Cittaja || Indian Historical Romance

8.

Shakra looked at the sky as he lay down to sleep. Vayu had already fallen asleep. Karma fell asleep too.

While Shakra was off on his trip to Pragvamsa Kingdom, his heart was safely left with the peacock-eyed one for safekeeping.

"Seems like Bava has no sleep in his eyes." Shakra smiled hearing Basava's voice.

"Well, my beloved seems to have some skill at being able to keep herself unaffected by me. That's taken away my sleep." Shakra answered.

Basava chuckled. He walked over and lay down next to Shakra. "Bava, I am under the impression that Mahadevi plans to make Yuvika her daughter-in-law. You are here daydreaming about her sister."
Shakra chuckled.

"She thinks of many things but not all of them are meant to go that way."

"Yuvika is politically a great choice. Her mother is a Royal Princess. Mayurakshi's mother is the daughter of a chieftain who works under King Gopala."

"The heart isn't asking for background. It is just asking for the girl who has captured my mind."

Shakra left his subconscious mind to spin a beautiful dream about Mayurakshi.

She wore a white and gold saree. The sight only reminded him of the stories of apsaras that Indra sends to disturb the penance of others. The Lord of the senses tests them all with senses.

Shakrajit's just happens to be lust. This woman can take him down to Naraka and he might just be open to it.

The only difference was that the sweet little feet had a ring on the second toe. The paaraani was a common occurrence on those feet but the ring wasn't.

Her eyes were set on him. The hunger within her eyes just waiting to hunt her prey. Him. She moved towards him. A bit of her hair was tied up and the rest half was let down. Jasmine flowers were decorating her hair.

She had him cornered against the pillar. "You can go as far as you want, Yuvraj, but you're not going to escape your sweet little wife." She answered.

"Oh, the last thing I want to do is go far. Quite the opposite. I want to stay close." He told her.

She stood up on her toes and moved her lips close to him. He closed his eyes to brace himself for her sweet lips.

His body worked on response and just moved away quickly. An arrow hit exactly where his throat was just a moment ago.
He took out his dagger and threw it in the direction the arrow came from. He heard movement and quickly dashed towards it. He saw a figure running.

Shakra had to admit that the assassin was fast. He hadn't seen that kind of agility in any assassin before. A lean, agile and fast person. Yet, it wasn't enough to surpass their skill set of Shakra.

When he assumed that it was hard to escape Shakra, he turned and attacked him with the large tree branch. Shakra blocked it with his arm. The branch broke into pieces but Shakra didn't even wince. The kick Shakra received was enough to give him an idea that who Shakra assumed was a 'he' was a 'she'.

Shakra grinned. This was interesting. Usually, female assassins are disguised as maids or prostitutes. They blend in with the female. It was easy to find a female among men.

"This is interesting." He grinned as both of them moved in a circle, readying themselves for a fight. Shakra was unarmed and a Kshatriya would not generally attack an unarmed person but this lady seemed to have ditched that moral.

She attacked him with his dagger. Shakra had enough experience to manage unarmed fighting. But he had to admit, the girl was skilled. He would give him that. She managed to keep up with him for at least a few moments.

Finally, he disarmed her and grabbed her in a way she couldn't escape. "After all, Chinna, I should get to see the girl I have to kill."

He pulled off her black shawl draped around her. He was a bit surprised.
The girl was quite young. Perhaps it was fresh training and hence so strong. She had the skill but lacked experience.
Shiny black eyes, long brownish hair.
Her size and gender explained the level of agility she showed.

Shakra chuckled and moved back. "Hardly fair to kill a child."

She scoffed. "I'm 20 years old. That isn't exactly a child's age."

Shakra chuckled, "Fresh training needs some more experience to attack someone of my caliber. So, surely no one sent you. You made up your mind on your own. So, why? Did some family member die in a war with me?"

As a last resort, she threw a smoke bomb and took off running. She also took advantage of the fact that he took a few steps back.

Though he wasn't worried much. He had seen her face. Shakra doesn't have a history of forgetting at all. He would catch her somewhere next time.

Shakra returned to find Karma still sleeping like a log of wood. "She is sure going to get killed in her sleep." Commenting a bit about his servant, Shakra laid back.

Sleep was already gone. Now his mind was occupied with this girl. He chuckled thinking about her.

The next morning, they reached the Pragvamsa Kingdom. He was welcomed nicely. At least they tried to show that they are all about friendly relations.

"It is a great thing that you have come here, Yuvraj Shakrajit. Our Pragvamsa is famous for our hosting." King Kartik expressed.

Shakra chuckled, "Of course, Maharaj. I had heard from Amartya about it and couldn't help but come myself to see it."
Shakra's threat in a polite tone didn't go unnoticed by the King. Amartya Bhaskar was Shakra's best friend. Also, Amartya was one of the most intelligent people in all Bharatvarsha itself.

There was not a more dangerous duo than Shakrajit and Amartya together. That was a fear even Maharaj of the Kalika Empire had. So, they were often kept away from each other. Their letters were first read by the King himself and then allowed to be sent to the other.

When Shakra reached the gate of the guest palace, he was stumped.

The girl who attacked him was standing there. Sky blue skirt and blouse, and blue voni. She wore exquisite jewellery. She looked beautiful even at night but now in all her glory, she was a sight to behold.
"Yuvraj, this is my daughter. My eldest princess, Valli." The Maharaj answered.

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That's the next chapter.

Happy Independence Day to all you Indians. 🇮🇳🇮🇳