Falling For the cruel king

7. Hate and passion

Mahendra carefully observes the sharp cuts on her wrists. The memory of yesterday's incidents plays in his mind.
" I am sorry." He says in a hushed tone.
"I am sorry for hurting you." He says as the guilt takes over his mind.
Devangi feels like she forgot how to speak. She Doesn't make a sound. Her eyes welled up in tears.

He walks out of her room feeling like a criminal.
As he leaves her chamber, she slowly walks towards the window and sits on the floor next to it looking at the beautiful, sparkly evening sky as the moonlight floods her room. Her hair dances with the rhythm of the wind as blood streams keep flowing from her hands.
A few moments later Chandrika enters her room with 5 maids and remedies for her cut. She gasps witnessing the horrible condition of her hands and all the blood on the floor. She rushes towards her and sits on the floor next to her.
"Oh, my lord! The condition of your hands is frightful Devangi!" She exclaims as she starts smearing her wrists and hands with a paste of neem, turmeric, Apiaceae, and arjuna leaves.
"Bhai told me you were hurt. How did it happen?" She asks.

Devangi Doesn't know what to say. She Doesn't reply.

As Chandrika bandages her hands, she asks, "Did bhai do this?" in a fearful and confused tone.

"No," Devangi answers as all the tears welled up in her eyes start flowing. Chandrika pulls her in a warm embrace trying to comfort her. Devangi starts sobbing uncontrollably as she rests her head on Chandrika's shoulders.

The rest of the night passes away like usual. Everyone falls asleep. But Mahendra keeps restlessly twisting and turning on his bed. Tonight he couldn't sleep. Not even for a single moment. Every time he closed his eyes, he only saw Devangi's Dark black eyes and the stream of tears flowing from them. He doesn't know why, but he feels an unknown kind of attraction to this woman. He was never the kind of man that would fall in love with one individual and devote his whole life to that one person. But god knows what happened to him. Is it love? Or is it just physical attraction?

The next morning arrives. But the sun is not as golden as it usually is. The sky is covered with dark clouds. And the windy weather only indicates a stormy day. The palace isn't shining as brightly as it would with the golden sunrays.

Mahendra is sitting inside the conference room with all his advisors discussing about increasing border protection. As they are about to reach a decision, their conversation is interrupted by 2 servants. They enter the chamber and bow down to the prince.

"What's the matter?" Mahendra asks them.

They hand Mahendra a small note. As soon as he reads the contents of it, he barges outside leaving everyone behind in a state of shock.

As he gets close to Devangi's chamber, his heart starts beating unusually fast. He first hesitates to enter. But after hanging back for a while, he finally decides to go inside. As he enters her chamber, he sees Devangi lying on her bed motionless as Chandrika is sitting next to her head with a worried face.

"What happened to her?" Mahendra asks in a loud but concerned and fearful voice.

"Her whole body is burning with fever," she says fearfully.

"When she wasn't waking up today, I sent 2 royal maids to check on her." She adds.
He feels an unknown fear in his heart. Something he hasn't felt in the past few years. But he tries his best to hide his foolish emotions.
"What did Vaidya Ji (Doctor) say?" Asks Mahendra trying to force a stern voice. But the concern is making its presence known in his heart.