Tale of the War Dancer

CHAPTER SIX

Shahzad Hakim sees Lady Nikita walking away from the arena and follows her. She was quite a distance away by the time he got out of the pavilion. He walked fast in order to catch up with her, but why was she heading up that way? He walked faster, and soon his footsteps echoing up the stairs into the castle attracted her attention.
"Lady Nikita"
Lady Nikita stood, staring at Shahzad Hakim. Those eyes felt like they were staring into his soul.
"I apologise for the lack of opportunity for a proper introduction. You are welcome to Harsia, I am Shahzad Hakim"
"I am aware, that you are the Shahzad" Lady Nikita replied. Her voice had a deep feminine familiar tone to it.
That was not the answer he was expecting. There was a bit of silence before Shahzad Hakim spoke again
"I should have spoken to you since yesterday. At the time I wanted to do so, I was called for something, urgent"
"I understand" Lady Nikita replied
" Quite a beautiful performance you made yesterday. You are a graceful dancer"
"Thank you, Your Grace"
"And you put up quite a performance once again today. I wasn't aware you are an excellent Archer"
"I was taught by the best. My father saw to it" Lady Nikita replied
The conversation was going coldly, not as the Shahzad expected. Lady Nikita was intimidating, quite a contrast to the impression of her he had from yesterday.
"If you don't mind, may I take you on a tour around the castle?" Shahzad Hakim asked
Lady Nikita thought for a while, dimming her eyes at him and slightly tilting her head sideways before finally speaking.
"I will be honored, Your Grace" Lady Nikita said.
There was silence once again. Shahzad Hakim was lost, staring at Lady Nikita. This time, Lady Nikita broke the silence.
"May we proceed, your Grace?"
"Ofcourse. We can start this way" Shahzad Hakim replied coming back to reality and gesturing down the stairs.
"Where were you heading? if I may ask" Shahzad Hakim asked politely
Lady Nikita gave a confused look
"I was heading to my chamber" she stated rather obviously
"Uhm, Lady Nikita, I think you may have lost your way. That is the way to the guest quarter. This is the inner part of the castle. The room up there belonged to the late Shahzadi Cyra. Nobody really goes there anymore"
Lady Nikita looked back up the stairs and then towards the direction Shahzad Hakim had pointed. A look of realisation mixed with embarrassment crossed her face.
"Oh", she said
As they walked, Princess Nephthys called out to Shahzad Hakim.
" Hakim"
Shahzad Hakim and Lady Nikita stopped as Princess Nephthys walked up to them.
"Will you not introduce me to your guest, the great Archer" Princess Nephthys said smiling. Her teeth were white and perfect, showing off a very beautiful smile.
"Ofcourse. Lady Nikita, meet Princess Nephthys of Hatridge, my betroth. Princess, meet Lady Nikita, daughter of Sultan Siddiqui"
There was silence for a few seconds. Then Lady Nikita made the effort to speak first, as it ought to be.
"It is a pleasure meeting you your Grace" Lady Nikita said
"Mine as well. I trust your trip to Harsia went well?"
"Indeed, it went well"
" You are a great Archer. Perhaps you could teach me how to do what you did earlier. It was fascinating"
"It will be my pleasure, your Grace. Perhaps you could join us? The Shahzad is taking me on a tour around the castle" Lady Nikita said glancing over at Shahzad Hakeem.
"I would have loved to, but I am exhausted as it is. You carry on without me, you will be in good care with the Shahzad. Regrettably, I must take my leave now. Goodbye" Princess Nephthys said, doing the peace greeting to Lady Nikita, and to the Shahzad before leaving with her hand maidens. She turned around one more time and exchanged romantic glances with the Shahzad before going out of sight. Shahzad Hakim then cleared his throat before speaking
"Shall we?" Shahzad Hakim said and they continue their tour.
This was the most awkward encounter the Shahzad had ever had. Mostly, guests try to get his attention. And for those whom he speaks to, he ends up being treated rather importantly. No doubt he was important. He was the Shahzad of Harsia afterall. But Lady Nikita did not give off the impression that she was particularly interested in meeting him. She had a mysteriousness to her that the Shahzad couldn't point. Her beauty was another thing entirely. Never had he met a lady with such beautiful red hair. He wondered if she was born with it or if she had colored it that way. Princess Nephthys is very beautiful. But Lady Nikita? Perhaps beautiful wasn't the word. She was exquisite. He had no doubt that soon, the palace maids will begin to draw a comparison between Princess Nephthys's and Lady Nikita's beauty. Shahzad Hakim shook off his thoughts.
"As you are already aware, this is the guest quarter. There are about 50 different Chambers here, for the King's most important guests"
"Hmmn"
They walked further. The maids occasionally paused to courtesy to the Shahzad and Lady Nikita before proceeding with their duty. They headed towards a corner at the end of the guest quarter. The turn they took unveiled a camel stable. There were over 50 camels under the shed, and the air smelt like camel too.
"This is the royal camel stable. We have over 100 camels, and may have even more in the future"
Lady Nikita studied the stable. It almost looked as if she was scrutinizing it. When Shahzad Hakim saw that she was done "scrutinizing" the stable, he spoke again.
"Shall we proceed?"
" Ofcourse"
Lady Nikita walked forward, not noticing the step before her and she misses it. She fell forward but Shahzad Hakim caught her waist in time, steadying her. The noon breeze blew through Lady Nikita's exposed hair as her veil fell.
