldiers, the women, the children... and what did you do with that beast's body?" Revati enquired.

"Calm down, sister. Everything is fine. The wounded are being taken care of, the children are joyfully playing in their homes. The dead king is covered with a white vastra, but I think he's still there." Dipankar assured her.

"But, uh, won't the corpse rot?" she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"The soldiers said they would keep it somewhere, somewhere isolated." Their eldest sibling replied, leaning against the wall. "Ballaraja had stabbed you in the side during your duel, and you passed out from the excessive bleeding. At first, you kept yourself up but after he was defeated, you relaxed and hence your body realized that you were tired and decided to pass out."

"Thank you for explaining the entire process, dear sister of mine." Revati thanked her dryly.

"And before you ask, we have done the same for the General but we will soon have a ceremony in his and our soldiers' honor."

"So... er, now what?" the brother asked the two girls.

"Let Revati rest-"

"No," she cut in, clearly displeased by her sister's proposal. "I want to be firm in what I will be doing next, only then will I rest. Maybe."