𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗢𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶 𝗧𝗮𝗱𝗸𝗮: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐫𝐚 𝐎𝐟 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞

3.....dead?

The clouds hid the moon as the thundering flash of lightning indicated a heavy downpour soon. The striking force of lightning caused Bara to hug the horse from around its neck fully sticking to the brown creature who was running fast towards their destination which still seemed far away. They hadn't even entered the town yet.

"Allah ta'ala please abhi barish mat bhejiye ga. Allah please." Bara kept praying under her breath, her head hung low as she could feel a stinging pain in her stomach as the horse's saddle was poking her there due to her weird position of hugging it. Her eyes were closed wanting to reach the destination quickly and hug the life out of Wafaa and to slap her for leaving

her behind like this.

The horse suddenly halted following his owner's action of pulling on his reins. She heard him jump down as she slowly opened her eyes confused.

"Arrey, tum zinda ho? Mujhy laga phir sy behosh ho gai." He joked again while walking the horse nearer to the dark and creepy place he stopped by. Bara ignored his words as the surrounding creeped her out, her eyes darting in every direction to get a hint of where they were because this was not even near to the town or palace for sure. Why did he bring her here? Did she just get kidnapped? Ugly thoughts filled up her mind causing her to panic.

"It looks like there's going to be a bad storm. It isn't safe to ride ahead in such a weather, especially when there's a bheegi billi with me. Rest here until it's gone." He explained looking around at the large wooden place they stood by, knowing of her thoughts very well through her face.

Bara was still reluctant, she can't trust him easily. He might've planned to kill her or something? First he took Wafaa away and now her? What if he lied that he was from the palace?

"Now you can't even jump off?" He stood with his hands on his sides, staring up at her. "Come on, move your leg to this side and jump." She didn't budge having a stare contest with him sitting on top of the horse while he stood patiently.

"Okay fine! Keep sitting here and have a comfortable time with Kumu." He caressed the back of his horse, indicating his name then walked inside the large wooden place. Bara couldn't see any sign of human existence or any house around, this seemed like the only shed area in solace.

The lightning struck again as the horse neighed at the noise and moved causing Bara to scream loudly almost losing her balance. "I wanna get down. Please." She cried out calling for him. "I'm scared. I can't jump off myself." She whined again waiting for him to come out.

After a few moments which felt like ages to Bara, he stepped out while stretching his arms. "I heard someone calling for my help. I'm not sure if I heard right though?" He placed his arm on the wooden door as Bara felt too embarrassed to say something. He wasn't budging and Bara could feel her leg muscles sore from sitting on the horse for so long.

"I want to get down. Please." She gave in and spoke in her low soft voice. He fixed his cloak tightly walking ahead staring at her puppy face, she looked like she was ready to cry any moment.

"Kumu must be hungry and tired. Carrying you on his back must be hard. I'm helping you down for his sake." He gently patted his horse again as Bara almost rolled her eyes. Khud ka size dekha hai? Aur khud uss bechary ko bhagata tou aisy hai jesy peechy billiyan lagi hui hein!

"Tum mujhy dil mein galiyan dy rahi ho na?" He squinted his eyes giving her a suspicious glare.

"N-nai tou.." She shook her head, her eyes growing wide. He let out a sarcastic chuckle, bending his arms upwards to tap his shoulders. "Come on." Bara gulped slowly moving her leg to the other side but she almost lost balance slipping which caused her to pull the leg back in the same position.