Dhruva Nakshathra - The Game of Alliance ✔

FORTY - ONE

Pavalanageri, Shoolin

There was a part in the palace of Pavalanageri, hidden behind three rows of tall gargantuan sized palm trees. A place distant from the main palace, it was deprived of any existence of humans but it gave shelter to the beings with wings during the day and night. Behind the untamed shrubs between the giant trees, stood a large derelict building of a once grand manor.

Oblivious of his track on an afternoon post lunch walk, Ranganathan had wandered around the palace garden and had stumbled upon rows of trees on the west side of the palace boundary. Gigantic in size, he foots it to take a closer look at the trees and found trails of once a pathway made of large rocks leading further beyond the shrubs. Curious about the neglected part of the palace, he followed the trail to an abandoned old manor guarded by tall wild grasses. Traces of exotic plants of sorts had him wonder who the dweller of the manor once was and why it had been left unattended.

However, his inquisitiveness on the derelict building was snatched by a pigeon cooing. Perched on the short stone wall, the white bird with a blue collar waited for him with a note. A wide grin tore on his face at the sight of the familiar bird with a note he had been waiting for weeks.

"Ah! What a surprise?" He gently held the pigeon and untied the note. "Stay here, little fellow," he placed it back on the wall.

The youngest princess of Kavish is missing. Search scouts had been sent around the kingdom to look for her. The palace is agitated with the disappearance.

As he read through the message, the smile on his face shrunk and lines of disconcert marred on his forehead and more lines formed at the ends of his mouth as he pursed his lips. It was a news he did not anticipate and it was a news he shouldn't be bothered either but it did. He should have been happy or be pleased with the news. Wasn't it what he wanted, a devastated Heramba family?

He sure did but the news of Nakshathra's disappearance stuck in his head like an endless loop with questions he had no answer. How did she go untraceable? Who would harm her? Did Alli executed something I didn't know? Where did she go? How will she be? Ranganathan's thought flow was a surprise to himself.

He had fallen into a mixed of feelings to which he couldn't explain. Was he concerned of her? Concern of the man's daughter he so badly wanted to take revenge? Concern of the princess he wanted to use to destroy the kingdom he hated?

Beads of sweat rolled down the sides of his temple. Was it because of the afternoon heat or the anxiousness of his missing not-so-loved-niece? Was it out of concern of her safety or fear of unaccomplished mission without her?

"Huh!" He threw away the small chit somewhere into the heap of grass nearby.

He was lost, unable to find the real need in his life. For the first time in many years, he questioned himself if what he was doing was worth it. Was Nakshathra truly dear to him without him realising it?

Ranganathan rubbed his hand over his face, wiping away the foreign feel of closeness. "This isn't me. This isn't me. Come to your sense!" He slapped his cheeks, waking him up from an uncertain dream of concern.

"Are you alright?" A voice he had come familiar with asked as dry leaves crushed under the person's weight. "And what are you doing so far from the main palace?"

Maharaja Shijay squatted next to Ranganathan who had slid down against the short-wall from the shock at his reaction to the message he had received. The former laid a hand on Ranganathan's shoulder, squeezed gently as an assurance of his support.

"I'm sorry, Maharaja. I was just walking and lost my way here." Ranganathan pulled himself up on his feet with the support of the wall behind him.

"Oh." Shijay's voice flattened as he eyed the old derelict manor. "We should get back now." He helped his friend out of the palm tree boundary. Once they were out, Shijay heaved a sigh of relieve as if the neglected place suffocated him.