Shahzad Hakim stared, losing himself in her gaze.The sun made beautiful colors in Lady Nikita's beautiful grey eyes. She was simply breathtaking. Shahzad Hakim realised he was holding his breath as the grunting of a camel startled them back to consciousness. The rush of blood to Lady Nikita's cheeks was visible and she looked somewhat angry. Shahzad Hakim, realising he had touched a strange woman for the first time in his life immediately became apologetic.
" I deeply apologize for holding you inappropriately. It was a reaction to your fall" He said, looking everywhere except Lady Nikita's face
"It's alright" Lady Nikita said
"Shall we proceed? She added and Shahzad Hakim gave a nod, immediately leading her away from the stable. Next to the stable was the entrance to the keep.
"This is the keep. In the past the Harsain empire had Tigers, this was where we kept them. Now we keep farm tools and other items here. There is nothing much to see here" Shahzad Hakim announced as they passed the keep. Yara felt a headache. A strange breeze blew past, a cold breeze. Lady Nikita held her head.
"Are you alright my lady?" Shahzad Hakim asked
"Yes your grace, I'm alright" she replied.
As they walked past the keep, she instantly look relieved.
Perhaps it is the stench from the stable and the keep that got to her. Ladies are so fragile. Shahzad Hakim thought to himself.
Finally they get to a building which shaded them from the scorching sun. They walked for a while and then walked through a door. It was a big room with various paintings. Lady Nikita seemed to like the room. She inspected each painting, carefully caressing the canvasses as she looked at them.
"I love that one" The Queen said from behind. She was holding her cat, Huraira.
"Your Grace" Lady Nikita said, doing the peace greeting.
The Queen walked over to them.
"You showed great skill in today's archery. I am impressed"
"Thank you your Grace" Lady Nikita said. She seemed softer with the Queen.
"I apologize for yesterday's ordeal. You do have similarities with my late daughter, Cyra"
Lady Nikita was silent
"And today you showed another similarity to her. She was good in archery, although not as good as you I must admit. She was but a child when she was taken from me"
"I am sorry for your Loss your Grace. Losing a child is a pain I cannot imagine" Lady Nikita said after a while.
"Your eyes...I thought you were my daughter. But I was wrong. You are not my Cyra."
Lady Nikita was again silent.
"Cyra had my late mother's eyes." The Queen said, this time staring into the distance.
"She had warm eyes. Your eyes, they...
they are cold." The Queen said, looking back at Lady Nikita
There was more silence. Lady Nikita looked a little affected by what the Queen had said, but she tried to hide her true expression.
"Do not be offended. I didn't mean to..."
"Not all your Grace. I understand what you mean" Lady Nikita said, interrupting the Queen's apology.
The Queen smiled softly.
"Your Grace, I am taking Lady Nikita on a tour around the castle" Shahzad Hakim said, ensuring to avoid another round of awkwardness.
"That is good. I shall take my leave now. Enjoy your tour" The Queen said and took her leave, doing the peace greeting.
Lady Nikita and Shahzad Hakim reciprocated. Next, Shahzad Hakim led Lady Nikita to the training pit. Lady Nikita couldn't hide her fascination. She looked quite impressed. The pit was wide and it's floor was covered in sand. She walked down the stairs, carefully inspecting each facility.
"You may come train whenever you wish My Lady. Over there is the Archer's point. I believe you will enjoy it" Shahzad Hakim said
Lady Nikita stared at the Archer's point. It was a wide space with various targets for archery and other facilities. But she didn't seem interested in archery at the moment. She walked over to the Spears and studied them one after the other. There were swords of various sizes and weights as well. Lady Nikita walked around, enjoying the view of the pit.
"I did not expect you to be one interested in weapons" Shahzad Hakim said
Lady Nikita looked over her shoulder, looking at Shahzad Hakim
"What makes you think I have an interest in weapons your Grace?"
"The way you have been looking at them, it tells that you love weapons"
Lady Nikita smiled
"I think I'm ready to be shown the next place your Grace" lady Nikita said smiling
"As you wish My Lady. This way" Shahzad Hakim said leading Lady Nikita out of the pit
Next was the royal garden located at the castle's core triangle. Lady Nikita unconsciously released a soft smile that lasted more than a few seconds.
"This is the royal garden" Shahzad Hakim said
The garden was wide and beautiful.
" I didn't know such flowers could be grown in the desert" Lady Nikita said as she began to lead herself through the garden. She touched the petals of the flowers. There were red roses, white roses, dandelions, marigolds, daisies and others. Suddenly the sun went down.
"Perhaps we should postpone our tour Lady Nikita. It might rain a little. Although not enough to stop the tour but I do not wish to cause you any inconveniences" Shahzad Hakim said
Lady Nikita paid no heed to what the Shahzad had said and continued into the garden. Suddenly, rain began to drizzle. Lady Nikita closed her eyes, facing upwards and enjoying the rain pouring down on her. Her clothes became wet and her veil clung to her. Within a few minutes, the rain stopped. That was the way of the Harsian rain.
Lady Nikita ran her palms over her face, moving the wet strands of her hair backwards over her head and looked over at Shahzad Hakim. She stared for a while before suddenly, her facial expression changed from soft to cold. Stone cold. She approached the Shahzad.
"You are right, we should postpone the tour" she said coldly, walking away from Shahzad Hakim.
"What came over her all of a sudden?"
Shahzad Hakim muttered to himself as he was left standing, confused as to what went wrong.

🥂🥂🥂🥂🥂
Hey lovely readers. I do hope you are enjoying the story. What do you think about Yara/Lady Nikita? Pls remember to share your comments below, and share if you like the story. Thank you ❤️